Skiing under starlight where no trail existed before SKI PONTIAC OFFERS SPLENDOR AND TRANQUILITY IN BRISTOL, QUE. By Andrea Cranfield
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ut together crisp, white snow under a full moon, a calm evening with black sky pin-pricked by millions of stars. And you’re on skis. Hard to beat? Connie Renaud, the co-founder of Ski Pontiac, thinks so. In 2011, Renaud and Shirley Russell launched Ski Pontiac, an organization that offers about 15 kilometres of groomed trails in Bristol, Que. – about an hour from Ottawa – for cross-country skiers and snowshoers. “I got tired of going out on my own and creating my own trails. That’s hard work,” said Renaud. “That’s what I used to do, and it was OK if it didn’t snow, but if it snowed … it would take me twice as long to make a path with my skis. I’d come home totally exhausted. “Finally one day I said there has to be a better way.” Renaud and Russell applied for a grant and received $10,000 from MRC (municipalité régionale de compté) Pontiac, and Ski Pontiac was born. “A lot has happened in five years,” said Renaud. “We have gained a lot, we have done a lot, probably more than I had ever expected.” The organization survives on donations, grants and hard-working volunteers. Last year, more than five kilometres of trails were cleared. “We spent three
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solid weeks out in the field developing those trails,” said Renaud. “It is a lot of work.” This past fall, volunteers spent about 10 hours putting up signs and more than 30 hours clearing the trails and getting them ready for winter.
Always looking to push forward and develop the organization, Renaud heard about a moonlight ski at another hill three years ago and decided to try the idea at Ski Pontiac. She and Russell bought 60 copper torches and spaced them out over about three kilometres of trails. The citronella-fueled torches lined the trails with dancing yellow flames, complementing the moon’s glow and casting shadows of skiers and snowshoers passing by. “It’s like you’re in another world, it’s incredible,” said Renaud. “You get so wrapped up in the full moon and the glow that it projects and you see the shadows on the white snow and the trails are lit with the torches. It’s an incredible scene.” Ski Pontiac holds moonlight events every winter from 5 to 9 p.m., whenever there is a full moon. Afterwards, it’s time for food and drink all around. They are scheduled for: – Dec. 26, meet at Coronation Hall, 206 River Road, Bristol – Jan. 23, meet at Pine Lodge, 6 Pine Lodge Road, Bristol – Feb. 20, Coronation Hall again All Ski Pontiac asks for is a donation – “how Ski Pontiac operates” – in return for using the trails. ottawaoutdoors I 05
