Ski Reports

"Spring" at Edelweiss 2/27
Leslie McLaughlin
Ski Reports
I arrived at about 4:15pm, to a nearly empty parking lot, and no lift lines. The previous night had iced up a bit in the evening, I figured an afternoon of + temps would mellow things out a bit, and I wasn't disappointed! Only the Edelbahn lift was running, and Poma, West Coat and Shotgun were closed by the time I arrived. Conditions are slick earl...
Sommet Edelweiss - February 18, 2018
Paul Gordon
Ski Reports
Got up to Edelweiss for some night skiing just before 3pm.  The sun was out, it was about -2c and the place was packed.  The parking lot was pretty much full and the lineup for tickets was slow. For some reason on one of the busiest weekends of the ski season they only had one ticket booth open. Anyway I finally traded in my online ticket for a rea...
Mont Gleason - February 17, 2018
Paul Giddings
Ski Reports
After a couple of weeks since my last outing, a visit to Mont Gleason was in order for the day. Leaving Sherbrooke at 7:15 I arrived at the mountain an hour later. Temperature was -12 under a sunny bluebird sky. The Quad chair opens at 9:00 so with the early arrival I had plenty of time to wind down from the drive and take my time getting ready for...
Camp Fortune - February 14, 2018
Paul Gordon
Ski Reports
Here is a quick report on conditions at Fortune.  Today was gorgeous, sunny and a high of 4. The runs were fast hard packed snow with a little bit of icing on top. The trails are in good shape and softened a tad by midday. Camp Fortune has managed to survive the freezing rain we had on Sunday very well.  I arrived at around 9:30 and was shocked by ...
Camp Fortune - February 4, 2018
Paul Gordon
Ski Reports
More snow, so I had to ski.  Went for a quick 4 hour mission with my sister to Fortune. With the new RFID system you can load 4 hours or a full day from home and skip any ticket line.  The  new gates also show you how long you have until your hours run out.  We arrived at Skyline around 8:30 just as the lifts started.  10cm had dropped already and ...
Owl's Head - February 3, 2018
Paul Giddings
Ski Reports
The morning started out not as early as the last road trip. The destination today was Owl's Head. On the road by 7am and arrived at the mountain for 8, with a temperature of -24 and no breeze at the base. 45/52 trails announced open along with 6 chairlifts. The 5-10 cms of snow they received during the week helped out a little. The conditions were ...
Mont Ste Marie - February 1, 2018
Paul Gordon
Ski Reports
Wow. Lets see 20cm of fresh light snow, warm temperatures and Cheval Blanc was left ungroomed.  I think this may have been one of the best days at MSM ever. I arrived right at the opening, took in the Vanier side for a few runs, then trained over to Cheval when it opened at 9:30. Then I skied beautiful powder for a good 3hours, had lunch and skied ...
Camp Fortune - January 31, 2018
Paul Gordon
Ski Reports
Thank Ullr we have snow again! After a drought of several weeks we finally got the good stuff. The snow started light and fine in the Ottawa area around 1:30 but by 3 it was coming down heavy.  I made it to Fortune around 4ish and there was already close to 10cm on the ground.  The skiing was great! light champagne over the hard pack making for gre...
Sommet Edelweiss - January 26, 2018
Shane Séguin
Ski Reports
It was a Friday night and there's nothing better than leaving the office with a stop at the mountain to start the weekend on the right ski. Destination was Sommet Edelweiss. Offering the highest vertical drop for night skiing in the region, all the trails except two (Easter Bowl and Descente Telesiege) were open. A decent amount of people were pres...
Mont Ste Marie - January 22, 2018
Paul Gordon
Ski Reports
I arrived at Mont Ste Marie at 9am just as it was opening. The temperature was about -5C. The day before was like + 5C with spring like conditions and looked pretty busy from the webcam shots. Today was almost the opposite.   Very quiet, pretty much zero lines with fast hard packed conditions. I also discovered a fair amount of crusty icy spots.  N...
Sommet Mont Olympia - January 20, 2018
Paul Giddings
Ski Reports
This trip today to Sommet Mont Olympia was a last minute decision made easy by an invite by friends from New York who were skiing in the Laurentians this week. The morning started very early with my departure from Sherbrooke at 5:45 am. The trip through Montreal was decent even though construction was at pretty much full tilt on the Turcotte Exchan...
Mont Bellevue - January 17, 2018
Paul Giddings
Ski Reports
It had been about 3 weeks since my last visit to Mont Bellevue, and at the time it was -15 degrees plus a breeze and 4 trails open. This night everything was available. I arrived at the mountain at 6:45 to a full parking lot. Not a space to be had, so street parking was in order. Actually it wasn't too bad. Parked down near where the Quad is and it...
