Report by David Inglis
As the world record holder in the x-country one meter (!) event, I was invited to the Olympic winter games now in progress in Sochi. With my Canadian flag wrapped around my shoulders and a suitcase full of poutine (a gift for Russian President Vladimir Putin… putin/poutine… same pronunciation, no?), my gold medal was a simple 43-hour flight away, via Patagonia. I did not get there. My problem? My alarm did not ring. I was also supposed to receive a wake-up call from my coach from the Jamaican bobsled team (it’s a long story) but he was too busy tending to his um, medicinal plants. So I missed my flight and my chance to win my gold medal.
My silver medal option was to join the Beaver Tails for the February 9th destination at L’Esterel, a ski centre we had not been to in some 8 years. For many years this was a popular destination but the hotel/ski centre went bankrupt, closed, was sold, bought, then built into a huge hotel, minus the ski centre. The new ski centre is located on the grounds of the old ski shack, across 
Lac Dupuis. With a year-old log chalet that has that new wood smell, warm washrooms, adjacent waxing hut and $13 ski pass, the new L’Esterel is a x-country ski haven. Within 15 or so minutes after we arrived, a busload of skiers from another club (Ville Marie) arrived. Kudos to our club for our 8:00 am “Dorval departure,” being the first to arrive has its benefits. Check out the photo of the grooming machine, a sleek sand dune like buggy on caterpillar treads. I think I will buy one myself just for beer runs.
The morning temperature was -15°C, warming to -8°C at the end of the day. Fart du jour? Blue. I applied my usual four layers the night before and touched up my glide zones with my skate ski wax CH6, rated -6°C to -12°C. This hot wax application (then scrape, brush and polish) combined with the grip offered superior grip and glide skiing. The snow conditions were dry and the trails well defined and snow compacted.
With that, the 17 Beaver Tails in attendance split into speed and distance groups and off we skied. Ray D, Mickey Z, Glen C, Dennis M and myself decided to ski the trail number 10, over to 
the 6, back on the 10, over to the 12 then 13, a 10-kilometer distance, then repeat. The 13 diamond I consider more of an intermediate trail. With good climbs and long descents, it’s the best trail worth doing by far. Near the end, it follows a golf course with a challenging downhill. The route then crosses Lac Dupuis with the new expanded hotel in the distance.
With a quick snack break (fresh fish caught moments before in the lake, ski poles make for good ice-chiseling fishing spears) at the Accueil, off we skied the same route again. I love taking the downhills fast when I know the course — racing downhill when not knowing the course is not wise. The beauty of doing a trail twice is knowing the course… then no brakes required and our speeds on the second loop were considerably faster.
My Garmin Forerunner watch supplied the basic stats:
• Distance: 20.38 kms
• Time: 2:48
• Moving time: 2:0
• Avg speed: 7.3 km/h
• Avg moving speed 10.1 km/h
• Max speed: 27.6 km/h
The elevation gain was 428 m with a maximum of 383 m compared to last weekend’s Parc des Campeurs 417 m elevation gain and 559 m elevation maximum. A 17 km ski at Cap St. Jacques for reference, provides a 53 m (wimpy) elevation gain.
The traffic there and back was light on dry roads and light conditions; I was home by 2:30 pm in front of the TV watching the Sochi games with a beer and a suitcase full of poutine. I left my silver medal in the warm washroom by mistake.
Here is the map with our route highlighted in yellow, please excuse the pocket-folded wrinkles.
