RESORT: Le Massif
DATE SKIED: 3/25/06
CONDITIONS: Wet mashed potatoes, choppy/bumpy
TRIP REPORT:
This is my first year skiing, been about 20 times now, I love it, and I was really looking forward to tying this somewhat exotic location. My wife and I make a point of visiting Quebec City every few years around this time of year, and of the several ski areas nearby, we thought this sounded most interesting. I have to say right now, this was by far the worst day of skiing I have ever had, and the worst my wife has had in many years.
The place is stunningly gorgeous. I may add some pictures later, but the pics I have just look the same as the pictures on their website, only with my wife and I in them. It's about an hour northeast of QC on the bank of the St. Lawrence river, which is very wide. It's like skiing down to the ocean. Also, the atmosphere was great, everybody smiling and friendly. Great food, but the fancy bistro may not be for everyone (more later). Fine art all throughout the Lodge - that's different. The problem was the condition of the snow.
Off the top the conditions seemed OK. Wet granular, but smooth and edgeable. As we went further down the conditions rapidly degenerated from a little choppy, to what amounted to wet and disorganized mogul fields. Almost every skier there was doing the same thing we were -- keeping it slow, making lots of turns, and stopping several times because you're exhausted from 2000' of small, wet, moguls. There was just no way to build up any speed without feeling like you were going to crash in a fashion that would require a trip to the emergency room. Of course, there were a few experts zipping down the trails, catching air on the bumps, Snowboarders had an easier time, but 95% of the people on the blue trails were just trying to survive.
I should add, the place was incredibly crowded. I went to Sunapee and Bretton Woods on the Thurs. and Fri of Feb. vacation, both were very crowded. This place seemed to have literally 10 times as many people on the trails. I am really kicking myself for not taking a picture of the crowds I saw coming down an actual mogul field. Wave after wave of smiling Canadians all bumping their way down the mountain. When I have seen mogul fields from chairlifts it's always 1 or 2 expert skiers working their way down. Not at this place. They had some sort of ragae fest and they had some races going on, maybe those two things combined with the warm weather caused the crowds.
How bad was it? We started skiing at about 11:00 and stopped for lunch at 1:30 -- we only made two runs. That's right, two runs. You might be thinking to yourself, "well, this guy already said this was his first year, he must just really suck at skiing". Not so. I will not be going to MRG anytime soon, but I'm not too bad. I've tried a few "easy" blacks recently without too much trouble, I can carve my turns. It was just impossibe to do anything but turn like mad and hope you don't fall or get run over. Miserable.
Ok, I stated all the good stuff about the place, now I'll mention a couple of things I didn't like. The only thing worse than the 3 mile long pothole riddled mud road into the place was the horrible parking situation. On our way out we timed it. It took us 10 minutes at a brisk pace to get back to the car. The road in and out was unbelievable. I had to find a car wash when we left. I wasn't about to hand the keys of a car that looked like it had been 4-wheelin' in mud to the attendant at the Chateau Frontenac. It looked like someone painted the car tan up to the windows.
Here is another thing I really didn't like. There are basically 3 lifts on the mountain with one being the main lift. It goes from a large lodge at the bottom of the hill to the large lodge at the top. At the bottom there are exactly 3 trails that feed to this lift - 1 green, 1 blue, 1 black. First we did green, big mistake. In addition to being very narrow and essentially a small mogul field, there were literally hundreds of skiers all trying to funnel down it at once. Awful, bodies everywhere, many on the snow. Next we tried the blue trail which offered a not so nice little surprise at the end. It dumped you, whether you liked it or not, onto a mogul field. There was no flat spot on the side, just a narrow mogul field with dozens of smiling Canadians coming down from the upper part of the field as you, who in my case has never been in a mogul field before, tries to find an opening in which to fall. Also awful. Never got to the black, probably would have been the easiest way.
This is so long, sorry. I said I would mention the food. At 1:30, when we went in for lunch, there was just no way in heck we were going to find a place to sit so we looked for the bistro they have. We found it, it was very small and not too crowded. I'll sum it up in one sentence -- nice view, but the food was crappy and pompous and it cost us $75. I appeciate a little artistry with my food, but this food was way too "gourmet" for me. Of course, someone else may love it, just my opinion. Miniscule portions.
So, overall it was a very interesting experience, and we did enjoy ourselves, but the skiing was terrible, the crowds were terrible, and they seriously need to do something about the road in. Would I go back? In colder weather, yes. I think the St. Lawrence river and southeast facing slopes must just wreak havoc with the snow. Next time I think I'll try Mont Saint Anne. Hope some find this helpful.
