Mont Saint-Sauveur - QC - nov 9, 2003 - opening in the east

Frankontour

New member
Just back from St-Sauveur with the first ski of the season in the east !!!! woohooo !!! <BR> <BR>I was with Max and Marc Guido and we had some fun, although the conditions were really icy in the Nordique and the West 70 wasn't open, except the lower part at noon. At least, the lower 70 was nice... <BR> <BR>More story + pics on the way <BR> <BR>PS : we got the 3rd chair of the season and Max and me were both the 1st skiers to reach the bottom of the mountain, except the ski patrol, in 2003-04 ! woohooo !
 
congrats Frank, Max and Marc.... <BR>I think that I can see you in the online pictures they have of the opening! <BR> <BR>looking forward to the pics
 
frank! you are amazingly dedicated to the eastern ski season! you were probably one of the last to ski an eastern ski area last season, and one of the first this season. way to ski!!!
 
Thanks Jonny and Riverc0il ! <BR> <BR>(yeah, 140 days between end of 2002-03 and beginning of 2003-04... still way too long, though !!) <BR> <BR>Ok, so here's the day. Max and me arrived at St-Sauveur around 8h15 this morning and it was incredibly white... really nice to see !! <BR> <BR>But getting closer, we noticed that nothing was groomed.....WHOOOOOOOOOPS. Finally, after seeing that the ski area was not really ready to open, with some employees late and wrong directions to buy a lift ticket, we knew that the chairlift would just open near 10h, when the Nordique would be ready... and the West 70 would open at 1h PM. <BR> <BR>So we hiked 2 runs on the lower West 70, the new snowmaking snow was enough nice to ski. We got the 3rd chair of the season (6th & 7th skiers) and we arrived at the bottom of the trail first, in same time, it was really nice to start the season this way !!!! <BR> <BR>But the Nordique was already icy when we took it for the first time, so it was the hell, few minutes later, with a huge crowd for the trail which was at 40% width in average, but it was possible to ski out of the main track (I did that all day long) <BR> <BR>The Nordique : <BR> <BR>On top : <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/8/2932.jpg" ALT="Nordique on top"> <BR> <BR>View from the upper part : <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/8/2933.jpg" ALT="Nordique view"> <BR> <BR>The lower part : <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/8/2934.jpg" ALT="Lower Nordique"> <BR> <BR>At noon, they opened the lower 70 which was really nice for nov-9 and Marc caught few parts of video on that one. Finally, the upper West 70 only opened at 3h30 PM, but we were already gone (We knew it this evening at the Warren Miller movie) <BR> <BR>I took my first off-trail of the season, under the chairlift near the top, there was about 1 inch of snowdepth (lolol), so as you will probably see on the video, I seem to fight against my ski poles, it's really funny (ridiculous) to see ! (weirdly, I did it twice, but I'm the only one to have skied it today) <BR> <BR>Here is a global view of the lower part of the trails, this afternoon : <BR> <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/8/2935.jpg" ALT="St-Sauveur !!"> <BR> <BR>So that was a really great day and it was awesome to ski with Marc and Max !
 
I forgot to say that when the groomers went to take their lunch .....(no commentary), we took few times the Upper/middle West 70 which was really funny, even though it wasn't finished. <BR> <BR>... Patrick will be lucky tomorrow with the 2 trails open and surely with better conditions than today... <BR> <BR>(but it remains quite cool, cause it was the first time I was skiing on the first day of the season in MSS, in Quebec... and in the east !
 
Gawd, I'm tired! After 530 miles round-trip, what am I still doing up? <BR> <BR>Well, the bad news is that I can't find the cable to my digital camera, but Frank's taken care of that. The good news is that I stayed up to finish the video! <BR> <BR>Either go to our Table of Contents->Features <BR>->Original Online Video, or visit <A HREF="http://www.skimovies.com/" TARGET="_blank">www.skimovies.com</A>. Scroll down in alphebetical order to the "New Beginnings" flick. <BR> <BR>I had a blast today -- enjoy the film.
 
Excellent work, Marc !! <BR> <BR>It shows the reality about our ski day. Ice in the Nordique, nice snow on the lower 70. <BR> <BR>Really funny to see my little trip off-trail lol. I really fight with my poles on this one. I know that I normally don't use them perfectly (but I really don't care), but on this one, this is quite funny. <BR> <BR>Thanks to not have put online my sequencies filmed <IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=":)"> (first time I filmed something ever, so I let you all imagine...)
 
Marc, great video...as for Frank, you do need some professional help ;-> <BR> <BR>I wish I could've shared opening day with you guys....next year, next year. <BR> <BR>-Scott
 
Frank, Marc, and Max good work guys, I wish I could have been there, last time I skied there I was driving home from an 8 hour day at Tremblant and was in no particular hurry when I noticed a night skiing area and decided to check it out, I ended up skiing from about 5:30 till 10 which made for a long day, but awesome skiing, whish i could have been there. <BR>porter
 
Oh, and I dont know what you guys are talking about, there was plenty of coverage for frank to ski under that lift. <BR> <BR>my brother and I were watching the movie and were like how sick would if be if some crazy guy skied right there, then out of nowhere not 3 seconds later, comes frank in a bunch of trees. <BR> <BR>looked like fun to me, nice movie. <BR> <BR>porter
 
Scott... I must say that Marc asked me before to do this comment on the video <IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=":)"> hehe... I had to challenge myself a little bit and this pass is always the first off-trail I do during the season, for 3-4 years now. (usually with more snow, though) <BR> <BR>Weirdly, it wasn't so bad and even funny to do, but once... but the first time I did it, Marc wasn't with us, so I took it another time ;) <BR> <BR>Wow Salida... enough extreme like day... 8 hours at Tremblant + 5 at MSS lol ! MSS truly have some great night skiing terrain in mid-winter !
 
hahahaha ! <BR> <BR>Nice Porter ! <BR> <BR>Yeah, the fact there was long grass wasn't the problem, it was the about zero coverage. There was probably less than 1" of snow, but I know this place like my pockets, so I knew exactly where to pass. (there is a little pass to reach under the chairlift, btw)
 
ha, awesome, I actually had tracks this winter before knee surgery but dint post anything cause it was just about a 50' hill outside my school, only about .5inches of snow, reminder me of your spot at MSS. <BR>porter
 
OH !!!! <BR> <BR>I just understood why I took that trail yesterday. That was one of my first run ever with a helmet... and I just see that the brand of my helmet is : "Kamikazee". (interesting brand)
 
Great video!! Now i'm really dieing to ski. Frank seeing you ski that trail was histarical, that's true dedication or insanity not sure which. Looks like you guys had a good time.
 
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