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Le Massif and Mont-Sainte-Anne

Edd

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Looks like I’m heading up over the weekend for 3 days of skiing Mon-Wed. I’ve done a search and found some info but any opinions are welcome. It’s a group of 4, two skiers and two snowboarders, all advanced.

Where to stay, how to ski them, nightlife and restaurant opinions are of interest to us.
 

Killingtime

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Mont Sainte-Anne is really nice from what I saw. It was minus 26 when I went last year so two runs and back to a base lodge. Definitely would go back under better circumstances. Good luck.
 

crank

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I have been to both 3 or 4 times but haven't been up since 2012.

Here's what I recall:

Both are really good mountains with plenty of fun and some challenging terrain.

Ste. Anne - Some great bump runs straight down the front, top to bottom. Tree skiing was pretty much in one part of the hill and was OK, not great. Really wide, fun, black groomer all the way to skiers right. I think it's called La Crete. Food kind of sucked there. Good terrain park if that's your thing. Front side has a lot more skiing than the back. Great views can see Quebec and St Lawrence River. Night skiing, brrr. Bubble chair and gondola for cold days. It's gonna be cold.

Le Massif - Even better views than Ste. Anne. St. Lawrence is very wide there and you feel like you could just jump off the mountain right into it. Every time I was there Le Massif had more snow. It also has much, much better food. Some fun glades. Mostly intermediate to steepish pitch with some pretty steep stuff. I think Ste. Anne may have more expert terrain. I liked the bump runs better at Ste. Anne as well. Their out of bounds area is a fairly easy mile long hike but is really just a pod of a few cut glades. They will be less skied out than the non hike to terrain inbounds. Otherwise the non thinned trees looked jut too tight to ski... and I am not afraid to explore tight trees. It is easy to ski back to to the bottom of the gondola from there though.

I have stayed both at Ste. Anne and in Quebec. If going with a girlfriend or SO I would stay in the city, it going with a bunch of guys I would stay near Ste. Anne. Lots of condos and motels and groceries, restaurants etc there. Not so much near Le Massif.


Bring layers! Hand and toe warmers too.

Should be great. Hope they are getting the snow this week.
 

jimk

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Robbski

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Skied MSA and Le Massif last year and in 2010. Stayed in Quebec City both times. Condo in St. Roch in 2010 and Auberge St. Antoine in the lower city last year. Going up President’s day week this year and staying slopside at MSA. Will make the 1/2 hr drive back to the city at least once for a night out. Crazy cheap compared to skiing in New England that week ($100 US for studio condo slope side $50 US for lift tickets at Boston ski expo).

Crank and JimK pretty well nailed it. I'm a big Le Massif fan - terrain, views and snow have been top notch. I’d quibble about MSA being more challenging. The terrain at Le Massif skiers right off of the “ C” lift such as La Charlevoix trail look pretty damn gnarly to me. That said MSA is a great place to ski (but the food does suck and the service in the on mountain bar/pub/restaurant is awful).

QC is the place to be for dining nightlife and non skiing. Cool city, dining scene takes it self a little too seriously but there are some nice choices if you prefer a relaxed atmosphere like I do. (Not talking Applebee’s but something other than “foodies” and salmon tartare).

Top tip Tuesday’s in Feb. are two for one at Mt. St. Anne.
 
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granite

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If at all possible, try to get another day in. I prefer Le Massif to Mont Ste. Anne, but both are great. Staying in Quebec City is great, especially if you like walking around and like history. A great place for dinner is the restaurant Aux Anciens Canadiens-authentic Quebecois food. The other option is Baie Saint-Paul, a little further north from Le Massif. It's a more of a village feel, right on the river. Even closer to the river is Petite-Riviere-Saint Francois-more remote-not much more then lodging, but a true Quebec Experience and the closest to Le Massif. They don't get as much of the freeze/thawing cycles as New England. I've been to both mountains about five times, every time I went the skiing was great. If you have time visit Ste Anne de Beaupre, the massive cathedral near Mont Ste. Anne. The trip will be like no other you have ever taken. Please provide a detailed trip report, as you always do-take a lot of good photos too. Have fun, wish I could go.



http://www.auxancienscanadiens.qc.ca/
 

ThinkSnow

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When in QC, try finding a restaurant that serves horse. Was up for Winter Carnival a few years back and found it as a special on a menu. One of the best tasting steaks I've ever tried!
 

tnt1234

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Le Massif is awesome.

The 'Sectors' are really, really nice. You can link a few together with a little hiking in teh middle and have about 2000' vert. feet of glade skiing....

Of the lift served glades, I liked skiers left of '42' the best. The ones in teh middle under the gondi line are nice as well.

If you like good beer, bring a cooler.

really special place...I heard the town north of LM is really fun - forget teh name of it now. But it means more driving....
 

granite

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Le Massif is awesome.

The 'Sectors' are really, really nice. You can link a few together with a little hiking in teh middle and have about 2000' vert. feet of glade skiing....

Of the lift served glades, I liked skiers left of '42' the best. The ones in teh middle under the gondi line are nice as well.

If you like good beer, bring a cooler.

really special place...I heard the town north of LM is really fun - forget teh name of it now. But it means more driving....

That would be the town I mentioned Baie St. Paul. It's an easy drive from Le Massif. There's a micro brewery there that had some good beer. One thing about the language, that far north, English is not spoken very much, even though almost everyone can speak it. Don't just start yapping English with the locals, at least say Bon Jour and at least ask if they speak English. How would like some one from Mexico coming to your town and start speaking in Spanish to you as if it's your first language? If you stay in Quebec City, you'll have a lot more driving to do to get to skiing, especially Le Massif, but it can be done as a day trip. By the time you got out of Quebec City and to Le Massif, about 1 1/2 hours. You could stay in Quebec city your first night, ski Mont Ste. Anne the next day, stay there the 2nd night or in Baie St Paul and then ski Le Massif your third day. If you can ski a fourth day, it would really be worth it.
 

granite

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Another really cool place in Quebec City is Oncle Antoine, lower town. It's built into walls that must be hundreds of years old. Most of the tourist attractions are centered around Upper Town and Lower Town, connected by a steep funicular. Upper Town has fortifications all around it that were built between the 1600's to 1800's. The streets in Lower Town are some of the oldest streets in North America. Next to Upper Town are the Plains of Abraham, where a famous battle between the English and French was fought there is 1858, the final battle of the French and Indian war. The Plains border the St. Lawrence river on one side and there's a really good network of cross country ski trails there.

https://www.facebook.com/oncleantoine/
 

Edd

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Thanks very much for the helpful advice everyone. I hope to post some good pics.


Sent from my iPhone using AlpineZone
 

elks

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We liked Le Massif better than Mt. St. Anne when we visited and snow was better. We stayed in a great place about 20 minutes from the hill (there are no hotels at Le Massif) in Baie St Paul called Le Germain. https://www.legermainhotels.com/en/charlevoix/

The hotel was very nice and with good food option on-site and in the small quaint town center. The last station for the train from Québec city is actually in the hotel (with ski lockers in the train station) though the train wasn't running when we were there. The train stops at Le Massif when it's running. So you can take that if you don't feel like driving 20 minutes.
 

skifree

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Agree with trying a few French words. They appreciate it

They most all speak English and are some of the most friendly people I have been around
 
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