Ride Delaware ?

The one that is reopened?

That is great news!!! Where is it?

Steamboat has never let me down...

I had another restful nights sleep and woke up at 7 to pack up and head to the mountain. My body had recovered nicely from the day before, but I could still tell that my back leg was tired. I would just need to man up and get after it anyway. I was packed up and out of the motel by 8 AM. I hopped across the street to Tim Horton's to grab breakfast, and arrived at the mountain around 8:45. It was a balmy 4 degrees F at the base with with no wind and some clouds in the sky. Mont Sainte Anne is an older resort than Le Massif, is owned by RCR, and it has much better infrastructure. The access road is lined with shops and residences, and the base area has all the amenities you would expect of a larger resort. I booted up in the parking lot, which required an extra hand warming session, then hit the mountain by 9:15. I headed over to the HSQ on skiers left of the front side of the mountain. That lift is armed with a bubble, but the bubble was very cloudy, and with no wind, it was essentially useless. I did a couple runs on some groomers there before heading to the Gondola that goes up the middle of the mountain. Once you drop off the very top, the mountain really spreads out, and I immediately dropped into the woods. The snow that fell here was more dense than at Le Massif, but it covered the obstacles well and was still fun, just not as floaty and more of a workout. MSA also has more easily accessible on map glades for all skill levels. Some of the double black glades were a little tighter, but overall, all the glades had the same distance between trees, but some were steeper than others. After 3-4 runs off the gondola, I headed to the backside of the mountain that is accessed off its own HSQ with its own lodge at the bottom. Almost all of the runs off this lift were groomed, so I got a much needed rest. I lapped almost all the terrain on this chair before finding the only on map glade back there. Just like at Le Massif, the coverage was complete. I only found a couple rocks at the end of the day in the steep on map stuff. After lapping that lift, I headed to the upper mountain lodge for a quick break and to have a snack. It is a full lodge with all amenities, so there's no real reason to fight the crowds at the base. After my snack, I headed down the middle of the mountain and found some more gladed sections. Some were on map, some weren't. All were good. Lastly, I decided to ride all the way to skiers right off the front side. The lift that serviced that wasn't running, but with a long skate, it could still be accessed. I found some great on map glades there that were steeper than anything else I had ridden the past couple days. That's where there were some small obstacles popping through, but nothing that couldn't be avoided. Overall, another great day. All three mountains were stellar and the trip was a success. After 5 hours and 40 minutes of riding, I packed up for the five hour and fifteen minute ride back to Sugarbush. I got some gas and hit the road at 4:05. I was only asked a couple questions at the border and lost no time getting back into the states. After some issues with a dirty windshield and frozen wiper fluid, I made it back just about 9:25. I grabbed a beer, watched some TV, and relaxed.

That's exactly how I would approach it too. Gotta love it when the doc puts it to the ex wife...

Glad to hear it went well and she didn't hurt the arm. I always said I'd get a hard cast so I could keep riding. Can't let that set me back.

I heard it's open...

It's got more of that Magic/MRG feel going on. Not as much snowmaking and grooming. Even the intermediate stuff can be challenging. It would make them better skiers quickly though. Terrain Park? Barely existent when I've been...

Are you ok?

