MTL Climbing

Over the holidays, I had the opportunity to meet Santa and get introduced to the backcountry of Gaspesie by my good friend Yannick, a chroniquer for Zone Ski, as well as some of the local professionals. Here's an outline of my trip, including the spots we checked out and some personal tips. Day 1: A Rough Start at Mont Lyall After a long drive from Montreal, we hit up Mont Lyall for a one quick lap. I enjoyed it but it was rough intro to skinning up, partially due to the approach and the difficulty of the runs. The runs range from expert to extreme. It took us an hour to the base and another hour of tricky switchbacks to get to the summit. We rode down one of the newly open wooded runs on the right and headed for Murdochville for a couple of days. Day 2: The Recovery at Mont Miller At Murdochville, we met up the Chic-Chac team. They are the ones who primarily develop and maintain Lyall’s runs. They’re a hardworking team. We enjoyed a mellow day going up and down a t-...

Schrapling the gnar at Le Massif de Charlevoix Eight years ago, I moved to The Great White North and was told one thing: "If you don't enjoy every season, you're gonna be miserable." This winter don’t stay in; hit the slopes! I’ll go over the basics of getting into skiing and snowboarding: how to get to the hills, what are some goods spots for beginners, how to get something to ride down the hill on and what to wear and looking cool doing it. Getting to the Slopes First off, getting to the slopes can be hard if you don’t have a car or someone to go with. Check out the McGill Outdoors (MOC) club, the Concordia Ski & Snowboard Club (CSSC), any of school ski club. MOC and CSSC provide trips with discounted lift tickets and courses on a regular basis to the popular peaks such as Mont Saint Anne, Le Massif de Charlevoix. If you got a ride to the slopes, two good places for beginners that are an hour away from Montreal are Bromont and Mont Saint Sauveur. H...