When in Doubt: Go Night Skiing

Posted on by Adrider83

We all know that it’s been a tough winter. Or has winter in the east even really started? With no natural snow in sight, I feel like I am hovering somewhere between depression and paranoia. However, as a believer in the healing power of skiing, I realized there was a solution: go skiing as much as possible.

West Mountain night skiing

A light bulb moment: “Maybe I should start night skiing again?” Yes, night skiing, where packs of teens bomb down in groups of 15 and snow guns blast you while you hug the trail edge to find left overs. And at thirty years of age, you might be the creepy old guy on the mountain skiing in the dark.

Yep, night skiing would definitely cheer me up. I figured I should try it again after all these years.With the expectation of a one-and-done affair, I headed up to West Mountain after work to rediscover night skiing.

Continue reading →

Tagged: Adirondacks, West Mountain9 Comments

La Réserve: Ready to Rumble

Posted on by ml242

With a weekday free to explore Quebec, I had my heart set on getting to the Whistler of the East with 10″ of fresh. That ski area will remain nameless however, because after many text messages with new friends I was convinced to pilot my car to a much smaller area in The Laurentian mountains: La Réserve.

la-reserve-snow

After some technical difficulty on the drive, I arrived. It turns out the A25 bridge is a tolled path. There are no booths, it’s private and I think you need some sort of EZ-Pass. Suffice to say, if you’re heading North to checkout La Reserve, take the 15.

Once out of the city, I noticed something else I’ve missed in recent years — big snowbanks. A bit like Neo in The Matrix, the Laurentians are situated far enough North to have dodged rain drops for much of this season. I could have been in the anywhere north of the Artic Circle for all I know, with lots of snow and limited development.

Continue reading →

Tagged: Quebec11 Comments

Mont Sutton, Amen

Posted on by ml242

Most of the billboards in The Townships are in French. There’s a conspicuous one near the top of Mont Sutton’s access road that simply says “Amen” branded with the logo and a picture of some beautifully rimed trees.

mont-sutton-skier

It’s a little ambiguous, but after skiing there last weekend, I’d probably define it as “divine bliss and sheer joyfulness from sliding over a soft base of perfection.” Skiing is serious business, after all.

Overstatement? Je ne sais pas. While it hadn’t snowed at the mountain for a few days, life is more than recent snowfall, uphill capacity, double black diamonds, and super fast lifts. Sutton seems to get the fact that those metrics don’t directly translate into fun. From heaven, not hoses, en français.

Continue reading →

Tagged: Quebec, Sutton11 Comments