Do you cross-country ski? Thank this Norwegian who lived to 111
Herman 'Jackrabbit' Smith-Johannsen popularized cross-country skiing in Canada
#xcskiing
Gatineau Park Ski Report
Last Updated February 29th, 2024 at 12:00 pm
Note
Due to the warm temperature, we had yesterday and the temperature below zero we had last night. Ungroomed trails are closed as they are icy and unsafe. However, groomed trails are not recommended. Be cautious, the base is hard and icy mostly on hills. Leaves, debris and ice can be found on the trails. The ground may also be exposed in certain areas.
#Ottawa #weather and not #skiing
- Observed at: Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier Int'l Airport
- Date: 11:00 AM EST Wednesday 28 February 2024
- Condition: Light Rain
- Pressure: 99.2 kPa, Tendency: Falling
- Temperature: 11.1°C
- Dew point: 9.2°C
- Humidity: 88%
- Wind: SSE 13 km/h
- Visibility: 24 km
Last Updated
February 28th, 2024 at 8:30 pm
Note
Maintenance work have been interrupted because of the rain and warm weather. They will resume when the air temperature drops below 0°C.
Speaking of #xcskiing, this was not impressive. I know we have to live with our #skiing interrupted by #ski races like the #Gatineau Loppet this weekend, but I would prefer to see the race be less disruptive to other people and make less of a mess of the environment. WE are there to emjopy the beauty of the outdoors and this makes a bad impression. This was a refreshment stop for the racers, with hundreds of cups just thrown all over the place.
Brings to mind what Lao Tzu said: "Running and racing maddens men's minds".
Today's #ski was an "epic adventure" for which @Kathryn Barr gets credit for both the general concept, distance and the route, as well as the choice of starting point. Every now and then she likes to push what we can do!
I should note that we generally ski distances of 7-10 km most of the time, but K wanted to do a huge trip of 21 km and today was the perfect day, as it reached about -5°C and the windchills were about -13 or so, making it easy skiing with no risk of things melting. We also had 2 cm of freash snow, plus brilliant sunshine and not a cloud seen all day long.
The route in #Gatineau #Park was a huge square from parking lot P8 to P9 on the Gatineau Parkway, the past P10 and then the 1000 foot vertical climb over 4 km to the intersection of the Champlain Parkway for a very short break on a bench. From there we started down the escarpment on the Champlain Parkway to the intersection with the Gatineau Parkway, past P5 and back to P8. Total distance was 21.1 km.
This earned us each an ice cream break on the way home. One advantage of ice cream cones at -7°C is that they don't melt!