Report by Dave Inglis
To ski or not to ski? That always is the question that plagues our beautiful activity of x-country skiing in reference to unpredictable weather. Early January was horrible with too much rain and subsequent icy trail conditions. Then we were swamped by the (insert vogue expression here) “polar vortex.” The Sunday, February 2nd Beaver Tails destination was Parc des Campeurs in Saint Agathe, enjoyed by 13 members. Some days, the weather is perfect.
However, the weather on Saturday night into Sunday forecasted 10 cm of snow with a rain mix. I am not a fan of driving anywhere to ski in bad road conditions with my white knuckles gripped on the steering wheel, so drinking an extra beer or two Saturday night while watching Star Trek became a pleasant activity, thinking I would not join the Beaver Tails for the ski.
Enter guilt. Imagine waking up Sunday thinking the conditions are unfavourable for skiing only to discover they are perfect. I must ski! Panicked, I ate a quick breakfast, gulped coffee, gathered ski equipment, clothing, checked outdoor temperature, gulped more coffee… gawd I hate rushed mornings! I always assemble my ski stuff the night before but I had to prepare quick. No time for my EPO, a blood transfusion, or pop a testosterone pill, and um, oh sorry… I am reading too many books on drug use in Tour de France cycling. For my secret skiing “go juice,” I mixed my 600 ml bottle with one strawberry flavoured Ensure and chocolate milk, rocket fuel guaranteed. Coffee now cold, I had to wax my skis in a hurry.
Waxing with fluctuating near zero temperatures can be a hit or miss endeavour. The morning temperature was three degrees below. I decided on using blue extra (0°C/-7°C), applied in four layers as usual. I do not like nor use softer gooey waxes for above zero temperatures because I use waxless skis. I brought them just in case of warm conditions. Like the Boy Scout, I am always prepared.
Five minutes to 8 am, rush rush… snow off car, load car… and off I went a to enjoy a day of skiing. Life lesson here: better to kick my butt out the door and go than regret not going. The traffic on highways 13 and 15 were minimal and cruising at 100 kms/hr, I arrived just over one hour. The ski destination is a convenient few kilometers off the highway. Like psychics, Beaver Tails have this uncanny habit of arriving at the destination parking lot at the same time. First, I saw El Presidenté Tom in the parking lot then Mickey, Sharon, Ray D, John, Robert, Sue-Anne, Cheryl, Helene, Glenn, Ken, Luba and myself tallied a lucky 13.
The facilities at Parc des Campeurs are excellent. They have an open reception and restaurant area, washrooms and a fart facility (I mean, waxing facility), 48 kms of groomed ski trails, 12 kms of snowshoe trails and with the inexpensive $13 ski pass, it’s Beaver Tail bliss!
The snow conditions were perfect beyond perfection. The same amount of snow, 10 cm fell in the West Island region as in Saint Agathe, the difference was the humidity level. While brushing off the snow upon leaving, I noticed the snow was moist, yet at the ski center it was incredibly soft and dry, perfect for skiing. The day was overcast, temperature -2 degrees and the trails well tracked.
We split into two groups, 10 in mine and three in the other. With the mandatory start pictures and grip wax test (slam ski into the track, check for grip stick), all was well so off we went. The plan was to ski the perimeter trails, consisting of easy, difficult and very difficult options winding around lakes and over rolling hills. The Stonehaven was our warm-up and after just 3 kms, I felt like had done 10 kms because as I discovered soon, there is no such thing in the parc as flat terrain. With undulating rollers, steep climbs and fast long winding descents, my “go juice” came in handy. Climbing the Oblats was like climbing Whiteface on a bicycle, long and steep. The
descent was poetic: long, winding and turns carved through the fresh snow made for fast and controlled descents. The Grignon continued through the pine and deciduous old forests. I swear we were the only skiers in the parc or some how we took a wrong turn and ended up in the Siberian gulag because we were all alone surrounded by winter bliss.
A must do trail is the Mt. Ste-Agathe, an enduring aerobic 1 km climb to the mountain top where the view so spectacular, on a clear day one can see Africa, really! The bonus of a long steady 
climb is the 1 km descent… fast, straight, no brakes required. Cheryl had the unfashionable but effective solution to long descents: she carried a light shell jacket and wore it backward to windshield the cold off her torso. It worked. Phoning the fashion police was another option.
All trails met at well-indicated junction points and I did not have to consult the map. We continued on the Cohen (climb up, fast down, climb up, fast down…) and at the Deux-Lacs / Sommet junction, Mickey and I opted for the black diamond Sommet trail while the rest took the undulating Deux-Lacs, both the same distance, to the ski centre. How fast can one descend before loosing control of speed? On the Sommet, this is possible. The solution is to execute the “snownema” maneuver. I recommend using this braking technique to avoid a crash by simply sitting down, using your butt for a brake; it’s like receiving a snow enema. This I had to do twice with success and note here: avoid this trail in icy conditions where the butt brake technique will not work.
My Garmin Forerunner 110 watch connected to GPS satellites far up in space, provided the day’s basic statistics:
• Distance: 18.37 kms
• Elapsed time: 2:58
• Moving time: 1:57
• Maximum speed: 31.1 kms/hr
• Average moving speed: 9.4 kms/hr
• Calories: 1,641 C (not including shoveling my driveway)
The traffic driving back was light and I arrived home at 2:30 pm and burned more calories shoveling my driveway, the snow still noticeably moist compared to Ste- Agathe’s. By the by, the day also was Groundhog Day. The rodents saw their shadow and predicted six more weeks of winter! To ski or not to ski? Given the Beaver Tail day at Parc des Camperus, the answer is simple.
Here is the map, a GPS overlay (light red trail line) onto the Parc des Campeurs map, a rough Photoshop combination but hey, I’d rather spend the time on skis.