MOUNTAIN LIFE - Blue Mountains | Winter 2021

36 With a vertical drop of 310 metres and 33 trails, it’s all accessed by a single T-bar. And there isn’t a lineup all day long. Not even on the Sunday of the Family Day weekend. At the top of the T-bar we can see all of Murdochville and have views off into the distance where snowcapped mountains obscure the horizon. While we don’t get the blower pow everyone hopes for on a ski trip, there is lots of snow. And as evidenced by all the wind turbines on top of the mountain, it’s always windy here. Which means tracks are quickly filled in again. But the region gets hammered; on average, almost seven metres of snow can fall here each winter. The skiing itself is not for the beginner. There are no magic carpets and there are only a few mellow runs down the mountain. Everything else is steep tree skiing. It’s challenging but fun. And we know it would be legendary after a fresh dump. In the afternoon, we’re told to be at the top of the T-bar for 2 o’clock. The helicopter will pick us up there and drop us at the top of Mont Porphyre. And it does. It’s a short ride across the valley, so before we know it, the heli is dropping us at the top of Porphyre and we’re watching it list over the edge. Dropping in, we’re into some of the tightest tree skiing this side of Blue Mountain’s Old South Glades. But it’s an exciting and fun run. We laugh and shout down the mountain until a cat picks us up to take us to the chalet. We soon find ourselves back in the bar (in ski boots) where we meet the godfather of the Murdochville ski scene, Guillaume Molaison. The town of Murdochville essentially died in the early 2000s. A copper mine—the only reason the town existed—closed in 1999. In its heyday the town had a population of 5,000. But after the mine closed there wasn’t much left. Houses were dirt cheap. That’s when Guillaume started his eastern ski empire. He scooped up a duplex, then a quadplex with mortgages as low as $25 a month. He soon acquired the ski hill, along with the chalet, and rights to run cats on Mont York and Mont Porphyre. And it’s been building ever since. Now running as chic-chac.com he offers everything from hotels to guided ski touring packages, heli-ski or cat ski packages and everything in between. Simply put, if you’re going to ski in Murdochville, you’ll be using one, if not all of Guillaume’s offerings. And, on top of that, his website is one of the best for the region.