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travel / adventure zone
| The Adventure Zone |
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| Photo courtesy Mike Caldwell |
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow
The season shapes up for the Mad Trapper Snowshoe Series
By Tracy C. Read
By late November, Mike Caldwell is starting to feel downright gleeful.
It’s mere weeks from the first race in his annual Mad Trapper Snowshoe
Series, and the weather is on his side — snowflakes are already drifting
down on his 66-hectare wilderness retreat in the Gatineau Hills near Denholm,
Quebec. If his luck holds, says Caldwell, come 10 a.m. on Saturday, December
13, some 60 participants will be powering through the fresh snow in one
of the most challenging snowshoe series in the business.
The Mad Trapper’s inaugural event is crafted to ease participants
into the chilly competitive environment of the Canadian winter. Thus, on
the Solefit 5k run, racers head out on the “flatter course,” which
kicks off with an early hill climb but quickly gentles into even or downhill
trail. During an easygoing loop around an open deer pasture known as the
Meadow, racers earn a break in pace and a good look at who they’re
chasing — and who’s chasing them. The trail also features the “Magic
Kingdom,” a mature stand of hardwood forest whose majestic canopy
creates an atmosphere of “serene beauty,” according to Caldwell.
In the Atlas 10k race, snowshoers simply go at the 5k route twice, typically
finishing in well under two hours.
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| Photo courtesy Mike Caldwell |
Caldwell has been running the series from his property for six years,
and he is undeniably buzzed about the benefits that the getaway — just
45 minutes from Ottawa’s Byward Market — offers. Because the
trails are private, there is no interference from cross-country skiers
on the single-track terrain. The organizer is also high on the fitness
benefits offered up by snowshoe racing, which he touts as a way to become
a stronger, more balanced road runner come spring. Most of all, he sees
it as a fun-filled opportunity to get out into the clean, white silent
snow and revel in the season.
The Mad Trapper Snowshoe Series also gets points for the warm embrace
of its after-race gathering, when racers rendezvous in the “Ark,” an
off-the-grid, solar- and wind-powered facility that is the property’s
centrepiece. Around a cozy woodstove with a bowl of chili in hand, you
can meet your competition and make plans to face off at remaining series
events in January, February and March.
For more information, visit www.synergyark.com
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