# Orford (QC) - 2/19/2013



## snowmonster (Feb 22, 2013)

*Date(s) Skied: *2/19/2013

*Resort or Ski Area: *Orford

*Conditions: *-10C; No wind; Warmer than the past two days; Packed powder; Rocks and stumps in the glades!

*Trip Report: *Day Three of the snowmonster's tour of the Eastern Townships.

While the temperature was the same as the previous days, the absence of wind made it feel like a warm day. From Magog, Orford is just 15 minutes away. We got our tickets through a deal with the B&B we were staying at and paid about CAN$40 for a full day ticket. 

Since little snowmonster was skiing with me, we started on the more gentle slopes of Mt. Giroux. After a few easy runs, I dove into the glades off the Quad Giroux Est. First glade I did was Lloyd Langlois, which was pretty good. Mellow in parts but tight in others. I could immediately see that Orford's ski patrol was way more liberal in its approach to opening glades. If this were Sutton, this would be a closed glade. Rocks, stumps, ice and punji sticks were all over the place. You had to pick your way through and be light on your feet to avoid base damage. 

Next glade I did was further down. I decided to go down Boogie and that almost turned into a huge mistake. Basically, the glade narrowed to a cliff where the only way through was a narrow slot in the rocks. If you straightline the darned thing, you could smack into a tree. I side-slipped the thing, pointed them, jumped, fell then had to self arrest as my skis popped off in different directions. Yeah, Boogie kicked my butt all over town!

Not learning my lesson, I ducked into Lacroix, Labreque and Dubreuil on succeeding runs. All were pretty rocky and hairy. These glades should be pretty amazing after a big snowfall but, for now, it was a good test in technical skiing. My bases are absolutely scratched!

After a quick break, I sampled the runs of Mont Orford which is accessed by the chondola that they refer to as the Gondole Hybride. The steep run underneath the Gondole Hybride was a little icy but it was steep and suitable to long screaming runs. I decided to explore the glades off the 4KM trail. Most of them were closed and, because of their liberal glades policy, I respected those ropes. Petit Canyon glade was open though but I had to jump between rocks there in some parts. The last run was down L'Entrpide. Nice chute-like slot but it dead ended into another slot off a cliff needing a jump. It was only 3:15 but I was spent. Orford had kicked me down.

Before the drive back to the States, I decided to have a meal at the bar in the lodge. The poutine in peppercorn gravy was incredible. I would lick that plate! We had a good conversation with the ski school folks lounging at the bar. It was pretty neat that one of them gave me the low-down on the glades ("Watch out for that cliff on Boogie and, if you really want to jump off a cliff into trees, you should try L'Ecureuil. Mercifully, it was closed. By the way, that woman you were chatting with a while back. That's Mme. Labreque. That glade was named after her. She and the others used to trim the glades when they weren't official yet.") It was an awesome time at Orford. 

My impression of Orford is that it seems like Cannon -- nice steep groomers with great glades. Actually, let me correct myself, the glades reminded me more of MRG! Ski it if you can!

Mont Giroux:

 

Staring down Sherbrooke:




Lloyd Langlois and the start of the infamous Boogie:


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## snowmonster (Feb 22, 2013)

The cliff and waterfall on Boogie:



Labreque:



Looking down Super:



Petit Canyon:


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## snowmonster (Feb 22, 2013)

The beginning...



...and end of L'Intrepide.


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## Warp Daddy (Feb 22, 2013)

laissez le bons temps roulez , eh professor ???    Fine report, le Quebecois  know how to live !


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## deadheadskier (Feb 22, 2013)

I definitely want to check that place out when the snow is good.  All of the Township resorts actually.  Jealous of your trip.


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## riverc0il (Feb 22, 2013)

The glades there look fairly wide open. Is that characteristic of all of their glades or is that just a symptom of the more challenging trees being closed due to conditions?


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## emmaurice2 (Feb 22, 2013)

Great reports and pics. Definitely cool to read about places that aren't among the usual suspects (although i still enjoy those, too).


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## snowmonster (Feb 23, 2013)

Warp, our neighbors up north definitely know how to live. Good food and good skiing. Oh yeah, very good looking women too.=)

deadheadskier, I think this week is a good time to hit the Eastern Townships. They were also hit by the same storm that hit VT. From the top of Giroux, you can clearly see Owl's Head and Jay Peak.

