Alta (Laurentians,Quebec) No more

Anthony

New member
Our family home base for skiing did not open last season and now the area is for sale to developers to subdivide into residential and commercial lots. There goes the best 500' of wild unrestricted ungroomed vertical that I can think of. Does not come as a surprise as last season the chair did not run so we ended up hiking the hill. Now it will be sold off to carve up for a subdivision. Hard to take . The closure adds to a growing list of Laurentian hills that are gone forever , replaced by subdivisions. Could go on with a business case analysis on why it failed but at this time not into it. Instead one of my memories of Alta is skiing off the ridge picking out my own line and almost knocking myself out by skiing into a birdhouse hanging from a tree. What can I say that was Alta.
 
When I saw you posted something in the East, I had initially thought that you made a comment of the snowpatch a few days ago that was still remaining at Mont Avila. (I'll add the link the Laurentians skiing update) :D

:-(

It's a sad day, but not surprised. It's a continuation of the disappearances of the small players.

When you think of it, this place had snowmaking and two chairs (one being a quad which was sold) back in the early 1990s.

I actually did a feature on the place last Monday on my blog, Ski Mad World : Monday Mad Addict’s Attic : Mont Alta, Québec
http://madpatski.wordpress.com/2013/07/ ... ta-quebec/

The link features link to a recent newspaper story from a local paper this spring talking about the owner's troubles over the years. An interesting and almost worrisome note is that Vallée Bleue is also for sale a few miles away. I believe it is owned the Alta's brother.

Here is a link to the initial FTO TR I wrote back in January 2007 with added pictures on the blog :

http://madpatski.wordpress.com/2007/01/ ... y-29-2007/
 
Wow , Vallee Bleue also for sale and you are correct same family. When the kids were young we used both areas ,one for the lessons and one for the adventure. As a kid my home base was long gone Christie (currently carved up for housing ). Who knows what the future will be for the Laurentian ski scene. Tremblant and MSSI. Honestly, running out of cheap local places to go for powder turns. Val David banned parking at the base of Plante ,Alta will be gone soon . Avalanche has some interesting terrain but is limited . Last year noticed more guys at Avalanche on Friday mornings as they do not open mid week.
 
Anthony":185u1s1i said:
Wow , Vallee Bleue also for sale and you are correct same family. When the kids were young we used both areas ,one for the lessons and one for the adventure. As a kid my home base was long gone Christie (currently carved up for housing ). Who knows what the future will be for the Laurentian ski scene. Tremblant and MSSI. Honestly, running out of cheap local places to go for powder turns. Val David banned parking at the base of Plante ,Alta will be gone soon . Avalanche has some interesting terrain but is limited . Last year noticed more guys at Avalanche on Friday mornings as they do not open mid week.

The dynamic of the ski industry in the Laurentians could make a nice thesis subject. Since I started writing on FTO 10 years ago, the Laurentians have seen a few closures: Cote 40-80 (Ste-Adèle), Gray Rocks (St-Jovite) and now Mont Alta (Val David).

Who is remaining (only Laurentians corridor / St-Donat not included as it is official in Launaudière)? (South to North)

St-Sauveur and vicinity
Mont Avila (owned and connected to MSSI)
Mont St-Sauveur (MSSI)
Mont Habitant
Morin Heights (MSSI)
Mont Olympia (MSSI)
Mont Gabriel (MSSI)
Mont Avalanche (now owned or partially owned by Coop and/or municipality of Ste-Adolphe)

Ste-Adèle and vicinity
---Cote 40-80 (closed)
Chanteclerc (only Mountain 4 still in operation)

Val Morin and Val David
Belle Neige
Vallée Bleue (for sale)
Mont Alta (for sale for redevelopment)

past Ste-Agathe
Mont Blanc
---Gray Rocks (closed - same ownership as Mt Blanc)
Tremblant


I've only skied once in memory (since 1981) at Vallée Bleue, same for Alta and Avalanche. Mont Avalanche is a very very local oriented. Vallée Bleue is a less commercial Belle Neige. Great beginner hill.

I was working on my blog the last few days and noticed that ZSki had the count of Quebec ski areas at 77. That number used to be over 100 30 years ago.

Lost Laurentians hill in the last 30 years not mentioned above (I might be missing a few). The Townships hasn't had a deep rooted history of the North of Montreal and didn't have that many ski areas to start with. In the last 10 years it has also seen 3 areas closed : Glen, Shefford and Montjoye.

Mont Christie (near St-Sauveur) ... http://madpatski.wordpress.com/2011/10/ ... ki-centre/
Mont Alouette (Ste-Adèle)
Auberge Yvan Coutu / Cochand (Ste-Marguerite)
Sun Valley (near Val Morin)
Mont Sauvage (near Val Morin) ... http://madpatski.wordpress.com/2012/05/ ... t-sauvage/
Mont Plante (near Val David)
Mont Ste-Agathe (Ste-Agathe)
Mont Castor (near Ste-Agathe)
Mont Belmont (in Labelle)

Redevelopment of land/lot on/near runs : that is the case for Christie, Alouette, Castor (?) and Mont Sauvage which is looking to reopen with a lift for private / owner of property. See link above.
 
A real shame should the closing truly come to pass. Definitely a unique place in the Quebec landscape of ski resorts.

Unfortunately one I have missed for too long (hopefully not forever). Have even passed it on my way to Val St-Come a few times.

Hoping not to have to add it to my list of missed ski resorts.
-Grey Rocks
-Mont Alta
 
Anthony":1lxp5cjq said:
Thanks for the report , all those lost hills bring back memories as a kid . A real bygone era.

Missing 1980 Laurentians area lost since from the list above.
La Marquise (St-Sauveur)
Bellevue (Morin Heights)
Mt Tyrol (Ste-Hyppolyte)
Carling Lake (Pine Hill)
Mont Faustin (that got merged into Mt-Blanc)
Mont Daniel (near Mt-Laurier)

That roughly makes half of the Laurentians ski areas closed that were open at the start of the 1980s.


Shane":1lxp5cjq said:
A real shame should the closing truly come to pass. Definitely a unique place in the Quebec landscape of ski resorts.

Unfortunately one I have missed for too long (hopefully not forever). Have even passed it on my way to Val St-Come a few times.

Hoping not to have to add it to my list of missed ski resorts.
-Grey Rocks
-Mont Alta

Everything is getting more homogenized.
 
Thanks for the link. There was talk about this last winter among the hiker/skiers but I did not think anythng would come of it. Full admiration to the organizers of this plan. Maybe there is a chance to save some excellant terrain.
 
I've had a long conversation on Friday with one of that got the ball rolling for the Coop thing. I got a sense that this isn't a pie in the sky dream.They are serious and they are some reason interest behind the plan.

Zoneski is using connection with the internet ski community to get the word out, but it isn't a ZS venture. This it also a great way to see how interested people are to keeping the place going. Mont Alta is going to be open this Winter.
 
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