Last weekend, a few friends and I made the early morning drive from Ottawa to Mont Tremblant for our first day of the 2023-24 ski season!  The weather was forecasted to be partly cloudy, with increasing sun in the afternoon. Temps would be on the colder side (-10C) in the morning, before warming to reach -2 later in the day.  Despite the lack of rain and generally cold temperatures this past month, only 6 trails were open. Essentially, there was a top-to-bottom green run on the Versant Nord (P'tit Bonheur to Beauchemin Bas), and a upper half blue run on the Versant Sud (La Crete to Beauvallon Haut/Alpine). A staff member later told my friend that the lack of terrain on opening day (There were 16 runs open the same time last season) was due to the women's world cup race scheduled for the next weekend taking snowmaking priority. Regardless, we were more than happy to be skiing anything in November!  We arrived just prior to lift opening at 8:30am, and after getting su...

On Saturday May 15, 2023, my sister and so joined a group of friends for one last use of our night ski passes on Camp Fortune’s closing weekend. The weather was sunny, with the day’s warmest temp being a peachy 23C! Every run off the Skyline quad was open. To honour their passholders, the resort offered free skiing to all types of season passes, so we could not pass up another chance to use our night passes.  We arrived at 9am, and planned to ski up until the 3pm closing time. For the first hour or so before my friends arrived, my sister and I enjoyed a few laps on Heggtveit, Bud Clark, and Sparks. The snow was still freshly groomed and barely mogulled, and despite being slushy, it was pretty fast!  Between 10-11am, my friends arrived, and we spent the rest of the day enjoying the slushy snow and gorgeous...

On the last Saturday of March, my friend and I decided to ski Tremblant for our last ‘big mountain’ ski day of the season, in addition to it being his first time at the resort. Conditions were extremely windy, cold for spring (-5 to 1C without windchill), and snow conditions started alright and ended poor. That being said, we had a great time, and got to explore the terrain off every lift on the mountain that day! Since the temperature never exceeded freezing, the obstructed sun did not soften the snow as the daily conditions report said it would, leading to overall poor snow conditions due to the freeze the previous day. Nevertheless, all lifts and 102 runs were open, with 2/3 having been groomed the previous day. The snow on the Versants Nord and Edge was the least icy and wind-exposed, so we spent the majority of the day there,...

  With night skiing slated to end on March 22, I decided to take my sister on a birthday ski trip for our last night ski of the season. We arrived at 3pm, and immediately headed to Heggtveit to improve our confidence on steep runs, as we had both finally conquered Ottawa’s steepest trail this year!   We then headed to the Valley sector, skiing the glades off Marshal and Slalom one last time for the season: While the Meech Glades (which are usually closed during night ski pass hours) are my favourite on the hill, a more recent favourite has been Duffy, which is also seldom open, in contrast with the above Marshall glades which are all open much more frequently. We decided to ski Duffy a few times, enjoying the spring snow conditions and deep snowbase: I particularly love this natural “chute” through the rocks, as it makes the...

On our 4th and final day of skiing in Banff, we enjoyed one last Rocky Mountain ski experience at Sunshine Village Resort. We awoke at 7am, seeing some beautiful sunrise views from our hotel room window: We then got dressed and boarder our 8am shuttle to the resort. Temperatures were expected to range from -15 to -20C, fortunately (and unfortunately) our warmest day of skiing of the trip!    Since it was a Saturday, we did expect more crowds; however, the base-to-village gondola lineup took no more than 5 minutes: All lifts were open, meaning that we could finally experience the resort’s expert terrain which was closed on our last visit three days prior. I have attached the trail map for reference below: Unfortunately, the high base elevation meant that winds were blowing snow from the surrounding peaks and valley into the air, creating a sort of haze similar to our...

