Ski Cape Breton

Well, this is the way to do it – go into a backcountry cabin for five days – and have all your stuff hauled in by snowmobile. The ski was only four kilometres but we are getting soft in our old age (the rot that set in with our trailer has been continuing). The trail was gentle uphill (6oo feet vertical) and took us less than an hour before we arrived at the village.

Tuonela village consist of the owners cabin, the main chalet (where happy hour takes place), four other chalets plus one larger one under construction. There is also a snowmobile shed and a two-hole outhouse. From the front deck of the cabins you look up at what they call the ‘telemark hill’ – complete with rope tow.

1200 thigh burning feet of drag on this rope tow takes you to the top of a gently pitched slope of beautifully spaced maple and birch trees. “A nirvana for the junkie trying to carve that perfect turn,” is how the owner/manager Chris describes the hill.

Funny thing is – that is how Chris really talks. When planning the trip we emailed him to ask if there was a BBQ we could use. He replied “There is a peripatetic Bar-B-Q in the Village” (peripatetic has become our word of the week – oh - and I’m not going to tell you what it means. You’ll have to do as we did and look it up).

Besides the BBQ, our cabin had a wood stove for heat, a propane stove for cooking (but we used the wood stove mainly), big jugs for water, kerosene lamps for light with the option of 12 v if needed, a nice big loft to sleep in and a black Labrador to keep us company.

Roos the dog belongs to the owners of Tuonela and has the pleasant personality you expect from a Labrador. She is nine years old, yet when you ask, “want to go for a ski Roos?” she’ll wag her tail furiously and start jumping around in anticipation.

Chris hates dogs running on the back of his skis so he has trained her since a pup to run between them instead. When you break into a snowplow or downhill tuck she’ll be right there, running between your skis. Then, when she’s had enough of that, she’ll bolt through your legs and down the trial in front of you.

The area has about twenty kilometres of groomed trails. We were surprised at their variety and challenge. Nova Scotia is not known for its skiing, but on the Cape Breton Highlands, there is not only abundant snow, but hills to put it on – and hence some fun, winding, up, down and around trails.

One spot I elected to walk down. It had a quite steep down pitch, with a nearly 90-degree turn at the base immediately before a narrow bridge. Another challenging trail is called the NDP (new downhill path) that winds in a continuous grade between large trees. The Hemlock hill trail leaves the village, and travels though a grove of Hemlock trees. There is a real feel of green, old growth forest. For us mountain folk, it was a completely different look to be skiing in a deciduous forest.

“You’d have a hard time sneaking up on anyone here,” Jim said as we looked well ahead through the trees and could see the upcoming sections of trail.

Too many trees did cause one of the few disappointments of the trip. We were skiing close by the ocean, and while we could see the frozen waters of the bay from several points on the trail, it was always through tree branches. In the seasons of leaves, you wouldn’t be able to see anything but more trees.

I celebrated my Birthday out there at Tuonela. Jim got me a nice sweater as a gift. What I value even more were the little things. He got up in a cold cabin and relit the fire, he put on the coffee and before we left for the days skiing, he put my skins on my skis (it was –18C that morning). He also told the owners that it was my birthday.

It was a great day. After a morning’s exploration, Chris started up the rope tow for us. We had smiles on our faces and burn in our legs as we skied for several hours on soft, boot top powder on a perfect angled slope, in and around maples.

The last run took us right to our front door. We were invited down to the main chalet for ‘happy hour.” Here Chris and Annie had made a special celebration for me. There was a big pot of hot rum toddy on the wood stove and duck pate and crackers on the table. A pecan pie birthday cake waited. The sauna was also heating up for us.

Jim and I are not ‘sauna people’ but we will try them every so often. Anni loves saunas and was keen for us to enjoy ours.

“A Finnish Sauna will cleanse you of everything but original sin,” she told us as she gave us instructions.

It was sure hot when we got into it. The high seat was too hot for our butts to sit on. We were told twenty minutes with no water on the rocks. Annie’s prediction of sweat “pouring” out of us came true pretty quickly. We switched off sitting on the floor (cooler down there) while we waited till the twenty minutes were up.

We set the alarm on my watch and when that chimed, following instructions, we ran out and rolled in the snow. Our skin turned lobster red and the snow melted quickly on our skin and fell off in lumps.

We returned to the sauna and now we were allowed water on the rocks. We had achieved our acclimatization. I don’t know if it was the atmosphere, the fact that it was my birthday or all the toddies we had, but it was the best sauna we have ever had.

The night was clear and cold. The stars glittered against a pure black sky. In Chris’ words ‘ a million points of light” shone above. Next morning I took my coffee and sat on the front deck. I was surprised at the number of different birds I heard in the forest. I love those peaceful, quiet starts to the day.

The last day we spent there, both Chris and Anni had to go to work. That left us alone in the village except for Roos. We skied to the old gypsum mines – caramel coloured hoodoo-like cliffs rose above the snow-covered trees. The trail was easy except for the makeshift bridge with six-inch gaps between the round log slats. We were lucky to be on skis. The four paws of the dog found their way between the slats and she ended up lying on her chest with her paws dangling between the boards each time she crossed.

The three of us were out for over five hours. Many times Roos was in snow over her back, but she still ran along with us all day. However, I think even she was happy when we arrived home. She curled up on the cushion under the table and Jim lay on the floor next to the stove. It was quiet around our cabin for a while.

We left the next morning. Chris let us take Roos with us on our final ski to the parking lot. She ran along with us – in and out of our skis as we headed downhill. Chris followed soon after with our luggage on the snowmobile.

Tuonela is pronounced TWA Na La. Chris explained that the name comes from the mythical never-never land that acts as a holding stage between heaven and earth. It’s a very pleasant place where you wait to go to heaven.

We agree.