We got the kids and friends out 3 days last week - Tuesday, Wed. and Friday. I can use the same description for all three days: outstanding, and the best conditions in this area I've seen in 4 years skiing here. We ski on piste, no glades, and it was basically packed powder all day. The only day similar locally that I can think of is Dec. 24 a couple of years ago when there was a big snow dump with no thawing action.
100 cms (39 inches) of snow in March, with 52 cms (20 inches) landing the weekend before, provided the excellent base, but the important part was that temperatures have stayed below freezing, or around zero at the worst, so the runs haven't had a thaw-freeze cycle to screw them up. Temperatures for this region remain unseasonably low so the good conditions should still be holding.
From our place in the east suburbs, Cascade is 45 minutes, Tremblant 2 hours and Mt. Ste. Marie about 75 minutes.
What was also amazing was the short liflines, including Wed. March 12 at Tremblant. We didn't bother with the gondola much and even it was very reasonable and the chairs were minimal - very un-Tremblant like. I have been to Tremblant twice before and wasn't a fan, especially because of how hacked and iced up it became before the day was very old. The 12th was the perfect combo of lots of snow, cool temps, short lines and runs that stayed good all day.
Cascade was Tuesday, a 540 foot vertical local hill that, while smaller than other locals that sport 660 vertical, the kids like because it has more variety. The bonus came from Mom needing to rent a car for the day and the rental company giving her two passes for Mt. St. Marie. $40 for a car rental and $72 in lift ticket passes back works ok for me!
So Friday it was a full van with 5 teenagers et moi off to Mt. Ste. Marie. Life with teenagers is organic, we started with a couple and expanded to fill the van by the end of the day Thursday, with kids staying over (which is fine with me, no waiting in the morning!). Excellent conditions once again, though a bit of ice on the steeper runs, and it was much colder than forecast. The weather caught up to the forecast in the afternnon (thank you daylight savings time) and it was a gorgeous sunny day.
Mt. St. Marie intrigues me. It is has a 1,250 ft. vertical drop, double peak, only an hour from downtown Ottawa, yet only has 20 runs. It was bought by Intrawest in 1997, then they sold the ski and golf operations in 2002 to a local ski hill with a regional business focus. Looking at the trail map, below, there appears to be plenty of room to expand runs or develop glades. I also can't believe Intrawest would have bought it if there wasn't potential to develop the mountain further. There is one partially cut run on the right of Mont Cheval that ends in the bush, that I would love to know the history of. Perhaps Patrick or Luke have more info on it? Anyone ski the bush here?
The limited number of runs has kept me from driving the extra 40 minutes many times and IMHO they could really do better locally if they offered a bit more.
100 cms (39 inches) of snow in March, with 52 cms (20 inches) landing the weekend before, provided the excellent base, but the important part was that temperatures have stayed below freezing, or around zero at the worst, so the runs haven't had a thaw-freeze cycle to screw them up. Temperatures for this region remain unseasonably low so the good conditions should still be holding.
From our place in the east suburbs, Cascade is 45 minutes, Tremblant 2 hours and Mt. Ste. Marie about 75 minutes.
What was also amazing was the short liflines, including Wed. March 12 at Tremblant. We didn't bother with the gondola much and even it was very reasonable and the chairs were minimal - very un-Tremblant like. I have been to Tremblant twice before and wasn't a fan, especially because of how hacked and iced up it became before the day was very old. The 12th was the perfect combo of lots of snow, cool temps, short lines and runs that stayed good all day.
Cascade was Tuesday, a 540 foot vertical local hill that, while smaller than other locals that sport 660 vertical, the kids like because it has more variety. The bonus came from Mom needing to rent a car for the day and the rental company giving her two passes for Mt. St. Marie. $40 for a car rental and $72 in lift ticket passes back works ok for me!
So Friday it was a full van with 5 teenagers et moi off to Mt. Ste. Marie. Life with teenagers is organic, we started with a couple and expanded to fill the van by the end of the day Thursday, with kids staying over (which is fine with me, no waiting in the morning!). Excellent conditions once again, though a bit of ice on the steeper runs, and it was much colder than forecast. The weather caught up to the forecast in the afternnon (thank you daylight savings time) and it was a gorgeous sunny day.
Mt. St. Marie intrigues me. It is has a 1,250 ft. vertical drop, double peak, only an hour from downtown Ottawa, yet only has 20 runs. It was bought by Intrawest in 1997, then they sold the ski and golf operations in 2002 to a local ski hill with a regional business focus. Looking at the trail map, below, there appears to be plenty of room to expand runs or develop glades. I also can't believe Intrawest would have bought it if there wasn't potential to develop the mountain further. There is one partially cut run on the right of Mont Cheval that ends in the bush, that I would love to know the history of. Perhaps Patrick or Luke have more info on it? Anyone ski the bush here?
The limited number of runs has kept me from driving the extra 40 minutes many times and IMHO they could really do better locally if they offered a bit more.