On our third day of skiing in Banff, we headed to Lake Louise for what was likely my favourite day of the trip. The previous night, we welcomed our 4th and final trip member, who would be joining us for the last two days of skiing. We woke up to a cold, but bluebird day in Banff, and boarded our 8am SkiBig3 shuttle to Lake Louise, a 45 minute ride. The trail map is listed below for reference: For the first time on the trip, the skies were fully clear, allowing us to finally see the mountaintops unobstructed by the fog and clouds.  The majestic Castle Mountain at sunrise:  Unfortunately for us, temperatures had changed to be colder than forecasted, with the early morning hours coming in at a brisk -31 (without the wind chill). Thus, the mountain once again offered discounted tickets and free hot drinks, in expectation of lift...

On our second day in Banff, we planned to head to Lake Louise, which boasts 3250 vertical feet, 9 lifts, and Canada’s second-largest area! While temperatures that day would be similar to the (brutal) previous day, it was worth noting the effect caused by elevation. Lake Louise’s upper mountain is at a similar elevation to Sunshine Village’s base area! This meant that the base area would be 5-10 degrees warmer than the summit. Nevertheless, a cold warning was still in effect, with the mountain offering discounted tickets, and free hot drinks, to accommodate for the lift delays.  At 8am, we boarded the Lake Louise Shuttle, and enjoyed some amazing views on our 45 minute ride there! We arrive a little before 9am, and since the lifts did not plan on opening until 10am, we decided to give our skis a much-needed wax (due to the extreme cold causing the snow to be less...

Over my university break week, a few friends and I headed to Banff, Alberta; our first time being and skiing out west! Three of us arrived on a Tuesday, with the other friend arriving on Thursday, before we all departed that Sunday. After having wanted to visit the Canadian Rockies since I was 9 (one decade ago!), this trip was a ‘bucket list’ type of experience for me! Fortunately, the week we chose benefited from some of the best snow conditions of the year, as 50-80cm (depending on the location), had fallen on the region two days before we landed, giving what the locals said were good conditions after a long snow drought. Unfortunately, extreme cold temperatures followed the snow, meaning that for three out of our 4 ski days, temperatures were in the -20s, 30s, and even 40s once the wind chill was factored in…  Despite the high prices of...

Two Saturdays ago, I headed up to camp fortune for a fun evening of night skiing. Conditions were on the icier side, with the long cruisers on Meech being opened-which are some of my favourite runs on the hill!After 4 years of chickening-out, I finally decided to ski Heggtveit with my friend. While extremely icy and much steeper than I imagined, there were some small patches of soft snow. Nevertheless, the adrenaline was definitely flowing!We spent the rest of the evening alternating between Skyline and the Valley sides, enjoying a beautiful sunset.  We were also able to try out the newly-built large park features, and captured the following images on my friend’s GoPro:

Last Thursday, last minute family plans were made for a quick afternoon/evening ski at Camp Fortune. A storm had passed over the region the night before, dumping 25cm of fresh powder, and the hill had announced that the Meech glades (La Cache) would be open for their first day of the 2023 season! The meech glades are my favourite run at fortune, and despite the fact that they close at 4pm, and my night pass starts at 3pm, my sister and I were still able to make two leg-burning runs! The untouched snow was over three feet deep in some places, and each run through the glades took us a minimum of 8 minutes! It was similar to our last time skiing the Meech glades in powder conditions, from March 2022! After making the last runs from 3:30-4, we headed to the skyline side to enjoy the choppy powder conditions on every...

After wanting to ski at Mont Ste Marie for the past three seasons, the opportunity finally came 2 days ago! I headed to the hill and arrived at 10am, and picked up my student day pass for only 49$! Both the Vanier and Cheval Blanc high speed lifts were running, with most terrain open on the Vanier side, and Dustin Cook and Frank Pouliotte on Cheval. Temperatures were in the range of -10 to -5 C, with a mixture of sun and clouds forecasted. I spent my first few runs on the Vanier side, enjoying the low crowds, fast lift, and amazing groomed snow on the Serenade and Bellevue runs! After the warm up, I boarded the shuttle to the more difficult Cheval Blanc side. The signature dustin cook run was mostly open (due to some snowmaking still in progress), and it made for a fast and steep descent! After a few...