Riv, the glades are pretty wide. With good coverage, they should be pretty good skiing. In the conditions I had, it was dicey because of all the exposed rocks which made the glades seem tighter. I suspect the truly tight glades were closed. The ski school guys had some great stories about the glades on skiers' left off Orford's peak.

ememaurice, thanks, man. Definitely worth the tripacross the border.


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## deadheadskier (Feb 23, 2013)

They have a really cool online trail map.  Can't say I've seen one like it.

http://orford.com/en/themountain/trail-map/


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## Edd (Feb 23, 2013)

deadheadskier said:


> They have a really cool online trail map. Can't say I've seen one like it.
> 
> http://orford.com/en/themountain/trail-map/



Wow, yeah that's badass!


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## skifree (Feb 23, 2013)

very nice trip! jealous


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## gmcunni (Feb 23, 2013)

we skied the same 3 mountains last year on pres weekend, it was a not so great snow year.  of the 3, i like Orford the best. I think sutton would be amazing with a good snow base.


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## Robbski (Feb 23, 2013)

Glad to hear you had such a good time.  I'm thinking about this as a President's week trip next year.  You didn't mention any crowds in any of the three trip reports (Orford, Bromont or Sutton) so safe to assume there weren't any?


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## snowmonster (Feb 24, 2013)

deadheadskier said:


> They have a really cool online trail map.  Can't say I've seen one like it.
> 
> http://orford.com/en/themountain/trail-map/


I totally missedthat. Good map!



skifree said:


> very nice trip! jealous


Thanks! Time to head north!



gmcunni said:


> we skied the same 3 mountains last year on pres weekend, it was a not so great snow year.  of the 3, i like Orford the best. I think sutton would be amazing with a good snow base.


Personally, I would rate them: Sutton, Orford then Bromont. But, Sutton just pips Orford by a nose in my book. I was pleasantly surprised by Orford actually. I was expecting more of a groomer mountain but their glades were pretty good.



Robbski said:


> Glad to hear you had such a good time.  I'm thinking about this as a President's week trip next year.  You didn't mention any crowds in any of the three trip reports (Orford, Bromont or Sutton) so safe to assume there weren't any?


Yeah, even if it was President's Day weekend (I think the Canadians call it US Vacation week), there were no crowds. Bromont was the most "crowded" but even then the lines were not that long. Its proximity to Montreal, the availability of night skiing and the fact that it was Sunday afternoon probably had something to do with it. Sutton was the least crowded among the three. It was pretty neat pulling into the parking lot and seing all the MA, CT, NY and VT plates.


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## Nick (Feb 24, 2013)

Looks awesome! I would love to hit them as well at some point. Going to have to be a scheduled vacation event. How much further past Jay are the Township resorts? It's another couple hours isn't it?


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## fbrissette (Feb 24, 2013)

Nick said:


> Looks awesome! I would love to hit them as well at some point. Going to have to be a scheduled vacation event. How much further past Jay are the Township resorts? It's another couple hours isn't it?



From Jay, you can hit owl's head in 25 minutes, Orford and Sutton in 45 minutes and Bromont in 1 hour.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using AlpineZone mobile app


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## steamboat1 (Feb 24, 2013)

Glad you enjoyed your trip. I agree that skiing in the Township is pretty cool. Agree with your ranking also except I'd put Owl's Head ahead of Bromont. When I was last there I stayed in a motel on the access road to Sutton (can't remember the name). One of the nights the motel had a pig roast in their bar that cost only $10. The place was packed. The food was very good & plentiful.


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## gmcunni (Feb 24, 2013)

Nick said:


> Looks awesome! I would love to hit them as well at some point. Going to have to be a scheduled vacation event. How much further past Jay are the Township resorts? It's another couple hours isn't it?



we were surprised how easy it was to get there.  we stayed in Magog which was minutes from Orford and ~30?? from Sutton.  Magog was a nice town with a cute (wife's term) main street full of shops and restaurants.  Tho mid-week it was very quiet. 

Magog was a 5 hour straight shot from S CT, less time than getting to Sugarloaf.


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## thetrailboss (Feb 24, 2013)

Wow...holy shit.  Those woods are crazy.  Nice TR!


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## bdfreetuna (Feb 24, 2013)

I LOVE those wood shots. Some small cliffs... ice waterfall.. overall gnarly flow to the terrain. Jealous indeed. I may have to put this on my medium/long term to do list.


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## MadPatSki (Feb 25, 2013)

Happy you made it up North Snowmonster. Riverc0il, you should be next. Owl's Head is the tip of the iceberg in Quebec (that being said, I still say that the top areas in the East are in New England and Whiteface).

