Mont Gleason - December 28, 2022

After looking at the long range forecast for New Year's weekend being wet, or supposed to be wet, I took the chance in heading off to Mont Gleason today. Last night was clear with the stars out. This morning I woke up to flurries and about 5 centimetres on the car. I had booked my lift ticket online via the maneige.com site using my Passe Partout discount card last night. The drive wasn't great, however once skis touched down coming off the lift, it was a different story. I arrived at the mountain just before 9am to flurries and temperature of about -7 degrees. 9 of the 20 trails were advertised as open. The Mylene Laroche Quad was open. 

Conditions were an unexpected surprise. Groomed man made snow, and packed powder with about 5-7 centimetres of what fell overnight was the menu of the day. I didn't run into any ice or scraping anywhere. It was that good! The first run was on the Cascades which is under the Quad. Then it was on to the Gaudreau, a nice easy trail, then the Ling with runs under the double chair.

The Cascades, Gaudreau & Ling Trails:

It was an unexpected powder day! Well powder day, not like a huge dump of snow, but 5-7 centimetres nonetheless made the conditions great. There wasn't really any lineup for the lift so basically ski down, and ski on the lift after your ticket was scanned by the attendant on hand. The wait got to about 2 minutes at most with the time was there. Just before 10:30 the Laurent Lemaire Quad was loading which made lineups pretty much non-existent. After a couple of laps on the Laurent Lemaire, the Cote a Georges was well covered, and with more of The Cascades, it was time for a break at the summit chalet. 

The Cote a Georges Trail:

Break time Inside the Summit Chalet:

I ended the day at 12:30 with a solid dozen or more runs.......I lost count because I was having a great time. For the type of weather we've been having lately, today was a pleasant surprise. I was telling myself, just one more run, as I was not pushing myself but that one more run turned into another, and another............. After discovering Mont Gleason in 2015-16 or so, I always try to make at least one trip here. It's definitely a must visit. Always a great time, and a very good French onion soup at the Summit Chalet, but this time unfortunately I did not have one. Next time for sure.

More Scenes From the Day: