stupe

1/2/17 (9am-9pm if we are going that route)

Ravage just posted a video on Instagram of the groomer at their place. They said the Saguenay club groomed from Sait-Felix Otis to Ravage. Not sure if the groomer continued down 83 towards Clermont or not. Early start this year. :)

Pretty much. I saw the price go from $1.39/L to $1.59/L as I was sitting there eating a burger. Good thing I filled up before I went in to eat. :)

Ravage is at the red waypoint on the map. Try hitting 83 and the trail into Ravage after Thursday night because that is typically when they groom that trail. I've noticed that some hotels on viaexplora aren't placed on the map correctly sometimes.

Yeah I second the Fairmont Richelieu if you're there with the family. Nice pool, ice skating (if it stays cold enough), could sleigh ride on the golf course I suppose. Day trip to Ravage is a must. Took the family there for lunch last year. Make sure you get the kids the hot chocolate, its excellent. The second your wife walks in there she will probably strip down naked and drag you into the nearest room. j/k. Its really nice but its a bit pricey.

Or just stay here and take your chances. http://www.chateaumontsainteanne.com/en/ It's in Beaupre about 30 minutes Northeast of Quebec City. Pool, outside saunas, nice skiing if you want. I've stayed here many times with the wife and kids. Trail access from the hotel. Within 5-7 miles of the hotel your into the good stuff trail-wise. We've ridden dirt out of there before until you hit TQ3. It just goes up in elevation from there.

I told you to put those kids on eBay. Its all about priorities!

Yeah I'm a bit picky when it comes to skis. I'm running Split Rail skis. They are a great ski if you want power steering and no darting. I think its one of the easiest skis to turn next to the SLP SLT skis (which I ran before). As I get older my shoulders and arms start to hurt after a long day, especially if you run into some twisty trails. Its a great ski for rock hard trails. Once the trails get loose the ski is a bit pushy but I'll take that over hard turning. Some of my friends run Curve skis in Canada and if the trails are hard those skis are ridiculously hard to turn, but if the trails loosen up they are not too bad. I bought the Split Rails used on Craigslist for $350 complete with carbides, no way I'm paying $1000 for new. I wouldn't mind trying Snow Trackers on stock skis. I tried my buddies sled and it was very easy to steer, although I wonder how they are at high speeds. They seem like they could be too positive at high speeds. By the way, if anyone sees a black toiletry bag on 83 its mine. Opened my bag to show my buddy where we were on a map and never closed my bag up. Doh! 30 miles later at a gas station two Canadians pull up and notice my bag isn't closed. They pull out a plastic bag with some cloths and slippers and ask if these are mine. Yup, but didn't notice my toiletry bag was gone til we got home. Bummer...

Last minute decided to blast up to Quebec for the weekend (5 1/2 hour drive). Launched from Nord Expe and took 369, 23, 383, to 83 and landed at Ravage. Trails were all freshly groomed and phenomenal. Was mid-teens when we started Saturday morning but warmed up to mid-30's by the afternoon. Surprisingly the trails stayed hard and flat, a little bit of mashed potatoes in some areas but flat. For the amount of sleds at Mont-Apica the trails were rocket-ship fast. Light rain Saturday night but it was 14F when we left Ravage Sunday morning. Ice scratches down we blasted down the Clermont Express, floating between 70 and 95mph all the way to Clermont with music cranking in the helmet. Life is good... Only sleds on the trail in the morning. TQ3 for about 15 miles South of Clermont was not groomed the night before (surprisingly because they always groom on Saturday nights, but still good) but after that it was spectacular all the way to the 304 cut-over to 369. Lots of snow still (3+ feet) but its hard to tell how long they will continue. As long as the nights stay cool to allow grooming it should be ok for another week or two.

Stayed there many times. Actually only lunched from there. Never had any truck problems. They give you a boot for your truck or trailer. Seems pretty safe... close to TQ3.

Our group of 10 was just parked in there last week. There must have been 30+ sleds in there and not one of them was locked, including ours. Easy picking for sure. I just park next to those expensive yammies. I parked an old Polaris in there 15 years ago and someone pulled my ignition apart and my heated shield cord but they never took the sled for some reason. Damn was really hoping that sled was gone in the morning...

Just got home last night from this loop. Everything was off the charts good Iceman. The Pel Chat trail was just groomed but we never took it due to some frozen shield issues. Met some guys that came from Forrestville and they said it was perfect. Good luck

Ha. that was us Snowdust. Thanks for the jump! The 1200 was already running.

Of the 10 sleds in our group only 2 started this morning (-15F in Clermont). The 16' 1200 and 16' 800etec started. All the other older 800 etecs didn't start. Pickup truck and jumper cables did the trick.

Is this the pelchat trail that Jackstraw mentioned earlier?

Jan 12th

Just bought an updated Trakmap card for my GPS today and the exchange rate was 1.24. Woohoo!

If I'm heading West out of Mont Tremblant there seems to be a few trails that head West, North West out of there. I've been to St Donat before but the trails don't seem to head West out of there unless I want to take the Northern long route out of there. St. Zenon... not a fan :) Rabaska is booked up so I need to find another place to stay in that area. Might just wingit.

I got a DUI 25 years ago and its never been a problem for me either. Like Jackstraw, I got dragged in a few years ago and questioned and the DUI never came up. I'm still not sure what they were looking for.

Ok cool. I'll call up there first because I would only be parking there, not staying the night. Most places are cool with that if you pay for the parking. Thanks for the insight.

Thinking of blasting up for a 2 day run. Never been this far West. Has anyone parked at the Comfort Inn in Mont Tremblant? Just looking for quick and easy. Secure is probably a good idea too. Probably heading toward Baskatong area. Open to other ideas for parking...

Yup, paid $1.03 per litre regular unleaded in Beaupre yesterday. But still paid over $2.00 per litre regular unleaded in a remote area...

Not much snow in Beaupre but 3 miles into the woods things quickly got better. 369 up to L Etape was wide and freshly groomed. I also took 369 South (from the cut-over to TQ3) and that was terrific too. Off trail the snow was over my knee. I was told TQ3 Northeast toward Baie St. Paul isn't open yet. I also heard that Relais 155 is closed for the season.

We had the groomers out a couple of weeks ago in LG but lost everything in the rain... :(

I think she's gonna pull to the right... :)