? about Mt St Anne (and other Quebec City resorts)

[Anonymous]

I'm going to be in Quebec City 1/5 - 1/12 and wanted to know if anyone has skiied Mt St Anne, Stoneham, or Le Massif yet this season. Does anyone know if the snowmaking is good enough at these resorts (assuming sustained cold temps) to lay down a decent snowcover on the mountains in the next two weeks?

 

[Admin]

I'm going to reply here, rather than confusing issues by moving the message, but FYI for everyone: this stuff belongs in Liftlines instead of the No-Bull Reports. <BR> <BR>Anyhoo, while I haven't yet been there this season I can tell you that Mont-Ste-Anne and Stoneham both have strong snowmaking systems. Le Massif's was always somewhat less than the other two, but all bets are off for this season as a result of their brand-new system. The mid-station (really 1/4-station) on the new detach also allows them to make snow on the upper 3/4 of the mountain where it's easier and then load back to the summit from there (no downloading required, as the new "base" area is on top). <BR> <BR>New guns just arrived at Ste.-Anne, too - check out today's news story in our Ski News section.

 

[Tony Crocker]

As my Eastern experience is trivial, my knowledge comes from what I read here and in snow reports. Last week appears to be the first really good snowmaking week of the season. The snowmaking leaders by reputation (Killington, Okemo, Sunday River) are now about 40% open while most New England areas are more like 20%. Tremblant and Mt. St. Anne are also at 20%. Why is this, when I hear how much colder and less susceptible to thaw Quebec is? Water supply for snowmaking? It's hard to believe Intrawest didn't match the best of New England in snowmaking technology when they overhauled Tremblant, a mountain that doesn't get all that much natural snow.