Quebec

Does anyone have an info on the ski areas around Quebec?  The wife and are looking at possibly Le Massif, Mont Saint-Saveur and Mont Sainte-Anne.  Are these good choices?  Any better ones out there?  Any inside info on where to stay, etc......?  Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Ullr, real good skiing up there.  Did you see these old trip reports?

The Black Diamonds of Quebec City (October 17, 2008)

Spring Ski Vacation in Quebec City (November 16, 2008)

This past year I was lucky to get in time to make it out to Quebec City and go to Le Massif and Mont Sainte-Anne (Mont Sainte-Saveur is north of Montreal on the way to Tremblant).  We went the second week for December and weren't sure what the conditions were going to be like.  When we arrived temperatures in Quebec were in single digits and the area had just received about 2 feet of new snow in the area so it is as cold as everyone says.

We skied one day at each before moving on.  Le Massif has some outstanding (and very underapreciated) Terrain.  Seeing from a previous post that you have skied at quite a few places in the northeast, I would compare Le Massif to some of the better challenging areas such as Stowe, Sugarbush, Sugarloaf, etc. rather than Stratton, Okemo, Mt Snow.  While it was early season it looked as if there were unlimited tree skiing opportunities and the resort also has some very steep runs.  All runs are rather long as they are almost all of the full vertical and there is minimal crossover.  Also we were there on a Sunday and the place was completely empty (although mid Dec).  I've skied almost all the major resorts of the Northeast and have Le Massif as my favorite for Skiing due to the layout, snow, terrain, variety, and crowds while we were there.  Another tip, don't bring a lunch as their cafeteria has a great menu each day.  Had venison stew for what turned out to be about $7.00 USD for lunch.

I can't neccesarily comment too much on Mont Sainte-Anne as there was a random Mid December rain event so we only took about 3 or 4 quick runs as it was foggy and wet.  From what I saw though I would say that it looks like a great place.  The blues that were open were all as steep as the black cruisers at Tremblant.  With its proximity (took 25 minutes from Quebec, 45 to Le Massif) I'd imagine the crowds could be greater on the weekend.  Definitely want to go back as it looks like there is plenty of challange.

Overall I was impressed with both resorts in comparison to the major east coast resorts.  Quebec is a rather easy city to ski out of as both places are located along a major road so there is no problem finding them.  We got a cheap deal on the Best Western ($50 a night on hotwire) which was in the business district.  An ok hotel, but I would probably spring for somewhere with a garage as its warmer getting in the car, and makes it easy to bring boots up to the room.  I would also take into consideration that some hotels are located on top of a plateau while others are at the bottom, top ones are in a better location for walking around and going to eat as the walk up hill is slippery and steep.

Thanks guys.  Great info!

I've been to Ste. Anne twice now... last season we skied there and Le Massif.  Both are excellent skiing mountains.  Hockeylacer's description of Le Massif is pretty accurate.  Ste Anne is a big mountain with a good variety of skiing.  Lots of straight down the fall line bumpers, plenty of blue and green cruisers and some pretty steepish groomers for those who like to let 'em run. Ste Anne also has an excellent lift system with a fast bottom to top gondola and a detachable high-speed quad bubble chair to keep you out of the cold. Le Massif seemed better for trees although there is a fair amount of gladed stuff at Ste. Anne. 

We stayed right at Ste. Anne the first year and at a condo about 1KM away from there last year.  Prices are lower than in the states, especially since we went during President's week break.  Rentals near Le Massif are extremely reasonable but the area is less developed.

Go - you will not regret it.

Edited by crank - 10/13/09 at 7:20pm

 Definitely go.  You'll be on here later telling us about how it's the best you've had in the East.  

One thing to note though is that Mont St Saveur is nowhere near Quebec City... its probably at least 3 hours away, north of Montreal.  You might be thinking of Stoneham which is another local hill.  I've never been as it is smaller than the other two- though I think they might have the best parks of the 3 mountains (if thats what you're into).

Thanks.

I looked at the following website:

http://www.skireport.com/googlemap/?regionid=125

Which show St Saveur just south of Quebec, but I now know that this is incorrect.  Don't worry, I am going, and getting super stoked about it as well.

