snowmonster
New member
Date(s) Skied: 2/19/2013
Resort or Ski Area: Orford
Conditions: -10C; No wind; Warmer than the past two days; Packed powder; Rocks and stumps in the glades!
Trip Report: Day Three of the snowmonster's tour of the Eastern Townships.
While the temperature was the same as the previous days, the absence of wind made it feel like a warm day. From Magog, Orford is just 15 minutes away. We got our tickets through a deal with the B&B we were staying at and paid about CAN$40 for a full day ticket.
Since little snowmonster was skiing with me, we started on the more gentle slopes of Mt. Giroux. After a few easy runs, I dove into the glades off the Quad Giroux Est. First glade I did was Lloyd Langlois, which was pretty good. Mellow in parts but tight in others. I could immediately see that Orford's ski patrol was way more liberal in its approach to opening glades. If this were Sutton, this would be a closed glade. Rocks, stumps, ice and punji sticks were all over the place. You had to pick your way through and be light on your feet to avoid base damage.
Next glade I did was further down. I decided to go down Boogie and that almost turned into a huge mistake. Basically, the glade narrowed to a cliff where the only way through was a narrow slot in the rocks. If you straightline the darned thing, you could smack into a tree. I side-slipped the thing, pointed them, jumped, fell then had to self arrest as my skis popped off in different directions. Yeah, Boogie kicked my butt all over town!
Not learning my lesson, I ducked into Lacroix, Labreque and Dubreuil on succeeding runs. All were pretty rocky and hairy. These glades should be pretty amazing after a big snowfall but, for now, it was a good test in technical skiing. My bases are absolutely scratched!
After a quick break, I sampled the runs of Mont Orford which is accessed by the chondola that they refer to as the Gondole Hybride. The steep run underneath the Gondole Hybride was a little icy but it was steep and suitable to long screaming runs. I decided to explore the glades off the 4KM trail. Most of them were closed and, because of their liberal glades policy, I respected those ropes. Petit Canyon glade was open though but I had to jump between rocks there in some parts. The last run was down L'Entrpide. Nice chute-like slot but it dead ended into another slot off a cliff needing a jump. It was only 3:15 but I was spent. Orford had kicked me down.
Before the drive back to the States, I decided to have a meal at the bar in the lodge. The poutine in peppercorn gravy was incredible. I would lick that plate! We had a good conversation with the ski school folks lounging at the bar. It was pretty neat that one of them gave me the low-down on the glades ("Watch out for that cliff on Boogie and, if you really want to jump off a cliff into trees, you should try L'Ecureuil. Mercifully, it was closed. By the way, that woman you were chatting with a while back. That's Mme. Labreque. That glade was named after her. She and the others used to trim the glades when they weren't official yet.") It was an awesome time at Orford.
My impression of Orford is that it seems like Cannon -- nice steep groomers with great glades. Actually, let me correct myself, the glades reminded me more of MRG! Ski it if you can!
Mont Giroux:
Staring down Sherbrooke:
Lloyd Langlois and the start of the infamous Boogie:
Resort or Ski Area: Orford
Conditions: -10C; No wind; Warmer than the past two days; Packed powder; Rocks and stumps in the glades!
Trip Report: Day Three of the snowmonster's tour of the Eastern Townships.
While the temperature was the same as the previous days, the absence of wind made it feel like a warm day. From Magog, Orford is just 15 minutes away. We got our tickets through a deal with the B&B we were staying at and paid about CAN$40 for a full day ticket.
Since little snowmonster was skiing with me, we started on the more gentle slopes of Mt. Giroux. After a few easy runs, I dove into the glades off the Quad Giroux Est. First glade I did was Lloyd Langlois, which was pretty good. Mellow in parts but tight in others. I could immediately see that Orford's ski patrol was way more liberal in its approach to opening glades. If this were Sutton, this would be a closed glade. Rocks, stumps, ice and punji sticks were all over the place. You had to pick your way through and be light on your feet to avoid base damage.
Next glade I did was further down. I decided to go down Boogie and that almost turned into a huge mistake. Basically, the glade narrowed to a cliff where the only way through was a narrow slot in the rocks. If you straightline the darned thing, you could smack into a tree. I side-slipped the thing, pointed them, jumped, fell then had to self arrest as my skis popped off in different directions. Yeah, Boogie kicked my butt all over town!
Not learning my lesson, I ducked into Lacroix, Labreque and Dubreuil on succeeding runs. All were pretty rocky and hairy. These glades should be pretty amazing after a big snowfall but, for now, it was a good test in technical skiing. My bases are absolutely scratched!
After a quick break, I sampled the runs of Mont Orford which is accessed by the chondola that they refer to as the Gondole Hybride. The steep run underneath the Gondole Hybride was a little icy but it was steep and suitable to long screaming runs. I decided to explore the glades off the 4KM trail. Most of them were closed and, because of their liberal glades policy, I respected those ropes. Petit Canyon glade was open though but I had to jump between rocks there in some parts. The last run was down L'Entrpide. Nice chute-like slot but it dead ended into another slot off a cliff needing a jump. It was only 3:15 but I was spent. Orford had kicked me down.
Before the drive back to the States, I decided to have a meal at the bar in the lodge. The poutine in peppercorn gravy was incredible. I would lick that plate! We had a good conversation with the ski school folks lounging at the bar. It was pretty neat that one of them gave me the low-down on the glades ("Watch out for that cliff on Boogie and, if you really want to jump off a cliff into trees, you should try L'Ecureuil. Mercifully, it was closed. By the way, that woman you were chatting with a while back. That's Mme. Labreque. That glade was named after her. She and the others used to trim the glades when they weren't official yet.") It was an awesome time at Orford.
My impression of Orford is that it seems like Cannon -- nice steep groomers with great glades. Actually, let me correct myself, the glades reminded me more of MRG! Ski it if you can!
Mont Giroux:
Staring down Sherbrooke:
Lloyd Langlois and the start of the infamous Boogie:
