Mt. Glenn - 2/24 and 2/25 (linked photos)

stevey · Feb 26, 2007

(A bit brief as I'm at work - but hopefully photos make up for that)

After driving down to the cottage on Friday night just south of Orford, half way to Owl's head and seeing the immense amount of snow all around, we decided to forego the lines and crowds at Jay peak and hike Mt Glenn (closed down ski hill north of owl's head).

We arrived Saturday morning to find a guy sitting in his car at the gate telling everyone to get lost as the mountain has been purchased two weeks ago and the new owner was now trying to enforce his "private property". not one to be deterred, as the mountain has been private property for 2 years now and it's been a hikers paradise.

Mt. Glenn
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevey/402887970/in/set-72157594557062780/

Hiking up
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevey/402879539/in/set-72157594557062780/

Summit cabin
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevey/402881792/in/set-72157594557062780/

We parked about a mile up the road and hiked in across a swamp to find beautiful conditions. The snow pack seemed to be about 2 feet of snow with a 3" wind blown layer and then another 6-8" of snow sitting on top of that.

Quick hike up the middle of the mountain (under the old t-bar) to the summit. We decided to try one of the open runs as they looked pretty good. Not quite as epic as we wished but fun none the less. The snow wasn't quite deep enough in spots to really lean back in the turns.

Banane coming down
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevey/402883172/in/set-72157594557062780/

Tracks from day one
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevey/402883882/in/set-72157594557062780/

We went back on Sunday for another go.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevey/402897608/in/set-72157594557062780/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevey/402899746/in/set-72157594557062780/

This time trying the glades in the center of the mountain which had seen less wind exposure and were UNTOUCHED - not one single track the whole way down. Much deeper snow and great coverage made for one of my best "2 feet and a heart beat" runs of my life. All the smaller alders and whippers had been pretty much covered over and pillows were starting to form over the larger rocks.

Patrick · Feb 26, 2007

stevey":fp7g86p6 said:
We arrived Saturday morning to find a guy sitting in his car at the gate telling everyone to get lost as the mountain has been purchased two weeks ago and the new owner was now trying to enforce his "private property". not one to be deterred, as the mountain has been private property for 2 years now and it's been a hikers paradise.

Any news on any plans for the mountain? There were a bunch of stories in the last few years all ranging from condos to a private ski area.

Glen is one of many Eastern Townships ski hill that started in the early sixties, a list that includes Sutton, Owl's Head and Bromont. Unfortunately I think the odds of seeing skiing back at Glen would be remote at best.

Glen Mountain was a fun place, not big, but great family hill near the cottage world of Knowlton. I was fortunate to go back in 2001 after what was probably a 30 years absence. :shock:

jamesdeluxe · Feb 26, 2007

Only skied there once... during its final season, but I really liked Mont Glen (not "Glenn" :wink: ).

A fair amount of Sutton-like tree skiing on the upper mountain (trails were cut by the same guy who created Sutton), and fun cruisers down to the bottom. I thought someone had bought it with plans to operate as a ski area, but with (ack) real estate at the bottom.

Patrick · Feb 26, 2007

Your descriptions is perfect James. The story about the real (ack) estate was one of the stories I've heard, but nothing recently.

However I'm surprised about the following statement. I don't recall ever seeing anything about this?

jamesdeluxe":1qrpyyqw said:
trails were cut by the same guy who created Sutton.

Glen Mountain started operations the same year (1963? or almost) as Sutton (and Bromont). Everyone got the same idea of creating ski areas at the same times in the Townships in the 60s. :lol:

My dad worked there in the first two seasons(?) after over a decade in the Laurentians.

jamesdeluxe · Feb 26, 2007

Yep, I was told by someone in the Townships that Harold Boulanger helped create the trails there. Maybe Francois could confirm this?

stevey · Feb 27, 2007

I hadn't heard anything more than what was posted. We weren't exactly anxious to talk with the "impromtu guard" at the gate (in order to feign innocence if need be).

Will keep my ears open. The place is really run down and would take a lot of $ to get back to even operational as a ski hill again.

The place really is special and we're hoping it remains accessible.

jamesdeluxe · Feb 27, 2007

Three years ago, I wrote a piece about Mont Shefford and Mont Glen. At the bottom of the page, you can see comments from people, including one (pasted below) from the then director at Glen. Always fascinating to read marketing copy from places that are doomed... and it was clear from my day there that it was. I love the, euh, poetry of a small ski area "transporting people to a world of charm and grace." <link to article>

I would like to thank you for your article on Mont Glen and Mont Shefford. I have been director at Mont Glen for five years now and am very proud of our ski hill and its people. We pride ourselves on remembering the individual and trying to make the ski expirience one to remember. Our grooming reports are consistantly the best in the townships and we generally begin our season and end our season within days of our other snowmaking partners down the road.