Grab a beer when you sit down to read this one. It's going to be a long one. Yesterday afternoon after riding Mont Sutton, I decided to head north to where the storm was going to produce mostly snow. I booked a room in Sainte Anne during lunch and headed out for the 3.5 hour drive. Luckily, I was ahead of the storm and arrived mostly on time. I got a room at the Condo & Motel Des Berges. It was the cheapest thing I could find on Expedia. It is an old 60s style motel with outdoor entrances. The lady at the front desk didn't speak any English, so I struggled through the French contact form, and received my key. The room is pretty basic, and a little rough around the edges, but the inside has been recently renovated and the internet was good enough to watch Netflix. On a side note, almost every US streaming service (Hulu, HBO Go, Showtime Anytime, Amazon Prime, and STARZ) is blacked out, even with a good VPN. The Netflix that was available was running off the Canadian version, which left out key shows. The hotel is also located directly across the street from a Tim Horton's, Subway, and A&W. I scored a sandwich from A&W (where nobody spoke English), watched some Netflix, and headed to bed just before midnight. I woke up about 7:30, got dressed, and was out the door by 7:50. I rolled over to Tim Horton's, where I ordered a sandwich and some drinks. The sandwich and Gatorade came out fine, but somewhere in the language barrier (once again, the cashier didn't speak English) the lady somehow confused OJ for some type of tea. It wasn't worth arguing over, so I took the tea and hit the road. There was some light mixed precipitation falling at the motel, but the majority of the storm (6-8 in) had been snow. The further northeast I got toward the resort, the more snow had fallen. The drive took about 45 minutes due to road conditions. There were a couple long steep inclines that were single file. A tractor trailer couldn't get over the top of one and was parked near the top forcing us into the shoulder while he waited for a tow. Once you reach the resort, there is a 5.5 km access road that services nothing but the resort. There was a steady line of traffic, but only the main parking lot was full. The amount of snow there was staggering. In Sainte Anne the snow went to the bottom of the road signs. At Le Massif, it covered them. The snow on the sides of the access road was easily 7' tall and easily the most I've seen anywhere on the East Coast. There is so much snow, that they have to plow the parking lot and then use an excavator to mound it so that the parking lot doesn't shrink. The excavator was working when I arrived at 9:15, and he was still working when I left at 4 PM. Some of the mounds were easily 30' tall. Le Massif can be accessed from either the top of the mountain, or the bottom. However, the main amenities are at the top of the mountain. You have to go past the access road and all the way down and around to get to the bottom. The owner of Le Massif also owns Cirque du Soleil, and when he purchased the mountain, he also purchased the train tracks for ski trains from Quebec City and created a station at the bottom. He connected the train station to the new base area using a gondola which only runs on weekends. After purchasing my ticket, I immediately headed to skiers left where there is a mid mountain lift. From the amount of snow on the trails and sides of the road, I knew that today was going to be all about the trees. I thought the coverage was pretty good yesterday, but today was phenomenal. There are trees everywhere at this place. Their official glade runs are much tighter than Sutton's and there is amazing off map stuff to be had. I took the intermediate trail to the lift and was greeted with some untouched pow all the way down. There were decent amounts of skiers, but the mountain skis much larger than it looks. That would be one of the last runs I would take top to bottom on a trail for the rest of the day. After riding the lift, I headed further skiers left and immediately found an unmarked track into the woods. I was the third or fourth person in and couldn't be happier. They were a perfect pitch with perfectly spaced obstacles. It was a great mix of evergreens and birch trees. After lapping that general area (but different woods runs) four times, I decided to try the side country. I have included a picture of the map at the entrance. I hiked over to section 3, which was about a mile. Everyone else stopped at section 1/2, but those willing to walk the extra 100 m were richly rewarded. I repeatedly said "this is what heaven must be like." I was the fifth or sixth person in a huge expanse of perfect glades. There were fresh tracks to be had everywhere. It was well worth the hike. As you finish the glades section, there is a trail that takes you all the way down to the base. Le Massif clocks in at 2,526 vertical, but it skis larger than any other mountain I've been at on the East Coast. I loaded the Gondola for a nice 14 minute rest and went all the way to the top. The Gondola has two stages and you can load about 2/3 down the mountain if you choose. Once I got to the top, I decided to hit some trails off the Gondola. I made it about a third of the way down before I found some glades to duck into. Since they were on the map, they were a little more tracked out, but overall, they were still phenomenal. I took a break at the base to get some water before heading back up the Gondola to hit some more trees. This time I found my way to the HSQ on skiers right. The one all the way to skiers right was not running today. It is one of the longest vertical rise HSQs I have ever ridden. After a couple more runs into the trees off of that, I decided to traverse skiers right where the closed lift was. Since the lift was closed, there weren't as many tracks even if it was 2 PM in the afternoon. I was richly rewarded with powdery bump runs and untouched on map glades before I finally started to run out of gas. My legs were killing me. After one more bump/tree run off the Gondola, I headed up the Gondola to take the easiest route down which had all been groomed the night before. It was a nice long relaxing run before one last rest on the Gondola. I put in about 5.5 hours of hard riding today with a 30 minute break. It was easily one of my top 2 East Coast days of all time, and hands down my best East Coast tree day of all time. It was about 18 degrees when I arrived, but it slowly crept up to near 30 throughout the day. I had heard horror stories of the wind off the St. Lawrence, but they never really developed. There was some wind at the very top, but nothing that affected lift operations, which is what I was most concerned about since they are all high speed lifts. It was still snowing when I arrived, but the clouds finally cleared out about noon for one of the best views I have ever seen off an east coast mountain. The mountain practically ends in the St. Lawrence River, and seeing the icy river left me speechless. I even captured a tanker that was breaking ice to get through to the ocean. Overall, what a stellar day. The drive back only took 35 minutes with clear roads. I stopped at Subway to pick up some food and headed back to the motel where I have been resting since. Tomorrow I'll hit Mont Sainte Anne before heading back to the states tomorrow night. I've heard great things, so I hope it isn't a total letdown after today. Unfortunately, I think most of my trips in the short term will be.

