Skyline -Trail #6 – with a Snowman
I used to look down my nose at no-wax skis. Yesterday I bought a pair. Today I tried them out.
The heavy wet conditions are messy to wax for and the no-wax was a breeze. No backslip at all, though the forward glide wasn't exactly rocket-powered.
Skyline had been skied since the last snow and the human trackset are pretty good but the snow isn't very forgiving. Less clumsy than my last outing during the snow, but still it is the trail forcing the skier's direction, not the skier cutting his/her own path (except when you are all the way out of the existing tracks).
The NCC site had reported "debris can be found on the trails in the forest" and since I hadn't seen that during the storm on Wednesday I was skeptical. But they were right. The heavy snow, before it was shed by the trees, knocked quite a number of branches down.
Here's one across the trail as it climbs away from the last lookout spot on Skyline.
And here's one near where Skyline meets trails #34 and #22. I don't know if you can see it in this picture, but there is actually snow falling at the time this picture was taken, though it was almost +5°C in Ottawa.
The sticky snow made for good snowmen and here's one I saw at Wattsford Lookout.
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rss-feed wrote a new blog post: 2010-02-28 by Jo-Ann Holden from P10 [Fortune] 21 hours, 27 minutes ago
P10 – Fortune, Ridge, 24, McKinstry, Fire Tower
It was roulette, and we won! When we left home, the NCC web site still gave #1Blue a yellow triangle and indicated it was last groomed on Feb. 24. We figured it was worth checking out. Surprise. . .
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Charles Hodgson commented on the blog post Vive l’hiver 1 day, 1 hour ago
Don’t know. Check the flickr original.
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Charles Hodgson commented on the blog post The Secret Lives of Western Lodge 1 day, 3 hours ago
Dave Shaw concurs saying:
I used to be involved in the Alpine Club. During that time I recall hearing on several occasions that many years ago, long before my time, the Alpine Club did have a cabin on the escarpment. However I understood that it was not Western Cabin and was not located where [...]
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Charles Hodgson commented on the blog post The Secret Lives of Western Lodge 1 day, 3 hours ago
I received an email from Michael McConaill that said in part:
The Joe Morin map shows the road ending at the McCloskey Farm, merging into the Ridge Road which then also ended there. There is a trail showing from Blanchet’s Trail near McCloskey’s to the Western Trail: given the geometry of the intersection of these trails, [...]
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Charles Hodgson wrote a new blog post: DupGuy via Twitter 1 day, 4 hours ago
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Charles Hodgson wrote a new blog post: Ken and Snain 1 day, 11 hours ago
Kenmore posts that he’s back out on the new (wet) snow and brings forth the new word snain.
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rss-feed wrote a new blog post: 2010-02-27 by Ken Trischuk from P6 [MacKenzie-King] 1 day, 19 hours ago
Skated from Mackenzie King to the Lookouts. Conditions were nice but plenty wet. Lots of fresh snow in the last week has been well compacted but +3C and raining meant the track was pretty slow. Quite happy though to be skiing on snow again. Cooler te. . .
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Charles Hodgson wrote a new blog post: Skyline -Trail #6 – with a Snowman 2 days, 3 hours ago
I used to look down my nose at no-wax skis. Yesterday I bought a pair. Today I tried them out.
The heavy wet conditions are messy to wax for and the no-wax was a breeze. No backslip at all, though the forward glide wasn’t exactly rocket-powered.
Skyline had been skied since the last snow and the human [...]
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cbh-flickr-posting wrote a new blog post: Misty Mountain Hop! 2 days, 4 hours ago
Misty Mountain Hop!, originally uploaded by jplavigne (Pearlarthur).
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cbh-flickr-posting wrote a new blog post: Les Chutes de Luskville. 2 days, 4 hours ago
Les Chutes de Luskville. , originally uploaded by jplavigne (Pearlarthur).
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cbh-flickr-posting wrote a new blog post: Vive l’hiver 2 days, 4 hours ago
Vive l’hiver, originally uploaded by jplavigne (Pearlarthur).
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Charles Hodgson wrote a new blog post: Ottawa Citizen on Trail #74 2 days, 12 hours ago
Kathryn Young asks Janice Kennedy (both of the Citizen) about her day spent in Gatineau Park
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rss-feed wrote a new blog post: 2010-02-26 by Craig Storey from P5 [Penguin] 2 days, 18 hours ago
Wow, lots of snow out there. That storm makes up for the winter drought and really improves the Spring skiing outlook. Actually it was Spring out there today: +2C at 2pm, bright sun and soft tracks initially. It was still faster than earlier repor. . .
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rss-feed wrote a new blog post: 2010-02-26 by Jo-Ann Holden from P10 [Fortune] 2 days, 21 hours ago
A rare day! The skating was so much better than anticipated. Ridge and the parkways had been groomed earlier in the day and were not too slow considering the warm temperatures. When the groomer passed again on Ridge Road around 1:30 the skating be. . .
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Marc Charron wrote on their own wire: 2 days, 21 hours ago
is hoping to see a new collaboration initiative become a reality in the Gatineau Park.
February 28th, 2010 - 12:16
You can make waxless skis faster by using liquid glider, e.g. Swix Easyglide or F4. Also, clean your skis after each use, as you will pick up other people’s sticky wax, klister.