Opening day at Camp Fortune was a crisp (-12c) bluebird day. This is the 100th season! and people are pumped. Two runs, Pineault and Allen's Ally were open and the conditions were great. The trails are covered in perfect machine made corduroy with about 20cms of natural snow along the edges. There are also a few rails and small jumps setup for the park kids. I arrived a little after 9 missing first chair. I stayed for a few hours and got a bunch of runs in before the place started to get busy. People are very eager. A great first day to a very early start. Snowmaking has moved to Clifford and hopefully by next weekend both Clifford and Marshall may be open.   I bought some swag!  

Quick update on conditions at Camp Fortune. Saturday was grim, cold rain all day but as the sun went down we had a switch over. The snow started around 6pm in Chelsea and 8pm in Ottawa. The result 12cms at Camp Fortune! Instant winter wonderland with the sticky stuff clinging to trees and chair lifts. Note to self I need better ski pants. Anyways, Fortune had 5 runs open in the Valley on Sunday. The conditions were good on Marshall and Clifford, hard-packed groomers with some fresh on top. Pineault had lots of park rails and jumps setup but the wind was blowing unpleasantly uphill. Now that the cold weather is back Slalom and Skyline should be open by the weekend. Slalom has loads of snow whales all over it. Skyline is pretty much ready with Canadian, Sparks and Bud Clark already groomed. A couple more snowfalls and the place should be hopping for Christmas break. Enjoy. 

The new year at Camp Fortune rolled in with 25cms of snow over 24hrs. Fortune must have groomed after the snowfall as everything was perfect corduroy. Skyline is open with Bud Clark, Canadian, Chute , and Sparks. Heggtveit was getting setup for snowmaking once the temperatures drop. The ropes have not dropped yet on Swan Dive or the glades, maybe after another good snow fall. Conditions were great and the lines were small. I managed to get second chair after waiting with a small line of early risers. Every trail in the Valley is open with the exception of the T-bar runs. The Meech lift runs were also open. The temperatures were hovering around zero and light snow began to fall around 10am. Lots of snow on the crossover trail of Humdinger as Fortune made/pushed snow across the trail this year. Overall a great start to the new year.  

17cms of blower came in sideways Saturday night. The result was fantastic skiing Sunday at Camp Fortune. We managed to dig out and make it to the Skyline before 9am. Camp Fortune had groomed on Saturday night so there was a nice layer of light powder on top of a firm base. Conditions of course were excellent. Smooth and smeary. After a bunch of runs on Skyline, we skated over to the valley and then hit the runs on Meech at 10ish. The new glade was open off Paradis called La Cache Sous-Bois. The glade runs from the right side of Paradis down and under the lift exiting North American. The run has a great pitch after the initial flat entrance with two main lines, one steeper and exiting farther up the hill. We spent most of the morning on La Cache before heading back to Skyline. The runs in the valley were also perfect but the place started to get busy with ski schools around 11am. In fact, the entire parking lot in the valley looked full by noon. Skyline still had lots of spots though. H...

Soft turns and fog was name of the game on Friday. We rolled into Tremblant around 9am after a easy two hour drive from Ottawa. The place was busy with almost all the parking lots at capacity. The temperature was around zero and with no wind the top third of the mountain was a total white out. First off the lineup at the gondola was insane because the lift was not moving. We quickly moved over to the Flying Mile and then skied down to TGV to get to the top. The gondola started back up soon after. With 93 trails open there was plenty of options. We started with Laurentienne on the Soleil side. The snow was nice and soft. Tremblant had gotten about 25cms over the week. Options were soft groomers or natural bump runs. The forgiving moguls on Jasey-Jay Anderson were really nice. The fog was a bit of a bummer as you really couldn't rip the steep top pitches as the visibility was very limited. Maybe if we knew the mountain better it wouldn't have mattered. Regardless warm weather and no wind...

I had thought that Friday evening would be my last decent ski session for some time - I headed to Saint-Sauveur to catch the last few hours of the day after work. It was delightfully slick, soft with a thin layer of chill on top like the frosting on a cake, and oh, so fast. Not to mention it was full moon Friday! As viewed from halfway up the Sommet Express below: The wet storm forecast for the weekend began on my ride home, making it a slow drive through thick fog and mist as I got back into the city. Feeling dejected about the weather, I slid into a great parking spot across the street from our building and flipped up the windshield wipers so the impending freezing rain wouldn't glue them to the windshield. Almost everything was closed on Saturday, and although Saint-Sauveur did open in the morning, they closed earlier than anticipated, as the rain had started during the day. What a let down from a storm event that was originally forecasting a ton of snow! On the upside, we were host...

