The Canadian province of Quebec has many ski areas no longer in operation. These include alpine skiing resorts and cross-country skiing stations. Some of these are quite famous or historic.
List of alpine ski areas
editEastern Townships
editThe Eastern Townships (Cantons de l'Est) extend to the south of the Saint-Lawrence River valley, covering the eponymous administrative region of Estrie, and beyond; between the U.S. border and the Appalachian Mountains to the east.
Ski Shefford
editSki Shefford (45°57′17″N 74°08′39″W / 45.954672°N 74.144244°W) was a ski hill on what was originally Quebec Highway 1, now Route 112, located on Mont Shefford, close to Ski Bromont. Ski Mont Shefford closed in 2006.[1]
Laurentians
editThe Laurentian Mountains extend to the north of the Saint-Lawrence River valley, covering several administrative zones, including the eponymous Laurentides, and beyond. From the Ottawa River valley to the Cote-Nord of the Gulf of Saint-Lawrence.
Les Pentes 40-80
editLes Pentes 40-80 (previously Côtes 40-80, 45°57′18″N 74°08′45″W / 45.9549041°N 74.1457133°W) was a municipal ski hill in Sainte-Adèle.[2] It catered to novice skiers.[3] The ski station was one of the first alpine ski station in the country, and was very popular in the 1950s.[2] The ski station was deeded to the municipality by Charles Bronfman, with a clause saying that it needed to stay a ski slope.[2] With the closure of the station, demolition of the base chateau and removal of the ski lifts, the area remains a public park with accessible ski runs but no lifts or services.[2]
At the end of the station operating history, it was composed of a base chateau, four ski lifts, three T-bars and a magic carpet, five pistes, two green (runs 40, 60), a blue (run 80), a black diamond (run 100), and a glade double black diamond (run 120 or "Bois joli").[4][5] It had a 100 m (330 ft) vertical and the longest run was 600 m (2,000 ft).[6] At one time, it was the cheapest lift ticket in the Laurentians.[7]
Ski Mont Alta
editSki Mont Alta (46°02′25″N 74°14′12″W / 46.040154°N 74.236531°W), founded in 1951, was a ski station located on Highway 117 in Val-David. It closed permanently after its ski lift controller was burnt up, when the chalet burned down in 2014. It now operates as an off-piste park, allowing winter hiking, ski-hiking, etc. in winter, without lift services.[8]
Baumgarten’s Ski Hill
editBaumgarten’s Ski Hill, located on Baumgarten Hill, in Ste-Agathe, is reputed to have the first rope tow in existence, though that distinction is disputed with Foster's Folly at the Big Hill in Shawbridge (Prevost). The ski hill was opened by local businessman Moïse Paquette in 1928, and was continued to be run by his family after his death. The hill itself is named after businessman Alfred Baumgarten, who built a cottage at the base of the hill, by the lake, in the mid-19th century.[9][10]
Ski Mont Castor
editSki Mont Castor located on Mont Castor, in Ste-Agathe, was a ski hill that operated from 1962 to 1995. It once operated 2 T-bar ski lifts. At the base of the ski hill is now located Maximise (46°04′04″N 74°18′22″W / 46.067832°N 74.306000°W), an all-season ski/snowboard slopestyle training facility, with rails and big air, water landing ponds, trampolines, and airbag landings; and includes a winter snowpark, with rope-tow ski lift.[11][12]
Le Chantecler
editLe Chantecler (45°56′43″N 74°08′32″W / 45.9451467°N 74.1423288°W) was an alpine ski hill on the south side of Mont Chantecler in Sainte-Adèle, on the north side is the still open Ski Chantecler. The resort hotel portion of the ski station is still open, as are the tubing, cross-country trails, and horse-drawn sleigh routes.
Chalet Cochand
editChalet Cochand is reputed to have been the first ski resort in North America.[13] Émile Cochand's ski school opened in 1911, followed by the inn in 1914; in Ste-Marguerite.[14]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKcsU0dGcfY
Gray Rocks
edit
Gray Rocks (46°09′30″N 74°35′20″W / 46.158333°N 74.588889°W)
Greater Montreal area
edit
The Greater Montreal Area lies at the confluence of the Ottawa River and Saint-Lawrence River.
