Did a quick mission up to Fortune to see how the hill faired from the rainfest of Friday.  Pulled into Skyline around 9:30. Skyline had just opened for the season on Saturday and the base is looking great with Chute, Canadian, Bud Clark and Sparks open.  The conditions were fast hard pack granular with little or no ice.  Fortune did a great job of recovering from the rain. In fact, the base on Canadian seems the highest I've seen it, making the run steeper than normal.  Skied over to the valley without having to skate ski at all.  The snow was even better in the valley plus the sun was hitting that side.  Temperatures were hovering around -12C and snow making was happening on the Meech runs.  The resort was pretty quiet for the start of the holidays, some lessons were going on and race practices were happening on Slalom.  Overall another great morning of skiing.  Now lets get...

It had been awhile since the last ski day so I booked a 2 hour block ticket for Mont Bellevue online late last night. I booked in for the 5pm to 7pm slot. It cost all of $12 being a resident of the city. I arrived at Bellevue just before 5 to boot up and get ready. It was a nice mild day today in Sherbrooke compared to the last few weeks of bitter cold, so I took advantage of the time. The temperature was +4 degrees. The Poma, Magic Carpet, and Quad chair were in operation. It had been awhile since I skied here last. The last time here was pre-pandemic times during the 2018-19 season. I missed out on the last couple of seasons.  The conditions were really nice this evening, being groomed packed powder over a firm but forgiving base. No ice anywhere to be found. With the mild temperature today, I thought the snow would be a little springlike, but much to my surprise it wasn't. The mountain was fully open with all 10 trails, well groomed with the e...

Welcome to the white room. Over 40cms dropped in the Ottawa/Gatineau area on Monday and Camp Fortune got a lot of it. The drive up was a white knuckle ride in my tiny car, but I made it. At one point the snow was coming down at 10cms an hour! What can I really say, the conditions were amazing. Minimal crowds and with heavy snow filling our tracks this would be one of the best days at Fortune in a long long time. This new snow makes up for a rather dry beginning to the season. Fortune even opened up the Swan Dive for a bit, a natural snow double black. I brought my big skis and ripped pow from 9am till 2pm. The snow was light and beautiful. The next couple of weeks are going to be great as we just got another 10cms today (Wednesday, Jan. 19th).  The Valley side is fully open and Skyline just needs to open Heggtveit. I'm pretty sure the Meech runs will open Friday which includes the glade run La Cache. Enjoy it while y...

Night mission to Fortune! Night skiing started on Dec. 27th and Camp Fortune has managed to open up most of the trails on Skyline. Considering the lack of snowfall and the up/down temperatures, they should be commended. The drive was quick from Ottawa as most people were still on holidays or still working from home.  When I hit Chelsea, I noticed a massive line of cars leaving Gatineau Park. The line went from the Chelsea stop sign all the way to just past the P8 parking lot. This was a parade of cross country skiers leaving at dusk. Anyway, the road to Skyline has been repaved, and there is now a median at the Skyline parking lot to slow traffic.  When I arrived around 4:30pm, it was the switch over time, so the parking lot was almost full but there was almost no lines for the lift.  Temperatures were mild at around -3 C and the conditions were hard packed with some loose snow on the edges. Sparks, Canadian, Bu...

With the day off today, I managed to get away to Mont Gleason for the morning. I arrived at the mountain at 8:45 with the temperature of -9 degrees, and no wind. It was supposed to be a partly sunny day, however it ended up being cloudy. Oh, there was about 10 minutes of sunshine that did manage to poke through! I purchased my ticket online last night as this is the only way to reserve your place if you do not have a seasons pass. You get your confirmation via email with a QR code. Upon arrival at the mountain you are required to pick up your lift ticket at an outside ticket window by showing your confirmation QR code. You are also required to show your Vaccine Passport, and one piece of photo ID to complete the pick up. A 3 step process that is very easy to complete. I was on the lift at 9:05. 8 of 20 trails were open, no glades yet as it is still pretty thin in the woods. The conditions were great with groomed machine made snow over a...

