VTrider

The wife and I decided Thursday night at 7pm to load up sleds in Vermont and make the trek to St.Zenon.  We arrived at the Cabanon at about 11:45pm.  Hit the trails on Friday morning on freshly groomed trails.  We went to Lac Blanc for lunch and back to hotel by 4pm.  Amazing conditions for a ride on the last day of November.  We did 120 miles.  My wife was real trooper for going with me at the last minute...she knew I really needed to ride.  Here are some pictures of our ride...
We will be back soon !!
 
 

November 27
solid 1’ of snow from this storm and still snowing. Wet heavy snow wreaking havoc for Hydro-Québec here in Mauricie. 29,000 people without power. 
A few other tidbits 
   most snow on ground in November in 32 years. 
   To date 40% of the salt supply for the entire winter has been used up already. 
 

26 November 
snow machine is on. And it is on big. This seems like a good one. 

It’s getting to be that time again. Pack those saddlebags and load up those sleds. This year it will go like this....
To make it fair for all. Starting this Saturday December 1, at noon est. , you can post your date here.
Rules....
Very simple....
1.  Guess the Day the SNOWMOBILE groomer passes chez Iceman. Simple as that. 
2.  Please take the time to read all the posts of other people’s picks as the first person who picks a date gets it. If you pick a date already taken then shame(bell ringing)shame. Pick again. 
3.  One date per QR member.
4.  Contest open only to contributing members. (Ah just kidding) stop being cheap and pony up the $25 bucks to be a contributing member. Start a gofundme if you need to.
5.   If you win and your not a contributing member, that will be your prize. A contributing membership
6.   If no one has the date the Groomer passes it goes to the next date Closest.
7.   If Groomer passes between two days taken then it will go to the Day After the first pass. 
bonne chance....

Booked the Drakkar 2/16 to 2/22.
Hope to meet anyone who posts on this forum that week.
Fred

There is a bridge crossing when coming out of the Gov. They use a traffic light system because it only allows for sled traffic one way at a time.  There is always snow on the sled portion of the bridge (at least from my experience).  There is river riding right after the bridge...so that can be an issue based on time of season.  The Gov is nice but be aware when youth hockey teams over run the hotel on weekends (not all weekends though).  They play hockey in the hall...parents let kids run wild and you won't get near the pool or hot tub due to noise and kids in there at all hours.  My go to is Drakkar but the wife does like Gov. too.  The owners at Drakkar (Reg and Nancy) are top notch people who cater to snowmobiliers.   Enjoy the upcoming season !!

Come on Playhard, Ice, pipeman, Gutz.......  Don't you know that Drakkar is not a place anyone would want to stay at.........   Don't send them there!
(That is actually a lie, it is the best place, but I don't want everyone to know because It will be getting harder and harder to get a room there when I need it!)
 

Located midway Between La Tuque and Relais 22 near Rapide Blanc Station. Located right near where the toilets were installed a few years back. 

Getting amped for the upcoming riding season.  Just purchased me and my wife's trail passes.   I will be ready to rock as soon as the conditions allow.  
Hope to see some of you on the trails or at the relais !!  Think Snow !!!
VTrider

Valin Ski Area!!!

 
Thanks Ian at Monster Performance and Passions!.
GutZ

Getting amped for the upcoming riding season.  Just purchased me and my wife's trail passes.   I will be ready to rock as soon as the conditions allow.  
Hope to see some of you on the trails or at the relais !!  Think Snow !!!
VTrider

Yeah I saw that.  That is what has got me pumped !!  

Waiting for mine to come in. Season cannot start fast enough!

Getting amped for the upcoming riding season.  Just purchased me and my wife's trail passes.   I will be ready to rock as soon as the conditions allow.  
Hope to see some of you on the trails or at the relais !!  Think Snow !!!
VTrider

Podium finish tonight 2nd place, Happy gang here. On to the next. Let’s Go!

Camp at Saint-Félicien.
Note: Room 16 on any floor overlooks the corral.
 

#worldwide 
way cool. 
 

Saturday 
We leave the house and jump on the river. Not one of my favorites. Boring. But is fast and brings us up quick. It’s not terrible and temp is great. Off the river and up to 360. Nice trail here surely a good sign. The wife is doing well she is taking her time and we are making good time. The group is awesome. We stop and switch places in line. My girl is a rider. She listens to what I tell her. She is on the right all the time. 360 to Mattawin is excellent. And hardly no traffic yet. Gas at Mattawin and off into the Parc. 360 again does not disappoint. Dreamy. Hard for me to hold back but it’s not that kind of ride this weekend. Need to keep an eye on my chargee. I know tge others are fine, just feeling extra protective of my woman and want to keep her safe. She likes to be last so I let her have the Tailgunner spot for now, but I’m doing purposely minimal mach speed to keep her in my mirror. It’s all good and trail is A1. Up and onto 345 not before stopping to help a guy back on trail with a skandic. He was teetering on the edge. Turns out was My bosses friend and he used to own that skandic. Small world indeed. 345 is magical as well. I’m now where I want to be. Cause if I’m not first, I’m last. My happy place. From here I can watch it all. Mrs Iceman is getting her ski legs now and is getting more comfortable on her Apex. It’s quite a sled if you don’t ride much. Got a bit of a learning curve for sure. She is a fast learner. Maybe 10 km from Cabanon it’s what I expected being saturday. Bit rough but I seen much worse here. Into Cabanon at 1pm lots of sleds but not packed. Surprised plenty of tables. We take lunch and we are good to go. From here it’s only 20km to Vieux Moulin Scie for the night. As we are leaving I see one of the few guys, that make me feel small, it’s Triggerhappy coming out the bar. Asked him if he was lost, we say hello to his gang and exchange intel. They are headed back to Drakkar the way we came. I said you will not be disappointed. He says 23 was perfect. We will go that way back tomorrow. 
From Cabanon to St. Michel the usual snirt and some rocks but they are doing what they can with what they got. I’ve seen it much worse. The Mrs handles it well. Over the mountain into town, gas and snacks for happy hour and off to the Motel. Police at intersection before hotel but they are busy and wave us through.
nice fun day. My first time at Vieux Moulin Scie and I will return. Nice room nothing fancy but clean and great restaurant. Great happy hour with the gang. Everyone is having fun. 
 
