It’s hard to believe that it had been four years (Feb 2011) since the club last had a weekend trip to Mont Ste Anne. We had gone there every year without fail for over 10 years until then. But then our favorite place (Hotel Val-des-Neiges) got sold to a condo developer and we decided to take a break from Mont Ste Anne. This year we decided it was time to try going back. Joanna offered to investigate and found us a good deal at the Chateau Mont Ste Anne, which is right at the base of the downhill ski center, instead of 1 km down the road like our old place. It was a bit surprising then that only 11 people signed up for the weekend. But there has been a trend in the club in recent years to travel shorter distances to our weekend spots. At the last minute, one person had to stay home due to a work conflict, so in the end we were only 10 people at Mont Ste Anne.
We all drove up Friday afternoon and checked in. The rooms are very comfortable and are all equipped with a small galley kitchen, so you can bring your own food if you want. But we all opted to meet in the lobby at 6:30 pm and start the weekend with another old tradition — dinner at the St Bernard Resto Pub down the road near the place we used to stay. It was as good as we remembered it.
The next morning we enjoyed our buffet breakfast in the dining room while admiring the view of the ski hill through the full-length windows. Saturday was going to be the big ski day for all of us and we plotted how to attack the trails. It was -16 C with low wind, which was warmer than the original forecast, and pretty average weather considering the winter we have been having!
One great aspect of this new hotel’s location is that it is right next to the southern extremity of 
the x-c trail network. Instead of driving 8 km to the main chalet, we had the option to buy a trail pass at the front desk and set out from the back entrance of the hotel. Six of us opted to do this in a couple of groups. The first group was made up by me, Mickey, Bruce, and Jacques. Joanna and Christine were the second group and set out a half hour later.
At 9:25 am, the four of us in my group walked out the door and put on our skis. It was then 300 m of skiing on flat snow until we reached the start of tracked trail, just where the parking lot starts. We then followed that track to the woods, where we entered the trail network proper. These are the trails #14/13/12 next to the stream that go in a northeast direction, more or less in a straight line for 7 km to the main chalet of the x-c ski center. However, we had forgotten one thing — it’s a steady uphill to the chalet. That all-you-can-eat buffet breakfast — as delicious as it was — weighed heavily on us as we kept climbing!
We reached the Chalet St-Julien and took a small break before we proceeded with the main part of the day, tackling the 21-km long trail #24. Of course, it is also has a lot of climbing on the first half. It seemed liked there was more uphill than on the Canadian Ski Marathon! But that wasn’t enough for our group rabbit, Mickey, who talked us into talking the offshoot trail #36 to add another 2 km to our total. We finally reached the Refuge Saint-Anselme on the #24 where we paused to admire the view of Mont Ste Anne and stop inside for a quick lunch.
The rest of the day thankfully featured a lot more downhill and went much faster. We 
returned to Chalet St-Julien, where we ran into Joanna, Christine, Winnie and Sharon. Franny and the other Bruce were on the trails also, but our paths did not cross. Seven of us then took the outbound portion of trails #12/13/14 back to the downhill ski center and our hotel. Again, much more going down than up! We skied right up to our hotel door at 3:15 pm after skiing 39 km on the day. Within minutes of popping off our skis, we were back in our rooms.
After freshening up and a short rest, all ten of us gathered in my room at 4:30 pm for a wine & cheese, featuring fresh (still warm) baguettes from a local bakery along with a selection of 
cheeses and paté. It was a festive but relaxing interlude before dinner at 6:15 pm. The meal was served in the hopping bistro and the food quality was deemed to be excellent by all. An early evening was in order after such a full day.
On Sunday, only four of the group opted to go for more x-c skiing. The rest of us felt like we had done two-days worth of skiing on Sat. I was one of those who was ready for a change of pace. So I said good-bye to everyone at breakfast, and finally did something I had been wanting to do for many years. I drove another 40 km north on Route 138 and went to Le Massif for a day of downhill skiing. This ski center is unlike any other in North America as it’s not on a mountain, but on an escarpment, so you arrive and park at the top, and then ski down trails that plunge to the edge of the St Lawrence River. Conditions were great. So was the entire weekend!
Despite being fewer people than usual for a weekend trip, this did not diminish how good a time was had by those of us who were there! The Chateau Mont Ste Anne had rooms, facilities and service that were as good as the place where we used to stay. Having a ski-in ski-out hotel on top of all that was a luxury that we rarely get to enjoy on a x-c ski weekend. It is definitely worth going back there in the future, even if we are only ten people again!
Many thanks to Joanna for finding this hotel and doing all the work to organize a spectacular weekend at Mont Ste Anne!