After a relatively mild (-8 C) and snowy day on Saturday at Morin Heights for the ski clinic, Sunday morning saw an abrupt return to the deep freeze (aka polar vortex). As promised by the weather forecast, it was sunny and -20 C at 8 am and it was not going to warm up much during the day. And, oh yes, there was a stiff wind that made for a wind chill of -33. With this
forecast in mind, your benevolent club president generously delayed the start time at Mont St Bruno by one hour, to 9:45 am.
As I drove along Aut 30, I suddenly realized that I had made one error in the directions. With the extension of Aut 30 last year, the exit numbers had all been changed. The exit for the park was now exit 80 instead of exit 121. I hoped that nobody would be messed up by this oversight! For once, there were no traffic delays and I sailed along the highway to the park, arriving early. I took up a position just inside the entrance of the chalet so that I would be ready to greet the hordes of arriving Beaver Tails. And the horde arrived all at once. The horde consisted of one solitary member. It was Jane P, a former member who had rejoined the club after an absence of a few years. By 10:15 am it was clear that no other BTers were coming, and we set off to ski. I had mentioned in my last update message that a few days earlier, I had seen a report on the local CBC TV news about how good the trail grooming was at Mont St Bruno. Someone else told me that the grooming had improved because Sépaq (which oversees the Quebec government-run parks) had decided to transfer a better grooming machine from Mont Tremblant to Mont St Bruno, since they had a much higher number of skiers at the latter. Well, it was all true. The trails were all in very good shape. This despite no fresh snow–all that fluffy stuff we saw up north the day before bypassed this region. But with the good equipment that grinds up and pulverizes the existing snow, it made for a good surface. The descents were fast but controllable.
But it was -20 C with a stiff wind. Wasn’t it too cold to ski? In a word, NO! This is something that everyone who tries skiing in this kind of weather learns, although they often soon forget the lesson. The simple exertion of skiing, along with the correct clothing, quickly makes one warm and toasty! As for the wind, well that’s what makes cross-country skiing (and snowshoeing) a 
great activity for a cold and windy day. Once you are among the trees, the wind stops being a factor. On those brief occasions where one crosses a clearing, a scarf or neck tube pulled up over your nose gets you through it.
Jane and I skied for a couple of hours and had a great and very satisfying outing. But wait, didn’t the title of the report say there were three of us? Yes! Unfortunately, there was one new member driving to the park for the first time and the incorrect exit number sent him way off course. Rick B finally arrived at 11 am, but Jane and I were out on the trails and we never saw him. Sorry, Rick!
By the way, although not many BTers turned out, that does not mean there were no skiers at Mont St Bruno. The park still had plenty of people out on the trails. To prove this point I took a photo of each of the two parking lots!
I later learned that at least eight other members also decided it was not too cold to ski on Sunday, but opted to ski elsewhere. I had reports of three at Ste Agathe, three at Gai Luron, and one each at Cap St Jacques and Bois de Liesse. So at least BTers did get out to ski somewhere and that’s what’s important!