towing

happy new years guys :D ¨ an update for you on the conditions here in Lanaudiere We received few little shuts of snow since my last report so i was wondering how it was looking up north. I was nicely surprised to see yesterday that they had more than 2 foot of snow on the ground . Trail conditions improved according and i found again what this area had gave me years after years... let's see how it was looking... We started from home on the #43 trail to Joliette. Trail had not been grommed last night but conditions are pretty good... We opened the throttle on these field straigh trails and very soon, we arrivied in the St-Gabriel de Brandon area and fresly groomed #63 trail was just waiting for us... The trail was a perfect hard road track... 10/10 We kept these wonderfull condition up to St-Gabriel. We continue in north direction on the #345 trail and as we climbed in the mountains, we saw that there was more snow... Just after the Pourvoirie St-Damien, the trail is completed and no more road side to do. We entered in the St-Zenon trail network, an other freshly groomed trail We switched from hard packed trail to full powder trail What can i say ????? 12/10 I was a little deceived because the sun quit us and the clouds have took place... it was still very nice Lumberjack activity had ended near Real Masse and no more side road to do there neither To be continued....

No it's not ready yet, i took this pic at the trail for the ferry on the 2 janv.10 I know that they work to make this link but the rivers had to be safe before... should be ready soon.. Alain

Haha, thank you timbo It will be a pleasure to shake your hand if we get this chance You can take a look on the ride report i just made from yesterday (28 dec) on St-Donat side, a teaser for you :D Have a great trip and take care Alain

The view is superb And I made myself a new flying friend... It's always impressive to see those gray jay coming in our hands to get some lunch.. We stayed a long time there but we had come back home so we took back the trail... And returned to St-Côme by the park (same trails as we went) In conclusion, we don't get as much snow as we hope but what we get was pretty icy, very good to harden the base we had ( in fact really better than fluffy snow). This base is not as thick as we hope but the condition have improved again. We enter in a deep cold wave with very good snow preview for the next days, so... no problem to come and have fun !!! .........And if you go on the Black mountain, bring a slice of bread for my new flying chummy !!! Bye Alain

For those of you that preview to come for the new year (and others), I have an update report from yesterday (28 dec) after the snow... We start our ride from St-Côme village. We took the #341 trail to go in Mt-tremblant park direction. Trails had not been groomed yet but it's not bad, knowing that in this section the ground is very uneven. There are few little sections to ride on the road side and a little longer one of around 2 miles just before Coin Lavigne. We next enter the Mt-Tremblant park. The snow/ice mix of the day before improve conditions but not enought to whiten completely the trail We saw that there was more snow as we ride farther. At the next crossing, we took the #33 in St-Donat direction. The snow condition was really clean and the trail was fine, riding really good... Knowing that the trail to St-Donat village via the lake is not ready (we don't really want to take a bath) we took the trail named St-Donat via mountain. The first part of this trail was freshly groomed and there was just few very visible pot hole sometimes... ride very well... The 2nd part had not been groomed and was very bumpy but we had no choice, we need gaz and are hungry so, go for it !! There are some side road to do by this trail near St-Donat but it's ok. We took a good lunch, fuel-up and returned to take the #33 trail for the next target: the Black Mountain. This trail section from the crossing to the mountain was also groomed and in very very good condition We have a little deception that the sky get cloudy for the pics, it was snowing a little Trees are loaded with a mix of ice / snow and frost And we arrived on the top of the mountain .......

and we arrive at coin Lavigne We fuel up and hit the Mt-tremblant park. The grooming was perfect and we can open the throttle with no problem but the trail suffered from traffic and some dirt had mixed up with snow... In spite of that, the Mt-Tremlant park is really magic to ride... We just ride around 10 miles in the park because we kew we had a long way home and time was running too fast so we took the # 63 trail down in La glaciere direction. this trail was in really good shape with real beautiful white snow A mix of ice, hail and snow slowly begin to fall... the #63 in this area is superb.. And from the Glacière we took back the same trails we took in the morning. We received a mix of all stuffs on the head during the return but when it changed in snow in St-Damien area around 19:00, it was snowing so much that the visibility was near zero. Snow flakes were so big it was like falling cookies !!! we arrived around 20:30 with 231 miles on the dreammeter a little tired but very happy. Bye Alain

