Sunday, February 27, 2011
Gatineau Park 27Feb FP, Burma, Fire Tower
As reported previously the grooming was done last night so it was before the snow. Still conditions this morning were pretty fast. Not sure when Burma was last groomed but it was lots of fun, a couple of cm of snow on top of ice. Ridge all the way to the Fire Tower was great, nice and flat. A few thin icy spots on turns but nothing to worry about. All in all a great day for a ski.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Gatineau Park evening report 26Feb
As reported by Ken the groomers have been out on Ridge this evening. Unfortunately there has been a medical evacuation(no serious injury) from Huron and the snowmobile track will no doubt be hard packed by morning as it traveled on the freshly groomed FP. No one minds this kind of snowmobile damage but the hikers and snowshoers have also been out tonight so there will be some damage on FP from this. Otherwise expect morning conditions to be fantastic, I am hoping the groomer went out to the Fire Tower.
Gatineau Park ski conditions from P16 26Feb Gr8
I skated from P16 leaving around 10:30. According to the website trail 50 was groomed yesterday pm. The grooming was very good; it was nice and fast. It was the best I have experienced on 50 this year. The nice grooming was not even hurt by the usual snowmobile track and for a change there were almost no footprints anywhere.
After the junction of 50 and 55 conditions were ok but not nearly as good. The road to Taylor Lake was nice.
The Demsis ridge has been knocked down on the trail but it still exists here and there. It does not interfere with the stride but you can see that it is enough to make the skaters avoid that part of the trail and that will simply wear out the other part faster. Fortunately it is no longer a source of frustation.
I was surprised there weren`t more people out on such a nice day.
After the junction of 50 and 55 conditions were ok but not nearly as good. The road to Taylor Lake was nice.
The Demsis ridge has been knocked down on the trail but it still exists here and there. It does not interfere with the stride but you can see that it is enough to make the skaters avoid that part of the trail and that will simply wear out the other part faster. Fortunately it is no longer a source of frustation.
I was surprised there weren`t more people out on such a nice day.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Gatineau Park 22FEB from p10
Skated up FP to Ridge, 1B and 24. The excellent grooming from yesterday has been skied out so now FP is very hard packed but quite skiable. Ridge after 1b is pretty good as was 24 because it has seen much less traffic. Although I didn't go on Burma it looks like some kind of machinery has been put to work.
Monday, February 21, 2011
ski conditions 21FEB from p10
Skated from p10 to Ridge to the lookout and back on the parkways. For the first ten minutes the conditions were good, but then along came the heavy equipment (at about 11am) and the conditions suddenly became very good. Excellent classic track and great skating lane. Once on Ridge it seemed this had been done since the race yesterday and it too was very nice, although at least one rock showing. By the time we were coming back down FP the heavy equipment was doing the other side of the parkway.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Gatineau Park Ski conditions 13FEB Penguin, Practice Course etc
Grooming was very good on the Duldrums, Penguin (only very minor thin spots at the lookout), Ridge, FP and the practice course. The practice course has not been trackset so the skate lane is nice and wide. Its been a couple of years since I have been on this trail-I forgot how much fun it is. Trails 4 and 14 are also in great shape.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Gatineau Park 11FEB-late afternoon Duldrums FP, Penguin, Burma
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Gatineau Park ski conditions 6FEB- Penguin to Fire Tower 1B and 24
In summary, conditions were very good. 1 Blue was a little "ridgey" but I think today had as good grooming as I have seen in the last few years. Compared to the depressing state of trail 50 yesterday it was like skiing on a different planet.
I left p10 and went down to the Duldrums. Grooming here was basically 10/10 (but trail 32 is pretty thin) and stayed like that to Penguin. There is tremendous improvement here, basically no troughs although it was thin at the lookout. Conditions stayed excellent until the snowmobile track appeared but it was there only for a few kms.
From 1b to 24 there was a small ridge but with the fast snow it was no problem. 24 was excellent. From there to the Tower was very good, only a slight ridge and a few thin spots past McKinstry. 1b was very good.
I am quick to criticize Demsis but certainly give them full credit today. I wonder if they were able to fix trail 50?
I left p10 and went down to the Duldrums. Grooming here was basically 10/10 (but trail 32 is pretty thin) and stayed like that to Penguin. There is tremendous improvement here, basically no troughs although it was thin at the lookout. Conditions stayed excellent until the snowmobile track appeared but it was there only for a few kms.
From 1b to 24 there was a small ridge but with the fast snow it was no problem. 24 was excellent. From there to the Tower was very good, only a slight ridge and a few thin spots past McKinstry. 1b was very good.
I am quick to criticize Demsis but certainly give them full credit today. I wonder if they were able to fix trail 50?
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Gatineau Park ski conditions 5FEB P16-19, Taylor Lake-detailed damage report
Classic looked very good today, a few thin spots but a 9/10. That is the good news.
For skaters its a much different story. I left p16 around 8:15am. The trail had been groomed overnight and looked great however I soon realized that the trail changed from bi-level to tri-level and back and forth. This makes for a more challenging skate.