Mont Orford - January 17, 2018
Shane Séguin
Ski Reports
Being a big fan of skiing in the Eastern Townships, today's destination was Mont Orford, known for having one of the highest vertical drops in Quebec. This was my second visit ever to Orford. The drive was smooth with no traffic, although a bit long from Gatineau (about 3h40). Taking the highway 30 to bypass Montreal definitely saves a lot of time ...
Camp Fortune - January 16, 2018
Paul Gordon
Ski Reports
The big melt last Thursday and Friday was a real bummer. Then everything flash froze.  I think we lost like 75% of our snow pack but Camp Fortune managed to survive in decent shape. Night skiing was good on fast hard pack with 2-3cms of light fresh snow on top.  Skyline is starting to get a little crusty in spots and the thaw has set back the openi...
Camp Fortune - January 8, 2018
Paul Gordon
Ski Reports
Powder Day = Sick Day.  My first plan was to drive up to Mont Ste-Marie for an epic day.  Take note Mont Ste-Marie advertised on their website that they didn't groom all the runs, leaving the snow free. More hills should do this! whats with all the grooming on a epic powder day.  Anyway by the time I dug out of my driveway and got out of Ottawa it ...
Mont Orford - January 3, 2018
Paul Giddings
Ski Reports
After the Siberian like deep freeze we just experienced this past week and a bit, and with the announced temperature of -10 or so today, a trip to Mont Orford was the selected destination............. like everyone else had the same idea! I arrived at the mountain at 8:20 in hopes of finding a decent parking spot. There were cars from both directio...
Cochran's Ski Area - December 31, 2017
Paul Giddings
Ski Reports
With a planned road trip to visit friends near Burlington Vermont over the holiday weekend to ring in the New Year, I threw my gear in the truck to take the opportunity to ski for a couple of hours while there.The destination was originally supposed to have been a larger ski area but with the temperatures hovering around the -20 to -25 degree mark,...
Camp Fortune - January 1, 2018
Paul Gordon
Ski Reports
Took in a few afternoon hours at Camp Fortune. January 1st has always been a good day for skiing as its generally pretty quiet. Today it was really quiet since the high was like -20c! The skiing was good though with well groomed runs of hard packed snow.  Fortune has been busy making snow all week. Tomorrow Slalom opens. Upper Canadian and Chute wi...
Mont Bellevue - December 26, 2017
Paul Giddings
Ski Reports
A visit to our community ski area, Mont Bellevue, was in order this evening for a few runs. I got to the hill just after 6 pm to a fairly small crowd and a temperature of -15 degrees and a small breeze blowing which made it feel colder than that. There were 4 of 10 trails, the Quad Chair, and the Magic Carpet on the menu for the evening. The condit...
Camp Fortune - December 26, 2017
Shane Séguin
Ski Reports
  The best Boxing Day deal today was going skiing. It was fairly clear that the majority of people you would have expected to be skiing had chosen to go shopping instead, leaving the mountain in pristine condition and contributing to no line-ups at the lifts. Thank you! As yesterday was Christmas Day and Camp Fortune was closed, the snow and condit...
Camp Fortune - December 22-23rd, 2017
Paul Gordon
Ski Reports
I skied a double header at Camp Fortune to check on conditions and catch the opening of the Skyline side.  Friday I skied in the afternoon and Saturday in the morning. Marshall opened on Friday. Bud Clark, Lower Canadian and Sparks opened on Saturday.  Snow was being blown on Allen's Alley on Friday and on Saturday the guns were moved to Slalom. Ex...
Bretton Woods, NH - December 15, 2017
Paul Giddings
Ski Reports
Friday morning started pretty early, and pretty chilly. I left Sherbrooke at a little after 6 in the morning with a chilly -20 degrees and clear skies. Destination today was Bretton Woods, NH where I had been a couple of times before but during very early season last year and closed out their season the year before that. With the border crossing, t...
Mont Tremblant - December 15, 2017
Paul Gordon
Ski Reports
Got in some great early season skiing on Friday at Mont Tremblant. Some buddies were staying slope side for the weekend which made things extra awesome. The day started cold like -20C cold but there was little or no wind except at the top. Over the day things warmed up to about -10c and the sun came out a bit.  The groomers were fast hard pack with...
Camp Fortune - November 26, 2017
Shane Séguin
Ski Reports
When the weather starts getting colder and colder, most skiers start counting the days till their favorite mountain opens. Some start counting right from the last day of the previous season (spoiler... that's me). The wait is over, the countdown is at 0, today was my first day out on the slopes for the new season. While it may only be my first day ...
Sommet St. Sauveur - November 12, 2017
Paul Giddings
Ski Reports
Well the time has come. Day 1 of the new 2017-18 season for me is in the books. With an early departure from Sherbrooke at 6am this morning under cloudy skies, and -5 Celsius, destination was Sommet St. Sauveur. Travelling was great until I hit Montreal of course. A little detour made while work was being done on the Turcotte interchange. Nothing n...