This Saturday was the fourth in the series of eight Nuit Blanches at Bromont, where you can ski from 8AM til 2AM. We were also graced with a forecast for a reasonable storm that would bring 15 to 20 cm to the townships. The storm was to begin at 5pm, leaving plenty of time during the day to relax and prepare for some serious night skiing in prime conditions. I didn't rush and planned to go after 9pm, giving the snow some time to accumulate on the granular and icy base (which was still recovering from last week's ice storm). After spending the afternoon lounging around the house and getting a few neglected chores completed, I got ready to go and packed myself a Creemore and deli sandwich snack since there are very few snacking options in Bromont after 2AM and I have reached my quota for tolerance of Tim Horton's already this season. I headed out about 9:30, and snow had already accumulated on the car so I took some time to clear off the snow and remaining ice from the previous storm bef...

What a difference a couple of weeks make. The week before, warm and rainy, enough to make everything in town brown again, icy and sloppy in the mountains, then a dump the weekend after of some 40+ cm of snow to cover up the mess left behind. Has Mother Nature been off her meds again? Well, being that it was a sunny day, travels took me all the way to Mont Sutton. This mountain is well known for being the place to go after a dump of snow for the best glade and powder skiing around. The weather today was much better than the last time I had been there at the end of last March. The drive was smooth, and I arrived at the mountain at 9:00 with a very fresh -20 degrees. Parking was decent, and no long hike to the chalet. There was a bit of a breeze that made it a touch colder, but being dressed for it, that didn't matter........just the constant fog up of my glasses under my ski goggles. Nothing some Kleenex couldn't fix. I was more concerned about my phone freezing up, and having to thaw it...

What a difference a couple of weeks and a couple of big snowfalls make. Mont Ste Marie was in peak "Winter Wonderland" mode on Sunday. Over 10cms had fallen overnight and the snow would come down heavy the rest of the day. The 1200ft vertical mountain was 100% open including all the glades. The drive up was a little greasy and we got stuck behind a fleet of plows up oh boy was it worth it. The steeps were deep and the glades were fresh. What else can I say we got soaked and our legs were burned but we stayed till the last chair. Get it while it's good! Dustin Cook is snowed in. Carousel Sous-bois Going into Deep Purple Betsy, I think.

With the forecast of a sunny day today, it was off to discover a new area, and that choice was Vallee du Parc in Shawinigan, just north of Trois Rivieres. I had thought about Vallee du Parc for the last week or so checking out their website for info, and their trail map. It looked like it was going to be a good choice. I left Sherbrooke at 7:00am to clouds, and drove into a beautiful blue sky once I arrived at the mountain at a little after 9:00. The parking lot was beginning to fill up, along with the 5 busses of school kids that arrived about 5 minutes after I had. The temperature was a fresh -14 degrees with no breeze at the base. 33 of 33 trails were open, and 3 lifts served the open terrain. 2 Quads and the Magic Carpet for the beginners. Even though the main parking lot was full, and with the kids, there was zero wait at either Quad. Maybe 2 minutes at most. The conditions were fantastic! Groomed packed powder over a firm base. No ice to be found anywhere. In comparison to the To...

It is the start of the March Break week in Quebec, and to kick it off a visit to Mont Gleason was in order. I had been in touch a good friend of mine earlier in the week to see if he would be able to join me, and it worked out that he was available. We usually would meet at Gleason once a season to ski however it didn't work out last year. It was great to ski with him today. It was supposed to be a partly sunny day today. When I left Sherbrooke it had cleared out, and the sun was shining. During the hour drive to Gleason it started to cloud over and by the time I got to the mountain it was snowing and the temperature was -12 degrees. Today at Gleason it was free skiing for residents of the MRC of Arthabaska so we were expecting it to be quite busy early. Lifts opened at 9 with the new Dopplemayr Quad first and then the Laurent-Lemire Quad shortly after. All trails, and glades were open. The double chair was loading by a bit after 10:00. The conditions early were really good. The trails...