Sutton gets more snow than Orford. Although I've skied Orford only twice since Reagan was first elected to the White House; I've always love that mountain. For some reason, it has always fallen through the crack (too many places to ski). 

Orford has better terrain and challenge than Sutton, but you need some good snow for that terrain to live up to it's full potential. Sutton and the rest of the Greens (Sutton is an extension) gets the snow.

Here is an old TR from March 2005. I sent it to snowmonster. Hopefully it attract a few of you off the unbeaten path north of the border (i.e. : I don't work for any tourism boards, just love to explore and for people to explore the geography of skiing).

[h=2]Orford, QC – March 18th 2005[/h]http://madpatski.wordpress.com/2005/03/21/orford-qc-march-18th-2005/


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## fbrissette (Feb 25, 2013)

MadPatSki said:


> (that being said, I still say that the top areas in the East are in New England and Whiteface).



I'm not one to defend Quebec ski areas as I ski in Vermont, but Tremblant, Ste-Anne and Le Massif can hold their own against any New-England resort and Whiteface.


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## MadPatSki (Feb 25, 2013)

fbrissette said:


> I'm not one to defend Quebec ski areas as I ski in Vermont, but Tremblant, Ste-Anne and Le Massif can hold their own against any New-England resort and Whiteface.



In Quebec, Ste-Anne is the only one that I clearly place around the middle of a Eastern Top10 for my linking (terrain/challenge). I would put Tremblant and Le Massif on the edge of a Top 10 list. That being said, NH's best skiing (Cannon and Wildcat) would also be on the edge of that list (of course, I'm talking on-piste).

What would be on a Top 10 list? Off the top of my head (not in order)

- Stowe
- Smuggs
- Sugarloaf
- Whiteface
- MRG
- Ste-Anne

Then there is a cluster f*ck for the rest...which would have places like Jay, Kmart, SRiver, SBush...followed by places like Massif, Tremblant, Cannon, Wildcat, etc.
 Sutton and Orford are maybe just one notch below.

But I agree on one thing; lists are very limiting and very personal. If you want to make a list, that's cool, but first ski at the most ski areas possible and make up your own mind (that is why people should try Orford, Sutton, Le Massif, etc). I personally have yet to have made it out to (short list):

QC : Massif du Sud, La Réserve (partied hard there back in the 1980s, but I didn't ski it), Mt. Édouard, Mt. Miller.
South of the border : Saddleback, Gore, Pico.


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## fbrissette (Feb 25, 2013)

MadPatSki said:


> In Quebec, Ste-Anne is the only one that I clearly place around the middle of a Eastern Top10 for my linking (terrain/challenge). I would put Tremblant and Le Massif on the edge of a Top 10 list. That being said, NH's best skiing (Cannon and Wildcat) would also be on the edge of that list (of course, I'm talking on-piste).
> 
> What would be on a Top 10 list? Off the top of my head (not in order)
> 
> ...



Lists are very personal indeed, and I do not want to make my own personal list, not do I want to derail this thread.  Lists depends on  criteria.   For example, IMO, Jay Peak is awesome for tree skiing but it mostly sucks for intermediate skiers. But if you look at standard unbiased stats such as vertical, acres of terrain, uphill capacity, facilities and average snowfall, St-Anne, Tremblant and Le Massif are at least as good or better than most New-England resorts.  Tremblant tops all eastern skiing surveys.    

I simply objected to the blanket statement that implied that Quebec ski resorts were second class to New-England's.  And yes, I have skied most of the mountains you listed (except MRG).  I have skied La Reserve several times and it does not deserve to be on the same list as the above unless you include partying.   Orford and Sutton are nice ski hills (they cannot be called resorts), but Orford gets little snow.  Sutton has the glades, great snow (as you have mentioned, it gets the same storms as Jay but its lower altitude makes for a bit less snow), but it is in dire needs of money.  It has not changed in 30 years.  They both have significantly less than 1500' vertical, especially Sutton that skis much shorter than it's true vertical.

Here's what I would recommend to people wanting to experience the best skiing Quebec has to offer:

Tremblant - if restaurants bars and accomodations (all walk in) are part of the experience you seek, it is impossible to beat. It has awesome skiing but awesome crowds.  Lots of high speed lifts equals to crowded runs.
Massif - incredible scenery with the St-Lawrence River at your feet, long steep pitches, awesome off-piste, great snow and nearly 2600' of true skiable vertical.  If you are a skier first, that's where I would send you.
Ste-Anne - great skiing all around for all levels of skiers. Close to beautiful Quebec city.

