The Fun of Varying Your Workouts
By:  Zoe Braul   (2007/12/15)

On Saturday, the XC Ottawa rookies and two Carleton skiers decided to try out a `medium-epic` ski, inspired by Ed’s Workout of the Week article. We figured that since we were definitely not up for an `epic 7 hour slog`, 3 hours would put us in the near-epic category. We started off from P10 and cut off onto Trail 3 from the parkway. At first I thought 3 hours would feel like forever, but time flew. It may have been because of the beautiful weather, but more likely because of the great company. It also helped that the trails were always exciting. As we skied farther and farther away from the main parkway, the number of people we came across lessened. I also noticed that the trees were constantly changing. I wish I had a camera!

On Wednesday, four of us went skiing at Mooney’s Bay. It was pretty cool skiing in the middle of Ottawa, with city buildings in view. On the mini mountain (or hill), we tried telemarking down.   At the base of the hill it looked like someone had built some jumps. Doing tricks are a good way to get comfortable on your skis…just be sure to use old ones! Since Ottawa has received so much snow recently, it was really deep and the groomer was unable to pack it down hard.

Skiing in Ottawa is pretty unique. You have the option to ski in the city or in nature. Most people would prefer the beauty of Gatineau Park to Mooney’s Bay, but it never hurts to spice up your training once in a while.