Last Snows of the Season

We made it back after 6 days of backcountry skiing in the Chic Choc Mountains of Gaspe. The trip this year was as wonderful as in past years although the snow wasn’t what we expected. Even late in March in these mountains, you can find powder. Not this time. Warm temperatures and rain made it’s way even up to the 4,000-foot level and created hard packed and icy conditions. But the warm temperatures, sunshine, fabulous vistas and companionship of good friends made up for it.

As I mentioned in the last post, we stayed in a hut that used to be part of a mining operation. It’s about 2,500 feet up and surrounded by mountains. We skied the 12 kilometres into the hut while a snowmobile brought our food and most of our gear. The accommodations were basic but comfy. Unlike most huts in the park, this one had electricity so that meant a fridge and stove and most important, a hot water heater. The shower was appreciated by all of us.

When you go on these trips you basically ski, eat and sleep. Our days were full. One morning we headed off on a trail to another cabin 10 km away. A bit of new snow had fallen overnight and that made the trail conditions better than expected. There was a lot of up and down and the return 20 km trip tired us all out. Being in the mountains the idea is to ski up to the top and the hard pack snow known as ‘boiler plate’ made it a challenge this year. We used skins on our skis to get a grip on the snow but often needed to dig in our metal edges to stop from sliding off the trail. The trip along the switchback, up the headwall surrounding our hut takes about 45 minutes. We went up twice and spent part of one day playing in the plateau at the top. It’s a vast area of rolling hills and snow covered stunted trees that remind me of a fairyland.

Another highlight of the trip was an avalanche chute we discovered near the cabin. From top to bottom it provided us a ski run about the size of Poley Mountain. We skinned up part way and skied down on our heavier telemark skis. The warm spring sun softened the snow nicely every afternoon. The avalanche team came by every couple of days to check conditions and told us the snow around us was stable and safe. The burning sun was probably the most dangerous thing we encountered and had to repeatedly smother out faces with sun block. We all came back with a tan.

I could go on about the trip but suffice it to say that the Chic Choc area of Gaspe is a special place and one that I return to every winter. We left winter and snow behind when we came home. The skiing is over for another season. It’s time to move on to other things and there is plenty to do here in the River Valley.