Asnes sales, North America?

[エイダン.シダル]

My Gammes from Neptune Mountaineering arrived in eight days today, to Toronto. No duty. No drama. By FedEx. Couldn't be more pleased.

However, I've got a concierge, and a wife working from home to sign off for them.

[Danylewich]

That's what I have, Borge and Falketind and I'm in Toronto, though I mostly ski in Quebec during vacations. Great combo, Borges does Gatineau Park in tracks and off-piste. Falketind is my light fun telemark ski that I mostly use on my local park hill in Toronto for yoyo-ing, though I've used it in Mont Tremblant park and Gaspesie also. Using Alpina Alaska for boots.

If you're short of skiing partners, I'm in south Etobicoke, ski lots at Kolapore...

I only Nordic skied at Tremblant once, in my McGill University days, long ago. How's the resort, or resorts near it, if I took my xcD set on the lifts? I'm there in March with my young kids, doing alpine. I could spend a day with them, doing xcD on the greens.

I know enough about Ontario I wouldn't bother here: uptight, litigation-paranoid society...

Great to meet you! Been to Kolapore a few times. Re: Quebec, here's a long set of suggestions:

I think they have really embraced alpine touring equipment and have created a lot of uphill trails, so they'd be open to xcD I think. Mont Tremblant would be okay with that on the lifts, but I find Tremblant super icy and frequently windy and clouded in and difficult for xcD skis. They have a telecabin and you could definitely take with that with your xcD skis. I think you'd probably want a safety strap though for the downhill, just in case you popped out of a binding. Alternately you could ski up on their AT tracks, really extremely pretty trail. Versant Nord I think somehow might be a better side to ski xcDownhill on, seems like the quieter side to me. I haven't been, but I believe there is also a uphill skiing only/no-lift hill near Tremblant that looks like a cool idea, membership only $79 for the year: https://experiencemontalta.com/

And check this website for other AT friendly places that likely would be fine with xcD gear as long as you have a safety strap: http://www.skimoeast.com/to-skin-up.html All the usual Quebec places would be great I think for xcD, Le Massif, Mont St. Anne, Mont Saint-Saveur, etc. By the way, the xc near Le Massif is also sublime.

I also haven't been there yet in winter, but SEPAQ Parque National du Jacques Cartier has an off-piste skiing area with glades somewhere back on the rive. FYI SEPAQ parks rock for cross-country - stay in their eco-cabins or tents, super-fun with kids too, did it for many years. Very affordable, very nice cabins in the provincials parks - extremely high quality facilities. I've stayed in cabins or camped at Tremblant, Orford, Jacques Cartier, Gaspesie, all amazing, all have great skiing of all kinds. Tremblant Parc, go to Secteur Pimbina, very nice backcountry trails there for xc. Haven't been in winter but Grand-Jardins looks like it could be good. Obviously Gaspesie is amazing, but a long way off . . . nonetheless, all of Quebec very very good.

Finally, don't forget Gatineau's, just outside Ottawa, fantastic cross-country and backcountry trails. Not so good for for xcD, not enough openness, but I frequently just go on Camp Fortune's two closed hills, Alexander and McDonald, lift seems to have been closed last few years, so I just noodle around on there, it's like my own private xcD hill.

In Toronto, I do xcD in Riverdale Park East and West, just fool around on the hills, yo-yoing. I hear there is telemark happening at Earl Bales Park, the City of Toronto ski hill. There is a Toronto telemark teaching outfit, I hear they are good too: https://skitelemark.ca/ and they teach at Earl Bales, so likely you could do xcD there too.

Good luck with plans, let's meet up for a ski at Kolapore come January!

[エイダン.シダル]

Thanks for your response. I'll get back to you then. You aren't wrong that Eastern Canada woodland trails are narrow. Adirondacks too, IME.

Lots to look forward to in PQ, indeed.

I've got an odd assortment of 'new' skis I'm going to first test out at Kolapore, on the steeper bits at the Metcalf Rock side of the park: my new Gammes with NNN BC and mohair X-skins (for the sake of trying the skins); wooden Bonna 1800s with the same binding and boot, for shits and giggles; and wider Fischer S Bound Outabounds 88s, with Alico NATO boots, Voile bindings, and Black Diamond kicker skins. Most of these I got unused, second hand. Should be a fun day.