All the other stations are distant second.  If you like glade skiing, Sutton is second best to Jay Peak and only 45 minutes away.  Orford has some good steep stuff, but it gets significantly less snow and it is very windy.  Facilities are minimal at the base for both but Magog and Sutton (the city) are about 6 miles away and are quite nice.


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## snowmonster (Feb 25, 2013)

Settle down, boys. To each his own and let's leave it at that.

I feel like I have unsettled business in the Eastern Townships. I want to ski at Owl's Head then visit the Abbaye de St. Benoit du Lac (not for skiing obviously). My Canadian adventures have whet my appetite for more. I am making plans to visit Quebec City to ski Le Massif and Mont St. Anne. Let me know if you care to join me.


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## MadPatSki (Feb 25, 2013)

fbrissette said:


> I simply objected to the blanket statement that implied that Quebec ski resorts were second class to New-England's.



Snowmonster, we are just talking, I'm just writing calmy and giving my two cents. Not even a heated debate.

Not exactly what I said...I just said in my opinion, the top areas/best New England & Whiteface areas (we are talking one hand full) are above Quebec areas in my books where terrain and challenge are priorities, not the resort aspect. You are correct to state that Quebec ski areas aren't second class to New England. 

That is all what I was saying. If you look at the overall picture Quebec and New England ski areas are different, but similar in quality.


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## snowmonster (Feb 25, 2013)

If you think about it, the eastern resorts, whether in Canada or in the US, are all relatively similar -- shortish, wet snow and snowfalls in the 200-400 range. Perhaps, the differences consist in trail design philosophy and amenities (food and service).


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## fbrissette (Feb 25, 2013)

snowmonster said:


> If you think about it, the eastern resorts, whether in Canada or in the US, are all relatively similar -- shortish, wet snow and snowfalls in the 200-400 range. Perhaps, the differences consist in trail design philosophy and amenities (food and service).




If compared to western resorts, I would agree in general.  However, within the east, there is tremendous diversity with respect to size (200' to 2600' vertical), a few acres to 800 skiable acres, world-class facility (airport, casino, 6000 beds, 50 restaurants at Tremblant for example), family oriented resort etc...  As such my recommendations would vary tremendously depending on who I would be talking to (family, single, tree skier, groomer, ability etc...)


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## fbrissette (Feb 25, 2013)

MadPatSki said:


> If you look at the overall picture Quebec and New England ski areas are different, but similar in quality.


I would say there is more diversity in Quebec.  But in my book, the largest Quebec resort are not that different than the one in New-England. They each have their personality but they all offer a great skiing experience for all skier levels.  The latter cannot be said of most smaller resorts in Quebec.


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## snowmonster (Feb 25, 2013)

fbrissette said:


> If compared to western resorts, I would agree in general.  However, within the east, there is tremendous diversity with respect to size (200' to 2600' vertical), a few acres to 800 skiable acres, world-class facility (airport, casino, 6000 beds, 50 restaurants at Tremblant for example), family oriented resort etc...  As such my recommendations would vary tremendously depending on who I would be talking to (family, single, tree skier, groomer, ability etc...)


Yes, I was referring to East v. West. That's why, in my TR, I made it a point to refer to a US eastern resort that reminded me of that particular Canadian resort (e.g., Bromont is like Sunapee -- but bigger and with lights). But, you're right. Lots of variation among the resorts. One thing that Canadian resorts have the US beat is the food. Ohmigod, the food. US resort food has been slowly improving but we have a way to go. Though both mountains are within eyesight of each other, the Jay poutine is not the same as the Orford poutine.

How about a mini-AZ TR at Owl's Head? Madpat? fbrisette? Riv? Any others?


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## MadPatSki (Feb 26, 2013)

snowmonster said:


> How about a mini-AZ TR at Owl's Head? Madpat? fbrisette? Riv? Any others?



As long as I have a daughter ski racing, I'm stuck to her scheduled.  However mid-March comes around...I hope to start leaving the locals. 

Snowmonster, I know I'm not an example to follow on timely TRs, but didn't get to Sutton also on this trip?  (I have one from Sutton dating back to a few years that is still in draft mode)


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## snowmonster (Feb 26, 2013)

Ask and ye shall receive:

http://forums.alpinezone.com/showthread.php/119027-Sutton-(QC)-2-18-2013

It got buried on page 2. Perhaps I shall see you at Owl's Head in mid to late March. I can pretend to be sick on a weekday if necessary.


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