Je me souviens

Phil, if I did not have nurse duties for my girlfriend, I would be all over that offer. Have a great trip.

Thanks again for all the well wishes and replies. Shannon is doing better every day, but it will be a long recovery for sure. I love this site for its personalities and friendly nature, beats the usual how fast mine goes and how much bling mine has, on the other sites. Everyone shares information and pictures openly, and that's what keeps me coming back here. I am sure most of you, if not all, are tired of reading my posts, however I am confined to being a nurse at the house, so the computer is my only outlet for now. Over 2 feet of fresh snow here in Plattsburgh, can you say renegade needed?

Jim, Sounds like you had a good trip, asides from your friends chaincase/new sled expense. How was the pipeline? Post some pics when you get a chance.

Iceman, where do you rent your SAT phones from? Can you give me the contact info and price ranges? Thanks George

This should be a great discussion we all need to take a hard look at. What are the limitations of the device. Operating temp worries me a little Who will be coming on rescue What abilities does the Suretey du Quebec evac team have at their disposition I am sure there are a thousand important questions to be asked. Please chime in with yours. I know I will have some version of SPOT next year, but blind faith in this device could be risky. Lets find out all we can about this. I know I will be researching it in depth. George

Mark, I am going to take a stab at the sled he wants. 1200 GSX SE, but I know he is a Yamaha man, so I could be far off, sounds like this AC secrecy is adding a lot of hype, I can't wait to hear more... Greg, I love the pictures. Keep them coming. Now I am not sure what my top snowmobile vacation destination would be? Revelstoke or Yellowstone? It's a toss up.

Greg, Looks like a lot of fun, keep us posted as you have so far. I would love to see your pictures of the area, yes the sleds too, but I can wait for those to be released. The most intriguing part of the new R-Motion ski doo suspension is the ability to adjust the center shock with ease on the fly with gloves on, while the skid is packed with snow. Let me know how well this works, thanks George I checked the link on ADMDQ and your are the only one with a picture on there, you stud!

Andyman, Sounds like one hell of a great trip.

Here are some pictures of the trip. The one of the bridge is the one she hit, the picture is from a few week-ends back on another trip, she struck the other side of it. She says she is eager to go up to Clova again next year.

Thanks again to all and their wishes. Sled was studded, it was not icy, just one of those situations where you grab too much brake and sled goes sideways. Skis eventually caught, and sled rolled. I really like the idea of opening a thread that would discuss what the limitations of Spot are, and how to make the most out of the available resources. I like the idea of a sat phone, I always said it should be a shared expense among the group. If anyone has information and/or comments on how to make sure we all take the most precautions when out in the wild please add them. I did not mean to light a fire with the nationality comment, my intentions were to commend all those who went way out of their way to help us. We all meet people that we wish we were not associated with no matter what the group affiliation is. I am proud to be both Canadian/American. Love both countries very much. Again thanks to all for their wishes. Please be safe out there as the season draws to a close.

