2015 Kanata Nordic Sprint Race (the Pretzel)

Registration for the KN Sprint Race is now opened for registration on zone4 link.  You can find the race notice in English here, en français ici. The date is set for Sunday Feb 22nd. At the YMCA outdoor center on 6th line road, please consult details on the race notice. More

Grooming regularity

Please note that we're trying to groom at The Parks as often as we can (at least 2 times per week) but the club is also still grooming at the Bonnenfant Centre/Sheila McKee Park, since our programs are running there. We're having equipment issues too and when one machine is down our focus has to be on trails for the programs. Check this blog for regular updates. Thanks for understanding! As of Feb 7: @KanataNordic: For Wesley Clover Parks, break out the gators for the fresh powder. The ... More

WCP Trail conditions Tues Feb 3, 2015

We have groomed the Trans Canada Trail east until about 1 km away from Moodie and west across the Watts creek bridge and along the driving range up to the rail underpass. Look for the brand new, clean classic trackset. On the equestrian side, in addition to trails 1 and 3, you will find a groomed warm-up loop, a few trails on the field along the 401 corkstown road and part of trail 2 up to the small and narrow crossing to TCT. All trails in the campground (411 Corkstown Rd) are generally ... More

Gates close at 9pm

To the many keen night-time skiers who might use the trails at The Parks: note that the gates at 401 Corkstown Rd are locked at 9pm. Please make sure your car is out before then. More

Open for business!

The trails at Wesley Clover Parks are now open and awaiting skiers Here's the trail map. Other details on the Trails page. Think this is a great initiative for the club and for the city? Then don't forget to support it  with your donation! More

Support Harris’ ski marathon attempt and our club at the same time!

Racing coach and volunteer extraordinaire Harris Kirby is entered in the Canadian Ski Marathon, Feb 7-8. He'll be doing the Coureur de bois Gold level event, which is 160km of skiing over two days with a sleep-out under the stars overnight. Harris did it last year and your support will encourage him to repeat that achievement! Go to our Indiegogo campaign and sponsor Harris at $0.25/km. That's $40 if he finishes the whole event. And we know he will! He will probably even enjoy it. At the ... More

Trail Conditions

Trails were groomed on Saturday January 24th and are in good condition despite the lack of snow.  Watch for rocks on the trails through the forest.  Tracks are set only along the Trans Canada Trail.  SKI AT YOUR OWN RISK. Reminder that the trails on Wesley Clover Parks are on leased lands and require a visible ski pass. Contact Marlene if you don't have a pass. The trails are not 'officially' open as maps and trail numbers are not yet in place (that should happen next week). NOTE: ... More

January 20 update: Upcoming event

The snow is gradually accumulating and our dedicated trail crew has worked magic with trail preparation at Wesley Clover Parks. While it's not yet ready for the public (no classic tracks set and still finalizing the map and signage to help everyone find their way) there will be a ski-orienteering event hosted by the Ottawa Orienteering Club this Saturday January 24th. Check the OOC website for all the details. And stay tuned for the official opening of these trails in the coming days. More

Making Progress

January 15, 2015: The trails are not ready for skiing yet but we're hoping to groom next week and see if our meagre snowfall is sufficient to open a section. We'll post an update here and on Indiegogo when things are ready. There'll be details about parking, a trail map, etc. at that time. There IS snow in the forecast, so stay tuned! More

Snow!

January 5, 2015. With the snow we've just received skiing at The Parks could happen by next weekend. But please be kind if we show some growing pains there. As we've only had mere weeks to create this new trail network much still has to be learned and fall into place. For example, we're figuring out how best to groom it all -- a much trickier process than most realize! Plus the width of most trails requires many passes of our grooming equipment so many hours by our volunteer groomers, ... More

January 2 update

From Mike Duivenvoorden: Lack of snow has been a blessing of sorts -- we had another trails maintenance day today and made some excellent progress thanks to a couple of new faces and some repeats.  There are a few other things that can be done but we have long surpassed our goals for this Phase 1. We have an incredible 15 plus km of groomable trails; most are wider than what can be found at the Y.  Roughly speaking: 3 to 4 km require very little snow approximately 5 km of trail ... More