Slopes of Mount Royal
editMount Royal is the central hill on Montreal Island, one of the Monteregian Hills, created by a volcanic hotspot during the Cretaceous.
Mount Royal Park
editMount Royal Park, the grand central city park and hill of Montreal once hosted alpine skiing runs next to Beaver Lake (45°30′00″N 73°35′40″W / 45.499945°N 73.594517°W) and ski jumps. The ski runs last operated in the 1990s. It now only hosts cross-country skiing, and sliding. Cross country skiing started in the late 1870s.[15][16]
Université de Montréal
editUdeM, the university on Mount Royal, once hosted two runs, a ski jump and a T-bar, at the top of Vincent d'Indy (45°30′29″N 73°36′30″W / 45.508090°N 73.608196°W), that operated from 1944 to 1979.[17][18]
Francesca Cabrini Park
editRosemont's Francesca-Cabrini Park's slope (45°34′54″N 73°33′45″W / 45.581593°N 73.562425°W) once hosted ski runs complete with a ski lift.[16]
Ignace Bourget Park
editVerdun's Ignace-Bourget Park (45°27′17″N 73°36′20″W / 45.454718°N 73.605608°W) once hosted a T-bar to allow for skiing.[16]
Des Hirondelles Park
editAhuntsic's Des Hirondelles Park (45°34′34″N 73°38′37″W / 45.576049°N 73.643502°W) once hosted a ski lift.[16]
List of cross-country ski areas
editReferences
edit- ^ "Mont Shefford". SkiMap.org.
- ^ a b c d André Bérard. "Fermeture de pentes 40-80:une pente impossible à remonter". Accès Laurentides (in French).
- ^ Quebec. Hunter Publishing. 2006. p. 249. ISBN 9782894647110. ISSN 1486-3502.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) - ^ "Les Cotes 40/80 Ski Trail Map" (published 2008). 13 March 2009. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
- ^ Montreal & Quebec City (2006 ed.). John Wiley & Sons. 20 March 2006. p. 183. ISBN 9780471787709.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) - ^ "The Laurentians: At A Glance". Skiing. Vol. 39, no. 2. October 1986. p. 14. ISSN 0037-6264.
- ^ Association Touristique des Laurentides (January 1988). "The Laurentians". Skiing. Vol. 40, no. 5. p. 152. ISSN 0037-6264.
- ^ ZoneSki Média (2017). "Expérience Mont Alta". Zone.ski (in French).
- ^ Joseph Graham (2018). "Ste-Agathe Recreation And Health". The Ballyhoo.
- ^ Rochelle Lash (11 January 2018). "Skiing is in our DNA: Laurentian museum honours snow sports pioneers". The Gazette (Montreal).
- ^ Maximise (18 March 2015). "Héritage du Mont-Castor à Ste-Agathe on YouTube". Maximise.
{{cite episode}}: External link in|title= - ^ A. Coulombe; J. Beauchamp (7 December 2016). "Maximise: unique en Amérique du nord, 100% freestyle!". Zone.Ski.
- ^ Chas Maclean Cochand (March 2010). "Chalet Cochand: The Ups, Downs, Triumphs and Travails of North America's First Ski Resort" (PDF). Skiing Heritage.
- ^ John Fry (12 February 2007). "First on the Hill". The Walrus.
- ^ Jesse Feith (22 December 2016). "Montreal non-profit looking to reintroduce downhill skiing to Mount Royal". The Gazette (Montreal).
- ^ a b c d Michel Blanchard (30 November 1991). "Un hiver pour branchés". Sports d'Hiver (in French). La Presse (Montreal).
- ^ "Dévaler le mont Royal à ski". C'est pas trop tôt! (in French). 16 January 2014. Première Chaine.
- ^ Mark London (24 May 1986). "Mount Royal threatened by nibblers at its edges". The Gazette (Montreal). p. J-8.
Further reading
edit- Jeremy Davis (July 2017). "Quebec's All-Time Ski-Area Inventory" (PDF). Skiing History. Ski Museum of Canada - Canadian Skiing Hall of Fame. pp. 12–13.
External links
edit- Pierre Dumas (2017). "Répertoire des sites de ski du Québec" (in French). Laurentian Ski Museum.
- stations.fermees.qc. "Les anciennes stations de ski du Québec" (in French). Zone.Ski Media.