It’s Saturday morning and this intrepid reporter is on assignment. Today’s mission: photograph people at the Ski at School event in Campbell’s Bay. 

As I get out of my car, the -30 winter Ottawa River wind whipping my face, I think to myself: surely nobody is crazy enough to be outside skiing in this weather. 

But I decided to go take a look. I enter the Ski at School shack right beside the Carrefour jeunesse-emploi and am immediately greeted by Katelyn Bertrand, a native of the Bay who works for the organization. 

Katelyn, who is decked out in Salomon ski gear, said I was her first visitor. It appeared nobody wanted to brave the -30 degree weather to come learn to ski, which is understandable. We chatted for a bit about the organization and what they do. She tells me they loan equipment to schools in the area and teach kids how to ski. She said they also travel around to different winter carnivals so that everyone has an opportunity to try out cross-country skiing. 

There is nobody there to take photos of, so I drive off. But as I’m driving I think to myself what a shame it would be to see Katelyn, so full of energy, standing around in the cabin all day with nobody to teach. Besides, I’d never learned how to cross-country ski – and what better opportunity than a frigid Campbell’s Bay afternoon!

So I swallowed my pride, turned around, and asked Katelyn if she’d teach me. Naturally she said yes, and immediately got to work outfitting me with some gear. 

First were the boots. I ask why the flap and zipper cover up the laces. “It keeps [the boot] very streamlined, and it also keeps the snow out,” she said, adding that I might fall and it would be a good idea to keep myself as snow-proof as possible. 

Then, the poles – which need to be slightly less than shoulder-height – and then finally the skis. She tells me one of the schools of thought is to place the ski upright on the ground, and extend your arm in the air alongside it. She said the ski should reach at least your wrist. 

As she’s outfitting me with gear, we get to talking. I learned that Katelyn has been skiing since the age of seven, and practically had to beg her school during parent-teacher sessions to take the kids on a ski trip. In high school, she got even more hooked when her outdoor education teacher Martin Bertrand led a several-day ski trip to Parliament Hill – an endeavor helped in large part by Ski at School. 

Now, Katelyn loves everything to do with outdoor adventure. In the summer she works in the whitewater industry, which has taken her as far as British Columbia and Zambia. She occasionally works at some of the local rafting companies here in the Pontiac as well, adding that the rapids here are world-class.

But I was there to ski, not flap my gums. Out we went into the cold, where Katelyn first showed me how to fall – an essential skill for a beginner. “I’ll probably be doing a lot of that,” I half-joked. 

She taught me to bend my knees to brace for impact. Then, once on the ground, she showed me to put my skis next to each other, then inch my feet forward so that my weight is on top of my skis, and then get up. 

Then, she showed me how to propel myself forward on the skis. Usually you’d use the poles for propulsion but she wanted to make sure I got the skiing motion down pat before relying on the poles too much. “It’s very much a skating motion,” she says.

Knowing how to skate already, I think it’s going to be a breeze. I propel myself forward, putting one ski in front of the other, but I lose my balance. I fall backwards, landing flat on my arse. 

“You always have to keep a bit of a bend in your knees,” Katelyn said, adding that it helps to keep your weight stacked over your feet so that you can be more reactive. 

Once I get the skating motion down, we add in the poles. It takes me a few reps to get the motion down (left foot forward, right arm forward, then the inverse), but soon enough I’m zipping along the track. 

As I get faster, I also make more mistakes. Now, my falls are more frequent. I probably ended up on the ground a half-dozen times, including once when Katelyn had to untangle my skis because they were criss-crossed underneath me. 

“I promise you’re doing really good, and I’m explaining stuff that I don’t usually explain right away,” she reassured me. 

This vote of confidence keeps me pushing forward. Soon enough, I’ve got the rhythm down and we’re doing laps around the ballfield. The movements are becoming automatic, and I didn’t fall once! Katelyn fist-bumps me for a job well done, and I’m feeling pretty damn good. I wasn’t even that cold, and I even shed a layer. 

Our cheeks rosy and fingers tingling, we decide to call it a day. Katelyn said she was impressed with my attention to detail, and had a bit of constructive criticism for me to remember for next time. “Your legs are a bit too bent,” she said gently.  I took it in stride, saying I’d work on it. 

As we’re taking off our gear in the shack, I tell Katelyn that I moved here two years ago and have had a hard time finding outdoor recreation options. She nodded knowingly. “It can be hard if you don’t know where to look,” she said, adding that organizations like Ski at School are trying to make it more accessible.

So next time Ski at School sets up for the day, please go visit Katelyn. Well, maybe not if it’s -30 outside – it’s best you keep your extremities intact. Not everyone is as crazy as a reporter. But you’ll learn a lot, and you’ll have fun while you’re at it. 

She says she’ll be at the Danford Lake winter carnival on Jan. 31 as well as the Otter Lake fishing derby on Feb. 7. Take her up on it – she’s a great teacher! And maybe you’ll learn a thing or two more about the outdoor fun there is to be had in the Pontiac.