If you’re among the thousands of cross-country skiers who’ve won a Canadian Ski Marathon award during the past 45 years, you’ll find your name printed in this voluminous history of what is billed as the world’s longest ski race. It is also North America’s oldest long-distance Nordic race.
Held annually in the second week of February, the Canadian Ski Marathon runs for 160 kilometers over a trail between Lachute and Gatineau, Quebec, with an overnight stop at the classic Chateau Montebello resort. The two-day event is divided into sections. Participants can ski as few as 12 kilometers, or the maximum of 160 kilometers.
Bill Pollack, a Canadian forestry engineer, has assembled the colorful adventures, fierce weather, mishaps and triumphs of each winter’s competition from 1967 to 2011, as told by participants. The book is in French as well as English, and is colorfully illustrated with photographs.
Canadian Ski Marathon: Its History in Stories and Pictures, by Bill Pollack, 300 pages. 140 short stories. $50 including shipping. To order, send check to Bill Pollack, 7123 Chemin du Lac Noir, Ste.-Agathe-des-Monts, Qc J8C 2Z8, Canada. E-mail: bill@tuckamor.ca