Le Massif, PQ

[deadheadskier]

Anyone ever ski there? I hear next to Jay Peak that they get the best natural snowfall on the east coast.

I've heard a lot about it the past few years and have wanted to make the trip up there.

 

[smootharc]

Couldn't tell you when, but there's....

....been one or two nice profile articles in the Ski mags in the last ten years. At one point, I recall, it didn't even have lifts. Just a couple of buses riding up with 30 or so lucky souls for laps. Sounds like a nifty place.

Perhaps a stop in there on the way to the Chic-Chocs for some backcountry would be a heck of a trip.

 

[deadheadskier]

Chic Chocs? aren't they in Western Canada?

Le Massif is a right on the Saint Lawrence River with 2500 feet of vert and excellent natural snowfall from what I've read. The way the verticle drops right down to the water looks like it would be a unique skiing experience.

 

[awf170]

Chic Chocs? aren't they in Western Canada?

Le Massif is a right on the Saint Lawrence River with 2500 feet of vert and excellent natural snowfall from what I've read. The way the verticle drops right down to the water looks like it would be a unique skiing experience.

the chic-chocs are at the gulf of the saint lawrence, on that little pensensula

i heard it is about 10 hours from burlington

 

[jamesdeluxe]

Someone recently posted an article here about Le Massif:
http://news.alpinezone.com/3652/

 

[smootharc]

Re: Chic Chocs

Check this link out:

http://www.firsttracksonline.com/welcome2.htm

Note that the place Le Massif is is lower left of the map. Two or three great articles on Chic Chocs in Couloir and Backcountry skiing over the years.

And the Meathead Films film of last year "Schooled" has a large Chic Chocs section - some superb footage and information.

 

[smootharc]

Link Problem - re: Chic Chocs

Just google "Chic-Choc skiing" and click through to first link listed, or, hopefully, this:


www.firsttracksonline.com/chicchocs.htm

 

[deadheadskier]

I know the back country enthusiasts might shoot me for this.....

....but why wouldn't someone develop a ski area there? I remember reading about it before somewhere and actually had a friend talk about this range of above tree line cirques in PQ.

Is it just too remote to draw a crowd? Is it protected land?

 

[JimG.]

Is it just too remote to draw a crowd? Is it protected land?

Both. A major portion of the cirque is totally off limits, I think because of caribou migration routes. In addition, the coastal climate makes for wet snow that avalanches easily. Better left as a backcountry resource.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

I've never skied there, but I went mountain biking in the Chic Chocs a few years ago. It's something like six hours from Montreal and more than three from Quebec City. Plus, the region, while really beautiful, isn't exactly hopping economically (really high unemployment rates), so I don't know where the skiers would come from.

Ski areas in far more populated areas of Quebec (Orford, Mont Glen, Crapaudiere, Montjoye) have closed or are threatening to shut down, so even though the Chic Chocs is a different kettle of fish compared to most other EC mountains, I don't see how it could survive.