Beaver Tails Nordic Ski Club

37 Skiers at Gatineau
The trip to Ottawa and Gatineau Park was a great success!  Including the skiers who were visiting friends or family in the Ottawa area, we had 37 skiers turn out on the trails of Gatineau.  The weather was great, sunny and -15 C on Sat, and cloudy and a few degrees warmer on Sun.
Most Beaver Tailers (including three canine members of the club) arrived at the hotel during the afternoon and early evening on Fri.  This year, skating on Fri did not pan out.  A section of the Rideau Canal had been opened for skating for the first time this year just a few days earlier, but that section did not extend to the part close to the hotel, so few people if any went skating that day. On Fri evening, many of the participants walked from the hotel to the neighbouring Byward Market for dinner at one of the many pubs and restaurants.
The next morning, we feasted at the sumptuous breakfast buffet while discussing where to ski.  The thing about Gatineau Park is that the trails are spread out over a large area and there are several starting points where one can park.  Getting consensus took a while, but this year most people decided to leave the hotel at 9 am and met at P2, which is one of the few starting points with a centre d’accueil.  The trails had been nicely groomed to mitigate the effects of the rain earlier in the week, and the descents were controllable, although a bit fast at times.  After a good half-day skiing, about 20 tired skiers met for drinks and food at the Chelsea Pub.  A couple of us got back to the hotel in time for a dip in the hot tub and then for a skate on the canal, which had that day been opened for skating on the part near the hotel.  It is always impressive to see hundreds of people all skating over such a large area!  Although we were tempted to live up to the name of our club and skate up to one of the kiosks offering a deep-fried piece of flat dough, we resisted and returned to the hotel for dinner.  Another elaborate and raucous affair, the meal was perfect cap-off to a very full day.
The next morning, after another large breakfast (unless you really had willpower!), most people went out for another morning of skiing at the park.  Again, we spread out to a variety of start points and trails.  For example, there were 7 of us who started at P11 and skied an out and back route to the Herridge Shelter,  for a total of 20 km.
If the weekend was a great success, it was thanks to the hard work of our organizers, Cheryl W and Helene C.  Many thanks, girls!
There is no shortage of photos from the weekend posted on the web site.  Be sure to check them out!