@Kathryn Barr and I went up to #Gatineau #Park today to go #skiing and we did #ski 8 km from P5 to up the Champlain Parkway, but conditions were difficult. We had about 10 cm of new snow, which was great, plus there was still snow falling, too. The temperature was just below freezing and the temperature-dewpoint spread was only two degrees, so it was warm and humid, too. We both had periods when the skiing went fine with good kick and glide using Violet Special wax, but we had periods where our skis would ice up, with snow packing hard to the skis and actual globs of ice stuck to the skis as well. This required stopping, taking our skis off and scraping them, or else it was not possible to ski at all. At some points we had to stop every 100 m or so. I have seen this phenomena once before and it seems to be caused by wet snow falling just under freezing and skiing on it melts it enough to adhere to the ski's wax. One of the photos shows the result. I would be happy not to encounter it again.