Last Sunday, I headed to Tremblant with the Carleton University Ski Club, making use of the 50$ lift tickets and inexpensive bus transportation for my last ski day of the Christmas break. With the warm temperatures and amazing snowfall brought by December, I had done most of my skiing in +0 Celsius weather-however, this day at Tremblant would be an exception. The temperatures were forecasted to range from -11 to -20, depending on the wind chill and elevation, so I knew temperatures would be unpleasant! I arrived at 9:30am, where it was clear that snowmaking was in full swing.  The mountain had warned that conditions and visibility would be impaired due to the low temperatures being utilized for snowmaking, in addition to the closing of the Soleil side (2 runs), due to a power outage. Nevertheless, they planned on having 60 of their 100 runs open, and every lift except their...

Last Friday, some friends and I decided to head to Camp Fortune one last time before the Christmas break was over, and school and work made life busier! We arrived at 3pm, and after getting dressed in the lodge, we headed to the Skyline lift. Temperatures were hovering at around 0 C, but surprisingly, the snow was not as soft and mogulled as our previous outings in similar weather. Rather, the snow conditions were on the harder and uneven side, though still significantly better than skiing large moguls. Additionally, there was not a single patch of ice to be found! Due to large lines on the main (Valley) side of the hill, our group stuck mostly to Skyline, skiing the runs Sparks and Bud Clark. The poor visibility caused by fog and clouds made for some amazing photos. On our third run, we had gotten 30 seconds into the chairlift ride...

Last Wednesday, a seemingly unannounced storm dumped 15cm of snow in the day’s early hours. With legs still sore from the night before, a smaller group of the crowd from the previous night decided to drive up and enjoy the fresh snow, in addition to a new black diamond run being open on Skyline (Bud Clark to Canadian). We arrived at 3:30, parking this time at Skyline, and headed straight to the lift. There was a heavy fog and light rain/snow in the air, which made for a cool picture just as the lights switched on   Despite the warm weather and recent snowfall, the fresh snow had fallen after grooming, making conditions were extremely mogully and icy! Compounded with a larger crowd turnout than the evening prior, and this created a slightly unsafe atmosphere with people speeding down trails, and people having fallen in the middle of them! However, the...

After months of anticipation since buying my Camp Fortune night ski pass in July, I was finally able to use it! Tuesday, December 27th was set to be the first night of night skiing, and a group of friends and I decided to hit the slopes. In addition to having three green runs off the Pineault and Clifford chairs, a blue trail (Sparks to Skyway) had just opened on the Skyline sector! We arrived to a fairly full parking lot, and long lift lines on the Pineault Quad. However, the Clifford quad had minimal lines, so we spent the start of the evening skiing there. Conditions were packed powder, making for some great turns. The Marshall glades were decently covered, and I (cautiously) gave them a try, though it was still thinner than I would have liked!  We then headed to Skyline to meet up with a few more friends, and...

Two weeks ago, a few friends and I made a last-minute decision to ski Mount Pakenham on their opening night of night skiing. A large storm has come through the region the day before, dumping 25cm of fresh snow-making for some amazing early season conditions! 3 runs off the Mika Chairlift were open, including a mini park. The snow conditions were packed powder, with lots of untracked fresh stuff to be found on the sides of the trails! Not a single patch of ice to be found! While the glades were open, they were still too sketchy to ski with the thin coverage! Lines were minimal, so we were able to enjoy many quick laps, making use of the many features and jumps found on the sides of the trails.    IMG_2537.MOV  After a wonderful first night ski spent  under the stars, we packed up our things and drove home.

After months of anticipation, my 2022-23 ski season had an amazing start at Tremblant! This season, I bought new equipment through my favourite local ski shop, Kunstadt Sports. Additionally, I joined my university ski club, which provided a discount on equipment, as well as half-price lift tickets and transportation to Tremblant! After not skiing any large mountains last season, I was eager to return to Tremblant. I also hoped to finally be able to ski the more difficult runs open, as I had not done so on my last visit due to the differing levels of ski ability in my family. I was quick to sign up for the first bus of the season, which would run on Tremblant’s 4th day of the season. After an early morning bus ride, we pulled into the parking lot. After depositing our gear at the Chalet des Voyageurs, we received our lift tickets, and...