Well, we didn't quite get the snowmageddon that was hyped but the skiing at Camp Fortune was great regardless. 10cms of wet snow had fallen overnight and it would snow heavily all morning bringing the total to close to 25cms by midday. The drive was not great as highway 5 was like a cart track but it was worth the trek. With temperatures around zero, the fresh snow was heavy but you can't complain. I managed to get fresh lines for a few runs on Heggtveit and Craigsmarc before moving to Meech and getting the first run after the Ski Patrol on the La Cache glade. After several powder-filled runs on the Meech side, I moved to the valley. The valley was quiet with the trick park closed off as well as Allen's Ally for a race. Slalom and Duffy had loads of fresh snow though. Back on Skyline things were clumping up fast but my legs were pretty much done by noon anyway. On a sad note just after lunch Fortune had to close because of power issues. Yesterday they were closed for a few hours in the...

Today while visiting my sister in Tewkesbury just north of Quebec City, I took some time to go to Stoneham to ski some laps for the morning. We had received a little freezing rain during the night, that was covered with a layer of about 5cms of snow. I arrived at the mountain early for the best parking, and to beat the March Break crowd for some early turns. The skies were cloudy, on a day that was supposed to be sunny. The temperature was a fairly mild -5 degrees. 43 trails and 6 lifts were operating. The conditions were really good with groomed packed powder over a firm base. The coverage was excellent. The first runs of the day were up the l'Eclipse Quad. There was no wind, and it was quite comfortable. The combination of the top of the Randonnee trail, Toosey-Chandler, Petit Champlain, la Gonnet, to the bottom of la Rock and Roll was the first run of the day. A great little combination to get the day started to warm up. A good mix of easy beginner and intermediate trails. Next it w...

Sunday and the last day of March Break in Quebec. The time change was painful but the mountain was perfect with all 102 trails open. Temperatures in the morning were around -3c and by the afternoon +3c. Bonus, zero wind. We rolled in around 8:30am and stayed till last chair. The day was that good with perfect groomers or moguls and trees galore. The crazy thing is we though it would be super busy, we were wrong. Most lines were less then a couple minutes. Maybe all the March break holiday people left on Saturday? Anyway the snow was soft enough to hit the trees without fear and everything just felt right. Get up here as the next couple weeks maybe a melt down. On the edge of Expo Haute Tension mogulfest Top of Le Edge Me somewhere The Taiga glade is vast. Wow

I rolled into Camp Fortune around 8:45am on a snowy Sunday. This was my first day of the season and probably my latest start in years. Warm weather in November, little or no snow in December and COVID haven't helped! I was directed to the main parking lot in the valley. Then after suiting up in the parking lot you are screened at a makeshift gate. Have you been out of the country? Are you feeling ill? Have you been around anyone with COVID? etc... After getting passed that it was time to ski. Fortune only had Pineault, Marshall and one of the magic carpets open. The lifts spun just before 9am and the first 4-5 runs were great. The manmade snow was well groomed and the natural snow was now falling harder. Considering what Fortune has had to work with you can't complain that much. By 10am though it was getting busy. Unless you are family or from the same household you have to ride the chair lift as a single. Ski team groups which are still running? were slowing things down majorly. All t...

Well, my Day 2 of this extraordinary ski season is in the books. An outing to Mont Orford today was absolutely needed as it had been over a month since the last time I had gone out. I had arrived at the mountain at 8:15, and the parking lot was already starting to fill up. The temperature was a nice mild -5 degrees under a mostly cloudy sky, however. Booting up at the car is nothing new for me as I often do this at most hills I go to. The chalet on four wheels! Once booted up, masked up, and dressed it was time to head off to start the morning of skiing. 25 of 44 trails announced as open with 3 lifts spinning, the Hybride, the Giroux East, and North Quads. Surprisingly enough when I arrived at the Hybride, there was already a lineup for first turns. It looks rather large at first with everyone respecting the 2-metre social distancing rules. The wait time wasn't more than 5 minutes. I met up with my ski buddy Christian for the first two runs of the day. The first runs of the day were on...

Well my 2020-21 ski season has begun....finally! The weather recently in the Townships has not been the best, and upcoming weather reports aren't any better. So off to Mont Orford this morning for a few early season laps. I arrived at the mountain at 8:15, and it was already getting mild with a temperature of +2 degrees, and skies were partly cloudy to start. With the new Covid protocols in place, we are required to dress, and boot up at the car. Access to the chalet is limited for 15 minute breaks. Masks to be worn in the lift line, chalet, and on the lifts. Outside on the terrace there were a few spots where there are fireplaces set up with a couple of places to sit and relax. What was pretty cool was that they had was a shipping container converted into a serving area for drinks and other items you could purchase without having to enter the chalet. The terrace was set up nicely to have a break. Now onto the skiing. There were 5 trails available with The Giroux North Quad, The Hybrid...