A
Anonymous
Guest
Oh well, might as well write this in case anyone wondering what the skiing is like in the Ottawa area. Four ski areas are found in the Gatineau Hills in the Quebec side North of Ottawa. As it is freezing rain outside.
Camp Fortune (20km from downtown Ottawa -170m vert.) has been opening weekend since Nov 14. This weekend they managed to get a second run and lift open. So they had a beginner hill (Pineault) and they added Clifford-PeeWee (interm-beg.).
Edelweiss was opening on Saturday (35km - 200m vert.). Last November, it was the other way around, Edelweiss opened around the 14, while Fortune opened later. For the first time is 25 yrs, I had a season-pass (it's was only $200 canadian - no blackout!!!) and that where my daughter will be having lessons this winter.
Cascades and Vorlage (same size at around 30-35km from downtown)were still closed. However Vorlage trail were definately all white. Pakenham (smaller and further) on the Ontario side of the border was also opening.
The drive had a definate winter feeling to it. Everything was white, trees, hills, ski trails of Fortune and Vorlage fields... So much so that my 7yr old daughter ask if was Winter yet!!! However, all this White is not abnormal for early December.
Once at Edelweiss, we had to go through the line-up at Customer Service to get our season-passes. Edelweiss Valley was started in the 50s by the Tommy family. I believe that some of the Tommy brothers were either on the Canadian National Team or started the Tommy and Lefebvre Sport Store Chain. The mountain went through a bankruptcy in the 90s and was bought by mssi (Mont St. Sauveur). I guess the cheap pass is a way of loring skiers back. Regardless of the pass, I will not limit my skiing to Edelweiss.
The mountain had one run open (they call it 2 trails) top-to-bottom. A nice beginner/intermediate run (Easy Street, chemin des bois). The coverage was good, but not great. Snowcats have a bad habit to drag some rocks on the snow. The trail was virtually a new trail (destroyed a tiny trail in the woods) to create this nice mid-section trail with a few turns and no flat parts.
My daughter and I skiied from 1pm to 4pm. At first, it was pretty crowded, but no where close to killington on the 20th. 80-90% of those on the snow were boarders.
It was surprising that the mountain wasn't blowing snow elsehwhere on the mountain, it has been below freezing all day (we didn't even rain last week
) for the last few days.
Beside the new trail, Edelweiss has added a new Express Quad (2nd one), but the chairs were next to the lodge instead of on the cable. The Quad starts off near where the beginner double (removed) was and ended where the summit double ended (also removed). The only :?: , I have about the changes, is that the real beginners will no longer have the short double to ski the bottom flat, only the magic carpet.
The new trail is very nice, however the mountain has lost a fun narrow trail that kids loved. :?
http://www.edelweissvalley.com
Camp Fortune (20km from downtown Ottawa -170m vert.) has been opening weekend since Nov 14. This weekend they managed to get a second run and lift open. So they had a beginner hill (Pineault) and they added Clifford-PeeWee (interm-beg.).
Edelweiss was opening on Saturday (35km - 200m vert.). Last November, it was the other way around, Edelweiss opened around the 14, while Fortune opened later. For the first time is 25 yrs, I had a season-pass (it's was only $200 canadian - no blackout!!!) and that where my daughter will be having lessons this winter.
Cascades and Vorlage (same size at around 30-35km from downtown)were still closed. However Vorlage trail were definately all white. Pakenham (smaller and further) on the Ontario side of the border was also opening.
The drive had a definate winter feeling to it. Everything was white, trees, hills, ski trails of Fortune and Vorlage fields... So much so that my 7yr old daughter ask if was Winter yet!!! However, all this White is not abnormal for early December.
Once at Edelweiss, we had to go through the line-up at Customer Service to get our season-passes. Edelweiss Valley was started in the 50s by the Tommy family. I believe that some of the Tommy brothers were either on the Canadian National Team or started the Tommy and Lefebvre Sport Store Chain. The mountain went through a bankruptcy in the 90s and was bought by mssi (Mont St. Sauveur). I guess the cheap pass is a way of loring skiers back. Regardless of the pass, I will not limit my skiing to Edelweiss.
The mountain had one run open (they call it 2 trails) top-to-bottom. A nice beginner/intermediate run (Easy Street, chemin des bois). The coverage was good, but not great. Snowcats have a bad habit to drag some rocks on the snow. The trail was virtually a new trail (destroyed a tiny trail in the woods) to create this nice mid-section trail with a few turns and no flat parts.
My daughter and I skiied from 1pm to 4pm. At first, it was pretty crowded, but no where close to killington on the 20th. 80-90% of those on the snow were boarders.
It was surprising that the mountain wasn't blowing snow elsehwhere on the mountain, it has been below freezing all day (we didn't even rain last week
) for the last few days.Beside the new trail, Edelweiss has added a new Express Quad (2nd one), but the chairs were next to the lodge instead of on the cable. The Quad starts off near where the beginner double (removed) was and ended where the summit double ended (also removed). The only :?: , I have about the changes, is that the real beginners will no longer have the short double to ski the bottom flat, only the magic carpet.
The new trail is very nice, however the mountain has lost a fun narrow trail that kids loved. :?
http://www.edelweissvalley.com
