The Art of Maintaining Gatineau Park’s ski trail network

Did you know that Gatineau Park is internationally recognized for the quality of its ski trails? Maintaining an over-200-km ski network is truly an art form. Our maintenance team members have become experts over the years.

The maintenance team has a combined total of 40 years of experience! Their instincts, know-how and experience help them make good grooming decisions.

Let’s dive into their work.

Step 1: Laying the foundations for a good season

Before the groomers can manage the trails, the maintenance team must create the base by compacting snow. For this reason, every snowfall is an opportunity and a treasure that they work hard to preserve.

They fill holes, depressions and ditches, and cover rocks, which are all dangerous for skiers. They also make sure that the snow is not mixed with leaves and other debris, to keep the base firm and avoid rapid thawing at the end of the season. Sometimes, the work takes several weeks.

As early as the first snowfall, it’s important for people to stay on the trails designed for their specific activity. Walking on the ski trails makes the surface uneven and hardens the trail base, destroying the hard work that our teams have done.

Step 2: Let the grooming begin!

Early season grooming operations begin on the parkway network. The parkways are paved and have no natural obstacles, so snow accumulates quickly. On the other trails, a thicker snow cover is needed before maintenance can start.

As soon as there is sufficient snow, the wider trails leading to the heart of the network (e.g. trails 1 and 50) become the priority for grooming.

Then, the grooming machines come in and get to work:

• widen the trails;
• set tracks on the full width of the trails; and
• place snow along the trails to use when conditions deteriorate.

When enough trails can be recommended from several starting points in various sectors, the season officially begins. From that point on, a daily or season pass is required to access the cross-country ski trails in Gatineau Park.

Step 3: Picture-perfect tracks

In the middle of the season, when temperatures fluctuate around -15°C, the trail surface remains firm. Traction is excellent, the “corduroy” section in the middle of the trail, which is for skate skiing, is perfect, and the tracks for classic cross-country are well set.

Full maintenance on the entire network takes a combined total of about 60 hours of work. Under ideal conditions, grooming operations take about six to eight hours per person. Sometimes, they can take up to 14 hours.

The ski trails are groomed at least three or four times a week, depending on the conditions. Grooming operations usually happen at night or in early morning.

Step 4: Jumping into spring

At the end of the season, even if temperatures remain below zero, the longer days and more intense sun rays cause the surface snow to melt. Water then enters the base, which creates ice on sunny sections of the trails. This cycle accelerates with rising temperatures and wind.

The optimal conditions for grooming cross-country ski trails: fresh snow and cold (but not too cold) temperatures. But, the truth is, Mother Nature has her own agenda, which doesn't always suit ours. Luckily, our maintenance team is highly skilled in working with snow.

Here are the factors we consider before grooming: 

Factor #1: What is the snow like?

Fresh snow creates the best grooming conditions because it’s light and easy to work with. Wet snow is heavy, and dry powder snow tends to blow away; both are harder to work with.

But, the hardest thing to work with? The absence of snow! Yet, even with little to nothing to work with, the maintenance team still manages to create miracles.

Factor #2: What is the temperature like?

Temperatures between -1°C and -15°C are the best for grooming. They help maintain both the snow base and the surface snow quality.

While skiers may still enjoy Gatineau Park on freezing cold days, very cold temperatures (-20°C and below) aren't ideal for grooming. They’re especially challenging early in the season, when the trail base is thin, and cold nights threaten to turn it into ice.

For the perfect grooming conditions, fresh snow and temperatures between -1°C and -15°C are ideal. But the maintenance team can make it work, even when Mother Nature has other plans.

It may look simple, but there is truly an art to making the ski season happen each year in Gatineau Park. Overall, it takes a lot of expertise, patience, and hard work from our team, along with help from Mother Nature — to maintain such a large trail network.

So, next time you come across members of the park’s maintenance team, feel free to say hello. Their top priority is to provide the best trail conditions possible for skiers to enjoy.

Happy skiing!