club bulletin - the Gatineau Valley Historical Society

SKI TOURING
by Murray Anderson
Writing a report on last year's touring
program in the balmy weather of fall
1968 is a study in contrasts. That is quite
appropriate for last winter was full of
contrasts- mild and cold, thaws and rain
followed by an inadvertent flicking of the
switches marked ·Powder and Sun. Early
and late season trips didn't get off the
ground. Midwinter provided some very
fine trips, particularly in the area just
beyond the western fringes of the mapped
trail system. Here are fine trails like
Lydia's, the Beaver, Wolf and others.
Some trips might be singled out as
more memorable .than others but to do so
would be a bit unfair to those leaders who
met with more difficult conditions. We
owe a debt of gratitude for general good
leadership all round, and most of all to
those who ran into adverse weather.
Participation ranged from five to seventeen,'
much the same as in previous years.
The OSC, incidentally, supplies less tourers
than the other sponsoring bodies, the Al­
pine Club of Canada and the Canadian
Nordic Society. The country covered by
the tours is much more varied than that
within the trail system, and almost no one
is using it. Good snow conditions at the
start of the season would likely help to get
potential tourers out.
The Adirondack trip in March was, at
a half dozen, underpatronized, but much
enjoyed by those who went. This was the
smallest party in five years. The weather
was mild, producing good camping in the
log leanto shelters provided by the New
York State Conservation people. There was
some sticky snow at low levels with deep
powder on the higher, steeper parts of
Wright Peak. On the second day the party
skied up and down Mount Marcy. Although
the terrain is ·quite steep, on this
trip those skiing on wax moved faster and
more easily than those using climbing skis.
In summary, last winter's trips reflect­
ed the varied conditions, but could have
catered to more people.
Local trips are scheduled on Sundays
throughout the skiing season. The leader
of each trip will handle organization de­
tails for his trip. Please telephone him
during the preceding week (preferably between
7:00 and 9:00 in the evening) for
information on starting time and place.
Transportation may be arranged if necessary.
1968-69 Schedule of Trips
Please save it
Dec. 22 * Route Depends on Snow
Murray Anderson, 232-0198
29 * Route Depends on Snow
Murray Anderson, 232-0198
Jan. 5 ** Luskville Area
Peter Brogden, 828-2282
12 ** Meach Lake Country
Ingrid Hart, 827-0858
19 * * Lac Philippe
Ted Whalley, 746-0297
26 ** West from McClosky's
Murray Hunter, 746-1171
Feb. 2 ** Wakefield
Doug Martin, 746-0216
9 * * Harrington Lake
Jim Bennett, 234-9108
16 * * * La Corniche
Roman Grabowski, 733-5338
The remainder of the season will be de­
tailed in the next issue of the Bulletin.
The trips are marked as easy (*),
average (**), or more difficult than average
(***) in order to give some idea of
ability required. Generally speaking, trips
range from about 9 to 20 miles. The terrain
to be covered also influences the
grading of the trip. Snow conditions are
not taken into account.
(Suite de la page 8)
Ia descente, le slalom et le saut. Le combine
est une combinaison de la descente et
du slalom.
Pour terminer ajoutons qu'un vrai skieur
ne parle pas du haut et du bas d'une pente,
mais de l'amont et de l'aval (en amont, en
aval). On dit une station de ski et non un
centre de ski.
Nous ne pretendons pas avoir presente
un vocabulaire exhaustif du ski, mais avec
ce qui precede on devrait possooer !'essentiel.
(Continued from page 13)
opening lodges, lighting fires, tidying up
and making their fellow skiers welcome.
The Trail Riders this year prepared and
hosted the Annual Trail Skiers' Supper on
April 6th serving a Buffet to 125 members
and competing with the Liberal leadership
convention at the same time.
Last winter many of our club members
found out ·for the first time the extent of
our trail system, and the fun of either
packing a lunch or cooking a steak and eating
it in one of our trail lodges. There
was increased use of the trails and trail
lodges on the weekends and the trails
were also skied by many of our members
during the week.