By Keith and Heather Nicol
With all the recent storms that have hammered Vancouver Island, this has meant that the snow has been piling up at Mt Washington Ski Resort in the Comox Valley. This has meant that the cross country ski trails in Strathcona Provincial Park are now open. This opens up lots of very popular beginner and intermediate ski trails which wind through Paradise Meadows and adjacent terrain. The open forest means that there is lots of sun on these trails and since it is early January here is my suggestion for those wanting to stay in the sun. (Although many of these trails are loops the south side of the loop is often in the shade at this time of year.) After entering the Ponds trail take the north side of Paradise Meadows and the north side of Jackrabbit trail.
The north loop of the trails get the sun
The junction of Far East and Jackrabbit makes a convenient turn around for your return ski tour. This will keep you mostly in the sun give you a good workout at the same time. Another bonus of skiing the trails in this direction is that it avoids a hill on the Paradise Meadows trail that might intimidate weaker skiers. We have found that with all the fresh snow classic skiing has been the technique of choice since skating is more challenging in softer, fresh snow. So if you are looking for a great covid 19 activity, then have a look at cross country skiing. It exercises all muscle groups and it is easy to stay socially distanced on the ski trails. Here is a link to one of my cross country ski instructional videos that reviews some basic skills for classic skiing - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfZnCX92c9I&feature=youtu.be See you on the trails.
Classic skiing has been great
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