Telemark Talk / Telemark Tips Forum

I had dreams once of doing the Tour de Laurentides, which I think is now called the Traverse de Laurentides. It is -- or was -- a very demanding annual x-c tour in Quebec, mainly french-speaking Quebecois on skinny waxable skis. (They frowned on waxless skis as they were not fast enough...doing 30+ mile days from hut to hut in 8 hours of daylight.) Anyway, I'm curious if anyone has done it and how it has evolved over the years. Merci!

Sounds great. This 'tête carrée' is up for it.

Baaahb wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 29, 2022 10:35 am

I had dreams once of doing the Tour de Laurentides, which I think is now called the Traverse de Laurentides. It is -- or was -- a very demanding annual x-c tour in Quebec, mainly french-speaking Quebecois on skinny waxable skis. (They frowned on waxless skis as they were not fast enough...doing 30+ mile days from hut to hut in 8 hours of daylight.) Anyway, I'm curious if anyone has done it and how it has evolved over the years. Merci!

I think @dhdaines has done a couple of times... if not I am sure he has a lot of info. I have skied with many skiers that have done many times... would like to do it myself but my knees don't...

I guess you already know about the web site... but there it is anyway :https://skitdl.com/#:~:text=La%20Traver ... u%C3%A9bec!

Their Facebook page : https://www.facebook.com/TDL-La-Travers ... 597517122/

There is also this event that I talked about a while ago https://skimarathon.ca/fr/home-fr/
This a 2 day event but on groomed trailed and most of those trails are only used for this event. It is quite different than the TDL but still quite a challenge if you want to do the whole 160km in two days. You don't have to do the whole 160 km... lots of info on the web page (they have an english version of course). I am looking to participate again this year. I wish I can do the 160 km but again, don't know if my knees want the same

Baaahb wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 29, 2022 10:35 am

I had dreams once of doing the Tour de Laurentides, which I think is now called the Traverse de Laurentides. It is -- or was -- a very demanding annual x-c tour in Quebec, mainly french-speaking Quebecois on skinny waxable skis. (They frowned on waxless skis as they were not fast enough...doing 30+ mile days from hut to hut in 8 hours of daylight.) Anyway, I'm curious if anyone has done it and how it has evolved over the years. Merci!

This year is the 50th anniversary so it's 2 days in two configurations! I'll do the "TDL++" which is 4 days of 30+ miles. Then there will be a "normal" TDL, but 8 days long, and a bit less distance. Generally at least 35km (20 miles?) per day though. Since it's a point-to-point route (traversée) if you do the whole thing there are chartered buses (schoolbuses actually) to get you back to the start and also to get you there from Montreal. A fair number of people only do 1 or 2 days with carpooling. I'm lucky enough to live pretty close so I'll just ski home after the 4th day!

We do prefer waxable skis, but mainly because they grip better, and we don't always ski in daylight