First of all, thank you all for the get well wishes! It was a long night last night for sure, probably going to get a hospital bed for ease of mobility through ought the night. Yes it is easy to forget how far you really are from help when you get in the woods between relais'. The reason why we should all get the SPOT locator for our trips in Quebec, could save your life. Also I will equip us with communicators so I can advise of upcoming obstacles. Now for the details. This all took place 40 kms south of Clova. I was leading, stopped at the foot of the bridge, then when she came around the corner, she locked the brake to stop behind me, lost control, and rolled the sled. She then was tossed off the sled, and hit the guard rail back first. For those who have rode down Lepine this season, it is the last steel bridge before reaching Clova, yes the one with the wooden cross exactly where she hit. The last person to do this died there 2 years ago, or so I was told. After assuring myself I could let her be alone, I had to leave the scene to get help. I headed south knowing there is no hospital in Clova or Parent, only CLSC's which do not have the necessary medical equipment for x-rays and scans etc. I got to relais Evasion where the owner, Jeff Sabourin, took his elite up to the crash site, we got her in it and brought her to his place, Evasion 40 kms south. We then called the next relais to the south, Pensive. The owner's son, Francois Lauzon, drove up the trail in his pick-up, we loaded her in the truck, and headed down to where the logging road meets the trail, 60kms south of Evasion. The ambulance met us there and loaded her on the back board into the ambulance, then off to Mt. Laurier hospital, another 2.5 hour ride, not exactly sure the distance but I want to say it was at least 200kms, if not more, of which the first 60 kms were on the logging road. Once at the hospital we stayed there for 4 days, most of the staff was very accommodating, with the exception of 1 nurse, and 1 liaison who was very concerned about payment. I solved that by getting our insurance company on the phone with her, and they in turn in sent a letter of guarantee, explaining payment will be made. After being released from Mt. Laurier, I drove her in a car to CVPH, the hospital here in Plattsburgh, NY, where we stayed overnight to ensure all was right. Now we are home recovering slowly, all fractures are self healing, no nerve damage. Thanks again for the wishes, will post some pics of the trip later, right now I am on call. List of fractures: L-3 T-6 Spinous process fracture 10th-11th rib fracture Left acetabular fracture Pelvic fracture When I got in the ambulance I had to make a decision on what to do with the sleds. I left my truck keys with Francois, he rode my sled to my truck, loaded it, put gas in it and met me at the hospital. His friend drove another truck with my girlfriends sled in it to the hospital. So in the end, I got down to the parking lot and everything I own was delivered right to me the very next day. Proving once again that there may be some that make me shamed to be from Quebec, but for the most part, this is an unbelievably helpful population that will stop at nothing to help you.

We were riding back to the truck from Clova last Sunday, she was riding at a controlled speed, not under the influence, when she over shot a corner and hit a metal bridge. Now she has a cracked hip, 2 cracked ribs, and 2 cracked vertebre. She is finally home in the USA, Mont Laurier hospital stay was 4 days, 1 day at CVPH here in Plattsburgh. Needless to stay it has been a long road home. Please be careful, and FYI Medi-vac service is out of business in QC. Research SPOT locator as shown on Alain's sled in many of his pics, I will have one next season. Hopefully none of you will ever discover how bad evacuation services are in La Belle Province. Be safe, and enjoy the rest of the season.

There is the Central, shitty little place but the bar is usually hopping. The best bet is to get ahold of the guy that owns Parent Excavating, he speaks english, built a nice cottage log home right on the outskirts of town, let me see if I can find his card...L'ombre du vent: 819-667-2112 www.ombreduvent.com call after 7pm.

Yes, it's a fur thong, the misses did not think it was as funny, but I always tell her about the power of the pelt... It can be purchased at the relais on lepine road where you ride the logging road for a few miles, I don't remember the name of the relais. B)

Trailblazer, almost 500 miles in a day? That must have been a long one. I am patiently waiting for my trip in the Laverendrye park, I believe it is the only park that I have not had the opportunity to ride through yet. Nice pics. Dooright, this is what i have for pics of the barrage Gouin. Martin's is a nice place too, as shown by Trailblazer's pics.

A couple more...

Here's a few random pictures from this season. I like to share what I see, join in if you feel like sharing yours.

Shane, if you are looking to minimize miles hauling, I would consider straight up 87/15 to the park. There is enough snow, some ice but that is to be expected after a 50 degree Friday. The rain went all the way up to Chibougamau, so I don't think there is any avoiding it. My usual riding partner just got back from the HI said it was good from north of the river in sweet baby St-Raymond to the HI flat and hard packed. That's my input. Hope it helps.

Last week end we left Mont Laurier in the storm 3.5 hrs home turned into 7hrs home.

