Feb 24 Sunday beginner friendly trip

A couple of us visited Renaud cabin last Saturday. It's a nice place even though it's a bit small for a big crowd. The trail to the cabin is on a road so it's quite gentle. There is a snowmobile trail right next to the classic tracks and snowshoers are allowed on it.

So this trip will be quite inclusive -- beginners, kids and snowshoers are all welcome. For the more adventurous ones, there are many options. #51 and then #55 to Renaud cabin via Taylor lake would be a good option. Or you can go visit Lusk cabin via #54 and come back to Renaud cabin.

I was planning to leave the city at around 10:30 but Wesley has a hockey practice that ends at 10:50am. I figure we should car pool and leave in batches around 11am. We should arrive at P19 before 12pm and have a late lunch at the cabin. The distance between P19 and Renaud cabin is 3kms.

Bring a lunch and enough water.

Day pass is $14 for adults. Kids 12 and under are free.

P19 is at 45.624483, -76.010456 or +45° 37' 28.14", -76° 0' 37.64.

greenbelt P2 trail #10 and Ottawa river

Junfeng and I went to ski on trail #10 this afternoon. First 500 meters  have no track at all because of  the construction work last week to flatten two sections of  the  trail . I guess the seniors must be complaining about the recent icy condition. The track was really  fast,  I don't recommend it until a major snow fall.  I found the Ottawa River is more enjoyable to do classical and skating.

Nepean Sailing club

p17 lac philippe loop

P17, 52, 51 loop. Nice day, fast track , great company with Jack, XY and Michael

Feb. 17: Little note on another trip to Mooney's Bay

As Jack mentioned, it was COLD cold there. It hardly haappens, but this time my habit of buying gimmick paid off: the face protector I bought was a life saver.

Anything has two sides: it was quiet and there were hardly anyone else there. So Jean and I virtually had two slopes by ourselves so we did lots of practicing on braking, steering. And Jack also owned that whole tobogganing hill skating.

Too bad Grace's schedule didn't fit ours and she was on her way there when we left, second time in two days. Any story to share, Grace?

Salute to our heros who conquered 24 K yesterday!

Wakefield Triangle

Yang, Michael, XY and I left P17 in Wakefield at 11:15am. We planned to do the triangle clock-wise so we  tackled the blue trail (#52) first. There were quite a few stretches of long uphill climbs and they were definitely tough on us, especially since we didn't have a chance to warm up. Half way through, the trail started to go downhill more and it was fun. We reached the intersection of #50 and #52 after a few woo-hoos.

Trail #50 is wide and gentle except that the classic tracks were only on one side, probably due to the skiing race. We got to Lac Phillippe shortly and soaked in the view. After that, we pasted a few familiar places: beaches, yurts and cabins and reached Renaud Cabin for lunch at 2pm. The cabin was nice and warm but filled with people. We shared a table with some fellow skiers and had a nice lunch.

We had about 9kms left, from Renaud Cabin to P17 via P19. The tracks were in excellent conditions. I liked the trails in the woods (#51 and #53) better than #50, which has long gentle climbs. The climbs on #51 and #53 are usually steeper but shorter, followed by a downhill stretch. Very fun and you couldn't help but yell "yay!" on your way down.

We got to P17 shortly after 4pm. The sun was still high up and shiny. Yang and I didn't bring enough water with us. We were not terribly thirsty but thought a beer would hit the spot. And that's exactly how we ended our fabulous day of skiing.



Can you tell what's happening in this picture?

Wakefield Skiing

XC Long Trip Weekend

With recent snow and more trails getting into shape, I am planning a relatively longer xc trip for this weekend. This weekend is also the weekend of Gatineau Loppet so the regular spots will be busy. The plan so is to start at P17 in Wakefield and then ski #53 and #51 to P19. Continue on #50 along Lac Philippe. We'll pass Des Pine and Wanakiwin cabins and might be able to have lunch there. I will have to find out if they are open for day users. If not, we'll have lunch at either Renaud or Herridge cabin. The last stretch of trail, #52, is rated blue but with no warning signs so it shouldn't be too steep.

Total distance is about 20.5km (3.9+2.1+2.5+5+7) by my estimate. If we have to go to Herridge for lunch, add 5km.

#50 along Lac Philippe is part of the race course so we may have to yield to the racers.

P8-P9 is not part of the race course so anybody who wants to practice can go there as usual.

More pictures from Grace.

Feb. 10 Stony Swamp Trail 26

Finally we could say we had left no regret for not taking advantage of this perfect snow storm dumped on us last week: we did quite some skiing in the past two days!

We thought the other side of the river is always whiter but it seems that the difference is much smaller if you get 25cm or you get only 5. So we decided to do things on Ontario side this time: skiing in the Greenbelt.

More importantly, this is the first time for majority of us to get into the woods! Sounds like leaving home to head to your first year in university, yeah? One said we were a 敢死队：）

Yes the snow is good, "dry powder" like I was taught.

We headed there with 6 girls and a 党代表。A good one indeed. He took over the coaching job and selflessly shared his skiing experience done years ago in Norway, the place where a kid would learn how to ski before he/she starts learning how to walk.

Will definitely go back there.

P8-P9 With Yang, Wesley and SJ

Yang and I planned to practice skate skiing on doldrums. It was, however, very difficult since the groomer didn't compact the trail hard enough. Someone mentioned that the bigger groomer broke down and was not in service. Yang and I opted to skate on the snowmobile trail outside the classic tracks. It was compact and pleasant but we had to pull over once in a while to let skiers coming from the opposite direction pass.

The classic tracks were in fabulous conditions. Wesley and SJ enjoyed the soft snow probably more than we did. It was probably a perfect day to explore the back country on touring skis.

Wesley posing for a picture with Yang in the background:

SJ going uphill:

Wesley breaking his own tracks:

Lac Deschenes on skates Sunday

This is the largest skating rink I ever skated. First I tried skate skis rented on Saturday, there wasn't enough snow for it,   switched on hockey skates, it worked really well. The intended destination was Aylmer Island,  The ice fault near Shirley's bay made me gave up the idea, instead I skated along the fault and reached Aylmer marina.

too less snow for skate skis

Nortel Lab 5 at the background

feel strange to see a Christmas tree in the middle of the river

My track

Powered parachute

A bad fall

two miles long ice faults,  looks too dangerous to cross

blue ice at the fault

ice finishing hut in Aylmer

hockey rink in on Ottawa side

Canal skating with Jack and kids, Jan 26 2013

Two weeks ago on the canal

what are these ?

Feb 9 Saturday

I plan to skate up Fortune parkway to Huron or Western from P9 at 11am on Feb 9. If you'd like to join me, let me know. If we do get some snow tomorrow, the conditions will be very good. We could use Keogan or Shilly Shally instead if you think Huron or Western is too far.


Testing a Vimeo video:
p16 yang descent.mp4 from Jack Wang on Vimeo.

P8-P9 With Charlene and Tina

The modern grooming machines can really make wonders. It's icy everywhere I walked but the cross country skiing trails were groomed into skiable surfaces. The ice had been crushed into sugary powder and such was the condition between P8-P9.

I skated while Charlene and Tina did classic skiing. The stretch between P8-P9 is also called the doldrums, meaning boring but it's perfect for beginners with gentle slopes to practice downhill skills.