Ski season this year was short but sweet. In January and February we spent a lot of time on the golf course and on the Wesley Clover trails. As soon as we were able to go to Gatineau, we headed there.

Our first trip had a few exciting stops. We started from P7 and got the first very climby kilometre out of the way. Starting the trip with a steep climb did not make me the favourite mom at that moment, but as soon as we got to the first lookout, the mood changed.

Following a hilarious bit where Owen fell off the groomed trail into deep fluffy snow and then I fell in too trying to get him out, we made it to our picturesque lunch spot by the Shilly Shally cabin.

Followed by cookies and bird watching at Huron

The day was beautiful and in the spirit of exploring new places, we made it to the Champlain lookout. Yes, yes, not a new place for me but the boys have never been.

I had completely forgotten where the faux ruins were when the boys saw them by the trail and had to take a closer look.

The next two outings were a bit more challenging. We picked a Pink lake loop from Asticou, up the Parkway well past Pink Lake and then back down the Pink Lake trail through the forest.

A day when snowman is easy to make is not usually a good day for skiing. On the way up the Parkway I had the worst clumps on my skis. I had to get out of the tracks because it felt like I was walking on stilts and I was making huge holes in the trail. The conditions improved after our snowman making stop at the Pink Lake lookout. On the way through the forest path Owen slipped and fell on the first serious downhill. He did not get injured but he was banged up and uncomfortable making his ski skills regress to last year’s level. He managed to rescue the day by “slipping” off the trail and into deep fluffy snow about 50 meters from the parking lot. Hilarity ensued.

The last big trip was the most challenging. I will not go back to McKinstry for at least another year or two. It is serious climbing and the day was chillier than I expected.

The saving grace of the trip was that one of the boys is stronger on the uphill and the other on the downhill. As I hang back with the kid that is behind, I got a lot of one on one time with each.

The winter was mild and ended much sooner than I was ready. We attempted one more ski with the whole family but it was a comedy of errors (I did not pack my poles, we missed the parking lot and ended up on a different trail, the trail we went to was not groomed due to this year’s different parking configuration, the trail we ended up on was icy and full of debris…). We called it a season after a few kilometres.

We had a little awards ceremony to recognize the fun we’ve had on skis this year. Trevor took away the “Best overall time” and Owen earned the “Most Valuable Player”.