Usually, we get more snow up north and in the Eastern Townships than we do in the city, especially early in the season. But last week’s storm dumped about 30 cm on Montreal, while only 15 cm elsewhere. As a result, while places like Gai Luron did not have enough snow to open, the local parks were doing great. Cap St Jacques was fully groomed by Fri, while Mt Royal was lagging, so we made CSJ our destination for both Sat and Sun.
The heavy snow on Wed was followed by some light flurries on Thu and Fri. The result was perfect ski conditions at CSJ: a good thick base, but also fluffy snow clinging to the branches, making for a magical winter setting. We only knew that CSJ had groomed the trails because we stopped by the park at mid-day on Fri. Neither the Montreal Grand Parcs website nor the SkiNet website had any report that CSJ was even open. But we knew better! And boy, did we Beaver Tailers turn out out in large numbers!
On Sat morning, we had 13 members out skiing at CSJ. A smaller group, but we did get the update message out a bit late on Fri evening. It was cloudy and -6 C at 10 am. All enjoyed the ski conditions and most completed the 10 km “red rabbit” trail.
But on Sun — what a crowd! It did not hurt that there was much buzz about the great conditions at the party the night before. It was only -3 C and cloudy again, but it was damp so it felt cold in the parking lot. So we called an audible, and told people to meet in the chalet d’accueil and set out from there, instead of from the parking lot, as we had announced in the update message. We then gathered the biggest gang we could — 22 skiers — for a group photo out back.
People then set out in different groups and to do various distances. But there were other skiers who arrived earlier or later, or who were still in the chalet when we took the photo. After careful analysis of the all the photos from the day and collecting witness accounts, the final count was 36 BTers at CSJ on Sun! That is a club record for an outing at CSJ.
We had a broad range of skiers out on Sun, with all abilities and ranges of experience. Along with out usual gang of seasoned speedsters, we had a number of easy-going skiers as well as self-admitted “shufflers”. We also had one beginner on her skis for the first-time ever. She received some guidance from one of our more-experienced members, who was generous with his time. For many, it was their first time out this season. Everyone reported having a marvelous time! After a good 1.5 to 2 hrs of skiing, some organized an impromptu lunch gathering at Le Manoir in Pointe Claire.
It was just a perfect mid-December weekend of skiing!