Note: We receive a mix a precipitation that improve the conditions all over the area since this report. A mix of ice and snow with some rain at very low temperarure fall over the area last night. Here in the south we receive around 2-3 inches of hail/ice and some low temp rain and there is more snow and less rain in the north. Here the conditions will be better and will improved as soon as the groomers will be able to work this compact material that will help to make us a strong trail base that will hold over the traffic. It will be even better up north... Yesterday 26 december, my wife and I try a ride start from home in the south of Lanaudiere. The strong winds had sweep some new snow in the trail and the strechs in fields are very nice What seems a good idea at first wasn't so good because as soon as we hit the woods, snow miss was evident and the dirt was mixed up with the snow and ruff conditions We still continued our trip and ride in St-Gabriel de Brandon direction. Conditions improved pretty fast as we climbed up in the moutains that were all white frosted Trail become superb after the Pourvoirie St-Damien It had not been groomed since last snow fall but still very good conditions We continued on the the #345 trail and take the 350 to lunch at La Glaciere. After lunch, we took the #63 in south direction to go in Coin Lavigne direction to give a try on the Mt-Tremblant park.The first part of the trail was freshly groomed and perfect The last part was a little bumpy but with enougt snow. There was only the last 1 mile before Coin Lavigne that have lumberjack activity. to be continued...

I just came back from a ride there, it began around 14:00 with a mix of hail and snow with little glaze. I will come back with a complete report of my ride tomorroy but by what I have seen today, i would expect a little less in quantity of snow but alot of hail which is excellent to make a good hard packed base. With the temp. there, anything that will fall will improve the conditions... more details to come... bye Alain

Thank you guys Big delema ... I really think the answer is yes it worth it . It still need some snow to give very good condition but it is snowing right now and if we get the 6" to 8 " they preview on next saturday we will have great conditions on a very large area of trails. You can PM artcat900 that was in the area last week, he will give you an other advise opinion. I will ride next saturday (26 ) and report the conditions to you... Bye Alain

and the scenic was very nice We took a little break at Maubèche falls A little walk and we took a break on the river border And we continued I stopped to remove some rocks from this beautiful trail And we took the #350 trail to go to Koubec. Trail condition was a little less good on the last 5 miles before we arrivied there.. We took back the #350 trail in Glacière direction. This trail was'nt recently grommed and was pretty much bumpy. We continu and conditions improved a little until we go cross and took the #345 trail that we used in the morning that was still in very good conditions We took a brake at Real Massé And we go back to our starting point with a total of 165 miles on the dream meter To conclude, trail conditions improved from last weekend with the snow and the cold weather. Groomers do miracles with the snow they have. The snow base is still thin and there are few rocks in some area. The south of Lanaudiere begin to open their trails, the one near my home was groomed today so the traffic will divide throught more large area and will help trails to hold... Next ride on the chritmas week-end for me... Bye Alain

and very good and fast... action shot ... and we arrived at Cabanon The cold week hard froze the Stanislas lake that is ready for drags After the lunch, we continue on the #345 in the direction to take the #318 trail that we just tried a little last week-end. It was a little bumpy at first but ride fine And we took the #318 est direction. Freshly groomed and near no traffic since = near perfect conditions This trail is groomed on a park road, perfect condition on long strechs... It's a forgotten area from alot of people so there is very low traffic... Some strechs are pretty fast to be continued Alain

Yesterday, -15C, beautiful sunny day my wife and me started our ride a little more south at St-Gabriel de Brandon on #345 trail It was the first gromming so it is not perfect but it's a beginning. I make my effort and removed some branchs The first field trail was nearly perfect A view of this new portion of trail near St-Damien We rode carefully in St-Zenon direction. There was a little ruff segment of 1 miles near pourvoirie St-Damien but it was very good after. The trail was beautiful and we ride at good speed. We still need to be carefull because there were still little surprises sometimes but it was pretty fine There is still some lumberjack activity in this area (should end very soon) so we need to do around 1 mile on the border of this road just before... pouvoirie Réal Massé... Trail become even better after. The 345 between la Glacière and the Cabanon was freshly groommed to be continued Alain

from what I heard about 5 to 6 inches since my last report, we had very cold weather this week... -23C now The web site of Lanaudiere report better conditions and trails more on the south side begin to open... http://www.snowmobilecountry.ca/en/index.jsp?numPage=235 I ride tomorrow and will report the conditions on Sunday.. Stay tuned..... Alain

I live near Joliette in the south of Lanaudiere. The trail is just about 0,5km from home so when it's opened, no trailering needed But to extend in the season beginning and ending, i really appreciate the trailer. I ride Lanaudiere for 20 years know and still apreciate thoses trails with their sweets spots and all the friends i have here, it's my little paradise On the west side, a friend of mine have a chalet in Cheneville near Lac Simon in Outaouais. We go there few time a year to take good ride with him....to ride Maniwaki, Mt-Laurier, devils mountain.... and watchs the deers at Duhamel :) Alain

thank you for your report TDI-HAM I'm thinking the exact same way about it, an old set of well used bergstroms under the skis and I go for it Bye Alain

