MOUNTAIN LIFE - Blue Mountains | Winter 2019

WINTER 2019 ML BLUE 45 It’s hard not to love the way the way snow accumulates. After that tragic rain and in the subsequent cold snap, Mother Nature had been consistently sprinkling a light dusting of snow out of the clear blue sky. But by the time we arrived at our next stop, Mont-Sainte-Anne, that dusting had accumulated to 15cm. Overnight, every night during our stay, Mother Nature provided an extra 5cm. So the next thing you know, all of that fresh dusted snow has accumulated up in the steeps and in places where it has drifted a bit there can be pockets of glorious deepness. Add to that this simple and wonderful technique my friends and I have developed as powder-hounds: search out the closed, steep gladed runs (the runs they don’t groom) and be there when the ribbons lift. Sainte-Anne had closed many of these runs due to the rain. So, while the base had fared better here than elsewhere, the extra 20– 30cm made for some deep snow and on the day we arrived, we were rewarded. The ribbons were lifted, and the glades opened up. Plus it was Wednesday. Most of the other skiers during our stay stuck to the groomed runs, while my friends and I put in thigh-burning laps on pitch perfect deep-snow maple and oak glades. Mont-Sainte-Anne is a big hill. You feel like you are in the mountains, because, well, the thing is a mountain. On clear days, you can actually see all the way to Québec City’s iconic Château Frontenac, and its not inconceivable to say that one could ski all day at Sainte-Anne, then go into Québec City for some distinct French city culture at night. The fall lines on the gladed runs go on forever. You don’t need big BC mountains to have an incredible powder experience. You just need two things: fall lines, and conditions. At night, after dining at the newly renovated Chateau Mont-Sainte-Anne’s exceptional in-house Bistro Nordik, and savouring exceptional bière from the local Microbrasserie De Beaux, we were indeed satisfied. Our thighs were burnt after three days of gladed goodness and we were ready to head back down the 401. Funny, Tim Hortons always seems to taste a little better when your thighs are burned right out. lemassif.com // mont-sainte-anne.com quebecoriginal.com/en-ca/see-and-do/skiing-snowboarding TOP Mont-Sainte-Anne, as seen from the Île d'Orléans. FRANCIS GAGNON/COURTESY QUEBEC SKI ABOVE The sous-bois of Le Massif. PIERRE CARBONNEAU/COURTESY QUEBEC SKI