Backcountry pond skiing

Ottawa had a record snow fall of over 40cm this past week. I was able to go out on Saturday with a friend to ski some of the backcountry trails in Gatineau Park.

We started at parking lot P12 and climbed up via #2, which is likely the steepest groomed trail in GP. Trail conditions are excellent except for some deep footprints left by a hiker. Once we're on top of Gatineau hills, we turned left and took #21, which is rather mellow and fun. It then connected with #28, via which we reached a nice lookout, the Ramparts. The lookout gives us a nice view of Meech Lake down below.

The trails were all well travelled and descent was easy because of soft snow. We wandered on the ponds off #3 for a while but eventually we took #9 to visit Western Cabin. On the way back to the pond area, we met up with another friend and skied #18 and #20 together. After which, we took #21, #33 and #40 back to the parking lot. On the way down, we noticed some moose prints on the groomed trails but unfortunately didn't see any.

I had not skied #33 before and it was rather fun going downhill. My BC 80 skis worked really well with easy control. A lesson I learned before is using small steps to avoid my ski tips getting caught in deep snow. This lesson served well today and probably saved me from a fall or two.