Thanks again.

I love Le Massif. It's my favorite ski area in the east. The runs are all really long, there's a great mix of intermediate cruisers, steeps, bumps, and glade; the snow is always plentiful, the food in the cafeteria is great and the views are incredible. Le 42 is one of the best bump runs in the world. It's 2,300 vertical feet of steep, relentless moguls. Before they put in the quad on that side, you had to traverse out to it and back, making for one exhausting run.

I haven't been to Mont Ste. Anne in a while, but it's also great. I've been there twice. It's where my college ski racing team would train before the season. We were there just after New Years and both times there was lots of snow. In fact, the 2nd year it dumped every single day. There was so much snow that we only got in one afternoon of training, and that's only because we spent the entire morning side-slipping a run to clear room for a slalom course. The rest of the time we skied knee deep powder. There are some really great steep runs on the skiers right of the south side. Super S and the runs around it are all lots of fun to ski.

Mont St. Sauveur is pretty much only good because it has night skiing and its 45 minutes from Montreal. Its worth going up if you're able to cut out of work early and want to get some turns in, but that's about it. It's small, fairly flat, and icy.

It's pretty surprising that the limited times you see of Le Massif, or even Mont Sainte Anne in a ski forum its always good reviews.  I don't think people debate the things that can't change, Quebec is out there, and its cold.  After that you only seem to find glowing reviews.  Especially at the fact that you can ski out of Quebec City, which blows away Burlington which is where I ski out of when I go to Stowe and Sugarbush.

I'm assuming the great majority of Northeastern skiers don't hear of it (even alot of the time in ski forums) because they don't seem to advertise down hear a whole lot.  It's a shame too because alot of the knocks on Tremblant lack of challange, fake village feel, crowds (I personally like Tremblant) are not seen at all at MSA and Le Massif.

I'm not really adding a whole lot more to this thread, just surprised how one sided this non debate is.

I have a good friend who has been very resistant to checking the area out and it all comes down to driving distance.  He won't be persuaded to drive past Stowe and Jay.  But then again, he's not a slave to school vacation schedules and just goes when it snows.  Me, I like exploring and I enjoy the road.

Ste. Anne & Le Massif are both great destinations.  They are close enough that you can get to both mountains in a ski week.

Some tastes favour le Massif for the terrain & snow cover, some tastes favour Ste. Anne for accomodations.  Le Massif has a lot of race events through the season that are worth watching if that's an area of interest. 

From the few on these boards that have actually been there, I don't hear many refute the fact that Quebec City offers best skiing east of the Rockies.  If anyone had any opinions to the contrary, I'd like to know about them... I haven't hit all the VT and ME resorts yet, but I haven't heard any reason not to drive the 2 hours past VT to QC to get to the best.

Well I have to admit my friend has a point.  If there is powder involved it's pretty hard to beat Stowe and Jay.  He and his friends aren't much into skiing trails.  Le Massif does have everything beat for long, top-to-bottom runs with 0 run out though

I couldn't agree more that its hard to beat Stowe and Jay with powder.  I'd have to put them both high on my list in the East too.  I'd have to say though that Le Massif looked like it had some great trees (too early to try) and I've heard of and seen pics of the bumps.  I'm just sure he might find a similar skiing experience if the additional drive weren't an issue.

I'm just curious as to what potential criticisms could be.  I read alot of Northeast ski forums and I've been to most of your typical "Ski Magazine Top 20 Northeast".  You hear Stratton is flat, Okemo is flat, Whiteface lacks snow, Killington lacks true vertical, all places get knocked for their weekend crowds, and Stowe for its prices.  (these aren't my opinions, I'm from Maryland so I love any mountain)

I just feel that MSA and Le Massif would be at the of just about everyone's list who gets a chance to see them.

I guess I'm just shocked because its like that one girl in your school that is drop dead gorgeous and you ask all your friends and they've never seen her and talk to you like you made her up.

(I'll be visiting them alot more often if Quebec sees the arena through and gets an NHL team again, great city for hockey)