However, I do have to admit that five years ago, the lifts were in a questionable state. Since then, the lifts have been completely retrofitted up to CSA standards. The work has paid off! Our lift down time is now one of the lowest in Quebec. We like to think of ourselves as a boutique ski center unlike the «Walmarts» around us. Where else can you ski the best conditions around and stop in the afternoon for our world-class brunch! Then, finishing the evening with drinks and live music. Our philosophy at the Glen is to take you to a world of charm and grace, after all isn`t that what real skiing is all about. If we remember to support the smaller hills like Shefford and the Glen we will keep the diversity and the real skiing alive.

Patrick · Feb 28, 2007

Patrick":17hz487w said:
However I'm surprised about the following statement. I don't recall ever seeing anything about this?

jamesdeluxe":17hz487w said:

trails were cut by the same guy who created Sutton.

Click to expand...

Glen Mountain started operations the same year (1963? or almost) as Sutton (and Bromont). Everyone got the same idea of creating ski areas at the same times in the Townships in the 60s. :lol:

I just did a quick check...here are the opening dates of most of the Townships areas.

Orford: 1930s
Sutton: December 17th, 1960
Glen Mtn.: December 30th, 1960
Mt. Echo: 1960 (closes in 1979)
Bromont: 1964
Owl's Head: 1965

If you are familiar with the geography, these areas are fairly close to each other. I did a quick scan through a book I have and I didn't see the Boulangers being involved at Glen at all (don't remember it from the time I read it either), it would be surprising seeing that Sutton opened the same season.

The ski area as had more than it share legal disputes between owners from the start. Who knows what will happen next and if lift will ever turn again at Glen Mountain.

Reference:
Brian, Eddington (2004): Out of Bounds: The Glen Mountain Ski Story. Price-Patterson Ltd.

Here is the last paragraph from the book.

On Saturday March 27, 2004, the Glen held its first Jello Jump in years; a few bumps, bruises and stitches notwinthstanding, the Master Ceremonies declared it a great triumph. Sunday, March 28, Glen Mountain concluded the 2003-2004 season on a high note. Warm sunshine and double-digit temperatures on the plus side brought a fine and appreciative crowd. T-shirts and red faces were the fashion standards late in the afternoon, out front by the picnic tables and on the new deck facing the southwest sun. A few portable barbeques hissed and sizzled among lawn chairs along the upper edge of the parking lot. I stood in the side doorway with Denise the bar-lady, taking the scene. I thought again of that old Anglican hymn, about the universe unfolds as it should, every prospects pleases, and Glen Mountain forges onward.

At least until the next rumour.

Didn't sound like it was the end? Glen Mountain has been closed ever since that day.

jamesdeluxe · Feb 28, 2007

The Mont Glen book you're quoting from is certainly a more authoritative source than mine (a former patroller)... but it made sense to me at the time when he brought up Boulanger. They're not far from each other, and Glen seems like a smaller version of Sutton.

But you're right; if they both opened during the same season (I wasn't aware of that), it's doubtful that the same guy designed trails for both.

That must have been interesting... to have two ski areas in such close proximity open within two weeks of each other.

Patrick · Feb 28, 2007

jamesdeluxe":1q19h447 said:
That must have been interesting... to have two ski areas in such close proximity open within two weeks of each other.

Even more interesting when you consider that they were 3 ski areas openning in the same year (the book doesn't mention a date for Mt. Echo which is located between Glen and Sutton).

The only ski area in operation prior to that year would have been Orford and some other smaller areas closer to Sherbrooke.

It's been a couple of years since I read the book, but I do recall that the people that started the idea of a ski area (location evaluated by Jackrabbit Smith-Johansen) in the mid 50s at first didn't know that people behind Sutton had the same idea and also working at developping a new ski area. There was a demand for it, the question would become, was there a demand for new 3 areas in the same year plus adding Bromont and Owl's Head a couple years later?

Two of the three areas that openned in 1960 are now closed. :?

jamesdeluxe · Feb 28, 2007

So in the 60s, there were eight ski areas with 1,000+ verticals in the Townships?

Shefford
Bromont
Orford
Owls Head
Sutton
Mont Glen
Mont Echo
Mont Joye

Patrick · Feb 28, 2007

jamesdeluxe":2uk09rg4 said:
So in the 60s, there were eight ski areas with 1,000+ verticals in the Townships?

Shefford
Bromont
Orford
Owls Head
Sutton
Mont Glen
Mont Echo
Mont Joye

It's look like it... Bromont and Owl's Head opened when the Eastern Townships autoroute was build in 1964(?). Definitely a major advantage for Bromont which sits only a few miles from it making some much easier to reach from Montreal. Orford is also very close, but further down.

