Backcountry Bender

Today’s adventure had me exploring trails in my backyard of Gainteau Park, via backcountry skiing!

I have never went to Western cabin by BC ski before and I really wanted to challenge myself today to explore more trails north of Camp Fortune. If you ever ever ran trail #9, you would know that this can be a roller coaster of small pitchy hills with lots of rocky spots. What makes this trail fun is that it’s a slow long incline to trail #1 and you know when you return you’ll have a lot of fun in the downhills :).

I started at p7b through the back trails and then worked my way up from the 17 -> 19 -> 34 -> 9 all the way to Western cabin. The terrain was so fluffy and light given the new 10cm of snow we just had. Through some of the trails I even hard first tracks which was really fun!

On the way back I decided to explore some new trails. I took the 20 -> 21 -> Burma (3) -> 9 -> 12 and 11 (The 11 was a lot of climbing!). This loop was a lot of fun as I got to traverse over some ponds and try new trails I have never done before! Lots of happy folks crossing over burma which made it really fun! Burma with no grooming is a BC trail anyways :)

Once I hit Camp Fortune I was pretty tired. I still stuck to my plan in taking the same trails back to the car.

A glorious day to be out in nature. On days like today I feel like backcountry is the type of sport that is best suited for the most fun experience.

Map: Check it out on Gaia

Hydration: Nuun Endurance + caffeine

Food: Strongbars nutrition energy bars

Gear: BC Rossignal skis (Euro-sports Ottawa), merino wool base layer, dry pants and warm jacket.

Experience required: For this duration you want to make sure you have enough water, hydration and snacks. There’s some technical parts on the 9 but the 11 is probably the most advanced trail I’ve been on. Good news is that you aren’t far from the 1 so you can always pop out on there when needed.