11FEB P10-Penguin, Race Trails

I got off to a late start today and was pleasantly surprised that the grooming was still evident.  Penguin was in good shape ie. not too icy.  There is the "ridge" appearing on Ridge that is effectively reducing the skate lane a bit but this was only a minor inconvenience. The race course had seen little traffic but was flat, nice and wide-very well groomed.  It is a real pleasure to ski on those trails although I still find them confusing.  I was very surprised that on parts of the course there were only two other skate marks and this was after 2pm.  Conditions were fast with very good control. 

Night ski 7Feb from P3

I made the mistake of parking at P3.  If the parkway had been groomed they certainly did it at the wrong time-it was rock solid.  I saw a few fellow skaters simply pack it in within the first 200m.  I was hoping that if I could get to 5 things would improve, and they did.  5 was skiable but it was very firm.  I got off 5 just below Pink and the parkway was better than it was closer to P3 but it was not really much fun.  At the T the good grooming started and lasted until P8.  Seems the grooming around the loop is a lot fresher and more enjoyable.  For tomorrow I would suggest limiting yourself to the P8/Fortune area unless there is fresh grooming.

5Feb Pine Road + 55 & 54

Grooming for the most part was good again today.  Just a small amount of snowmobile and hiker traffic but nothing to really complain about.  However trail 54 had not been groomed in some time between the cabin and the hay bales.  Last week it was pretty nice, this week it was forgotten.  The best parts were 55 and the portion between P19 and 55.  When I finished around 11:45 P16 was full such that cars were parking on Cross Loop and Pine however the trails themselves never felt crowded.  One of the great things about trail 50.

Feb 4 Ridge to FT, Burma etc

I skied the parkway from P6 down to Penguin then up Burma, onto to Ridge to the Tower including 24 and 1b.  On the way back I checked out 33, 2 and 40.  Grooming ranges from 7/10 to 10/10 depending on the snowmobile traffic and size of the "ridge" in some places. (I suspect that our classically trained friends would give it a 10/10 everywhere.)  Burma is coming along very  nicely, #24, 33 and portions of Ridge were really excellent.  With the fast snow and bright sun this was really a fantastic day to be out there. 

Night ski 31Jan from P3 Freshly Groomed!

I left from P3 around 6:30pm and took the parkway to #5 and then back onto the parkway at Pinks.  As I climbed Pinks it got darker and the snow got deeper.  It was really quite dark when I started on the climb after the fork, heading toward P8.  I could see a very  bright light reflecting off the trees at the top.  At first I figured I was about to be abducted, then I thought it was the mountain bikers out again who had amazingly bright lights.  As I climbed and the object came toward me I was surprised to see it was the groomer.  No classic tracks, just one skate lane right down the middle.  I have never had first tracks at 7pm.  I went on to P8 and then turned around to come back on the freshly groomed lane.  I caught the groomer just as it was leaving P3.  It felt a bit strange; the parking lot was pretty full, it was surprisingly bright and there was a groomer.  I had to remind myself that it was nighttime.

29Jan, from P6 - Penguin to Fire Tower

I left from P6 and headed down the Champlain Parkway to the Gatineau Parkway to come up Penguin.  The grooming on the parkways was very fresh.  I passed a groomer on the Gatineau Parkway and the track in front of the groomer was excellent, there really was not a need for that portion to be regroomed.  From the bottom of Penguin to Fortune Parkway was really good.  I couldn't tell if it had been groomed by human traffic or the groomer.  FP was perfect.  I went up Burma but it was not groomed.  It was still good skiing but quite slow.  From Champlain Lookout to the Fire Tower was not groomed.  It was slow and after a while began to wear me down.  The scenery was spectacular with the trees covered in snow.  1b and 24 also were ungroomed.  On the return leg down Ridge I turned right on the Fortune Parkway to head to the Champlain Parkway.  The Champlain had a fair amount of snow on it.  I am not sure if it had been groomed earlier but there was about 3cm of slow snow.  I think I went down King at about 15kph!  All in all a lovely day.  A long easy ski became a long tough ski, at least for me.  If they groom tonight tomorrow should be great.

28Jan Pine Road A++

I have often complained in the last few years about the poor grooming on this trail.  The NCC seemed to always have some problem in this neck of the park.  Today was entirely different.  I left skating from P16 around 9:30.  The trail was freshly groomed, flat and perfect a well earned 10 until 52.  After 52 I would rate it a 9.5 as there was a bit of the Demsis ridge,  I turned left at 55 and quickly encountered the groomer so I headed up 54 because it obviously had been freshly groomed.  The trail was actually in pretty good shape and the grooming here was once again excellent, all things considered. I had first tracks again on this trail.  The odd thing is that coming back from Lusk (just after the hay bales) I realized that my tracks were gone; they were grooming this part of 54 again.  After 54 I turned left and headed to Taylor Lake.  This part was ungroomed, because I had passed the groomer.  It was still skiable as it had about 3cm of fresh snow on top of the loud icy base.   The parkway part from 55 to P19 was also freshly and well groomed.

Overall the grooming today was as good as I have seen it on trail 50 in a few years.  One of the things that was missing were the snowmobile tracks, what a difference it makes to keep those machines off the freshly groomed trails.

Between 52 and Herridge is a fresh deer kill.  A stark reminder of the natural drama that plays itself out constantly in this great natural environment.