Well I brought my girlfriend for her first Quebedor experience. We stayed at the Chalets St-Guillome nice place, fair price, the bonus is your own hot tub, a big plus when you have your woman with you. We rode 160 miles day one, headed towards La Macaza for lunch, then back to the hot tub. Day two 130 miles, we headed through the park up to Black mountain so she could feed the birds, a new experience for her, met some people from California at the summit. We had lunch at Coin Lavigne, met up with our friends from Brewster and Florida, that we met the day before, he had some interesting pics of a guy that lost control of his sled a few minutes earlier. Spun out, hit a tree and the sled blew up. Luckily the guy jumped off and only hurt his leg a little bit. I looked for the crash site on my way through, the only thing you could see is a small part of the snow bank missing and some scorched trees. Day three, 90 mile jaunt over to Lac Odelein camp site in the Reserve Faunique Rouge-Matawin, to my girlfriend's delight I found a bathroom in he woods for her, it was actually really nice. Then back to the chalet to pack up for the ride down 15 Sud with the idiot's on the highway. Never fails with the traffic right at St-Sauveur. I think they should re-name it St-Sauvage. All told it was a great trip for the two of us. Here are some pics. The burnt sled can be found on 63 between La Macaza and SMDS, it is not the wreckage I wrote about near Coin Lavigne.

Montagne Noire or Black Mountain is another place you would probably like to see, bring some granola or seeds to feed the birds, they will eat right out of your hand. It is marked on the map of lanaudiere where it is, really close to the village of Saint-Donat.

Merry Xmas to all QR forum members, I will also join the snow prayers. Hope to see some of you on the trails. I have my QR sticker on my sled, in hopes that someone sees it and says hi.

I know I am not Greg, but here is the link to join http://www.admdq.org/abonnement/abonnement.html The left one is by phone on your credit card 1-4pm Monday through Friday The middle one is by pay pal, and will automatically renew itself The right one is the link to print the form to pay by mail, send to address listed All links are $20/year 10% discount offered at many lodging places, including the Roquemont. Sweet

If can put my 2 cents in here I would say that we must stand together in order to have a solitary voice of reason heard. If we all stand on the side lines and complain, no consistent unified voice will be heard. I see the importance of becoming a member of the ADMDQ more than ever. This is our loudest, most organized outlet for our concerns when the decision makers get together to sit at the round table and figure out what the ultimate answers are. I may speak for myself, but I feel all the members here on QR should become members of the ADMDQ. After all, we owe it to ourselves to become involved in some sort of collaborative effort in order to protect out dearly beloved sport. There are many different special interest groups that would love to see the sport take a back seat in Quebec. We can no longer take for granted that when the snow flies, the signs will be up, and the system will be there to take us on these great rides through the most remote areas we enjoy so much. I remember last year when Greg wanted input from us, in order to give the American snowmobiler's perspective on why we head to Quebec, when there are trails in our own back yards. The most common response was that we enjoyed the interconnectivity of the trail system. It enabled us to go on rides that for example start from just north of Montreal, and head all the way to Chibougamau, and back without retracing your footsteps. The parks are becoming increasingly off limits, the remaining trails are having time limits imposed, and most discouraging of all the farmers holding us hostage for their needs. We must join together and get out voice heard, and again the most respected, and most organized voice seems to be the ADMDQ, so lets get on their website and join the cause. If you need help with translating what the site says feel free to PM me and I will get the English version to you ASAP. We can't afford to wait for special interest groups to become unified and drown our voice out. Lets get active and support the ADMDQ!

I have called the relais Rouge-Matawin, it will be closed this year. I spoke with one of the ladies that is a cook there, Sylvain was out on the property as it is hunting season...I will be calling Sylvain back tomorrow to find out what exactly is going on, but from what Diane said they will be closed due to insufficient revenue. I find this hard to believe as most of us know the place is packed all week-end long. They are presently cutting a new trail that will skirt the park. This season will apparently be the last time you will be able to enjoy the scenery in the Tremblant park. If you have yet to see this area I highly suggest it. Start in St-Donat, cross the lake, go up Montagne Noire for a picture, then head through the park towards St-Michel, however take the left towards la Macaza, beautiful place with little traffic. I am extremely disconcerted at the fact we will be losing this park, if this trend continues imagine where it will end. Leaving St-Ray to head up to the HI without passing throught the Jaques-Cartier park, would be much less enjoyable. Or heading east from our old friend Bernard's place, rest his soul, and not being permitted in the Mastigouche park, makes the ride to the hole known as the Cabanon a little less scenic. I will be researching a name to send our thoughts about the Tremblant park relais closure. The persons name is Martin Soucy, still need a confirmed address though. Please let me know if you have information about this matter. George