Moving to Ottawa

Welcome to the O.T. man! Prepare for some really cold days though...
I live in Kanata myself and closest hill is Mount Pakenham about 25 minutes outside Kanata. It's pretty sad... you got some pvc's, two nice downrails, a few other rails and boxes and a few jumps. I ride here sometimes everyone is like a big group of friends and that what's make the place awesome. Supposedly the park manager got more funding this year and the park is being moved to a different run and they will be adding new features. We will see what happens this year I have high hopes for it.

Next closest hills are on the Gatineau,Quebec side: Camp Fortune has a really bad park that last 2-3 seasons don't go here you will just be disappointed and stuff gets stolen here a lot. Mont Cascade which is 45 minutes away just did a big investment 1 or 2 years ago and added a ton of new rails/boxes. If you want to strictly ride good rails and boxes then go to Mont Cascade. Last hill you want to check out is Edelweiss which has the best jumps in Ottawa/Gatineau region and a good selection of rails, if you can make the trip go here it's about an hour from Kanata and is worth it.

If your looking for a ski club Carleton University has a big ski and snowboard club that goes out to Tremblant for like $20 both ways and you don't have to be a student of the university to go. Great way to make some new ski buds http://cuskiandsnowboard.com/drupal/contact
Mont-Tremblant is 2 hours from here and is the biggest mountain close to us. It's got like 650m of vertical and 3 parks. You get a well maintained and a nice jump line of 3-4 big jumps ranging from 40-60ft. Along with 25 different rail/boxes ranging from easy to hard. Here is the site: http://www.tremblant.ca/index-e.htm If you ever come here shoot me a pm I ski here almost every weekend and know the mountain well so if you want to ski some "deep" North-East powder or just ride park I'm down.

The scene here is pretty relaxed we got some great pre-season jams like Capitalize at the Clocktower and Trick N Treat Railjam which have an awesome vibe. Your going to find you will make friends on the hill fast just start talking with people.

Wow that was a lot of Info... You know what street you going to be living on in Kanata? What school you going too?

Ottawa's such a fun place to be, any holiday event is always huge downtown. Skiing is decent at best, but still a fun scene on the hills.

A.Eberhard pretty much hit the nail on the head. Also, If you're into hand rails and stuff Ottawa has a pretty sick collection of spots. In terms of the scene out here, it's pretty laid back I'd say. Ottawa is pretty unique because all the hills are on the Quebec side. There are some crews and shit but every one is super friendly.

"Last hill you want to check out is Edelweiss"

if you care about skiing at all and don't just want to hit park then Mont St Marie hands down is the best close by and can't be missed on a good pow day, followed by Camp Fortune.  Marie normally has a 2 for 1 Thursdays I think and Fortune has 2 for 1 Sat and Tuesday nights. Calabogie also isn't too bad for the area and I heard should have a decent park this year. also if you have a car a good 3 hour drive gets you to Jay which generally speaks for itself and should be picked any day over Tremblant.

generally there is a great variety of East coast skiing around here, and some super fun yet small "backcountry" options if you know where to go.

Whatchu talkin bout?

Last time I went to Ste Marie the park was shit (but that was 2 seasons ago) and Fortune's park has always sucked.

Edel and Cascade win for park in Ottawa

He is talking about not hitting the park. Both fortune and St. marie have shit parks but you can find decent pow in the trees...If you know where to look.

That was some fine reading comprehension on my part

I'm originally from the BC, but I'm going to school in Waterloo and I'm on a coop term with General Dynamics in Bells Corners. It's sick to see that there's actually a ski scene in the area.

I guess being from BC it's unlikely that any terrain or snow here will really impress me so I'm more interested in riding park. But to be honest, it doesn't really matter where I ski, as long as I can ski. I missed all of last season due to an injury so I'm itching to ski anything.


It looks like I'm going to be living near the Hazeldean mall in Kanata. What's my best bet for getting to skiing without a car? Are there any buses? If not, is there anyone who lives in the area who I could catch a ride with? I'd be more than willing to buy a tank of gas or throw in some beer money now and then.