Pre-Loppet Info: The Nakkerloppet is a point-to-point event that takes place between Nakkertok North and Nakkertok South, a distance of about 25km, in Cantley, Quebec. Historically, it was run as a race, but now, unfolds more as a vigorous, somewhat backcountry ski. My story of the 2008 Nakkerloppet started during the week prior to the event when I received a mass email from Karl and Megan of XCOttawa fame inviting friends to join them at the Nakkerloppet. Now, Megan and Karl are very talented and speedy skiers, so I guess this email prompted a few replies with some questions about exactly what would be happening at the Nakkerloppet. This prompted a second email from Karl clarifying the fact that the Nakkerloppet “is NOT a race, and we will not be turning it into one”, that the trail “is something special”, and that “you won’t regret it”. But what really grabbed my attention was his comment that “FUN is in order”. Yes, fun in capital letters!!! Interestingly, I was the only email recipient to sign on, making me think I’m either way too gullible or slightly crazy. Time will only tell which option is true.

Under the advisement of those who know better, I waxed up my second best pair of classic skis and made my way to Nakkertok to catch the bus to Nakkertok North. Things turned a little nostalgic as Megan secured the back seats of the bus for us. Given how bumpy the roads are in , the bus ride brought back fond memories of high school and started to make me wonder why riding in the back of the bus was ever thought to be cool. Regardless, the bus ride provided good conversation and a slightly nauseous feeling, already proving that the Nakkerloppet was a fun time.

A Trail to Behold..

The area had received a significant snowfall on Friday night and attempts had been made to groom the trail on Saturday. However, on the way from the finish to the start, the snowmobile was waylaided (by a tree stump), resulting in only the second half of the trail being groomed and the first half being skied in. Imagine 200 people skiing on a soft, non-packed, one track ski trail – like those lonely ski tracks you may see across farmers fields or in parks – and you may get a small idea of what we were up against.

Given this was a point-to-point event, I can’t say that it was uphill both ways, but it certainly gave the impression that it would have been if we had gone there and back. There was a lot of climbing with narrow sections leading to a new herring-bone/side-step hybrid technique. There was also a lot of descending with sharp corners and large moguls, one of which launched me into mid-air. I landed the jump, but as many of you know, I take downhills very gingerly so this should give you some idea of the difficulty of the descents. I could also tell that the downhills were tricky because for the first time in many, many years of skiing, I came down a hill yelling: “Can’t stop! Can’t stop!” in my efforts not to run into the skiers who had fallen in front of me. Well, I didn’t run into them, but I did end up in a snowbank with my pole getting almost permanently stuck in the snow. Luckily, Megan was able to extract my pole, but not without a lot of digging. This pile-up isolated Megan, fellow skier John Lewis, and me from the others and we skiied the rest of the way as a pack of three. This was not; however, the only encounter with a snowbank as all three of us went through a rough patch for a few kilometres were we spent some quality time in the snow. We recovered, eventually passed most of the kids, and finished up with a great appreciation of the groomed section that constituted the last half of the course.

Final Synopsis?

The trail was definitely something else: winding through beautiful snow covered evergreen forests, across frozen tree-filled swamps, and over rolling yet technical hills. Luckily, I came away with all equipment intact (although not necessarily from lack of opportunity for breakage) and with a slightly sore ankle from my initial tumble. The day was capped off with some hot chocolate and food at the finish and some good eats at the Siam Kitchen for dinner. Was the guarantee of fun fulfilled? Definitely, with some help from the beautiful sunny day and the picturesque setting. Again: I wish I had taken more pictures, but I was too busy concentrating on staying upright. Check out pictures from the XCOttawa Nakkerloppet report to get a gist of the trail.