What a difference a couple of weeks make. The week before, warm and rainy, enough to make everything in town brown again, icy and sloppy in the mountains, then a dump the weekend after of some 40+ cm of snow to cover up the mess left behind. Has Mother Nature been off her meds again? Well, being that it was a sunny day, travels took me all the way to Mont Sutton. This mountain is well known for being the place to go after a dump of snow for the best glade and powder skiing around. The weather today was much better than the last time I had been there at the end of last March. The drive was smooth, and I arrived at the mountain at 9:00 with a very fresh -20 degrees. Parking was decent, and no long hike to the chalet. There was a bit of a breeze that made it a touch colder, but being dressed for it, that didn't matter........just the constant fog up of my glasses under my ski goggles. Nothing some Kleenex couldn't fix. I was more concerned about my phone freezing up, and having to thaw it...

I had based this trip on the long rage forecast about a week ago where it was supposed to be a mostly sunny day and mild, so I planned to have the day off. As the week progressed I watched the forecast deteriorate day by day to a mild day of mostly cloudy and rain. Well at least that part the forecasters got correct! I had gotten in touch with a friend of mine earlier in the week to tell him I was coming down, so this venture was not a solo one. Friday morning wake up, and true to the forecaster's word it was lightly sprinkling. Holding to my commitment to my buddy, I packed up the truck and headed off in the rain. I don't normally ski in the rain but if I didn't go, then the visit to Sutton would have been a write off, and I would have to...

Not your traditional report per say, but more of a preview of what is happening in the mountains of the Townships. I was at Mont Sutton  today visiting a long time friend of mine who runs the ski shop there for step one of my preparation for the upcoming ski season. It was a nice day for a change, and decided that a small road trip was in order to get the skis tuned up. There had been some snow on the weekend. In the lower elevations it was brown, but up in the mountains there is some snow, and looks like winter.  It was chilly this morning when I left for Sutton, and upon arrival at the mountain it was a bit windy which made it feel colder than it really was. After I was done at the shop I decided to take a ride over to the Chair 5 sector of the mountain for a quick peek,...

Mont Sutton is located about 115 kilometres east of Montréal, a drive of about an hour and a half along the Eastern Townships Autoroute and Route 139 that leads right into the heart of the town of Sutton. A turn onto Maple Street and follow your way up to the end. They offer a great variety of trails and glades to choose from for the beginner right up to the extreme expert skier. At Sutton, there are 60 trails, of which 29 of them are glades, serviced by 10 lifts, 3 quadruple chairlifts, 6 double chairs, and a Magic Carpet lift. Snowmaking covers 60% of the skiable terrain. Services at the mountain include bar, full cafeteria, locker area, daycare, rental and repair shop, and Boutique all located at the base of the mountain. There are 4 chalets on the hill to take a break, warm-up, or grab a quick bite to eat. Summer activities at Sutton include hiking and a bike park right out front of the Boutique. They offer rentals of an assortment of mountain bikes. In town, there are a variety of...

With the day off work today, and taking advantage of that, Mont Sutton was the choice of destination. I left Sherbrooke at a little after 7 under partly cloudy skies. When I arrived at Sutton for 8:30, it was cloudy and about 2 degrees above zero. The conditions were a bit more tricky that I was anticipating, as the mild temperatures from yesterday and the freeze from last night made for some hard surfaces. 57/60 trails were announced as open with 2 lifts, Chair 2 the main Quad and Chair 4, the fixed grip Quad were spinning today. The wait in line for either lift was non-existent. The day began on the Sutton iK and the Mohawk to warm up. The Sutton iK was groomed granular on a hard base. The Mohawk, was not groomed but was well covered with some loose granular with the temps being mild at the lower...