Mont Ste.Anne after the rain

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wolfer

New member
After checking the MSA website I am somewhat surprised to see that their open trail count has gone from almost completely open to having only 33/66 trails open after the recent rain. I would have thought that after receiving 3 metres of snow this season the trails would have stood up a little bit better. Le Massif is reporting only one expert run open and no double black runs open. Blue Mountain in Ontario which probably hadn't received even half as much snow as MSA this year is still reporting 32/34 runs open after the rain which was quite heavy for most of the day on Sunday.
Does anyone know what the real story in Quebec is after the rain and what I can expect next week?
 
Wolfer,

I don't know anything about MSA, but I'm betting that there is a lot of grooming work to be done. The rain didn't end until late. I'd bet a lot more will come back online in the next few days.

M
 
Rain stopped in Ottawa at around 8pm last night (probably overnight at MSA). My bet is that they need to work on the runs and the trail count will be close to what it was prior to this rain event.

As for Ottawa, after one day of heavy rain, we still our snowbanks, but things are pretty icy considering that temps were back under freezing today. (ah yes, it was snowing again today) I can just imagine what the ski runs can be, however I'm not sure if MSA/Quebec City received as much rain as here. I would that Ottawa/Laurentians were the worst hit regions. For the Eastern Townships, Lucky Luke told me they didn't get that much rain at all.
 
I was at MSA today. Well what a difference a day make! For the worst. It's not about not enough snow, there still a lot of it. No problem. No rocks. That more of a hard pack like man-made snow. They were out of time to make a good job on ski trails. Some golf balls. No expert trails open (all the South West black diamond trails). Few people. No lift-line at all. Windy from S-W at 30MPH. Today Pionniere, Beaupre, Express as difficul trails were open. Others on North face: colder there. Not Montmorency. Need more snow just to make a softer feeling. Hard pack means no ice (no blue ice for skating).
Tomorrow should be better with man-made Bombardier making up and down all night.
Yesterday: few rain, about 10mm. Temperature: +5C or 36F for 10 hours.
Not so much snow scheduled for next days.
 
thanks for the inside info guys.With no local ski areas less than a 2 hour drive from home I always have to plan my ski trips well in advance. As the time for my trip gets closer I'm checking the weather and snow conditions every day and so when I read about warm temperature and rain I always see the glass as half empty...
Can anyone recommend any favourite trails or areas at Msa and Le Massif that a non-local skier who will only spend a couple of days at each area might not find?
 
Can't believe I am saying this but stick to the groomers , have the edges sharp and aim for the trail section in the direct sunlight as temperatures are not that cold so the surfaces under the direct sunlight will soften enough to hold a edge in comparison to areas in the shade.
 
I always have to plan my ski trips well in advance.
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Then more of them need to be in the West. The past two weekends are Exhibit A of why flexibility is the key to quality Eastern skiing.
 
Tony Crocker":349gf1uz said:
Then more of them need to be in the West. The past two weekends are Exhibit A of why flexibility is the key to quality Eastern skiing.
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I'm working on it but even in the west I have had mixed results. Two years ago I skied at Whistler in Feb. after the snowiest Jan in Whistler history but by the time I got there on Feb. 6th Whistler hadn't received any snow for 8 days. Even Steve Mayer at Extremely Canadian couldn't find any powder for us. Everything was wind packed, styrofoam snow is the expression he used.I did get lucky in Utah last Feb. though, 18" snow the first day, 15" snow the third day but then the temperature went up to 40 deg plus and by the sixth day I really had to hunt to find good snow.
 
wolfer":3xpfm23e said:
I'm working on it but even in the west I have had mixed results. Two years ago I skied at Whistler in Feb. after the snowiest Jan in Whistler history but by the time I got there on Feb. 6th Whistler hadn't received any snow for 8 days. Even Steve Mayer at Extremely Canadian couldn't find any powder for us. Everything was wind packed, styrofoam snow is the expression he used.I did get lucky in Utah last Feb. though, 18" snow the first day, 15" snow the third day but then the temperature went up to 40 deg plus and by the sixth day I really had to hunt to find good snow.
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Yeah, but it ain't rain. That washout disappointment is something I clearly don't miss about living back in New England.
 
We find the windpack at Mammoth quite enjoyable. Given the quality of Whistler's terrain, anytime there is adequate visibility to ski the alpine is good enough for me.

After the rain you can only ski groomers. As happened at Whistler 3 weeks ago. But when you average 400 inches the hardpack tends to get buried and forgotten before too long.

FYI Steve Mayer was my guide at Extremely Canadian in March 2005, after 33 inches new snow in the previous 3 days :) .
 
thanks guys for giving me a kick in the butt, I didn't mean to sound that negative. I considerthe two days I skied with Steve Mayer the best ski days I have experienced and yes, that was because of the quality of terrain at Whistler and also because Steve showed us terrain I would never have found by myself.
If I could only figure out some way to retire early and move out west but that won't happen anytime soon as I still have three daughters to put through university.
 
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