Tuesday, November 24, 2020

越野滑雪安全

 滑雪季节开始了。 我在这里强调一下安全问题。


这个微信群是给大家提供一个交流的场所:一是用来交流滑雪信息,二是大家一起搭伴去滑雪。越野滑雪相对比较安全,但冬天户外运动总是有危险的。大家搭伴出去互相照顾比较安全。但是前提是每个人对自己的安全负责。

如果一起出去,”领队“会尽量照顾大家。你作为个人要配合。 如果你要中途早走的话一定要告诉“领队”。如果活动去滑的地方超过你的水平,你不要参加。

如果你一个人出去滑雪,尽量去人多的地方。如果不能的话,告诉你的家人或朋友你要去的地方和时间。

这个群里有很多人在Mooney‘s Bay晚上练习。如果你是新手的话,尽量参加。一是能认识一些人可以搭伴出去滑,二是我和Ed能知道你大概哪里能去哪里不能去。

Remember you're responsible for your own safety and ski within your own capabilities.




Tuesday, November 17, 2020

Monday, March 9, 2020

Huron Cabin and Beyond

Gatineau Park is a gem for xc skiing with a cluster of cabins in the woods for skiers to stop for a lunch break. They're  however, not very accessible to beginners except maybe Renaud cabin. There is always a tough climb to reach ridge road (also known as trail #1). The same climb can be a dangerous steep long descent.

With that being said, the lure of a cabin stop for lunch and social time is real. Quite a few of us started at P10 and P9 on Sunday March 8 and climbed Fortune parkway. We were lucky that many of us were able to find a parking spot at p10 since it is extremely popular. The connection between P9 and P10 is rated black and is not liked by many.

Fortune climb


I've climbed this stretch of parkway numerous times and it is never easy. The trick is to pace oneself and let body have a chance to warm up. Once we got up to the top, we were rewarded with a beautiful view of Fortune lake. A few skiers were actually skiing on the lake, no doubt taking advantage of a rare cluster skiing opportunity.

I caught up with the group at the intersection of #1 and parkway, which has a bench for people to rest. It's the busiest intersection in the park because ridge road (#1) and Fortune parkway are the two major arteries of the skiing network. It is so important that it's got a name of its own: gossip corner. The park has many unofficial names for routes and features. For example, the steep climb on #1 past Shilly Shally cabin is called Khyber pass, named after the real one in Afghanistan. The stretch between P8 and P9 is called doldrums since it's flat and thus boring. 

Photo credit: Su


We chatted a bit at gossip corner before skiing towards the lookout. Just as we were about take a group picture at the lookout, we were joined by another skier who skied from Camp Fortune. It's always a nice surprise to bump into another skier. I make it a habit of mine to greet skiers I meet on trails. They're my kindred spirits as Anne of Green Gables would say.

We explored different parts of the park after our group picture at Champlain lookout. I skied to the 2nd intersection of #24 and #1 before heading back to Huron cabin for lunch. Other skiers visited Western cabin, braving the steep descent at the bottom. Eventually we all met at Huron cabin where we were joined by two more skiers. 

Photo credit: Jeffrey

After lunch, it took us very little time to get back to P10. Half way down the descent of Fortune parkway, we bumped into another skier working her way up. Bumping into a friend seems to be theme of the day. We exchanged greetings and went our separate ways. For me, it was the end of another fabulous skiing day.









Thursday, March 5, 2020

Sunday March 8 Trip to Huron Cabin

Sunday March 8, 9am

So it's decided we'll ski to Huron cabin for lunch, starting at either p10 or p9 depending on availability. P10 fills up quickly so we likely will have to start at p9, which adds more climbing. Fortune parkway is not steep but long. You have to be able to handle long descent to join this trip.

We'll again have fast and slow group. The fast group will ski past Huron on #1 to as far as want. The slow group will at least visit Champlain Lookout,  Meet at Huron cabin at 12pm for social time. 

Bring tinfoil wrapped lunch to be heated on wood stove, enough water, and possibly sunscreen. March sun could be strong.

Day pass is $20. Bring cash to the attendant.

Let me know if you will join me. 















