Sommet Mont Olympia - January 20, 2018

Paul Giddings

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 Exchange. I arrived at the mountain at 8:00 and the temperature was a mild +2 degrees under cloudy skies. The was a moderate wind blowing as well, but to me it was actually not bad because of the mild temperature. Better than the -18 degrees and winds that were blowing a few weeks ago. Getting there early paid off for some decent parking behind the ticket building, and a good wind down from the trip. Cars were rolling in one by one and the lot was filling at a steady pace. Line up for the ticket booth then was non-existant but got busier later on. 30 trails were open along with 6 lifts. The conditions at opening were nice with a groomed packed powder/granular over a firm base. Once it warmed up a little more during the morning, it softened up a bit more but not to the point were you would consider it mashed potatoes like what you find at the end of the season in the spring.

We met up with another friend at the chalet and by the time we were ready to go it was 9:15. The first runs were up the Quad at the base of the mountain on the Innsbruck and Olympia trails with subsequent runs on the Nagano, Chamonix, Cortina, Davos, and Tignes in various combo runs from one connecting to the other.

Mont Gabriel from the Innsbruck:

The Cortina:

We then moved onto the Triple Chair and met up with another friend from the area, so now we were 5 skiing. We made a few trips up the triple to ski the Terzi, Baquiera Beret, and the St-Anton. Coverage on these trails were good with a few thin spots on the St-Anton and the Baquiera Beret but nothing that would be of concern. You just had to keep an eye on certain spots.

The St-Moritz and the Madonna Di Campiglio:

Then a nice lunch break at noon to grab a bite to eat and then off to the t-bar for a tour. By now the line up at the Main Quad was up to about 15 minutes. The t-bar was less than 5 minutes and the triple was about a 5-10 minute wait. The lines were steady but moving smoothly. Then it was back over to the triple from the t-bar to head over to the A-Quad chair for some laps on the L'Intermediare and and Torino and back up the triple for one last run.

The T-Bar:

The A-Quad and the L'Aiguille de Piedmont with the l'Intermediare to the right:

By this time around 2:30, there were some ice patches coming through from the skier traffic. Nothing that you couldn't avoid. There still some pretty decent lines still to be found to make your way around them. I finished the day at 2:45 and out on the road back home at 3:00. It was a great decision to make the drive to Olympia today to ski a new area for myself and to meet up with some friends and having a great time.

Here are a few more scenes of the day: