RA Ski Club, Ottawa, Ont. Canada    -     Snowphone: 613-736-6235

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    July/10: RA Meet'n'bikers                                    July 24: Meet'n'bike to Lac Leamy                   July 24 - Lac Leamy trip - Ottawa River in Hull

Ski one of the worlds most famous areas!

Tour the Sella Ronda, the ultimate ski tour!

Transportation from Ottawa and 4 star accommodations.

Spend a night in historic Venice on the return trip!

COST: $2290 - $2350 double; $2455 single, taxes included

For more information, click here

Additional Meet'n'Bike - Sun. Aug. 8 - Bate Island/Experimental Farm Loop
When: Sunday Aug. 8
Meet: Bate Island at 9:45 AM for departure at 10 sharp. Bate Island is under the Champlain bridge at the north end of Island Park Drive.

We'll cycle west along the Ottawa River bike path, then south on the Pinecrest Creek bike path. Just before Baseline, we'll take the bike path east to the Experimental Farm where we will stop for a picnic lunch in the Arboretum. We'll head back to Bate Island via the bike lane on Island Park Drive. 25 km round trip. Note: if your bike mounts vertically on top of your car, it won't fit under the Champlain Bridge on your way home. (We've verified this!)

Bike safely!  Check out RA Ski's Biking Guidelines.

Odyssey Theater- "They Do It All"
Where: Strathcona Park, Somerset E and Rideau River
When: The show starts at 8:00 p.m. with bleacher seating commencing at 7:30 p.m. (there is no assigned seating).
The Odyssey theatre is presenting a comedy. Ticket prices are $24 on-site, or you can save $4 by phoning 613-232-8407 by July 29. For more info, see www.odysseytheatre.ca

Sorry, downhill and XC skiing locally are over for the season. No, no, no!  It can't be true!

My Helmet Saved Me!
The RA Ski Club strongly recommends that downhill skiers wear a helmet.  Read the story here.

Download this 8.5 x 11 poster and post it on a bulletin board at work. (Be sure to get permission first.)

Click here to download the poster.

2009 Trip Information Newsletter

The 2009 Trip Information Newsletter, containing the RA Ski Club's complete
winter program, can be downloaded by clicking here

Sign Up for Ski-Mail

We send out a weekly Ski-Mail e-mail, containing club news, upcoming events, along with last-minute additions or changes.  To subscribe, click here.

Latest Trip Report(s) - Visit Trip Reports for more  

Trip Report - Meet'n'Bike to Lac Leamy, Sat Jul 24,10 

Twelve RA ski and bikers left the RA and hit the scenic bike path along the Rideau River. We had a quick break at the Rideau Tennis Club, where two more skiers met us (on bikes, not skis.) We continued along the Rideau River to the Rideau Falls, where we stopped to enjoy the view. Then we avoided Sussex Drive by going behind the old NRC building, and crossed the Ottawa River at the MacDonald-Cartier bridge. A right turn took us along the bike path to the beach at Lac Leamy.

One of our members enjoyed a swim ("the water was great!") while the rest of us had a leisurely picnic. We continued around the lake, passing the casino and Hull's best grafitti on the underpass for Highway 5. The bike path along the Ruisseau de la Brasserie led us to the Théâtre de l'Île and its picturesque gardens. A short cycle took us to the Ottawa River where we saw the iron artwork of a boat hull and a cayote, and a nice view of downtown Ottawa in the background. The bike path along the Ottawa River on the hull side has a new addition - an underpass under the Portage Bridge. We stopped along the river across from the parliament buildings to enjoy the magnificent view, to take the mandatory group photo, and to wait for one of our cyclists to catch up to us as he had to fix a flat tire.

For the return trip, democracy reigned, and we switched our route to take the Alexander bridge, Sussex Drive, the east side of the canal, and Riverdale, to wind up back at the RA. To replenish our body fluids, we stopped off at the RA Fieldhouse for a well-deserved drink. The trip was 33 k round trip.

Photos are on the web at http://www.flickr.com/photos/raski/sets/72157602561662103/show/

Trip leader: Glen Campbell

Trip Report - Unofficial Bike outing to Lac Leamy Sat Jul 17,10 

The bike trip for July 17 had been officially canceled at about 7:30 am due to concerns about showers and thunderstorms. But at 9:45 am eight of us were assembled at the RA Centre for the trip as planned. We had either checked the Snowphone before the 7:30 am update, or hadn’t checked at all.

Fortunately, Glen was there to meet us – just in case. Undaunted the eight of us decided to “Go for Gold” or at least a fun if possibly wet ride. Glen had prepared good maps for each of us, and with a combination of cartographic bravado, people that had been on parts of the route before, and the attitude that where ever we end up we’d be there together and enjoy it, off we went. We arrived at Lec Leamy at about 11:10 am, sooner than we expected so Frances led us around the lake before stopping at the beach for lunch. It was sunny, warm, and after the bike ride we all felt we could use a swim. Only Stan and Frances cooled off in the water though. The water was the perfect temperature. Cool and refreshing. Quite the treat.

After a very social lunch, and Stan taking another swim, and getting everyone to pose yet again for another group photo – we headed back. Our intention was to take a different route and come out near the Portage Bridge. As it turned out we ended up going back through the cool forest to the Macdonald-Cartier Bridge the same way we had come. At that point four of the group in a hurry to get back or worried about the gathering storm clouds headed back across the Macdonald-Cartier towards the RA Centre. The other four stayed on the bike path following the Ottawa River up to the Portage Bridge. The sun came and went, and though it became more cloudy, it didn’t rain. We crossed the Portage Bridge and then headed east on the bike path along the Ottawa River to the canal locks, up the steep hill, and then continued down the bike path south along the canal to the Pretoria Bridge. At that point, one member left us because it was near her home, and the three remaining cyclists crossed the Pretoria Bridge, went one block down Main Street to Lees Avenue, then took the cut-off across the walking bridge to the bike path along the Rideau River, and headed south back towards the RA Centre.

At this point the sky was cloudy and we even got a few spits of rain. As we continued south we saw the dark clouds off to the East which had obviously just blown through the area. The area was soaked with deep puddles everywhere. Then the sun came out as we reached our final destinations capping off a great day. I hope the ones who took the short route back did not inadvertently catch the rain storm we had missed. With a bit of good luck, the trip turned out fine, and we were back by 1:30.

We’ll do it again next week on the re-scheduled date as well. Thanks to Glen for organizing the event. It was a success.

Stan Aronoff