Refer to this for map and more detailed description:  
http://xcskiing.ca/p10-keogan/


Waiver of responsibility

I acknowledge that, by participating in activities with the xcSkiOttawa group, I may be exposing myself and any minor in my care to some degree of risk. I accept full responsibility for the welfare and safekeeping of myself and any minor in my care on the above activity. I also acknowledge that neither the activity leader(s) nor any of the other participants bear any liability to me or my family for any event or misfortune that might occur during the activity, and absolve the group and its members from any such liability.

Wednesday, March 4, 2020

我的新爱好-越野滑雪 XC skiing

我喜欢技术含量比较大的体育,比如像游泳和羽毛球之类的。但有时候要么受场地或时间的限制,还有就是自我身体条件的限制我也慢慢地放弃了。
很多年前在一个朋友家做客,遇见了一个在渥太华大有名气的越野滑雪爱好者。他的津津有味的乐道,白雪啊, 冰湖啊,日出啊, 朝阳啊, 他的雄辩的调侃却只能让我想起了马拉松。
是啊,XC Skiing 与长距离的马拉松有什么区别啊,一步一个脚印,10公里,20公里 and so on。我会不会无聊得至死。人都快死了,我还会在意眼前的美景吗! 我倒是为他而高兴。只要别人热爱的东西我就会为他们而高兴。至于我吗,只不过又是他一个装着有兴趣的一个听众。是啊,我们有时候真的会误认为别人会一样热爱自己热爱的东西。其实不然。我也是出于礼貌,甚至眼睛都没有离开,盯着他, 听他讲完他滑雪辉煌历史。的确让我感叹。

一个偶然的机会我认识了Jack. 他问我滑雪吗?我记得只回答他我曾买过一付雪具。从他那里我知道还有一种skating skiing. 以后的几天我上了YouTube 视频真正点亮了我的眼睛。后来的事实证明了我这一次是认真的。

我第一次向别人表白自己兴趣的是向我的夫人。但我满腔的热情却迊来了一盆冷水。“梁苏你又是三分钟热度。两天后你就会晒网了!“ 后来的事实证明她错了!
后面的三个星期。我每天从家里要开35分钟的单程去Mooney’s bay练习滑雪,而且几乎天天去。四天路程就是一趟多伦多。我当时答应Jack一起去Gatineau park滑雪. 我说给我三个星期。我一定学会classic skiing. 通过Youtube视频我真的完成了那一次滑雪。而且感觉非常好。虽然羡慕其它小伙伴能够skating skiing. 但我觉得明年我也会会的。也就此我太太再也没说过我”二天晒网"的事情了。所以人只有热爱一样东西他(她)们才会执着。

滑雪和很多冰雪运动都是加拿大得天独厚的运动。这种优越的地理条件是加拿大人冒着刺骨的寒风换来的。忍受着漫长的冬季. 很多人羡慕我们加拿大人能有这么多滑雪圣地,但他们一定也不会愿意用温暖的冬天来换取这里的冰天雪地。所以我觉得上帝是公平的。 既然这样,那么我们为何不尽情享受大自然赐予我们的冬季运动去弥补寒冷的冬天给我们带来的不便。 更客观地说严冬不仅给我们带来了许多冰雪运动的圣地,
同时也给了我们机会锻练我们毅志和韧力。我看了刘凌(Edward)发的北欧滑雪赛事Loppet贴子。对北欧人(Scandinavian))的耐力和顽强所震撼。这也不奇怪。这些北欧小国虽然国土不大
人口不多。但却很难被别国征服。运动员们冲向终点的那-瞬间的喜悦需要一段很长时间的痛苦忍耐。vasaloppet 90公里的距离需要很长时间的痛苦历程才能到达终点。

行程万里始于足下!一切都只能从零开始.滑雪的技能和体能锻炼都是一步一步地练就出来的。有时候真的十分枯燥乏味和无聊寂寞。我想出一个好方法就是用音乐来减轻自己的这种痛苦过程。喜欢这项运动,真的可以喜欢到零下二十几度坚持,Mooney’s bay宽敞的操场有时就剩我一个人孤零零地站在那里。我这时候总会自嘲一下,Ottawa可能没有比我更执着的人了。可后来知道,我傻, 这么冷的天,雪板根本滑不动。

我看过一段视频,那段讲述挪威家住森林边的女孩滑雪的视频,让我真正地感受到了冰天雪地的(splendid)灿烂真的会让人美到窒息。英文不是有一个词叫breadth-taken吗?
这时候我才真的感觉得滑雪不只是在雪地里奔“走”,以前我甚至都不会称之为雪地里奔“跑”,WOW,她简直是在飞翔啊!

( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4lCHCA8pxY)

也可能是年龄的关系。我没有想过有朝一日能参加什么比赛。滑雪只是为了锻炼身体而以。但是我还是想有朝一日能像那个女孩子一样在广阔的白色世界里飞翔。
我的确有时候会多了一点点完美主义的色彩。或许像我这样年龄的人都不该有这种梦想,毕竟正像那个女孩子说的她打会走路起就会滑雪了。
梦想和奇迹从来都是一双孪生兄弟。有时只有那些有梦想的人才会创造奇迹! 或许吧! 一个人肯定一生中会有很多后悔的事情。但在这个世界上你是买不到后悔药吃的。唯一能做到的事情就是加倍去补偿我们己经失去的东西(时间)。

在Mooney’s bay操场上的苦苦操练实际上就是为了能和我的那些群友们一起去山里滑雪。但是一想到爬坡又总会让我却步。而且每每都是一下停车场,面对的就是山坡。当年那些创停车场的人怎么就不可怜可怜我们这些初学者, 把停车场建在高处。因为思想上有了准备。知道我的挑战就是uphill battle,所以使得我的上星期的GP滑雪经历要比想象中的好。所以我们每一个人都要放对自己有个正确的期望值。无论做什么都要。否则等待你的可能就是失望。

每年秋天枫叶泛红的时候我就会有一丝丝的惆怅(Blue)。美丽动人的秋色又在预示着严酷的冬天又离我们不远了。现在已经三月份了,春天离我们不远了,我倒是
对白雪更多了一份留恋。希望在今后的日子里, 让我的skating skiing画上一个满意的句号。
好了,让我用一段音乐来结束吧:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbRjCDXvMj4

Monday, March 2, 2020

Visiting Renaud Cabin

With lots of new snow and a sunny day in the forecast, it was quite easy to round up a very large group of skiers to go visit Renaud cabin. Actually, I was surprised at my own persuasive power and was unsure how to handle such a large group. I planned to divide the whole group into several subgroups and have one or two experienced skiers lead a group. So that was the arrangement we had before leaving P19.

Renaud sort of sits in a central location from which you can go to Taylor Lake, Lusk Lake, or the very end of Philippe Lake. The fast group decided to visit Lusk Lake via #54 and then Taylor Lake while the rest of us aimed to get to Taylor Lake. This way we get to ski together a little at the beginning and when the fast group catches up with the rose-smelling group.

Gatineau Park was really in very good conditions. Snow sitting on tree branches makes trees and the whole park amazingly beautiful. We took out phones often to take pictures and felt lucky to be able to ski in such a wonderland.

Photo credit: 飞


I skied with some new and old friends. Quite a few of them were first time visitors of the park in winter. It was fun watching them applying their skills in an actual cross country setting.  Reminds me of my own learning days.

We reached Taylor Lake, which is even more beautiful than the rest of park. We did again our tourist duty by taking more pictures. The fast group soon caught up with us  and I was told the trail to Lusk cabin was in less pristine conditions but it's also very pretty.

Photo credit: Guoqiang



Shortly after, we reached Renaud cabin to have lunch but it was quite difficult to seat a large group of us. We managed to have seats here and there but were not able to sit together. Regrettably we didn't even have a group photo. I got to know some more new friends and introduced as many people to one another as possible. I always thought the best way to get people to ski is for them to have lots of ski buddies.

Me and one of my buddies. Photo credit: Grace


After lunch we continued our fast group slow group formation. Some skiers skied towards Herridge cabin along Lake Philippe before heading back. Everybody was accounted for at the parking lot and we went our merry way home after a satisfying skiing day.






Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Wakefield Triangle

Wakefield triangle is my term to refer to trail #52, #50, and #53 starting at P17 in Gatineau Park. I normally ski clockwise to avoid skiing steep hills after lunch break. The first stretch from P17 to Renaud Cabin via #52 is about 14km with some fairly steep hills and beautiful scenery.



Five of us started at P17 and worked our way to Renaud Cabin after an hour and forty minutes of hard skiing. We stopped at Lac Philippe to take a few pictures. It's a spot where everybody stops to enjoy the view.


We met up with Ed at Renaud Cabin and ate our lunch while chatting. Renaud cabin is the only one in Gatineau Park that was rebuilt. It's fairly large, able to accommodate lots of skiers. It's also a popular destination since it's easily accessible from P19.  Ed, being a fearless skier, told me he skied counter clockwise and visited Lusk cabin before meeting us.






After lunch, we skied back towards P17 via #50 and #53 after saying hi to some other friends who just arrived. Trail #53 is very pretty with rolling hills. We enjoyed skiing it even though our legs started to complain about anything that remotely resembled a hill. Snow was getting soft too, making it harder to glide. We took a liberal number of water breaks but made it back to the parking lot around 2pm as planned.



Tuesday, February 11, 2020

First backcountry skiing in Frontenac Provincial Park

This winter was the first season for Jack and I started backcountry (BC) skiing.   We both have xc skied in Gatineau for many years, BC skiing becomes our next aspiration in pursuing of winter outdoors.   We jumped into action during Black Friday sale with BC xc ski gear acquisition to prepare for the skiing season.     Being total BC skiing novice, we envisioned progressive BC skiing outings for this skiing season, starting with BC trails in Gatineau park, followed by day trips to Ontario provincial parks such as Frontenac or Algonquin, and moving to a multi day hut-to-hut trip later in the season.  Our first BC skiing in Gatineau park in late January was a blast immediately following a major snow storm.  With forecast for another snow fall just before the weekend, we agreed Saturday Feb. 8 should be our turn to venture into Frontenac provincial park.

Frontenac is a good BC skiing and winter camping destination among Ontario provincial parks, for its network of hiking trails and backcountry campsites, diverse ecosystem and abundant snow (https://www.ontarioparks.com/parksblog/frontenac-snowshoeing-skiing/).  Two other friends would like to join our trip to go ice fishing on one of the lakes in Frontenac.  Jack proposed to go to the northern corner of the park to ski the Tetsmine Lake Loop and Helmlock Lake Loop http://www.ontarioparks.com/pdf/maps/frontenac/Frontenac_Portages-Campsites_2015.pdf where our ice fishing friends could try their luck on one of the lakes stocked with trouts.  In our mind, BC xc skiing in Frontenac would be similar to BC skiing in Gatineau park.  We were into a bit of surprise.
our skiing track over Tetsmine Lake Loop

It was -20C on Saturday morning, one of the colder days in this winter.   Everyone was well prepared for the day trip, layers of clothing, lunch in backpacks, skis, snowshoes and a sled full of ice fishing gears for the aspirational fishing men.
Ready to go

We were a bit surprised to see 5 or 6 other vehicles in the parking lot when we arrived, some of them were blanked with thick show.  Apparently people were overnight camping in this corner of the park.

It was late morning when we started skiing.  A short distance from parking lot, we crossed the Kingsford Dam through which Kingsford Lake flows to  Devil Lake.  In the mid of winter, the lake close to the dam is ice free, a rare dark surface in the whole white world.   It was fascinating to be able see through the lake, waves, pebbles, and whatever lurking in the depth. 
Kingsford Dam
The trail was easy to ski at the beginning, where snow was compressed by campers' snowshoes and sled.  As soon as we reached the Tetsmine Lake Loop trail, we parted with our ice fishing friends who went to the opposite direction towards Moulton Lake.  We would rejoin them later that day on the lake.   We met a couple of campers by the McNally Bay of Kingsford Lake.   Everyone loved to chat about the cold weather, and joked about not telling the true temperature to their wives.  Later when we finished the day, we met a couple with a Border Collie at the parking lot, who were returning to their camp.  The cute dog raised both its front paws to its owner as soon as it got off the car, in an apparent gesture to say it was feeling cold.  I was tempting to bring my large golden retriever to the park with us, but decided it would be too cold for its paws.  The couple proudly told us it was -27C the night before, and -15C even in their heated tent.  Winter campers here truly love and thrive in the Canadian winter.