With night skiing coming to a close in the region, a few friends and I decided to go night skiing one last time. We went to Sommet Edelweiss, as I had not been in 2 years, and always loved the Swiss Vibe, long runs, and fast chairlift of the hill. That Sunday night was set to be the last night of night skiing at the mountain. I initially was expecting a large crowd, due primarily because of it being a weekend, as well as it being the last day of night skiing. However, the fact the rain led to a last minute cancellation of the prior night’s night skiing, coupled with the warm and rainy weather in the Ottawa valley, led to the hill being almost eerily quiet.  The conditions were extremely slow and slushy. Snow coverage was pretty decent, with all trails off the Edelbahn Express lift open. The black trails were the only ones with some dirt patches. We started with skiing Streif, then Shotgun, two of the hill’s steepest black runs. While one side of Streif had excellent cove...

After what likely was the last powder dump of the season (10cms), we spontaneously decided on a quick 4 hour trip to Camp Fortune, before leaving on a little March break trip to the Laurentians the following day. For a Saturday, the resort was surprisingly quiet upon arrival. We booted up in the car, and immediately headed to my favourite area: Meech!  After 2 laps on Paradis, I decided to attempt Heggtveit on the Skyline side, though (as usual) my confidence plummeted upon the sight of its steep pitch. Despite the decent snow conditions, Hegg remained icy and mogully (it was -10 outside), and I decided to do a single black (Bud Clark to Canadian)  instead and delay my first attempt of the infamously steep double black run another season;).   After eating some lunch, I returned to Meech to ski the La Cache glades, knowing full well that it might be my last glade experience this season.   This was my first time in the Meech glades, and I...

After 20 centimeters of fresh powder fell upon us, some friends and I decided to spend an evening night skiing at Mount Pakenham. Though the temperature was -20, the phenomenal snow conditions made for some amazing glade skiing. Due to my friends' ability to push me out of my comfort zone, I began skiing gladed runs much more frequently, and am much less terrified of the idea of zooming through and around trees. My newfound confidence can honestly be attributed to the glades at this hill! Pakenham is an interesting mountain when compared to others in the region due to it designating all off-bounds terrain as "glades". Most of the 10 marked glades are unmaintained, making for some terrain not for the faint of heart. I had always considered Pakenham to be a "beginners" or "boring" mountain, and in many ways (groomed runs for example) it can be stated that it is not the most interesting. However, the amount and variety of gladed terrain at Mount Pakenham really su...

Over the Christmas break, we rented an Airbnb on the slopes of Calabogie Peaks, and enjoyed three days of skiing and exploring the Calabogie Region. I took my drone up the day we arrived, and captured some the following aerial photographs of the landscape.   For the 3 days we skied, the resort was relatively quiet, with no lines-possibly due to only two trails (one green and one blue) being open. Warmer temperatures and no snow unfortunately caused a slow start to the season in the Ottawa Valley. That being said, the snow coverage on the trails was deep, and snowmaking was in progress throughout the rest of the mountain.  The conditions were fairly decent for the three days, with the exception of the last being quite cold. Surprisingly, the artificial snow did not get as icy as I had thought it would, due to excellent grooming, low winds, and less traffic. Below are some photos from the three days.  We had an amazing time, and despite h...

Last week, Ski Mount Pakenham announced that they would be open on the weekend of the 4-5 of December. The cold nighttime temperatures allowed them to make enough snow to open up one intermediate trail (The Loop to Lower Exhibition), serviced by one quad chairlift (Mika). Their magic carpet and learning area was open as well. Below is a map of the resort with the open terrain highlighted in yellow. The tickets were priced at 34$, and provided access to the mountain from 9am-4pm. On the drive there, the snow started falling. 2-4cm had been forecasted. The conditions quickly deteriorated, with visibility being low.  When we finally arrived at the mountain half an hour late, the busy opening day we expected turned out to be a mere 15 cars in the parking lot! An idyllic setting, large clumps of snow were falling from the sky. The snowmaking appeared to have been successful, as the snow base was advertised to be over 30cm thick. From the chairlift, the open run was nearl...