CONDTIONS REPORT

Alright. Here is the skinny on our long-anticipated trip to Canada's Gaspé pennisula to ski the Chic Chocs.

First question: Did the reality live up to the hype? Absolutely.

Next question: Was the commute brutal? 11+hours each way, but we compensated with overnights for dinner and spa in Quebec City.

Last question: Poutine? Bien sur.

Our band of ruffians departed WMass in two vehicles in the middle of our own local snowstorm on Sunday Feb 9th, hoping for more of the same out in the Gaspé. We had a farily uneventful drive across the Canadian border and arrived in Q.C in the early afternoon with plenty of time to check-in at our hotel (Hotel Clarendon), walk the old city and make reservations for dinner (L'Entrecote St. Jean). Coffee and pastries the next morning, and we hit the road early for a long drive through numerous small villages along the frozen banks of the St. Lawrence toward our final turn inland to Murdochville. As our caravan turned away from the river and began climbing into the mountains, the snow built up along the sides of the road giving us an idea about what to expect for the week.

To be honest, Murdochville is a little hard to describe and my initial impression, driving down main street, was a bit dismal. The town was a copper mining town for decades, and abandoned (for mining) in 1999. At one end of the town faced Mont Miller ski area and the other end loomed the old copper mine, with boarded up store fronts and an old condemned school situated between...Murdochville looked a little rough-around-the-edges. However after a week spent there, the town actually really grew on me!

We found our rental house for the week (courtesy of Chic Chac) and checked in at the Chic Chac base of operations in a recentely renovated old Church called the General Quartier. Dining facilities with a pretty diverse menu, full bar, concert venue stage, pool table and foosball table made the spot a pretty cool hangout for aprés skiers, snowmobilers, locals, and guides.

The next morning we did a group check with our guide, JD, for a day of cat-skiing at nearby Mont Porphyre. While avalanche conditions were not high, we were still required to wear beacons and those of us who had shovels and probes brought those too. We took a few test laps down Mont Miller before heading up the road to Porphyre and spent the day catching powder stashes between trees. Single digit temps had kept the snow light and fresh despite not having any significant refresh for several days. The cats utilized old logging roads to reach the summit ridge at several different locations, and the initial pitch off the top was often quite steep and challenging. The flow down mountain provided multiple routes between trees with wide-open spacing for turns. The terrain at Mont Porphyre is not typical New England tight trees, but more reminscent of western glade skiing. Porphyre is also close enough to town that we were able to ski directly back in for lunch.

The next day we met our new guide, Steve, who took us to Mont Lyall for a day of self-powered backcountry. Lyall is about 45 minutes from Murdochville and deeper into the Gaspé along long unpopulated dirt roads with a very remote feeling. However at the parking area there were a handfull of other skiers getting ready too Temps were well below zero as we threw skins on and headed out. About 45 minutes, we reached the base of the uphill with a small basic hut where Steve lit the woodstove to warm it for our lunch later on. We began the climb that took us up above treeline in to the alpine zone with stunning views of the valley below. The terrain was steep, sky was brilliant blue, and the snow soft, light and deep. At the summit ridge, even the wind was still; could not have been a better day for us. With some mild trepidation, our group followed Steve over the edge and down into a bowl, moderately tracked but with some powder stashes at the margins. From the base of the bowl, we skied trees back down to the hut and took lunch inside. Half of our group climbed to ski La Baguette after lunch, which gave us some untouched powder lines through rapidly descending trees as the sun dropped below the ridgeline. From the hut, we packed up for a gentle ride back to the parking...and then home to Murdochville and dinner/sleep.

Day three brought us back to local Mont Porphyre since a big storm was approaching and the winds had picked up considerablly. Snow started spitting early in the morning and was forecast to accumulate through the day and all night----up to 3'. Steve led us climbing to the top of a hidden area of Porphyre to ski some lesser known routes that the Cat can't access. At the top we transitioned and began dropping into the first snow field, following Steve to the treeline. I heard a shout and turned to see one of our members twisting as he fell hard into the snow. I quickly realized that he was injured and signaled Steve. We stabilzed our guy and evac'ed him safely down the mountain to a sled that was waiting below. The rescue sled took him to the medical clinic where they diagnosed an injury that would prevent our guy from skiing the remainder of the trip----pretty horrible news. We returned him to our house and got him comfortable and watched as the storm rolled in. A few of us skinned up Mont Miller in the evening to test the local powder.

We met our new guide, Eric, who took us to Mont York via cat on our final full day. Mont York is remote and only accessible by sno cat, so with 3' of fresh snow, we were guaranteed first descent powder runs all day. We motored for about 45 minutes to reach the zone, did some preliminary avalanche safety drills, and then followed Eric into the best skiing conditions that most of us have ever experienced. Steep powder lines opening to wide open trees and multiple routes in waist deep snow! Each run the cat took us to a different spot to ski another pristine line, which we repeated all day, with a very brief lunch at another backcountry cabin w/woodstove. It was pretty magical!

We packed up and drove out of Murdochville early the following morning and checked-in to our hotel in Q.C amidst the Quebec Winter Carnival madness in the late afternoon. Opting to avoid the crowds, we headed north of the city to Siberia Station Spa for a pretty amazing european-style spa experience and then to hip neighborhood, Limoilou, for dinner at brewpub La Souche. The next day we drove into the snowstorm blanketing Vermont and arrived home safely without event.

This was an absolutely amazing adventure and we feel so lucky to have gotten the chance to share the experience with our group. It really feels like this is what our org is all about, and we're already looking forward to planning some more awesome trips for next year. If you'd like to be part of them, give us shout and stay tuned for the sign-ups. Throw out some suggestions if you've taken a cool ski trip in the past or stayed at hut that you've really enjoyed too..

We're sending love to our guy who sustained the injury and wishing him a speedy recovery and many many more turns in the future still!

Best,

Andy