Look closely at what happens tomorrow. Could see 3" or a little more plus some more on Sun. The Bush was reporting a net gain, but it sounded like there was definitely some unfrozen precip...

I'll try to post a report a bit later. From the Bush it's 5.5 hours. Honestly, it's easily top 2 of my all time east coast days. Valentines Day 14' may have been better because of the free refills, but I HAVE NEVER had better east coast trees...

I drove through QC at night with a storm coming in, so I didn't see it. I have to say though, the scope of that city is huge...

I know it's been awhile since I've posted a TR. Haven't been out free riding on a day worth writing about in months. I came up to the Bush this past weekend and enjoyed a weekend of riding with the GF. I even put on skis for a day for her. I had been following the current storm, and the weather looked like a mixed bag at the Bush potentially ending in rain. I had always wanted to try out some of the Quebec mountains, so I thought this would be a perfect opportunity. I woke up at 6:15, packed my gear, and got out of the condo by 7:15. The roads had some snow on them from the night before, but nothing too substantial. Since I hadn't been in CAN for years, I was treated to a full search of the car upon entering the country. I pulled up to Mont Sutton at 10:30. The upper parking lot was relatively full, but the lower lots were empty. The first thing I noticed was how small the lodge was. The mountain is definitely bigger than its base amenities provide for, but it does have a couple fairly large mountain top lodges to compensate. It's so weird to hear them assume everyone speaks French. I was greeted in French throughout the day. I got my lift ticket with a AAA discount, and headed out to the HSQ right outside the lodge. There was a ton of snow. Some icy spots, but overall, what a blast. They have some tree runs, some glades, and some natural woods. However, they also have lots of protected areas between trails that they are trying to let grow up. I poached a little, but tried to respect that. The best tree run was off the back side and required a mile traverse/hike to get out. It was worth it. Overall, it was a fun day. I always enjoy trying out a new mountain. There was plentiful natural and minimal crowds. Most of the other patrons stuck to the groomers, so the natural stuff was pretty much a private stash. I drove up to Quebec City tonight and will be hitting Le Massif/Mont Sainte Anne the next two days. I'm really looking forward to it.

I'd rather ride Platty every day of the winter than go to Hunter one day. Doesn't do anything for me. I can see the allure for you though.

I went to Bromley 5 or 6 years ago and really enjoyed it. It's a little mellow, but I stuck to the stuff skiers right off the quad and had fun. There's some good little cruisers over there and some slightly tougher stuff on the front, but nothing is going to scare the kids. I don't recall much about Mt. Snow, but while it isn't the steepest mountain, I don't recall having too many issues with traversing. I think you'll be just fine. I say excellent choice on picking this weekend with the way the holiday falls. Shouldn't be too busy. I'm sure the shitshow will ensue on Monday...

Lawson's is opening a 30 bbl brew house in the MRV some time in 2017. Pretty stoked about having that in my backyard. Pretty amped to hit Stowe again this year. Rain definitely took its toll. Hopefully it solidified the base on the natural stuff and we are setup for the rest of the season.

Is it a Leitner or Dopplemayer?

Oh Sugarbush North, how I've missed you...

At home, twerking...

No hate meant. Just seems that every first Blue TR of the year has death cookies. I'm stoked all the same. You guys will have more turns than me over the next few weeks.

Glad to hear you guys are finally getting out there. Make sure you take a picture of the death cookies for stoke!!!

I've never been, but I've always wanted to knock snowboarding in New Jersey off my list...

Just cycled through Castlerock. Castlerock and Cotillion were amazing. Still some sweet powder stashes. Slightly thin on runout from low elevation.

Castlerock is open, but it is still hiking only. Not quite enough snow to take a beating from the masses that running the lift would attract. That section is actually Lower Jester. Lower Downspout technically ends at the Castlerock Cutoff and Lower Jester takes over from there. Minor detail. I'll try to update a bit later in the week.