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...

The start of my 2021-22 season began today at Mont Orford. I arrived at the mountain at 8:15 to a cloudy sky with some lingering flurries, and the temperature was -8 degrees. The P2 parking lot was quite busy at this time as cars were arriving all at the same time to get the first runs of the day. It had snowed a bit the night before, at least an inch of new snow was on the ground. The Familiale, Magog, Jean-d'Avignon, l'Acces, along with la Mitaine (the Pente Ecole) were opened. The Giroux North Quad was open along with the double Magic Carpet for the Pente Ecole. A total of 5 trails in all. The mountain ops crew has worked really hard to get what was opened considering what we have experienced in the Townships this early season so far. Great job! The line up at the beginning of the day was non-existent. The ride up the chair was nice, not windy at all, however at the top it was blustery. The first run was on the Familiale to warm up. The conditions were really nice. The tra...

It barely feels like a month has passed since Sommet Saint-Sauveur's skison ended....because really it's only been 21 days! And yet the AKAMP hype is real! AKAMP, now in its 12th year, is a mirage of a snow park in the heat of the summer. This year for the first time, the snow park is located next to the Babalou chairlift on Mont Avila right in front of the main lodge. The new terrain offers some advantages, the first being a more gentle profile, making the park a bit more accessible to novice freestyle skiers and riders, and the second being a lift-serviced snow park! AKAMP runs 9AM to 9PM daily with options for a daytime pass (9AM-5PM) or an evening pass from 5PM-9PM. I spend the day at the office before heading out around 4:30, figuring I'd be stuck in traffic on the 15 but it turned out to be fluid until the 440, and then stop and go through to Saint-Jerome - still, not bad for a long weekend Friday. A few drops of rain hit my windshield on the drive up, but since AKAMP runs rain o...

Following the June 2 "last chair in Quebec" party, I did a couple of hikes to take advantage of the still unbroken trail. On June 6th, I arrived a bit on the later side so instead of hiking up and skiing down, my strategy was to park at the top of the road running along side of La Plagne and hike in to the top of the 70 Ouest, and then take a taxi back to the car from the bottom (typically less than $10). I hiked into the L'Etoile chair to the tune of frogs and crickets (see clip below) and enjoyed a frosty beverage while watching the sunset and moonrise, and then got ready to ski down. Of course in the evening the snow ices up a little and it was a bit crustier than I'd anticipated, but the trail was still fully connected so it made for a nice slow cruise to the base. The only section needing a little help was the last half of the bottom pitch, which was difficult to see in the dark where the ice was meeting the dirt. I took this section especially slow and only managed to bail on my ...

At the end of the day on June 8th it seemed certain conditions would still be great on the 9th especially with the anticipated high of 30C! I spent much of the day relaxing before heading up to the mountain for late afternoon. This time, I figured I'd just stay on the top section and practice slide turns on what was left of the 70 Ouest top. It was a perfectly beautiful day to take a leisurely hike up the top of La Plagne while enjoying the bright sun and surrounding forest. I spent up until the sun began to sink practicing turns, and took some snaps, and headed home for dinner in the city. Looking down the top pitch of the 70 Ouest - still unbroken with thin coverage with brown sugar. Looking up at the top of the 70 Ouest. Looking down the 70 Ouest on a hazy sunset. Top of 70 Ouest pano just before sunset.

After skiing down the 70 Ouest the night of the 6th, I was pretty sure all our hopes and dreams for a June 8th opening alongside the waterpark opening were dashed: The top pitch of the 70 Ouest had a narrow path remaining between the only break in the trail, and half the bottom pitch was missing entirely, having sadly melted away. To my absolute delight, one of the first posts I saw on my phone that morning was a video posted by the Sommet Saint-Sauveur of their fearless groomer polishing up the trail - as it turns out they had a secret stash of snow, just enough to anticipate opening from 10AM to 1PM on Saturday June 8th! I was determined to make first tracks! However, as we all know I'm not a functional morning person, so decided to drive up and go for a hike and ride down! I figured this was probably the last good opportunity I'd have to get out on my snowboard since I definitely was not going to try and race all the keeners the next day with my beginner boarder experience, and the ...

Hiking season has begun! As Saint-Sauveur's lift-serviced operations came to a close on Sunday afternoon, I had grand confidence that the hush-hush whisperings of a surprise June 8th opening would materialize. Never before in recent years had the 70 Ouest and Nordique (top) been open together for the final day of the season. Surely the base would hold another week and maybe even several! To my surprise, I arrived late this afternoon at the mountain to see that most of the bottom of 70 Ouest was just gone! There had been a few patchy spots on Sunday, sure, but it seemed to me the base was much thicker than to melt so quickly away. I guess they got a lot more rain than I thought! As I arrived, I ran into another late skison enthusiast who had just ridden down the 70 Ouest who assured me the snow, although crusty, was holding up on the rest of the hill. Usually, in the spring I hike up with my board but having arrived later in the day and not being too skilled on the air-chilled crust, I ...

Last season my last day of skiing was March 14th, the next day everything closed and went into lockdown. Well, it's March 17th, 2021, and spring skiing is in full effect. The Gatineau and Ottawa area has gone into a bit of an up-down meltdown. The beginning of March looked promising with a decent snowpack. January and February had brought the goods after a slow start. Now it looks like we might not even make it to Easter. So get out and ski! I hit up Mont Ste Marie midweek. The conditions were a carver's delight. All the groomed trails were open and it was a bluebird day with temps rising to around 7C by the afternoon. The grooming team at Mont Ste Marie should be commended for keeping the trails in great shape.  When you look down into the fields below it's brown grass and grazing deer. I was hoping the glades would still have some coverage so I ducked into one-off Carrousel. They were skiable but you're going to wreck your skis.  The snow has m...

Wow, a sleeper powder day! What a way to end a workday. The snow started coming down heavy in Gatineau around noon and didn't stop. By the time I got to the Skyline parking lot, there were 10cms already on the ground. This would be the best day of the season so far. Loads of fresh stuff, almost no lines and creamy turns. Goggles were a must and I fought off some fogging issues. The temperature was around zero and the snow was a little wet but not overly heavy. I had no problem sailing through mashed-up powder. Heggtveit was my first run and how nice it was. If you arrive around 4ish hit Hegg first before they close it for the night. Every run on Skyline was perfect. Later we poled our way to the Valley side. So much untouched powder but then the power went out! I feared I would be stuck in the valley with my car on Skyline. After about 10 minutes they got the lifts going again but the trail lights were still off. We arrived at the top of Slalom in darkness...

After a late-night Friday, we took it easy Saturday morning and I didn't get to the Nikita Girls Who Ride jam, which was from 1-5pm, a shift from last year's evening session, one that offered perfect daytime conditions. We got to Saint-Sauveur around 3:30, just in time for the deluge of rain falling from the sky. Due to the severity of the weather, they stopped the lift for a brief time until the risk of lightning and wind had passed. We hung out in the car during the rain and got ready to ride! After checking in, I headed to the lift, people were trickling back in after the rain, and soon every chair on the lift was filled with a steady stream of skiers and riders. People would cluster at the top and drop into the park, with the first feature being a large tube to ride over, followed by a pipe. Then, the main section of the park had twelve or more features with several possible lines. I skied through a number of runs and then paused for a quick break, right next to the skate ramp; whi...

Wow, what a killer weekend at Mont Tremblant! I drove up late Friday to meet some buddies from Toronto who had a hotel room a few minutes from the resort. Our expectations were not high as it was early season and there was the 24hr relay race on the south side. Tremblant brought the goods though. They had just gotten 10cms and on Saturday they opened up "Le Edge" for the first time this season as well as the runs off the Expo Express Quad. We had powder skiing on December 6th! along with 49 open runs on Saturday and 53 on Sunday. The temperatures were hovering around -15c in the morning and -8c in the afternoon. Lots of snowmaking was happening. Anyway, after railing some groomers on the North Side we got in a couple of powder runs going down Fuddle Duddle and Windigo then hit Le Edge for more all-natural tree runs. We stayed on the Edge side for a while before heading back to the south side for some afternoon groomer action. Sunday was a repeat with lots of powder stashes left in the ...

Have they cut down all the bush near the road? The view is a lot better.

Friday morning at Camp Fortune was a great way to end the week.  The snow was coming down hard layering the perfectly groomed runs with 2-4cms of fresh stuff. Even a couple of centimetres has a great physiological effect on your skiing! Once again Camp Fortune has done an amazing job dealing with a very odd season plus low snowfall. All the main runs are open on all three sides of the resort. Only the glades and natural snow runs wait for a couple more snowfalls. I spent most of my time on Skyline and all the runs felt great.  There was little crust under the new snow but nothing a well-tuned ski couldn't handle.  Which reminds me I've been lazy this year and still need to wax! The valley side seemed to have more natural snow and Slalom seemed almost untouched.  I was expecting big line ups but the place was almost empty.  I've been skiing a lot of nights and from 2-4pm it's pretty quiet but then the lines form and it can...

Skison 2020 got its official start on Friday, October 30, 2020 with Sommet Saint-Sauveur's soft launch opening, and while I was not quick enough on the draw to participate, I was all set for Day 2 which delightfully fell on Hallowe'en! As always, Sommet Saint-Sauveur is the first to open in the East, even beating out "longest season in the East" rival Killington this year. As it happens, the state of Vermont has delayed releasing its ski resort opening guidance as covid-19 cases in Vermont have recently seen an uptick, and Killington has tentatively scheduled November 19 for opening. My day started with a hearty brunch from our neighborhood spot Fabergé which gave me lots of time to get ready while waiting for our brunch delivery. I packed up the car with my two sets of Kastle James XX90s, intending to ski on the pair with the best tune and drop the other off at the shop for some fresh wax. I have followed along with interest as other regions announced their operations guidance for mou...

Finally, 2021 has arrived! After having spent NYE enjoying a three-course fondue and celebratory drinks, I spent most of the day relaxing at home with plans to catch the last few runs of the day. We enjoyed a late afternoon brunch (or perhaps it was more of a "linner") of mimosas, eggs benedict, bacon, fresh fruit and yogurt to get the evening started out right, and then I got ready to head to the mountain. I knew I'd only have time for a few short runs, which was fine by me after having spent December intentionally staying home as much as possible. I planned to ease gently into the new year, and drove in through Piedmont, passing by all the lifts from Avila to the Sommet Express to scope out the crowds. The lines seemed steady, but not at all busy. The Sommet Express had the longest line of all, and there were only about ten chairs worth of people leading up to the gate if that. After getting ready in the car, I arrived in the practically empty lift line, to be greeted by the SQ! It s...

Five and a half months after the end of last season, the 2019-20 season began today with a trip to Mont Gleason. A buddy of mine contacted me to see if I was interested in going, and we decided that today worked with our schedules. So road trip it was. It was Gleason's opening weekend, as they had opened yesterday. We arrived at the mountain around 9:15 to cloudy skies, but looking out in the distance you could see blue skies. They did not make it our way, as it looked like we were on the edge of a weather system coming in. The temperature was a mild -3 degrees. Two trails were available the Gaudeau and the Cascades served by the Laurent-Lemire Quad chair. The coverage was really good for the early season. Groomed granular over a firm base. The first runs to start the season were down the Gaudreau, a nice easy beginner trail. It made for a good warm-up. Then we hit the Cascades, where this year the trail was widened at the top to accommodate the new Quad chair. With this change, the co...