DATE SKIED: 3/25/06
CONDITIONS: Wet mashed potatoes, choppy/bumpy
TRIP REPORT:
This is my first year skiing, been about 20 times now, I love it, and I was really looking forward to tying this somewhat exotic location. My wife and I make a point of visiting Quebec City every few years around this time of year, and of the several ski areas nearby, we thought this sounded most interesting. I have to say right now, this was by far the worst day of skiing I have ever had, and the worst my wife has had in many years.
The place is stunningly gorgeous. I may add some pictures later, but the pics I have just look the same as the pictures on their website, only with my wife and I in them. It's about an hour northeast of QC on the bank of the St. Lawrence river, which is very wide. It's like skiing down to the ocean. Also, the atmosphere was great, everybody smiling and friendly. Great food, but the fancy bistro may not be for everyone (more later). Fine art all throughout the Lodge - that's different. The problem was the condition of the snow.
Off the top the conditions seemed OK. Wet granular, but smooth and edgeable. As we went further down the conditions rapidly degenerated from a little choppy, to what amounted to wet and disorganized mogul fields. Almost every skier there was doing the same thing we were -- keeping it slow, making lots of turns, and stopping several times because you're exhausted from 2000' of small, wet, moguls. There was just no way to build up any speed without feeling like you were going to crash in a fashion that would require a trip to the emergency room. Of course, there were a few experts zipping down the trails, catching air on the bumps, Snowboarders had an easier time, but 95% of the people on the blue trails were just trying to survive.
I should add, the place was incredibly crowded. I went to Sunapee and Bretton Woods on the Thurs. and Fri of Feb. vacation, both were very crowded. This place seemed to have literally 10 times as many people on the trails. I am really kicking myself for not taking a picture of the crowds I saw coming down an actual mogul field. Wave after wave of smiling Canadians all bumping their way down the mountain. When I have seen mogul fields from chairlifts it's always 1 or 2 expert skiers working their way down. Not at this place. They had some sort of ragae fest and they had some races going on, maybe those two things combined with the warm weather caused the crowds.
How bad was it? We started skiing at about 11:00 and stopped for lunch at 1:30 -- we only made two runs. That's right, two runs. You might be thinking to yourself, "well, this guy already said this was his first year, he must just really suck at skiing". Not so. I will not be going to MRG anytime soon, but I'm not too bad. I've tried a few "easy" blacks recently without too much trouble, I can carve my turns. It was just impossibe to do anything but turn like mad and hope you don't fall or get run over. Miserable.
Ok, I stated all the good stuff about the place, now I'll mention a couple of things I didn't like. The only thing worse than the 3 mile long pothole riddled mud road into the place was the horrible parking situation. On our way out we timed it. It took us 10 minutes at a brisk pace to get back to the car. The road in and out was unbelievable. I had to find a car wash when we left. I wasn't about to hand the keys of a car that looked like it had been 4-wheelin' in mud to the attendant at the Chateau Frontenac. It looked like someone painted the car tan up to the windows.
Here is another thing I really didn't like. There are basically 3 lifts on the mountain with one being the main lift. It goes from a large lodge at the bottom of the hill to the large lodge at the top. At the bottom there are exactly 3 trails that feed to this lift - 1 green, 1 blue, 1 black. First we did green, big mistake. In addition to being very narrow and essentially a small mogul field, there were literally hundreds of skiers all trying to funnel down it at once. Awful, bodies everywhere, many on the snow. Next we tried the blue trail which offered a not so nice little surprise at the end. It dumped you, whether you liked it or not, onto a mogul field. There was no flat spot on the side, just a narrow mogul field with dozens of smiling Canadians coming down from the upper part of the field as you, who in my case has never been in a mogul field before, tries to find an opening in which to fall. Also awful. Never got to the black, probably would have been the easiest way.
This is so long, sorry. I said I would mention the food. At 1:30, when we went in for lunch, there was just no way in heck we were going to find a place to sit so we looked for the bistro they have. We found it, it was very small and not too crowded. I'll sum it up in one sentence -- nice view, but the food was crappy and pompous and it cost us $75. I appeciate a little artistry with my food, but this food was way too "gourmet" for me. Of course, someone else may love it, just my opinion. Miniscule portions.
So, overall it was a very interesting experience, and we did enjoy ourselves, but the skiing was terrible, the crowds were terrible, and they seriously need to do something about the road in. Would I go back? In colder weather, yes. I think the St. Lawrence river and southeast facing slopes must just wreak havoc with the snow. Next time I think I'll try Mont Saint Anne. Hope some find this helpful.
Last edited:
Honestly, nobody is going to "day trip" LeMassif from New England, unless they are maybe from "The County" :lol: Le Massif is up there. Glad to hear the other side of the coin and to set expectations appropriately if I ever do get up there.
