Monthly Archives: February 2010

The Centretown News has a piece on the expected move by the National Capital Commission to restrict rock climbing in Gatineau park.

In the article Peter Slivka, owner of the Vertical Reality climbing gym, expresses his disappointment.

The NCC has a conservation mandate and has undertaken studies that show the Eardley Escarpment to be particularly ecologically valuable and fragile, which is what is driving the anticipated restrictions.

However, the NCC conservation mandate derives from the 2005 Gatineau Park Master Plan and that plan has been criticized for a lack of mention of Park users.

David Foster, a Vice President of the Alpine Club of Canada, indicates that climbing on the Eardley Escarpment has taken place for 50 years or so and any ecological damage to favourite climbing routes has already happened decades ago; keeping climbers away now may in fact be counterproductive. On the one hand, little conservation will be achieved, and on the other hand keeping people from using the park will reduce the value they place on it, ultimately reducing the will to protect it in the future.

From the NCC Gatineau Park website:

Gatineau Park will be hosting the Gatineau Loppet this weekend. The trails will not be closed to recreational skiers during this event, however competitors should have priority. P2(Relais plein air) is the recommended parking lot for observers. Please avoid using parking lots P1(Asticou), P3 and P6(Mackenzie-King). For more information: https://www.gatineauloppet.com

Please note that during the Gatineau Loppet, a group of scouts will be using the shelter Keogan and Huron (outside and inside), although all other visitors will still be welcome.

From OttawaKiosk.com

February 18, 2010 Canada’s Capital Region – The National Capital Commission (NCC) is pleased to announce that the 32nd edition of the Gatineau Loppet will take place in Gatineau Park from February 19 to 21, 2010.

This year’s theme is “Everybody on the Trail!”, and close to 3,000 skiers, experts and amateurs will come from at least 20 different countries to participate in various races and activities in Gatineau Park. The Gatineau Loppet will once again offer race events for all ability levels, from families to competitive skiers.

The Gatineau Loppet, held every year on the Gatineau Park cross-country ski trail network, is Canada’s most important cross-country skiing event. It is the Canadian leg of the Worldloppet circuit, which now includes the 15 most prestigious and popular cross-country ski competitions in the world.

Karl Saidla at XCOttawa is calling for volunteers to help with feed stations on both Saturday and Sunday. All volunteers get a free hat, a free meal, and are invited to the annual Gatineau Loppet volunteer party.

Please contact Karl at karl.saidla@xcottawa.ca to sign up and receive further details.

Since I’ve posted a couple of Olympic connections to Gatineau Park that have come up in the mainstream media, I wanted also to post again linking to Margarita Gorbounova’s website. She’s training for Para-Nordic events. What’s more, unlike the Olympians mentioned earlier, who used to ski in Gatineau Park, Margarita skis there now!

Biathlete Jean-Philippe Le Guellec skied here regularly as a kid.

You’d think that people whose legs are in shape for long distance bike riding would think nothing of a little skate ski up to Pink Lake. But no (and this should be inspiration for the rest of us too) even seasoned cyclists like Becky (see here) get a thrill from a first time skate-ski up the Pink Lake hill. Here’s her celebratory post.

There’s good snow out there, get it while it lasts!

The Ottawa Sun reported on Kristina Groves and her bronze medal in 3,000 metre speedskating at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics mentioning (among other things) that she grew up skiing in Gatineau Park.

Jean Paul Murray of the Gatineau Park Protection Committee sends this letter he received from the Quebec Ministry of Natural Resources and Wildlife in response to a request for information on mining claims staked in Gatineau Park.

The Ministry says it has no such documented claims.

The Ottawa Sun brings us the news that, according to the NCC “there has been less snow than usual in the season.”

No one seems to have requisitioned more though!