Patrick
Well-known member
Sometimes you have to make the most of it.
Impossible to make it out last weekend for the big snow event due prior commitments.
This weekend...Thanksgiving Holiday, Thaw and/or rain in most regions. :roll: However sometimes you have to look a the bright side of life. No thaw or rain, only snow North of the St.Lawrence River Valley (ie. Outaouais, Laurentians and Quebec City). The first two regions had ski areas offering extremely limited runs open, with the exception of Tremblant which had a trail count of 9 and 3 lifts. :shock:
We also had to go to Montreal for my daughters ski equipment, so the options were...
Tremblant: Why go here when I can do this on Ottawa day trips + possible crowds issues on the runs.
South of the Border: Crowds and possible thaw cycle conditions.
Others: very limited runs.
Ste-Anne: besides the long drive, I could only see positives. Ste-Anne was mentioning 19 runs open + less roadkill factor when skiing with Morgane, my oldest daughter.
Mont Ste-Anne it was going to be. 8) Light snow falling when we left Montreal, snow was more important as we got closer to Quebec City and Ste-Anne. It took us about 3 hours to drive the 300km from Montreal.
Our first fresh tracks of the season were in the parking lot with over one hundreds cars. We had gotten up at 5ish am, so Morgane was hungry and we ended eating an early lunch at 10ish while we got ready. Once this was done, got the tickets (geez, that 5th ski passport where kids ski free is great) \
/
Kids ski free discussion
South side of the mountain was all white as this looked much more like January than November, unfortunately nothing was open on this side except the beginner t-bar at the base. This "nothing" open didn't stop a few getting fresh tracks. The temps at the bottom as 0c and snow falling. As we rode the gondola to the summit in order to access the "basically" all open North side, I was surprise to actual some nice fresh tracks on the double diamond steep La Gondoleuse run under the lift. Once we got at the top, it was windy and snow was flying in your face. Visibility wasn't great, but that generally the case when it's snowing.
First turns in November were on some powder/packed powder conditions. No edges needed to ski this base, not what I was expecting a few days ago. Once at the bottom, another shock :shock: ...the crowds with the HSQ. That first wait after that first run lasted 20 minutes (not exaggerating, look at the log). I was suppose to meet Wolverine at 11:30, well that lineup screwed up the timing.
We made a quick run under the lift, the high traffic narrow top part was slightly hard pack, but it was a very small patch. There were even some mini moguls forming on skier-right. Anyways, finally meet Wolverine at the bottom of the North side a few minutes late and processed for a long, but not as long wait. She was telling me that MSA was really the only options for Quebec City on this weekend, because only Le Relais had open a run or two. Stoneham (RCR ownership also), Massif du Sud and Le Massif were still all closed. And of course, there were people like me from Montreal or further that probably knew that MSA would be one of the best place to ski in the East on this weekend.
The next run was toward the Westside, however it was a 2km trek back to the lift on a fairly flat trail when the Westside T-bar is closed. As everyone in skiland, when there is a pushing factor, you lose over 95% of the skiing public. Run was powder, but also windblown. Morgane did the trek back by pushing in the untracked snow instead of following the tracks. She really enjoyed it. The t-bar next to the HSQ was also running and there was virtually no lineup, so we headed for it. Well after a long stop in the middle of our ride up, Morgane slid sideways and feel close to the top. Needless to say, that I got a few good powder turns before reaching the trail. Last run before lunch break was down Sidney-Dawes glade while Wolverine got a sandwich at the top restaurant. We all meet at the bottom North side Sugarshack type lodge in which the cafeteria wasn't open for a small lunch break then processed for another long wait at the HSQ.
Morgane really enjoyed that glade run, so we did La Forêt Enchantée (twice) and Sidney-Dawes again. The coverage was getting a bit thin at the bottom of the run, but these natural runs were probably very popular with the snow received during the week. The next to last run we did was La Bélanger which, Wolverine told us, the patrol had drop the rope. Nice fresh turns with a few Snowmaking whales in the middle.
As we rode up the Northside Quad for the last run, we were sad that the day as already over (it's true that a 3:30pm is early, but it gets dark pretty fast this time of year). We were planning one last long run on the South side to end the day, but unfortunately the patrol had something else in mind. Everything was roped off with two patrols making sure no one skied down and made sure that the only way down was via a the download with the Gondola.
How unfortunate. :roll:
We were able to ski from the base of the Gondola all the way to the car without any damage. Now why was MSA running the area with a bare minimum? :roll:
Unfortunate also that Morgane didn't get to enjoy the great scenery of the St.Lawrence River from the top of the mountain, however I made a small detour (actually, the route was more direct) and drove into Old Quebec City. She really enjoyed that too.
All in all, it was a great day of skiing. My daughter was saying that Wolverine was lucky to live in Quebec City, so close to Mt Ste-Anne. MSA is now her second favorite area and she didn't see the Southside yet.
Day by numbers:
$0 - price paid for Morgane liftticket.
1 - time skied with Wolverine.
9 - numbers of runs.
12:00am - Time we got back in Ottawa.
$17CDN - Money paid Wolverine for Ski Journal after she found it for me.
$35CDN - my liftticket price after a 25% discount coupon.
100 - Morgane lifetime ski days.
301 - kilometers from my mom's house to MSA lot in morning (187miles).
595 - kilometers travel from MTL to MSA (different route into old Quebec and autoroute 20). (370 miles)
795 - total kilometers driven on Sunday. (494 miles)
3073 - total descent skied in meters (10,082ft).
