I had to repost this from TriRudy (author Devashish Paul)
Last weekend, my friend Stephen Cann and I had a terrific XC ski out to the Gatineau Park firetower. When we started at 8am the temperature was minus 20C, and the parkway was perfectly groomed. I started thinking about the guy who was out overnight to do this perfect grooming job, spending time away from family and out grooming in the cold and dark so that skiers could have a perfect experience. As we went on, through trail 5, up Pinks Lake, everything was perfect. Going up the parkway on the Pinks Lake climb, I thought of the 100′s of times I have done this biking and XC skiing. A long time ago, an engineer had the vision to construct this fabulous road. People complain about getting bored of skiing on the parkway or riding on it. I can’t ever imagine feeling that way while being there. It really is a gift!
Later going up the Penguin climb, I thought about the first settlers who cut this road that we now know as Ridge Road all the way to the firetower. The poor Irish immigrants came slightly late and were shut out of the fertile land in the Ottawa valley and went to work cutting through the forest to settle the area and make a new life. Just skiing that way was hard. Imagine cutting the actual road???
Again, the grooming to the firetower was immaculate. I had not been on a day like this in years. While we all like to complain about the NCC (I probably do my fair share), they make sure a lot of work is done on the trail network in “dryland” season” to make sure we have a skiable trail. If not, in the 23 years since I first mountain biked out to the firetower, the road would have been “grown over” and clogged with brush and trees.
A long time ago, Prime Minister King had the vision to make this a park and give this piece of Canadian Shield to the people of Canada.
We finished the ski, back at the P3 parking (Gamelin Blvd) in Hull. There were so many people that made this ski adventure possible who I will never meet today, or who have passed on a long time ago, but their actions had a positive influence on the lives of myself and skiers adventuring to the firetower that day.
They say that what matters is the impact we have on the lives of those we leave behind when we move on.
Can you imagine talking to those Irish settlers today and thanking them for cutting the road and making “our day” on Jan 22, 2012…when they cut that road, they were just thinking about feeding their families, not enriching the lives of participants in a sport that was yet to be invented (skate skiing)!
So THANKS! Great job!