I do not have anything like a reliable tele-turn. Came to Nordic from alpine in adulthood. Off-piste later than that.

Cannot snow soon enough, though my Tokyo born wife doesn't want to hear it.

[johnnycanuck]

I think they have really embraced alpine touring equipment and have created a lot of uphill trails, so they'd be open to xcD I think. Mont Tremblant would be okay with that on the lifts, but I find Tremblant super icy and frequently windy and clouded in and difficult for xcD skis.

I've got family in Quebec and your post is making me really excited for this coming season!

Something I'm curious about, you mentioned that Tremblant is really icy and windy - is the rest of Quebec not similar in the middle of the winter? My wife keeps talking Quebec skiing down because of some past experiences at Tremblant that were awful due to the cold and cloudy conditions.

[Danylewich]

I think they have really embraced alpine touring equipment and have created a lot of uphill trails, so they'd be open to xcD I think. Mont Tremblant would be okay with that on the lifts, but I find Tremblant super icy and frequently windy and clouded in and difficult for xcD skis.

I've got family in Quebec and your post is making me really excited for this coming season!

Something I'm curious about, you mentioned that Tremblant is really icy and windy - is the rest of Quebec not similar in the middle of the winter? My wife keeps talking Quebec skiing down because of some past experiences at Tremblant that were awful due to the cold and cloudy conditions.

I guess that's the general complaint for Quebec. But I think with Tremblant it's something about the height and exposure to wind and popularity - it gets heavy use and it gets crusty. I've found Le Massif to be amazing and really good snow, though it's right on the St. Lawrence.

[johnnycanuck]

I think they have really embraced alpine touring equipment and have created a lot of uphill trails, so they'd be open to xcD I think. Mont Tremblant would be okay with that on the lifts, but I find Tremblant super icy and frequently windy and clouded in and difficult for xcD skis.

I've got family in Quebec and your post is making me really excited for this coming season!

Something I'm curious about, you mentioned that Tremblant is really icy and windy - is the rest of Quebec not similar in the middle of the winter? My wife keeps talking Quebec skiing down because of some past experiences at Tremblant that were awful due to the cold and cloudy conditions.

I guess that's the general complaint for Quebec. But I think with Tremblant it's something about the height and exposure to wind and popularity - it gets heavy use and it gets crusty. I've found Le Massif to be amazing and really good snow, though it's right on the St. Lawrence.

Makes sense! We went to Tremblant in early March 2020 right before COVID shut everything down. Prior to that we had been in Whistler in January. It's hard to compare the two, but we did really enjoy Tremblant. Might have helped that the wife talked it down a lot before going haha.

We're hoping to get out to Le Massif and Saint Anne this season.

[エイダン.シダル]

Alpine skied Tremblant, Massif, Ste. Anne, and the Eastern Townships. I concur with what's been said. Tremblant's just too damn convenient to us Ontarians, and its vertical, but it can be frigid and icy: AKA 'eastern powder'. All of PQ can be freaking cold, especially the peak of Tremblant, and anything nearer Québec City. There's a famous Québécois song: 'Mon pays c'est n'est pas un pays, c'est l'hiver!'

Le Massif is an experience, just for the experience of almost western vertical, from an escarpment down to sea level, looking over the St. Lawrence. Ste. Anne I just enjoyed: varied, and less hectic than Tremblant.

[Woodserson]

Just rolled back from Ragged Mtn. Equipment in NH.

First shipment inbound. This is what is in as-of-Nov6, another 37 pairs inbound. X-Skins too, in every flavor.

[fisheater]

@Woodserson i called twice and asked about my size. I think if I pull the trigger 5 cm short it will be a mistake. This is based upon my weight and how the Gamme skis at at my weight and correlating Gamme weight recommendations
You thoughts on the subject are appreciated

[エイダン.シダル]

Just rolled back from Ragged Mtn. Equipment in NH.

First shipment inbound. This is what is in as-of-Nov6, another 37 pairs inbound. X-Skins too, in every flavor.

PXL_20211106_205441015.jpg

PXL_20211106_205536922.jpg

No Otto Sverdrup, for the early adopters? Anyway... I got my Gammes and (unused - previously owned) Fischer S Bound Outabound 88s this year. I'm done until next, and my classic track set-up is over fifteen years old - needs replacing.

Falketinds, Hardwires, and T4s in 2yrs for a lightweight Telemark set-up?