Chicoutimi (QC), Canada – We pushed through Québec City during the evening rush hour, heading north. Way north. n Le Valinouët (photo courtesy Le Valinouët) By all measures, 2001-2002 had been a very disappointing winter season in the Northeast. Long before the snowfall failed to arrive, though, First Tracks!! Online Contributing Writer Leigh Daboll and … Continue reading Le Valinouët: The Final Frontier
by Marc Guido l’Anse-St. Jean (QC), Canada – I’ve never quite understood the attraction to ice fishing. Sitting on a giant ice cube, freezing your posterior and staring at a hole while holding a string and waiting for something to happen just doesn’t seem like fun to me. Sure, some of those ice-fishing huts are … Continue reading Mont-Édouard: Venturing Into the Great Unknown
Courtenay (BC), Canada – It has cruisers, it has steeps, it has trees, it has snow … tons of snow. It has pubs, it has cross-country trails, it has lift- and car-accessed backcountry turns. It has mountain views, and it has ocean views. It has a tube park, it has events and it even has … Continue reading Mt. Washington Alpine Resort: A Perfect Destination
Sun Peaks (BC), Canada – The snow fell so fast that I couldn’t concentrate. It reminded me of Han Solo sending the Millennium Falcon into warp speed. Snowflakes obliterated the dark sky with lines of white. I was transported from driving a pleasant mountain road to steering with "The Force." I blinked and squinted, trying … Continue reading Sun Peaks: Space by Design
Vancouver (BC), Canada – It stretches from one side of Canada to the other. It reaches from the Pacific to the Atlantic. It crosses water without bridges. It runs through valleys so steep only mountain goats and sheep live there. It runs through land so flat one could watch their dog run away for days. … Continue reading Tripping on the Trans-Canada Snow-Way
Warren, VT – It was giving me a headache … and heartache, too. The raindrops rolled off the roof of the Sugarbush Inn and struck the ground outside the porch door of my room, creating an unyielding drone that comforted my soul no more than the piercing screech of fingernails on a blackboard. I grew … Continue reading Sugarbush: Full of Surprises
East Burke, VT – Up on the mountain, several different sets of slalom gates were drilled into the base depths coating Warren’s Way. Coaches stood by observing racers who lined up atop each course before slapping each breakaway gate with a resounding thwack. Down at the Mid-Burke lodge, still other gate runners were warming up … Continue reading Burke Mountain: Up the Academy