Andyman

Drama in Lac-Saint-Jean: the guide would have tried to save the front of the peloton The three survivors said that the guide asked them to turn back before leaving to catch up with the rest of the group 37 OTHER Drama in Lac-Saint-Jean: the guide would have tried to save the front of the peloton PHOTO AGENCE QMI, ROGER GAGNON Logo of journalist Pierre Paul Biron from the Journal de Quebec, Friday March 29, 2019. STEVENS LEBLANC / JOURNAL DE QUEBEC / AGENCE QMI) PIERRE-PAUL BIRON Thursday, January 23, 2020 4:10 p.m. UPDATE Thursday, January 23, 2020 4:10 p.m. SAINT-HENRI-DE-TAILLON | The expedition guide who turned to drama Tuesday evening would have voluntarily returned to the open waters of Lac Saint-Jean in an attempt to catch up with the front of the peloton, which was heading straight for death. He will finally have left his skin too. • Also read: [VIDEO] The son of a missing snowmobiler climbs the podium at the Biathlon World Cup • Also read: Drama in Lac-Saint-Jean: the identity of the five missing tourists revealed • Also read: [IN PICTURES] Resumption of research on Lac Saint-Jean to find missing snowmobilers According to Charles Tremblay, owner of the convenience store where the three survivors took refuge, guide Benoit Lesperance returned to the center of Lac Saint-Jean after making sure that the latter were safe and sound. "From what they told us, the guide came back to them after realizing that they were no longer following, that they had fallen into the water," says Mr. Tremblay. “He told them to come back here, to the convenience store, that they were going to catch up with the others and join them. He never came back. ” This testimony therefore suggests that the guide, probably understanding the danger of letting the five snowmobilers out in front, chose to risk his life to join them. "If he hadn't returned, he would have made it with the other three. But a guide will not let his world go. He surely put the gas on the bottom of the water to try to pass and join them, "believes Charles Tremblay. A local resident, Dany Gaudreault, also told the Journal on Wednesday that the police had seen "traces of snowmobiles turning around the islands and returning to the water", which could correspond to the whereabouts of the guide for find his group. Towards death This missing portion of the story would also explain why the three surviving snowmobilers did not panic when they arrived at the convenience store. For them, the rest of the group had only continued on their way. A path that will probably have led them to death. "When it's dark like that, you don't know what you're falling into." You don't know if it's a big hole or not, ”says the owner. According to his reading of the thread of events, the three French would never have really understood what had happened to their comrades. "They seemed to believe that they had taken the wrong path. They thought that the others had the right path to cross and that they had just continued. That's why they just said that they had lost their group and that they were trying to call them, ”says Tremblay, still shocked by the extent of the drama. "It's absolutely terrible."

TQ3: a temporary agreement is concluded January 23, 2020 - Modified at 11:34 a.m. on January 23, 2020 Reading time: 30 s Photo of Shirley Kennedy By Shirley Kennedy TQ3: a temporary agreement is concluded The TQ3 and the beauty of the hinterland of the Haute-Côte-Nord will be accessible to snowmobilers and tourists, as of Saturday morning. (Photo: Facebook) An agreement has just been concluded between the Pourvoirie des Bouleaux Blancs and the Nord-Neige Snowmobile Clubs of Forestville-Colombier and Bourane of Portneuf-sur-Mer. The parties agree to a temporary route of the TQ3 according to that proposed by the Club Nord- Neige, conditional on snowmobilers agreeing to respect the marked trail of the TQ3 crossing the Seigneurie-des-Mille-Vaches, property of Tom Soucy. Another important condition, snowmobilers must also promise to avoid driving around the operations of the Pourvoirie des Bouleaux Blancs. Evidence of the goodwill of the administrators of the three parties involved, this agreement will be formalized this afternoon by the signing of relevant documents while the TQ3 trail will be accessible from Saturday morning. Share this article

