Orford, Qc, march 6

Frankontour

Frankontour

New member
Today I went to Orford. I could make a 10 000 words report, but I'll try to be short & sweet. So, that's it, I was a little bit late to arrive, so I was far in the 3rd parking lot... and I waited 15 minutes in line to get my lift ticket. I was really scared about the lift waiting lines, but staying in the Rapido all day, I never waited more than 1 minute, on the single lines. They got 10 inches of snow yesterday, so there was fresh powder everywhere on the mountain, but as we're on the holiday week, there was a huge lot of teenagers that tracked all the woods and the super extreme trails of the mountain. Under the powder, there was still traces of the last rains, but it wasn't too bad. I had my camera in the morning and I took the largest number of pictures I ever took in one day in my life (143 lol !). After 10 minutes of break on mid-day, I skied more agressively in all the superb trails on the Mt Orford's side. It's sad that I didn't ski Mt Alfred Desrochers and both sides of Mt Giroux, but today, only the main side was on my mind ! I only took few different runs during all day but I took them many times : Petit Canyon / Escapade ; Porc-Épic ; Chevreuil ; Passe de l'Ours ; Contour ; Zig Zag ; Intrépide / Rochers Jumeaux / Express ; SUPER ; Écureuil. A really fun thing is that The summit wall of "Super" was open... I don't think they'd open it last year at all, as it's on the top 5 of most dangerous trails in Qc and it really needs snow to be possible. <BR> <BR>Of course, there is dozens of incredible pics, but the ones of Contour are once again the bests... so I let you see why my name is Frankontour <IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=":)"> Sorry for the big number of pics, this is just a complete coverage lol <BR> <BR>First, this is the summit wall of "SUPER". On summer, this is a rock climbing trail. On winter, this is one of the best ski trails in Quebec. You can jump off dozens of cliffs with steep landings ! <BR> <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/8/1998.jpg" ALT="SUPER"> <BR> <BR>Now, Contour, T2B !! lol sorry (at least, it's some marketing for the next swampfest !) <BR> <BR>Entrance (what a pic) <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/8/1999.jpg" ALT="Entrance WOWWWWWWW"> <BR> <BR>Just before the beginning of the big double black diamond that is Contour <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/8/2000.jpg" ALT="End of pass"> <BR> <BR>Pitch #1 : this is a wall of rock... interesting to climb on summer ! <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/8/2001.jpg" ALT="First steep rocky pitch"> <BR> <BR>Pitch #2 : probably the steepest, they were saying 52 degrees, but I think it may be a little bit less. <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/8/2002.jpg" ALT="plunging view into 2nd pitch !!"> <BR> <BR>Natural Halfpipe : really interesting with big nice jumps especially on right side going down ! <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/8/2003.jpg" ALT="Natural Halfpipe"> <BR> <BR>Classic pic : the Mt Giroux from middle Contour ! <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/8/2004.jpg" ALT="Mt Giroux view"> <BR> <BR>There is 3 "island" of trees, on Contour, this is the right line (going down), for the 1st island <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/8/2005.jpg" ALT="First island right"> <BR> <BR>After the second island, a powder bumpy couloir <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/8/2006.jpg" ALT="straight shot to 3rd island"> <BR> <BR>Supersteep, very narrow, big bumps, this is one of the most exciting parts of the trail (I have nice pics of FTO doing this pass... <BR>I think it was at first swampfest, but I'm not sure) <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/8/2007.jpg" ALT="3rd island left"> <BR> <BR>Finally, a big end for the big trail... fun to jump, with a correct landing ! <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/8/2008.jpg" ALT="end of Contour">
 
few other pics, for Chevreuil, Super and others <BR> <BR><A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/frankontour502/orford_mar_6.html" TARGET="_top">http://www.geocities.com/frankontour502/orford_mar_6.html</A>
 
Thank you Frontrange ! Yes, Orford is pretty awesome with nice trails for each ski levels. The weird thing is that many people only know the intermediate / expert trail of the mountain and say that there is no challenge for the good skiers. That's completely false, it's the greatest extreme terrain in Quebec !! As I remember you don't really like moguls, there is some great cruiser runs, like Grande Coulée and Trois-Ruisseaux that have been named the 2 best cruisers in eastern Canada, in 2000, if I don't mistake (for the year). The sad thing about these trails is that they're really crowded and they become icy, as there is just 4 "normal trails" from the summit of the main side. (4 normal trails, 5 super extreme glades and 2 big extreme non-gladed trails, from the summit, it's not something you find in many ski areas !) Of course, the other sides have some nice groomed terrain for each levels ! <BR> <BR>For the pics, they're all in Contour, except the first on top. It's not surprising this trail has so much great views and terrain as, if I don't mistake, it has been designed and build by Herman Smith Johannsen (Jack Rabbit) himself, at the end of 1930s / beg 1940s and it had not been changed since that era, except the natural halfpipe zone that was super narrow before the ice storm of 1998 and they had to cut some trees after that... So, it's not just a bulldozer that made that trail like it's done today, no, it's one of the greatest skiers of all time and it's obvious, just skiing that trail so it's perfectly designed !
 
I'm a little bit late, but I should add this picture, in case someone would look for infos about Orford on this page. This is probably my very best pic of Mt Orford, even though it was taken from a parking with a woods between me and the slopes ;) <BR> <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/8/2697.jpg" ALT="Heaven's Sky">
 
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