Mont Orford - January 25, 2023

Paul Giddings

Taking the day off work, Mont Orford was the "office" of choice for the morning. I arrived at about 8:15 and the parking lot was already filling up. The temperature was a fresh -18 degrees under partly sunny skies which cleared out during the morning. 26 of 43 trails were open with the Hybride, Giroux North, and Alfred Desrochers Quad in operation.

I started the day off with the a couple of runs up the Hybride to ski the Trois Ruisseaux, and Maxi trails to get fresh tracks early. The conditions were great with a groomed packed powder over a firm base. I got the tough stuff out of the way first. A great warm up to begin the day.

The Trois Ruisseaux & Maxi:

Once the tough stuff was done, I made my way over to the Alfred Desrochers Quad. This is my favourite sector of the mountain especially in the spring. I skied the Grande Allee, Ookpik, and a trail I've never skied, the Cascade. The Cascade is a nice Intermediate run with interesting fall lines in different portions of the trail. Coverage here was groomed packed powder over a firm base. No scrapes to be had here.

The Grande Allee, Ookpic & Cascade:

I had a small break at 10:00, and one more ride on the Alfred Desrochers. From there I headed over to the Giroux North Quad via the Tousisski, a nice Easy trail. Once on Giroux, I made a few runs on the Familiale, and headed off to take another break around 11:00. The legs were starting to say that's enough. After taking time in the chalet, it was one more ride the Giroux North Quad. The snow guns were blasting on the Magnum to get the trail ready. By noon the legs were tapping out. I was skiing a little more aggressively today than usual, and with doing the Trois Ruisseaux and Maxi, both single Black Dimond trails at the start might have led to tired legs much sooner than normal. By 12:00 I was done! The conditions overall as far as I was concerned were consistent on all three sectors, and pretty great. Line ups at all three Quad chairs were minimal, and it didn't take long for you to get on them. Another great ski day at Orford is in the books.

Some More Scenes From the Day: