ChileMass
Active member
Dates: Monday, 2/21 thru Thursday 2/24
Place: Mont Orford, Quebec
Conditions: Variable. Cold and very windy on Monday, cloudy Tuesday, bright sun on Wed, and sun/clouds Thursday. A little fresh snow every day/night, but a lot got blown off with the high winds or scraped off quickly. Temps 20*F Mon/Tues, 30*F Wed/Thurs.
Spent 6 fun days in Magog, Quebec, 4 of them skiing at Mont Orford. Orford is only 30 miles north of the US border, and the resort town of Magog sits at the north end of Lake Memphremagog, which extends 55 miles back to Newport, VT. This was a family reunion for 20 members of my immediate family and also included 2 other families from Mass, for a total of 30. Orford offers 1800' of vertical on 3 mountains, and the French Canadian atmosphere is something my family and friends have really come to enjoy. This was our 3rd year in a row going up there for US Winter Break, and the locals couldn't be nicer, and the prices can't be beat.
We rented 5 condos in the Club Azur complex, right at the Magog sports center, a short walk from the lake, and only a 5-minute drive from the hill. Note that at present there is very little on-slope accomodation directly at orford, but they are building slowly. The new condos/houses on the access road (route 141) look very nice. The cost for a condo up there is very inexpensive. Each family in our group had a fully-furnished 2BR unit with at least 1.5 baths, fireplace, full kitchen, and most were on 2 floors. 2 of them had a washer/dryer. Our condos had use of the pool and spa at the sports center, and they offered discounted tickets at all the local Quebec ski hill as well as for Jay peak (45 min back across the border). We paid C$800 for 5 nights (US$720) which is a deal. And I bought 18 lift tickets during our visit at a total of US$470 for an average of $26/ticket. You can't beat that with a stick.
Conditions at Orford were pretty good considering what a lousy snow season we are having. The best part is that during each day they send out a team of 2-4 groomers, close off a few trails for 20-30 minutes and turn the ice and scratchy stuff into 5" of perfect corduroy. The bad news is that the corduroy gets scratched off pretty quickly, but those 2 runs on perfect conditions sure are fun. And when they groom the black trails (Magnum, Sherbrooke, Maxi, etc) it's just great to carve it up. We even took the little kids down those after they were groomed and they had a blast. But - trails that hadn't been groomed for a day or 2 got mighty scraped and BIG sheets of boilerplate were dangerous in the sometimes flat light. Fortunately, the cold temps and wind kept the crowds down Monday and Tuesday, and when the sun came out Wed/Thurs, who cares if there a bit of line?
Cold beer, hot pasta and fun group dinners completed each day. We had a great time. I strongly recommend Orford as an alternative to anyone who is considering the northern VT resorts.
Place: Mont Orford, Quebec
Conditions: Variable. Cold and very windy on Monday, cloudy Tuesday, bright sun on Wed, and sun/clouds Thursday. A little fresh snow every day/night, but a lot got blown off with the high winds or scraped off quickly. Temps 20*F Mon/Tues, 30*F Wed/Thurs.
Spent 6 fun days in Magog, Quebec, 4 of them skiing at Mont Orford. Orford is only 30 miles north of the US border, and the resort town of Magog sits at the north end of Lake Memphremagog, which extends 55 miles back to Newport, VT. This was a family reunion for 20 members of my immediate family and also included 2 other families from Mass, for a total of 30. Orford offers 1800' of vertical on 3 mountains, and the French Canadian atmosphere is something my family and friends have really come to enjoy. This was our 3rd year in a row going up there for US Winter Break, and the locals couldn't be nicer, and the prices can't be beat.
We rented 5 condos in the Club Azur complex, right at the Magog sports center, a short walk from the lake, and only a 5-minute drive from the hill. Note that at present there is very little on-slope accomodation directly at orford, but they are building slowly. The new condos/houses on the access road (route 141) look very nice. The cost for a condo up there is very inexpensive. Each family in our group had a fully-furnished 2BR unit with at least 1.5 baths, fireplace, full kitchen, and most were on 2 floors. 2 of them had a washer/dryer. Our condos had use of the pool and spa at the sports center, and they offered discounted tickets at all the local Quebec ski hill as well as for Jay peak (45 min back across the border). We paid C$800 for 5 nights (US$720) which is a deal. And I bought 18 lift tickets during our visit at a total of US$470 for an average of $26/ticket. You can't beat that with a stick.
Conditions at Orford were pretty good considering what a lousy snow season we are having. The best part is that during each day they send out a team of 2-4 groomers, close off a few trails for 20-30 minutes and turn the ice and scratchy stuff into 5" of perfect corduroy. The bad news is that the corduroy gets scratched off pretty quickly, but those 2 runs on perfect conditions sure are fun. And when they groom the black trails (Magnum, Sherbrooke, Maxi, etc) it's just great to carve it up. We even took the little kids down those after they were groomed and they had a blast. But - trails that hadn't been groomed for a day or 2 got mighty scraped and BIG sheets of boilerplate were dangerous in the sometimes flat light. Fortunately, the cold temps and wind kept the crowds down Monday and Tuesday, and when the sun came out Wed/Thurs, who cares if there a bit of line?
Cold beer, hot pasta and fun group dinners completed each day. We had a great time. I strongly recommend Orford as an alternative to anyone who is considering the northern VT resorts.
