ChileMass
Active member
Dates - Feb 26 & 27, 2005
Location - Mont Orford, Magog QC Canada
Conditions - Mostly machine-groomed over firm base, but variable from boilerplate to soft powder on any given run. Weather was 100% sunshine, temps in mid-20s*F, falling to 15*F by sundown.
OK, I know Quebec isn't in the Northeast US, and this is basically a re-hash of last year's trip report, but what the heck.....
2 days of brilliant sunshine and blue/black cruising at Mont Orford in Magog, Quebec. This was our second annual family/friends trip, and there were no disappointments again this year. Friendly people, outstanding terrain and weather, very nice hotel/condo selections, and even at only 18% exchange, it's a deal for any Americans looking for something a little different.
Our group was a pack of 8 kids and 6 adults with varying degrees of skiing ability, so we saw all of the 3 mountains at the Orford complex. Started cruising some blues (Magog, Jean-Davignon) which helped get the kids going. My sister in law was kind enough to offer to take the kids down some greens so we could blast down Magnum a couple of times - a great, steep cruiser with bumps on skier's right if you want. And so we alternated doing kid runs and adult runs, and went from the uncrowded steeps of Mont Giroux Est to the poky old double chair over on Mont Alfred Desroschers. The big fun is on Mont Orford itself, but there's only 1 green and a couple blues off the Hybride lift (alternating 6-pack chairs and 8-person gondola cars), so we had to choose our runs based on what the kids were up for. Trois Ruisseaux (3 Brooks) trail is a lot of fun with steep pitches alternating with long run-outs.
Mid-day grooming is a cool thing - I've only seen this at a couple other ski hills. It creates traffic jams on adjoining slopes and a line waiting at the top, but man, when they open those trails if you can be one of the first down, it's fabulous. My brother and I were the 3rd and 4th people to get waved on by the patrol as they re-opened Maxi, which is the longest, steepest trail at Orford, and it was tremendous. As my bro said at the bottom, "that's one for the personal highlight reel". We hit both Grande Coulee and Sherbrooke as they re-opened, and cutting fresh corduroy was just great. You could really lay back and arc out huge GS turns all the way down - just my thing.
The kids and Moms had a great time - Magog is a fun little town, the people are super friendly, and our hotel (Auberge L'Etoile sur-le-Lac) looked right onto the big lake. People take winter very seriously up there. Lots of Montrealers wearing expensive clothing and gear. A very good-looking crowd, by the way. I want to go back up in summer and play golf and swim in the lake........
Location - Mont Orford, Magog QC Canada
Conditions - Mostly machine-groomed over firm base, but variable from boilerplate to soft powder on any given run. Weather was 100% sunshine, temps in mid-20s*F, falling to 15*F by sundown.
OK, I know Quebec isn't in the Northeast US, and this is basically a re-hash of last year's trip report, but what the heck.....
2 days of brilliant sunshine and blue/black cruising at Mont Orford in Magog, Quebec. This was our second annual family/friends trip, and there were no disappointments again this year. Friendly people, outstanding terrain and weather, very nice hotel/condo selections, and even at only 18% exchange, it's a deal for any Americans looking for something a little different.
Our group was a pack of 8 kids and 6 adults with varying degrees of skiing ability, so we saw all of the 3 mountains at the Orford complex. Started cruising some blues (Magog, Jean-Davignon) which helped get the kids going. My sister in law was kind enough to offer to take the kids down some greens so we could blast down Magnum a couple of times - a great, steep cruiser with bumps on skier's right if you want. And so we alternated doing kid runs and adult runs, and went from the uncrowded steeps of Mont Giroux Est to the poky old double chair over on Mont Alfred Desroschers. The big fun is on Mont Orford itself, but there's only 1 green and a couple blues off the Hybride lift (alternating 6-pack chairs and 8-person gondola cars), so we had to choose our runs based on what the kids were up for. Trois Ruisseaux (3 Brooks) trail is a lot of fun with steep pitches alternating with long run-outs.
Mid-day grooming is a cool thing - I've only seen this at a couple other ski hills. It creates traffic jams on adjoining slopes and a line waiting at the top, but man, when they open those trails if you can be one of the first down, it's fabulous. My brother and I were the 3rd and 4th people to get waved on by the patrol as they re-opened Maxi, which is the longest, steepest trail at Orford, and it was tremendous. As my bro said at the bottom, "that's one for the personal highlight reel". We hit both Grande Coulee and Sherbrooke as they re-opened, and cutting fresh corduroy was just great. You could really lay back and arc out huge GS turns all the way down - just my thing.
The kids and Moms had a great time - Magog is a fun little town, the people are super friendly, and our hotel (Auberge L'Etoile sur-le-Lac) looked right onto the big lake. People take winter very seriously up there. Lots of Montrealers wearing expensive clothing and gear. A very good-looking crowd, by the way. I want to go back up in summer and play golf and swim in the lake........