Fortunately there was no fresh snowmobile tracks when I started. However after about 10km here came the maintenance snowmobile. Naturally he was driving either in the wider part of the trail (ie. skate lane) when it was bi-level or right in the trough when it was tri-level, making things worse. Why would he be out there after the grooming if he is only picking up garbage or whatever else they need to do? Get it done late in the day and then stay off the freshly groomed trails. Or if they can't do that have the machines ride on the upper part of the bi-level in an effort to flatten the trail.
The damage was done and remained until Lac Philippe when he obviously went on the snowshoe trail. Then we were back just to the bi-level to p19 and it was not too bad. The road to Lac Taylor was pretty good.
On my return trip going through the camping area it was obvious that since I had come through a snowshower and walker had now walked in the skate lane-right beside the snowshoe trail. The damage here lasted for a couple of kms.
At this point it was obvious that the snowmobile that had come toward me earlier in the morning had now come back. Instead of 2 ruts we now had 4! The skate lane was now a mess and it was likely only 10am. This continued until Healy and then we were back to the simple bi-level, tri-level grooming. I realize that the trough that runs on the trail is past damage from having snowmobiles on the length of the trail as the trough is the exact width of these machines. If they needed to do this why have them ride on the same part of the trail each time?
If you classic you could have had a great day, if you skate its an exercise in frustration. However, given how bad the grooming is I think that the standard bi-level, tri-level grooming is going to be as good as it gets. Demsis simply does not know how to provide a flat surface on trail 50 and when you see how the snowmobile destroys what has been done you have to wonder if Demsis is even trying.
For skaters its a much different story. I left p16 around 8:15am. The trail had been groomed overnight and looked great however I soon realized that the trail changed from bi-level to tri-level and back and forth. This makes for a more challenging skate.
Fortunately there was no fresh snowmobile tracks when I started. However after about 10km here came the maintenance snowmobile. Naturally he was driving either in the wider part of the trail (ie. skate lane) when it was bi-level or right in the trough when it was tri-level, making things worse. Why would he be out there after the grooming if he is only picking up garbage or whatever else they need to do? Get it done late in the day and then stay off the freshly groomed trails. Or if they can't do that have the machines ride on the upper part of the bi-level in an effort to flatten the trail.
The damage was done and remained until Lac Philippe when he obviously went on the snowshoe trail. Then we were back just to the bi-level to p19 and it was not too bad. The road to Lac Taylor was pretty good.
On my return trip going through the camping area it was obvious that since I had come through a snowshower and walker had now walked in the skate lane-right beside the snowshoe trail. The damage here lasted for a couple of kms.
At this point it was obvious that the snowmobile that had come toward me earlier in the morning had now come back. Instead of 2 ruts we now had 4! The skate lane was now a mess and it was likely only 10am. This continued until Healy and then we were back to the simple bi-level, tri-level grooming. I realize that the trough that runs on the trail is past damage from having snowmobiles on the length of the trail as the trough is the exact width of these machines. If they needed to do this why have them ride on the same part of the trail each time?
If you classic you could have had a great day, if you skate its an exercise in frustration. However, given how bad the grooming is I think that the standard bi-level, tri-level grooming is going to be as good as it gets. Demsis simply does not know how to provide a flat surface on trail 50 and when you see how the snowmobile destroys what has been done you have to wonder if Demsis is even trying.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Gatineau Park ski conditions 4FEB, FP, Burma, Ridge, 1B 24 CP
I went out later in the day from p10. FP was very good but then I went up Burma. This trail has been neglected. I think the NCC website says that it was "compacted" by a snowmobile. The work here is awful-it doesn't need to be groomed, first it needs to be repaired. The troughs are deeper now that there is more snow. I don't know why they don't really compact the trail, run a machine over three or four times. The troughs are formed simply because of the lack of compaction, it is not from snowplowers.
After Burma was Ridge which is pretty good grooming wise but is well worn already. 1B was in good shape. Back onto Ridge after 1b gets only 5/10. The crown is back and you can see where people skate at the top and then are sliding into the soft stuff. Again, I think they need to really compact the trail.
Turning right onto 24 at the first Ridge/24 intersection I finally hit really good grooming. One machine, grooming at the right time, has set things up very nicely 9/10. Unfortunately this ended at the turnoff for the parking lots so the rest of 24 was soft and narrow but was not too bad. If only they had just kept going with the big machine.
The Champlain Parkway from the lookout has had less grooming (I guess because the snow blows away) and the CP was not so good until you got to Huron lookout where you could see that the groomer had turned around there. From that point back to P10 was really good.
After Burma was Ridge which is pretty good grooming wise but is well worn already. 1B was in good shape. Back onto Ridge after 1b gets only 5/10. The crown is back and you can see where people skate at the top and then are sliding into the soft stuff. Again, I think they need to really compact the trail.
Turning right onto 24 at the first Ridge/24 intersection I finally hit really good grooming. One machine, grooming at the right time, has set things up very nicely 9/10. Unfortunately this ended at the turnoff for the parking lots so the rest of 24 was soft and narrow but was not too bad. If only they had just kept going with the big machine.
The Champlain Parkway from the lookout has had less grooming (I guess because the snow blows away) and the CP was not so good until you got to Huron lookout where you could see that the groomer had turned around there. From that point back to P10 was really good.
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