As Chris and Fraser prepare for the 2026 Canadian Ski Marathon this weekend, we thought we’d share a throwback to a blog written by ICD Team member Chris Chesham way back in 2016, as the team took on North America’s oldest XC ski event. Held the 2nd weekend in February since 1967, it takes place in the beautiful Outaouais region of Quebec, centred on Montebello.
Be sure to follow the 2026 crew, and find out why Chris is once again taking on this huge challenge for I Challenge Diabetes!
February 2016
Canadian Ski Marathon.
The Canadian Ski Marathon is an epic adventure spanning 160Km of nordic ski trails across the Quebec landscape between Gatineau and Lachute. The attendees this year were Chris Jarvis, Angie Potts, Elizabeth Harvey, Chris Chesham
It was early Saturday morning around 5:00am, when the distinguishable sound of the alarm clock rang through the air. It was time to wake up. As the group slowly got into their ski clothes, some went to get at the breakfast from the motel. After a little over half an hour we reversed out of the parking spot and were on the way to the first participant drop. Chris Jarvis and Elizabeth Harvey were set to head out on the first leg of the 10 leg race. As we drove up to the drop off location we said our farewells and made a plan to meet each other at the third leg. After dropping the car at the end location, I got onto a bus headed for checkpoint 8. Arriving at the checkpoint was a smooth transition until a CSM volunteer entered the bus to inform everyone to stay on the bus because the groomer had broken down, without the groomer there would be no skiable trails to follow since it had snowed the night before. The race was behind schedule. There was also some limited communication from the early starters saying they were walking along the trail because of snow and hill problems. All this before 8:30am.
After sitting on the bus for another 2 hours, the groomer at check point 8 was up and ready to go. The bus erupted with noise and movement. Everyone seemed ready to get out on the trail, and wanted to be first. Following suit, I headed out to use the portaloo for the last time and strap on the skies that would eventually take me 50km to the finish line. Starting the race was as expected, we got scanned in and began to ski with a large group of people. It was long but a decent ski…. except for the rain.
Rain has an interesting way of ruining all hopes of your ski wax sticking to snow, and that held up true for this race. No grip meant it was a double pole race till the end. A few hours later I arrived at checkpoint 7 where I was able to indulge in hot honey water, Powerade and extremely “chaud” soup. It was a very important step to make sure to continue to eat carbs and have energy to continue the race.
There is a fine balance between not enough food, too much insulin, and blood sugars. I was able to keep it under control by stopping and eating at each checkpoint and continuing to monitor my sugars during the ski. I waited around for a few moments enjoying the warmth (still in the rain) and was about to head back out on the trails again when I met up with Angie, a member of our team. I was surprised to see her here because I thought she was only competing in the last leg of the race, and there were still two to go. This is where logic and help from a friend lead to the epiphany that I had started at the wrong checkpoint. ☹ This knowledge, however, didn’t ruin the rest of this wet and wonderful ski day. So together we set out on the trails where there was more polling and no sticking! Angie had some great forethought and decided to buy crown-molding skies (fish scales) so she was able to stick to all the snow and water. A few kilometers later the two of us split up and I continued to ski to the finish ahead of Angie. Eventually there was a sign that stated “2km till end”. This ended up feeling like the longest 2km anyone had ever skied…turns out because it wasn’t actually 2km but around 4km! After more soup, and a chat with some old friends, Angie slid through the finish with a smile on her face.
We were reunited at the finish with Elizabeth who was there to cheer us both on and keep our spirits high. The three of us then took a bus back to where the car and where we found the 4th member of our team, Chris. Back at the school it was a quick transition into some dry clothes and back to Motel Adam we went, ending our first day of the Canadian Ski Marathon.
Day #2
This was a sleep-in day! The gang did not have to arise from the sleeping state until 7:30am. Yahoo! After slipping into our ski clothing, we all headed towards the breakfast room for our oatmeal and apples. I made sure to pack a couple extra apples because I knew keeping my sugars in the optimal range would be tough during this long race. Getting into the car and on the road happened soon after and eventually we arrived at our drop spot for the first two racers. Chris and I were headed to checkpoint four to start the half marathon. This day just so happened to be warm and rainless! The conditions were much better for skiing with the bright sun in our faces. We skied together for the entire day; through the ups, downs, flats, and BG checks. We managed to make the first checkpoint in good time and fueled up on hot soup and honey water. The second leg was faster with some good climbs and some winding downs. Again we stopped and ate some food and chatted with some other adventurous skiers. The last leg was completed with a ski through the town of Lachute. Similar to the first day, the two kilometer marker was way off target, and was actually closer to four or five kilometers .Finally, we were greeted at the end by both Angie and Elizabeth where we got a few snaps of the finish and switched into some clean and dry clothing to take off for dinner. And lastly the lengthy ride home.