A guide with 20 years of experience French tourists weren't getting started with snowmobiles 7 OTHER Guide Benoit Lespérance lost his life. His body was recovered on Tuesday. PHOTO FACEBOOK The guide Benoit Lespérance lost his life. His body was recovered on Tuesday. ANTOINE LACROIX Thursday, January 23, 2020 12:00 AM UPDATE Thursday, January 23, 2020 12:00 AM The Montreal snowmobile guide who tragically perished in the Lac Saint-Jean accident on Tuesday evening was far from being his first expedition. He had about 20 years of experience. “He's been a snowmobile guide for a long time, he's an experienced guy. It didn't seem like a daredevil guy either. He was a very appreciated person, "said Stéphane René Tremblay, a friend who has known Benoit Lespérance for 15 years, completely flabbergasted. Frequent traveler, the latter was not often in Montreal. However, he still had a pied-à-terre in the metropolis, his daughter's apartment. "It had been a year since I last saw him and I saw him again last week. I can't believe this is happening, it's sad, ”added Mr. Tremblay, who also owns the apartment. The 42-year-old guide, who mentioned on Facebook having 20 years of experience, accompanied the group of eight French snowmobilers when the tragedy occurred in an unmarked area of Saint-Henri-de-Taillon. "I have a friend who died" “Personally, I have a friend who is [presumed] deceased,” testifies Francis Pierrel, an organizer of snowmobile trips to Quebec, in shock when speaking of one of the French victims. “He has been coming to snowmobile with me or others since 1995. He was passionate about Quebec and snowmobiling. " Departing from Saint-Michel-des-Saints on Monday morning, the troop stayed in the evening at Relais 22 Milles, not far from La Tuque, before finally hitting the road the next day towards the Lac-Saint-Jean region. Among the possible hypotheses, Mr. Pierrel does not rule out that the group dispersed on the path and that the tourists unfortunately found themselves in a precarious situation. "The guide may have seen them and gone to meet them to warn them of the danger," said Pierrel. Experienced tourists The company responsible for the trip, Aventures 3000, was stingy with comments all day. The owner of the company, Patrick Denis, refused to answer questions, but a shareholder of the company, Jean-Pierre Turci, however reacted to the "unfortunate event". He specified in particular that the tourists, like the guide, had experience with such devices. “We have five clients who died [missing] and a guide. Customers who came regularly, ”said Turci. Repeating several times do not want to "short-circuit" the survey. He added that he was "saddened to lose knowledge". It was impossible to know the identities of the French tourists involved. According to the France 3 channel, the three survivors are from Haut-Rhin, in the east of the country. The five missing tourists, aged 24 to 58, are from the Alsace or Vosges region.

Snowmobile hike in Lac-Saint-Jean turns into a nightmare for a group of tourists LAURA LÉVESQUE The Daily Share A snowmobile hike in Lac-Saint-Jean turned into a nightmare for a group of nine tourists. One or more snowmobilers fell into the water on Tuesday evening. At the time of this writing, a victim had been recovered from the waters in critical condition. The Sûreté du Québec was however unable to confirm his death. Five other snowmobilers were missing shortly before 11 p.m. “The event started around 7:30 p.m. when a snowmobile fell into the water near the Grande Décharge river, near Saint-Henri-de-Taillon. He was able to get out of the water himself and contacted the emergency services. At that time he had lost sight of the rest of the group. Three other people from the group found themselves in a business in the sector. Firefighters and police later recovered a critical water man. He was taken to hospital. Rescuers are still looking for five other snowmobilers, ”said Marie-Michelle Moore of the SQ. The nine tourists were accompanied by a guide. The firefighters used nautical equipment for the searches and the police criss-crossed the area by snowmobile. Aid from the military was requested late in the evening. A helicopter was expected before midnight.

Thanks Iceman.

Years past we would ride a few streets and join the trail you see in green by the e in Forestville. If I was sitting in Forestville I would be heading to that green trail to rejoin the 3 west of the bridge. When you click on the red dot is says Pont Boralex which is a power company. My guess is they are working on their dam or bridge??? Hopefully the local club comes up with a detour very soon.