Thank you viper2 FCMQ site seem to be update once a week (on thursday) but if you clic on an area name in thier list of region it will link you directly to the regional web site who is generally more up to date as you seen... Yes, i am very lucky to have a so great trail network just near my backyard :D and the season just begin Take care Bye Alain

Looks very nice Alain

Thank you guys Alain

The sandy part is all whitened with this new snow... And put some gaz at Cabanon and headed back to Glaciere It was snowing pretty much... It become to be pretty dark but with this new snow it is really beautifull And we came back at the starting point whit a good 110 miles on the meter In conclusion, it is not perfects conditions. Yes there are some rocks and the base is still thin. In riding carefully we had a great ride. There was around 2 more inches of new snow on the car when we leaved St-Zenon and it was still snowing. I hope we will get more this week... I go back there next week-end... Bye Alain

So we headed in the dam direction It become a little more ruff on the last 4 miles before the dam And the dam... It had alot of from the lake and the rocks are uncovered on the dam border so we stayed on the top... We talked a litttle bit and headed back on the same trail in Cabanon direction... We just talked on how we need some more snow to imrpove conditions that it begin to snow... More and more... Just south from the Mastigouche park gate, we took the #318 trail that crossed the park. we immediately see that there were very low traffic and we ride around 10 miles of near just grommed trail... We decided to come back in Cabanon direction because we are alone and not really 100% sure to have enought gaz or deal with unexpected.. so we took back the #345 in Cabanon direction...

It was my first ride of the season yesderday (Sunday). It was very cloudy for pictures but it will give you an idea of what it looks like. We first start from the Glacière... As expected, it was season beginning conditions. The snow base is not big and not very hard yet. The ground ans rocks are not far and mix with the snow on some places. I had installed a set of used carbides so I was not worried about the "klink-Klang" sounds under the skis :thumbsup: We fisrt head up to the Cabanon on #345 trail. It had pretty much traffic on saturday and the little snow base is not enought strong to groom each day so we deal with a moderate moguls trail... A good opportunity to test the suspention of my new sled. it was a little ruff at start but we get some pretty good streches after... It is a good thing that we had no river to cross in the St-Zenon area because it just begin to freeze up.. Few setup on the suspention and we open the throttle a little more... We still need to be very carefull because ther are some "pot hole" and rocks but it is soooooo good to ride again this season... We stopped to lunch at Cabanon... After talking with others sledders, we decided to go to the Taureau Dam. The first 5 miles was a little sandy on some places... But after the trail came back in a Mastigouche park road and became really nice with some near perfect condition streches... And continue in dam direction.... To be continued... Alain

It's me that post the above information on HCS. The snowmobile had been banned in all provincial parks in Quebec few years ago not only Mt-Tremblant park. It is the application of this decision that have been delayed to let the time to the differents area to make alternate trails. Only the provincial parks are touch by this decision this is why we loose acces to Haute-Gorge park few years ago, Mt-Valins Park this year and Mt-Tremblant pretty soon. It's very bad news but many attemps have been done to reverse these decisions without succes... in the circumstance, it's a big chance we have to still ride the Mt-tremblant park this season... Don't miss it !!! Note that wildlife reserves are not touched by this decision so we still have trails in the Mastigouche and Mattawin wild life reserve in Lanaudiere, no problems on this side. Alain

I am please to inform you that some trails are officially opened in the north of Lanaudière The snow base is not big but enought to start, it will be season beginning conditions... Just look here to have details on which segment are opened... http://www.snowmobilecountry.ca/en/index.jsp?numPage=235 I will try to do some exploration over the week-end and come back with few pics ... Bye Alain

Hope to make an other 5000 miles this season... It's the Venture dream-meter with 5 season on the clock... :D Alain

Sorry about your bad experience machmxz in my playground :sad: I know that Rawdon was a dead end last season (#310 trail) but the local club work really hard to find an alternate trail with succes and the 310 trail should be opened again for this season. For those who will visit my playground :D the trail condition on http://www.snowmobilecountry.ca/en/index.jsp?numPage=235 will indicate in the "notice to user" area this kind of information (closed trail or alternate trail) and also, the interactive map on this site is more up to date then the printed one that is made over the summer and does not always reflect last minutes changes... But it's really good to also ear about good experiences I will try to keep you inform of the conditions in my area, i am in the south near Joliette and ride alot in the St-Zénon area. Right now, no snow :sad: but i keep fingers crossed..... It was on the 30 november last season... Bye Alain