December 10-11, 2016

It's looking like winter is here, and here to stay! Natural snow has dusted most of southern Quebec this week, and ski hills have been making snow in order to open their doors for the 2016-2017 season. We experienced a bit of warm weather this week, but now the temperatures appear to be below freezing for good. This will allow ski hills to open as many trails as possible, as we head into the all-important Christmas season.

Most of Quebec's larger, more well-known ski hills are already open for the season: Mont Tremblant, Sommet Saint-Sauveur, Mont Sainte-Anne, and others opened last week, or have been open for longer. This weekend marks the opening of many smaller local ski hills. In the Montreal region, many hills such as Mont Rigaud, Bromont, and the other members of Les Sommets are planning to open. Ski Saint-Bruno also opened on Wednesday, offering their traditional 1$ admission, with proceeds going to charity.

The Quebec City region is currently the best place to ski in Quebec, with centres like Mont Sainte-Anne and Le Massif de Charlevoix having received close to two feet of natural snow in the past few weeks, with more coming by the day. If that's too far for you and you plan to skiing in the Montreal or Ottawa regions, expect typical December conditions. The base will be hard artificial snow, and the surface might be frozen granular, or light loose snow on the surface depending on the weather. Conditions are likely to become icy as the day progresses, so make sure your equipment is tuned and you are skiing within your abilities.

We are continuing to recruit contributors for the upcoming season, and, as always, we look forward to receiving your content to share. Be safe!