I know where this dam is I am just confused what is going on?

No....they have it marked.....there is some sort of dam at the location

Message already sent looking for info.

Just got this reply and this is a quote moderators!!! "Yes there is a major f.... up there.... there is a river crossing that may not be too safe yet. We crossed twice good thing we came from the west...going west the trail is closed"

Just west of Forestville as of yesterday. I will update as soon as I get more info. Maybe someone with good french could call the club president and ask what is going on as they have no website or Facebook presence. My buddies are on the ferry at press time!

Like Mike I am retired and we both have more than 50 years under our belts on the snow and I agree with you Quebec Bob sometimes we just have to keep moving. However one day a number of years ago I wish I had taken others' advice and just stayed put and as we call it had a camp day rather than spend a night in a blizzard in a snow cave. From my aviation background: Learn from the mistakes of others you will never live long enough to make them all yourself!!! Andy

I have sent a message to a group who say they got through awaiting an answer. They are using the ferry that goes to the Magdelan Islands today so there is a crossing but very undependable. Will update as I get info. Andy

I put a post on a french forum and got an answer. Landowner issue with a right of way. My guess some moron ran through his fields or plantation and he has had enough. Too bad the local club would not put some updated info out so the FCMQ could update the online maps to prevent sledders from getting blocked in with nowhere to go.

Just got a text from two buddies who are in Forestville and had hoped to take the ferry back to Matane tomorrow HOWEVER IT IS CANCELLED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE! Next problem the 3 is closed at Forestville so trying to get to the west is a big problem. Does anyone know why it is closed? At a spot check they said it was a river crossing??? Thanks Andy

Another change of ship at the Matane – Côte-Nord crossing 41 OTHER Another change of ship at the Matane – Côte-Nord crossing ARCHIVE PHOTO AGENCE QMI SIMON GAMACHE FORTIN Monday, January 6, 2020 07:59 UPDATE Monday, January 6, 2020 07:59 MATANE | The new year begins with a change of ship at the Matane-Baie-Comeau-Godbout ferry. The CTMA Vacancier takes over this morning for the maritime connection. It will be in service until January 20. He comes to take over at Saaremaa 1 , the permanent relief vessel for the ferry, which must undergo work to maintain its certification. The work concerns the ship's fire protection system. They will be carried out in Trois-Rivières. The Société des traversiers du Québec indicates that the ship will then return to Matane to make the maritime connection. Work on the F.-A.-Gauthier , the main ship, is underway to resolve the problem of electric motors. STQ CEO Stéphane Lafaut is expected to return to Matane soon to take stock of the work. It is unclear at what point the ferry, which has been retired for over a year, will return to service. Air shuttles The air shuttles between Mont-Joli, Baie-Comeau and Sept-Îles airports are still in service on Monday. The STQ indicated that the complementary air service would be in place until the return to service of the F.-A.-Gauthier . For the moment, it is only possible to reserve a seat on a flight on Monday. The STQ told TVA Nouvelles on Friday that other flights will soon be made available. The Crown corporation was in touch with its supplier for the final details.

Speeding were we Chris?

It is approx 525miles shortest route.

I have been using the free one from the Quebec guys for a few years but this year I have gone to Trak maps for both Quebec and the Maritimes. Main reason is that I found that the free maps had quite a few errors and cost us valuable time trying to find the real trail vs what we could see on the free version. I find the Trak maps have the latest data from the FCMQ and as Gutz says excellent customer support. Nik is their support guy and he responds very quickly with an accurate answer to your question or problem.

Looks awesome Chris!!!

Amazing snow for this early!!!!

Now that is a sweet setup! For once they put out a product right from the factory that will hold all your linq cans etc!!!

This platform is it an aftermarket piece that you added or just the tunnel?

Roadrunner did you have to modify the linq brackets to accept the second gas can on the rear position? Andy

Sled is ready, gear is ready,NB &QC trail passes on Air Medic renewed spent yesterday cleaning up my GPS files. Lets go! Looks like the rentals are ready as well!!!