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 ...
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...
The choice today to pretty much end my 2016-17 ski season was Mont Orford. I have ended 3 of the past 4 seasons here and what a day to close out the year! Today had been announced that Orford would be closing for the season due to the weather for Easter Sunday and Monday not being great with rain in the forecast for the Townships. Beautiful bluebir...
Here we are, at the end of the ski season in the Ottawa-Gatineau region. With the snow nearly all melted from the city and the heavy rain received over the past week, you could easily think that the skiing is over. This is definitely not the case. In fact, I can't remember the last time I skied at Easter at Camp Fortune where they had this much sno...
Wow what a great ski day!. 15c by midday, loads of snow coverage and killer spring skiing. Skyline and the Valley were both open with a dual slalom race on slalom. Even Swan Dive was still skiable with all natural coverage. Snow was corn but not slush, fast and fun.
April is famous for its spring skiing, and for me, there is no better place to go than Sommet Saint-Sauveur. They really know how to put on a great show, from the legendary ambiance on the outdoor terrace, to the entertainment and friendly competitions of all sorts, to offering the longest ski season in the province and being last to close. This ye...
I have to say Mont Chilly is a hidden gem. Yes its rather far from Ottawa and it only has a T-bar for hill access but its a got a great vibe, friendly locals and some great terrain. I got to the hill around 10:30am after a scenic drive down 148. Watch for deer there were lots out in the farmer fields. Anyway the t-bar was just starting after purc...
With the day off work today, and taking advantage of that, Mont Sutton was the choice of destination. I left Sherbrooke at a little after 7 under partly cloudy skies. When I arrived at Sutton for 8:30, it was cloudy and about 2 degrees above zero. The conditions were a bit more tricky that I was anticipating, as the mild temperatures from yesterday...
We raced up to Fortune in the hope of getting a bunch of runs in before the freezing rain hit. We were rewarded with perfect grooming and no lines. Though a little colder then the gorgeous day on Saturday I suspect the snow was better today. Heggtveit was our number one pick and we GS styled down it half a dozen times to get the blood flowing. T...
Wow what a beautiful day! Today's plan was Mont Gleason. This mountain is located in the town of Warwick about 1 hour from Sherbrooke. I left this morning at 7:30 to be there early enough for decent parking and to beat the rush to get some early runs in. Gleason has 5 lifts in all, 1 fixed grip Quad, 1 double chair, 2 t-bars serving 20 trails, and ...
Heading outside at 8:55am, I made my way to the Lakeview quad to start my day. Upon first glance, the trails were all nicely groomed and the snow is impeccable. I line up and make it to be on the first chair up the mountain. Mission accomplished! While heading up the mountain, I look in the direction of Black Donald, my first destination, and the b...
After a couple of weeks of no skiing, tonight I needed a ski fix, so Mont Bellevue was just what the doctor ordered. Mont Bellevue, located in the heart of the city of Sherbrooke is operated by the Municipality and offers a small variety of trails, 10 in all. You are not going to find many challenges here as there are no trails marked any higher th...
Nothing like night skiing in a blizzard! Wow was it windy at the top of Skyline but the skiing was great. I arrived around 7pm and we had about 6cm of fresh snow on top of hard pack. Just enough snow to the crust. I stuck to Skyline and I have to say I have never seen Bud, Canadian and the Chute so well groomed. Not a single bump or mogul anywhe...
I finally made it out to Calabogie Peaks for the first timer this year. We had a bluebird Sunday with almost no wind. The mountain has a lot less snow then Mont Ste-Marie but the machine groomed granular was holding out well enough. You had to pretty much stick to the groomers though as anything else was pretty much glare ice or exposed rock! Th...
I pulled into Mont Ste Marie around 9:30 expecting lots of cars and the place to be busy. Not so even though its Quebec March Break. The conditions were surprisingly good as the mountain got 12cms of fresh snow after the rain on Wednesday, if fact it was snowing a little when we arrived. No lift lines and great conditions resulted in a great day ...
Today's Destination was Owl's Head. My second home from 1989-2001. The temperature was around -10 degrees and cloudy upon arrival at 8:15 this morning, and to a few cars in the parking lot. The weatherman had announced for a mostly sunny day. It did clear out later on during the morning. Being that it is school break this week, I was expecting a lo...
Last week we had almost 50cm of fresh snow on the ground. Since Saturday its been a total meltdown. We've lost over 20cm of snow pack and the worse is yet to come. Regardless the snow base is holding out at Camp Fortune. I went up night skiing to check on the conditions. The snow is soft and fast but not slushy and there is no ice. I was gett...
Today's Destination was Whaleback Mountain located in Enfield, NH, about 15 minutes south of White River Junction, VT right on Interstate 89, to meet up with a friend who had been skiing in the region the past couple of days. I left Sherbrooke this morning at 6 am for the journey, 95% all autoroute for this trip. Whaleback is very easy to find and ...
With spring like conditions and lots of snow you would have thought I'd be out on the ski hills this weekend. Well I wanted to go to Mont Chilly but got stuck in town. This was kinda a good thing after looking at the webcams at Camp fortune and Mont Ste-Marie, it was crazy busy up there. Instead I checked out Carlington Hill and discovered Alpine ...
Previous report of my ski day at Mt. Abram, ME that was posted on another ski website forum. The Choice of Destination - Mt. Abram, Maine. The day began with my departure from Sherbrooke at 5:30am via Colebrook, NH and Balsams Wilderness, (route 26) with a brief stop to visit the closed ski area, and I arrived at Mt. Abram at 08:30. I noticed that ...
Just got home from a fantastic morning at Camp Fortune. About 30cms dropped over Sunday afternoon into the night resulting in some beauty powder for Monday morning. I grabbed my fatties and made it to the hill for almost first chair. Heggtveit, The Chute and Duffy were left un-groomed for the powder hounds. Craigsmarc and Swan Dive were busy with...
What an incredible day at Ski Vorlage. I have been trying my best this season to be at the mountains in time for opening but this is the first time this year I had first chair (after the ski patrol that is). Let me tell you right from the start, the conditions were perfect. A light snow was falling during the morning and the previous night had left...
What a day. What a season. There really hasn't been a low point all winter. Today the ski conditions were once again amazing. Being a Sunday, I would have expected a lot more people to be present, but since it's the SuperBowl tonight... well that's still no excuse. In any case, I won't complain. Short line ups at the lifts and first tracks on sever...
Well I finally made it up to Mont Ste Marie. Last year I skied on the closing day and it was blast. Conditions this time were hard packed with a little dust on crust, not bad but we need some new snow. I really think Mont Ste Marie is your best bang for your buck, 1200ft vertical, only a hour from Ottawa, short or zero lineups, and high speed lif...
My first night out skiing of the season. The past few years, it always seems to take place at Mont Cascades. Why not, the mountain is fun, the ambiance is great, and the trails really come alive for me at night. The past week again saw some more mild weather and rain, and this time it did have some effect on the mountains, although nothing major. T...