I don't think that Montjoye is that big (620ft). Although I don't think I've skied at Shefford before (maybe as a young kid), I'm surprised that it has over 1000ft vertical. I just checked their website and it says it's almost 1000ft, but the Quebec Ski Association has it at 325meters (1,066). Shefford opened in 1939 according to the QSA.

The Quebec Ski Areas Association (note: most, but not all ski areas in the province are part of this association).

http://www.maneige.com/en/

Frankontour · Mar 8, 2007

For your information, the mountain has been sold yesterday, according to the NASJA journalist Roger Laroche. The new owner looks to tend to invest $$ to rebuild the ski area, changing the T2B chair, but keeping the mid mountain double chairlift + t-bar, but he will take 6 months to think how he will operate the area exactly.

So it's not sure that we're going back to ski (with lifts) on Mt Glen, but at least, there is more chances now than there was last week

jamesdeluxe · Mar 8, 2007

Also in the article:

-- No golf course planned
-- A very scaled-back real estate component (15 larger properties instead of 150 small ones)
-- They'll have to repair the damage ATVs have done to drainage areas and trails over the past two years. :evil:

Sounds like it won't be open for 2007-08.

stevey · Mar 8, 2007

Do you have a online source for that article ?

jamesdeluxe · Mar 8, 2007

Link: Carnet du Ski

Spensar · Mar 8, 2007

LOL. Here's the article after Google's online translation. I really want to try the crossbow lift!

After a few years of tergiversation, the sympathetic nerve ski resort of the Glen Mount closed in 2004 found new purchasers. The property developer Maryo Lamothe indeed has just become purchaser of the property of 650 acres located at Bolton-West in the Cantons of the East.

During a generous discussion with the Webmaster of the Notebook of the ski, the new purchaser confirmed that the transaction had been supplemented yesterday morning at 11 a.m. Mr. Lamothe however refused to reveal the selling price. With the MRC of Brominates-Missisquoi, the field is estimated at 1.687.500 $ precise in its edition of today the daily newspaper the Voice of the East of Granby.

In the interview that it granted to us, Mr. Lamothe wanted to be nevertheless reassuring as for the future of the skiable field while at most promising to take time to evaluate his viability. That which started to think of acquiring the place during the time of the festivals gives 6 months to evaluate the file-ski.

It admits however already which the principal chair-lift does not have more as value that that of scrap but it wishes to revalue the possibility of restarting the two successive increase which lead to the top, that is to say the small chair-lift and the crossbow. Once restored, they could survive believes it.

Mr. Lamothe also says to want to await the snow melt whereas it it can better evaluate the damage caused by the abandonment of the place. The mountain was invested briskly by cross-country vehicles which would have damaged the corridors of drainage and ultimement the tracks. It would also be necessary to clear of undergrowth the tracks left in fallow.

A thing is clear it entrusted us, it will also be necessary to define the crenel of customers concerned. Not question of making competition with the neighbor Bromont or even Owl' S Head.

Reduced real development

The property of the Glen Mount and its adjacent grounds had been acquired of the businessman Peter White in 2004 by the couple Guy Samson and Dyane LeSieur. The latter had put an end to the operations of the mountain in the hope to reopen the station with the starting of their real project including/understanding some 150 properties.

The new purchaser who acquired a high expertise in the real field with title in particular of promoter of the Candiac project on the Golf is less ambitious. He does not intend to reproduce méga project and he announces already that the initial real project would undergo one imports reducing treatment to comprise only one about fifteen properties on greater fields.

Not question of setting up a golf course there either and of making of it a counterpart of sound méga project of southern bank of Montreal adds that which has just sold a property that it had on the edges of the lake Brome in Knowlton to acquire another of them before arranging with the Glen Mount.

All in all, the new owner intends well to furnish his retirement with his new acquisition. A personal residence of prestige with unspoilable view it is certain, a real field reduced and prestigious, a skiable field can be and certainly not golf course. As wants it the devoted formula: it is to be followed.

stevey · Mar 8, 2007

Haha .. love that translation. Thanks.

Admin · Mar 9, 2007

Here's an English-language story in the Sherbrooke Record newspaper:

http://www.sherbrookerecord.com/index.p ... &Itemid=27

stevey · Dec 31, 2007

Just wondering if anyone knows about any updates to this story ?

We drove past saturday and noticed (non operational) chairs on the left most liftline and new signs up saying "no trespassing". no one seemed to be parked to hike. We also couldn't see many (any?) tracks on the runs.

Anyone ?

Mt. Glenn - 2/24 and 2/25 (linked photos)

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