Well the weather did not look too good but the local radar gave a possible 2hrs so Linda and went to Cap St Jacques expecting no one to be there and we could have an early coffee. But no, there were two people patiently waiting and suddenly four more arrived, so the dye was cast we had to go. I was just setting up my gps to measure the walk when Ron M said we do not need a gps I know Cap St Jacques like the back of my hand. I pointed out that the ski tracks were absent in summer but Ron was undaunted Continue reading →

The past Beaver Tails season was very unusual in many ways.  We did still manage to ski just about every weekend this winter after New Year’s Day, but we almost never went to the place we had put in our schedule.  Despite the lack of snow in town for most of the winter, we could usually find somewhere to ski as long as we went far enough north in the Laurentians.  Here in town, we did get snowfalls in between the regular rain days.  So we did manage to ski the flat trails at Cap St Jacques on a few Saturdays.  But the timing of the rain days was such that we only managed to ski on a Wed evening at Mount Royal once this year, and that was on the very last day of Feb.  That was unprecedented, but this season has been all about freaky weather patterns.

But when you take into account all the hikes we did dating back to the early fall, we did manage to get out on at least 20 Sundays this year. Continue reading →

Despite the arrival of warm and wet weather in town last Sat, there was still some good skiing to be had.  Far enough up north, they had received fresh snow instead of rain.  After an active exchange of messages on the forum, at least ten Beaver Tail skiers organized themselves to go up to the parks in the Tremblant area.  Six people had a day of perfect conditions at Parc du Mont Tremblant (Lac Monroe) while four others avoided the trails being used by the loppet taking place at Domaine St Bernard and also had a great day.  One member also found good conditions at Gai Luron
Four of us from the club (me, Nancy, Ghyslaine, Monique I., along with Ghyslaine’s sister and another friend) decided to go really far north in search of snow.  We spent the weekend at Parc des Mont-Valins, located 40 min past Chicoutimi.  This is a special place where the trees at higher altitudes get caked in snow and ice and are known as “fantômes” (see the photos).  We alternated between back-country skis and snowshoes to tour the spectacular scenery.  On one day, we rode in a van fitted with snow tracks to a part of the park called the Vallée des Fantômes.  It’s was a six-hour drive from Montreal to get there, but it was worth the trip!

Linda H has taken another video, this time the long descent on Mallard. If you have never done it, or you cannot remember what it was like other than thigh muscle burn take a look. The video was from last Sunday with brilliant conditions in Tremblant park.
https://vimeo.com/user10535706/albums
The link takes you to album xcountry ski, click on the picture and you will see the videos.
Keith.

With the big dump of snow we had on Friday afternoon and evening, we had one of our best weekends of skiing close to town.

Last Sat, there was an informal outing at Cap St Jacques at 9 am.  You wouldn’t know it from the photos, but we had at least 16 BTers out to ski on the sticky snow.  It was the day after all that wet snow fell and the temp was -1 C.  But the violet wax worked well enough for Continue reading →

One opportunity closes another opens, and so instead of Mont St Anne we held a weekend at Tremblant, something we have wanted to do for a long time. So 30 + club members, it would appear from his tweet that even the bean counter was not sure how many were there, whatever happened to accuracy of data. Never mind the majority went up Friday, and some even skied or snow shoed during the day, so our info on conditions were good. Friday supper was on your own so we finished up in St Jovite, just down the road where we had a good meal, rumour has it that the Pres and Nancy A went snow shoeing across a frozen lake before their supper or was it a frozen swimming pool in someone’s rear yard, no one really knows. Saturday came with temperatures hovering close to zero, so with the majority opting to go to Lac Monroe, it was felt that an early-ish start would be good, so we were soon on the road passing a long line up of cars wishing to turn into Tremblant village downhill parking lots. Soon we were at the park, amongst the first in the parking lot, and the groups busied themselves for skiing. Unfortunately I could not ski due to sore Achilles tendon, I told my mother it was not a good idea to hold me by the ankle whilst dipping me in the River Styx, parents never listen do they. I was offered so many books to read while I waited, including the complete works of Shakespeare and the contents of Pte Claire Library. Finally I was left in peace, but only for a moment. Suddenly Continue reading →

Linda H took this video on the Poisson during our Tremblant Weekend.

http://vimeo.com/37204575

This video is 4 mins long so I cannot post on Flickr so I will be using Vimeo for our videos, if I get any, hint , hint , Glenn K
Enjoy Keith