Impossible to make it out last weekend for the big snow event due prior commitments.
This weekend...Thanksgiving Holiday, Thaw and/or rain in most regions. :roll: However sometimes you have to look a the bright side of life. No thaw or rain, only snow North of the St.Lawrence River Valley (ie. Outaouais, Laurentians and Quebec City). The first two regions had ski areas offering extremely limited runs open, with the exception of Tremblant which had a trail count of 9 and 3 lifts. :shock:
We also had to go to Montreal for my daughters ski equipment, so the options were...
Tremblant: Why go here when I can do this on Ottawa day trips + possible crowds issues on the runs.
South of the Border: Crowds and possible thaw cycle conditions.
Others: very limited runs.
Ste-Anne: besides the long drive, I could only see positives. Ste-Anne was mentioning 19 runs open + less roadkill factor when skiing with Morgane, my oldest daughter.
Mont Ste-Anne it was going to be. 8) Light snow falling when we left Montreal, snow was more important as we got closer to Quebec City and Ste-Anne. It took us about 3 hours to drive the 300km from Montreal.
Our first fresh tracks of the season were in the parking lot with over one hundreds cars. We had gotten up at 5ish am, so Morgane was hungry and we ended eating an early lunch at 10ish while we got ready. Once this was done, got the tickets (geez, that 5th ski passport where kids ski free is great) \
/ Kids ski free discussion
South side of the mountain was all white as this looked much more like January than November, unfortunately nothing was open on this side except the beginner t-bar at the base. This "nothing" open didn't stop a few getting fresh tracks. The temps at the bottom as 0c and snow falling. As we rode the gondola to the summit in order to access the "basically" all open North side, I was surprise to actual some nice fresh tracks on the double diamond steep La Gondoleuse run under the lift. Once we got at the top, it was windy and snow was flying in your face. Visibility wasn't great, but that generally the case when it's snowing.
First turns in November were on some powder/packed powder conditions. No edges needed to ski this base, not what I was expecting a few days ago. Once at the bottom, another shock :shock: ...the crowds with the HSQ. That first wait after that first run lasted 20 minutes (not exaggerating, look at the log). I was suppose to meet Wolverine at 11:30, well that lineup screwed up the timing.
We made a quick run under the lift, the high traffic narrow top part was slightly hard pack, but it was a very small patch. There were even some mini moguls forming on skier-right. Anyways, finally meet Wolverine at the bottom of the North side a few minutes late and processed for a long, but not as long wait. She was telling me that MSA was really the only options for Quebec City on this weekend, because only Le Relais had open a run or two. Stoneham (RCR ownership also), Massif du Sud and Le Massif were still all closed. And of course, there were people like me from Montreal or further that probably knew that MSA would be one of the best place to ski in the East on this weekend.The next run was toward the Westside, however it was a 2km trek back to the lift on a fairly flat trail when the Westside T-bar is closed. As everyone in skiland, when there is a pushing factor, you lose over 95% of the skiing public. Run was powder, but also windblown. Morgane did the trek back by pushing in the untracked snow instead of following the tracks. She really enjoyed it. The t-bar next to the HSQ was also running and there was virtually no lineup, so we headed for it. Well after a long stop in the middle of our ride up, Morgane slid sideways and feel close to the top. Needless to say, that I got a few good powder turns before reaching the trail. Last run before lunch break was down Sidney-Dawes glade while Wolverine got a sandwich at the top restaurant. We all meet at the bottom North side Sugarshack type lodge in which the cafeteria wasn't open for a small lunch break then processed for another long wait at the HSQ.
Morgane really enjoyed that glade run, so we did La Forêt Enchantée (twice) and Sidney-Dawes again. The coverage was getting a bit thin at the bottom of the run, but these natural runs were probably very popular with the snow received during the week. The next to last run we did was La Bélanger which, Wolverine told us, the patrol had drop the rope. Nice fresh turns with a few Snowmaking whales in the middle.
As we rode up the Northside Quad for the last run, we were sad that the day as already over (it's true that a 3:30pm is early, but it gets dark pretty fast this time of year). We were planning one last long run on the South side to end the day, but unfortunately the patrol had something else in mind. Everything was roped off with two patrols making sure no one skied down and made sure that the only way down was via a the download with the Gondola.
How unfortunate. :roll: We were able to ski from the base of the Gondola all the way to the car without any damage. Now why was MSA running the area with a bare minimum? :roll:
Unfortunate also that Morgane didn't get to enjoy the great scenery of the St.Lawrence River from the top of the mountain, however I made a small detour (actually, the route was more direct) and drove into Old Quebec City. She really enjoyed that too.
All in all, it was a great day of skiing. My daughter was saying that Wolverine was lucky to live in Quebec City, so close to Mt Ste-Anne. MSA is now her second favorite area and she didn't see the Southside yet.
Day by numbers:
$0 - price paid for Morgane liftticket.
1 - time skied with Wolverine.
9 - numbers of runs.
12:00am - Time we got back in Ottawa.
$17CDN - Money paid Wolverine for Ski Journal after she found it for me.
$35CDN - my liftticket price after a 25% discount coupon.
100 - Morgane lifetime ski days.
301 - kilometers from my mom's house to MSA lot in morning (187miles).
595 - kilometers travel from MTL to MSA (different route into old Quebec and autoroute 20). (370 miles)
795 - total kilometers driven on Sunday. (494 miles)
3073 - total descent skied in meters (10,082ft).