Sunday 
breakfast 7:30 then out of there at 9am. Police are at the intersection again. This time we are checked. He runs all the plate numbers. I give them some Team Iceman stickers, (which they loved by the way) and we were off. Everything here was groomed last night. Amazing the difference. Actually had to put one scratcher down on each Apex just to be sure, it was frozen nice. Back to Cabanon. Watching the wife today made me proud. One day and she is got it. She is railing the corner lifting one ski on exit, it was something to see. I was smiling ear to ear in my helmet. Bathroom break for the ladies at Cabanon and then down a perfect 23 awesome trail. Lunch a Cabane Chez Natalie. From there things start to get rough. Closer to Shawinigan the worse it got. I’m embarrassed by the bullshit they are trying to pass off as trails near here, its crap. Back to Alain’s house to say bye to the gang, Caro and I head for home. 25km of pure hell. Sorry excuse for a trail. Osti trail de Vache. Arrive home apologize to the sleds. This club here better step up. Or i will buy my passes elsewhere cause they are a constant disappointment near here. Nice welcome home. Great weekend, cannot wait to take her out again. She can ride for sure. She is not ready for next weeks 8 day run but she will get there in time. I want her to enjoy it, not ruin her by running her 400km. The boss Alain, Josee, Line and Danny, awesome gang. We will ride again. Boss is already plotting him an I in Gaspe in March. Hey gotta do what the boss says right? Until next time.
T-minus 5 days till next run. 8 days to who know where? Time will tell.
 
 

Drakkar has a breakfast.   Not off a menu or anything.  Usually eggs, hash browns/potatoes, cereal, fruit, croissants, breads, coffee, juices etc.   I like it.  Plenty to eat and great for the day.   If we don't stop to eat dinner on the way back to the hotel we usually have reggie order us something.  He has menus from many places local (pizza, pasta, etc)  Plus he knows of better sit down restaurants if you ask.  It is nice to just get back put sleds in garage and settle down in the leather recliners in front of the TV in the main lobby area and have food delivered.  Talking with other riders about trails etc..   And the Maple whiskey shots he gives....  MMMMMM

Back home this morning but yesterday we got up and the trails right from Drakkar parking lot were groomed.  We decided to just follow the groomers work for the day.  We never left a freshly groomed trail. Some parts we were first tracks. Saw maybe 6 sleds all day.  Beautiful day out. Plenty of snow and trails were perfect going west from shawinigan. FYI part of trail 3 from the rang de la rivière Batista nord-est towards shawinigan was groomed in front of us Sunday night (even passed the groomer) but doesn't show up on the grooming map as was the northern trail coming from 351 where it hits the same river a mile north. The gps beacons must not be working but they were groomed and were great.  In fact those two sections are the only pieces that are showing white on this mornings grooming map. ?? 
Plenty of snow in shawinigan. 

VTrider,
The trails held up great. A lot of snow. Off trail you could very easily get stuck. we went about half way to St Zenon.  Trails were groomed and nice.  Grooming report showed groomed all the way to le cabanon. There was a washout maybe 10 miles west of the trappeaur (spelling) that you have got to be very careful of.  It is not noticeable until almost on it and very dangerous.  I'm sure they will fix it. We put as much marking as we could to help riders see it. Other than that the 23 was great.  We also went east of shawinigan on 3 and was still choppy in fields from drifts but not bad.  Coming home from the bison farm/bar/restaurant (which just changed owners a month ago) shortly after we hit fresh groomed trails on 3 west.  First tracks.  Beautiful.  Made for a nice end ride home.  The last part of 3 and the local trails back to Drakkar needed grooming but nothing terrible.  Enjoyable day out.  This was 23. 

Happy New Year to all. Looking forward to welcoming you here at the Auberge Drakkar, The trail is Open and Groomed to our doorstep. Nancy and I wish all of you a Bonne nouvelle annee filled with lots of health and happiness along with smooth trails for you and yours. The season is underway come and enjoy. 
Reggie

23 Dec
-7c Snowing very nicely, about 2” so far. 

Another not Quebec pic. But I got my early season fix in Upstate NY. Woke up to some fresh pow pow.