The long awaited day has finally arrived, exactly five months to the day that we rode L'Etoile for the last runs of the season. Saint-Sauveur had been teasing an opening for days now, and with Killington's Rime and Reason already in full force as of last Sunday, it was a pretty safe bet that Friday would be the day: TGIF, amirite? The opening was announced for 2PM, however work was a bit too busy for me to get to the mountain until late afternoon. I was finally able to load up the car with my two sets of Kastle James XX90s and my Ride Crush board around 5pm, run a few quick errands and then hit the (very slow) road to get to Saint-Sauveur, arriving around 7pm. Every year at the end of the season I find a home for my GoPasse where I'll be sure to remember it at the start of the next season, so I can reload it online instead of having to go get a new one at customer service. Every year I somehow fail to recall where I stashed it. All of my other passes were in my ski wallet, but not the ...

Skison 2019, day 2! After our late night at Brasserie Harricana, we got a late start to the day, made some breakfast sandwiches (thanks mom for the homemade bread!), and took our time heading up to the mountain, running some errands along the way. We got there around 6, I picked up the skis and board I'd dropped at the atelier mise au point the previous day, and dropped off my older James XX90s for Ptex and a tune. The first stop was the T-Bar for a motivational warm boozy drink. Apparently, Friday night at the T-Bar had been quite busy but Saturday was calm and it was easy to get a seat at the bar. Scott sipped on Griffintown all evening and I started my warmup with an Irish coffee. I headed over to the lift and was hoping that with the fresh wax and sharpen the conditions would be a little more forgiving since most of the coverage is from snowmaking. Although technically Nordique is not open yet (there is still a rope dropped at the top of the run), the park features had been set up ...

Day 2 of the season brought me to Mont Orford today. I had heard of the major construction project on the chalet, snowmaking system, and the new domed double magic carpet for the beginner's area that was installed, and has some finishing touches to go before it is up and running. I needed a sneak peek at what was done. I arrived at the mountain just after 8:30 with sunny skies and a crisp -11 degrees at the base. Once out of the car I noticed there was a bit of a breeze which made it colder than what it really was. With the rain and the warm weather this past week, and a wet weekend, I knew today was going to be a day where the snow was going to be hard and fast. Good thing I had a tune-up on the boards a couple of weeks ago! My buddy Christian contacted me to say that he would be there, and we met up to ski in the morning. The Giroux North Quad was open serving the Magnum, Familliale, Magog, and the Jean-Daviginon trails today. At the base of the mountain it was breezy, but as you rod...

With the forecast for the next couple of days not being the best it could be, I decided to take advantage of a sunny day to head down to Owl's Head. I woke up to a beautiful sunrise, and I left Sherbrooke at 7:15 for the hour drive. I arrived at the mountain at a touch after 8, and got ready to roll. Got my RFID card reloaded then it was go time! The lifts opened at 8:30 with the Main Quad, Baby Quad and the Magic Carpet. I had heard news that the new Lake Quad was to open later in the morning. One of the main reasons for heading down there today. There were 16 announced trails open. The temperature was around -8 and no breeze, so it made for a comfortable morning. The first rides up the Main Quad were to ski Lilly's Leap, Centennial, and the Crossover to the Lower Standard. Shady Lady was also open, however the Blue Chair was not spinning. The conditions were of a fine machine groomed granular over a hard base. Coverage was pretty good all over. There was a little inversion happening ...

Today was my friend's birthday, and what better way to celebrate than riding down the mountain! Bromont opened the Versant du Village on Saturday, and I was excited to try some new terrain after having spent the previous 15 sessions at Saint-Sauveur. As I was having a long day at the office, I didn't arrive until quite late, with everyone else arriving about a half hour before me. I arrived about 8:30pm and headed to the office to activate my Option nord-est pass which is the Bromont add-on to the Sommet Saint-Sauveur Passe Parfait. Each year, the system of delivering these passes seems to generate some confusion and I was initially told I needed to recuperate my pass at Saint-Sauveur, before they figured out I had my Saint-Sauveur pass and was there to activate my Bromont pass (Bromont also offers a reciprocal deal where you pay $70 for an option to ski Saint-Sauveur). Once I had my pass sorted out, I got ready and headed to the lift. The temperature was a bit more moderate than at Sa...