After meeting the winter campers by the lake, there was no more snowshoes and sled track. We would break our own trails for the most part of the day.   Fortunately the trail is well marked with blue trail markers, and well made wooden signs at every trail junction.   Frontenac ought to be great for hikes during snow free seasons.   Canoeing looks good here with so many lakes interconnected with short portage trails. I would love to return for some canoe camping in Frontenac in early fall.    BC skiing in fresh snow is fun.  On flat sections of the trail,  skiing was serene with powder snow, sunshine and blue sky.  We felt lucky to be in Frontenac in such a beautiful winter day.
delicate snow

fresh track
surprised to see frozen wave!
BC skiing in fresh snow can be challenging.  There are a lot more up and down on the trail.  On some uphill, I struggled to gain a foothold, as the steep and narrow trail doesn't provide easy positioning for the long skis.  Once both of my skis slid backwards, and I inevitably fell.  On some of the downhill, it was another struggle to control the speed and direction so not to hug a tree or fall off the steep side slope.  This was when I wish my skis had spikes.  Fortunately falling in thick fresh snow was safe and fun, except sometime it was time consuming to get back up when my skis and poles got tangled on a steep slope and I had to release the skis and poles, get up, step into the ski, and put on pole straps.   Several times during the day, we had to take off our skis and hike over some steep sections of the trail.  Jack is a better downhill skier, and his downhill skiing skill was put on good use swing through the trees.  Needless to say, we soon realized that Tetsmine Lake Loop trail is more suitable for snowshoeing than skiing,  at least for our novice BC skiers.  We decided we would not have time to do the Helmlock Lake Loop.  The 10-km Tetsmine Lake Loop would be good enough for the day.
negotiating an uphill section

We took a lunch break at a ridge top by Lynch Lake two and half hours into the skiing.  We laid down our 4 skis in parallel as a makeshift bench, sat and enjoyed sandwiches, hot water and sunshine.
lunch spot 

We continued our skiing after lunch, trying to avoid going on the extra Helmlock Lake Loop which we decided to drop off from our day plan.  We spotted another winter tent in this part of the park. Their dog barked at us to alert its owner about us two skiers.  It must have taken them many hours of skiing or snowshoeing to set up tent deep in the park.   An hour and 15 minutes after lunch break, we reached the side trail junction going to Moulton Lake where our friends had been ice fishing for a few hours.

The side trail is narrow and steep at places.  Our ice fishing friends said they struggled to snowshoe to the lake towing a heavy sled, that they had to leave some gears by the trail half way through the side trail.  They returned to retrieve the gear after lunch and regaining strength.   Once reaching the wide open Moulton Lake, we could see friends sitting on the lake fishing.  Our hope for a taste of fresh catch on the grill was dashed quickly.  It wasn't a lucky day for our friends, not a single catch for their many hours of hard work.  We were treated with our friends' hospitality of wood fire on ice, roasted sweet potato, hot water, and a warming tent.
ice fishing
Fire on ice
Time passed by quickly while we enjoyed relaxing time of warmth, hot drink and yummy food.  All of us started to ski or snowshoe back to the parking lot when the sun was getting low on the horizon.   In less than an hour we crossed the Kingsford Dam again.  Standing on the shore of Kingsford Lake, we were rewarded with golden mellow glow of winter sun in later afternoon, marking a wonderful day out in Frontenac. 

final skiing

ending with sunset
Following is a bit of stats of the day.  We were much slower in Frontenac than our BC xc ski in Gatineau park, reflecting the challenging trails for skis.
  • total distance: 11.08 km
  • moving time:   3 hour 11 min
  • average speed: 3.5 km/hour
  • total time: 6 hour 26 min
Overall, our BC skiing outing to Frontenac was a good day.