Mount Abram is a medium sized family ski area located near the town of Greenwood, Maine about 2 and half hours from Sherbrooke, or 3 hours and 45 minutes from Montreal. The mountain offers a great variety of terrain for the beginner right up to the expert skier. There are 4 lifts serving 44 trails and a 1,150 foot vertical. There are 2 double chairlifts, 1 t-bar, and 1 beginner Magic Carpet. The trail ratio is 10 Easy, 21 Intermediate, and 13 Expert trails. There are 2 chalets, one located at the Main base of the mountain, and another located over on the West side of the mountain. The West side is mainly occupied by beginners and families wanting to have a safe place to ski, out of the way of the busy main base area. Most of the ski lessons are given in this area. The West side has 1 of the double chairlifts, and the Magic Carpet, while the Main base area is served by the other Double chair and t-bar. Hours of operation are from 9am to 4 pm Thursday to Sunday, and open for the week of ...

Cochran's Ski Area is a small local family hill located just outside the town of Richmond, VT about a 2 hour drive from Montreal along Autoroutes 10 & 35 and Interstate 89. It boasts 3 surface lifts, 1 t-bar, rope tow, and a handle tow called a Mighty Might. There are 8 trails to ski, 4 Easy, 3 Intermediate, and 1 Expert on a vertical of 350 feet. Snowmaking covers 66% of the skiable terrain. The hours of operation are Tuesday to Thursday from 3-6 pm, Friday 3-8 pm, Saturday and Sunday's from 9am to 4pm. They offer an afterschool ski program to children in the nearby neighboring towns and including Richmond on a 9-10 week schedule. Most, if not all skiers here are young families and children learning how to ski for the first time, and right up to the young aspiring racer going through their paces with the Cochran's race program. The hill hosts weekly races and is a training area for 8 local high schools, and shares the hill with 800 school children from elementary school programs. ...

Well the time has come. Day 1 of the new 2017-18 season for me is in the books. With an early departure from Sherbrooke at 6am this morning under cloudy skies, and -5 Celsius, destination was Sommet St. Sauveur. Travelling was great until I hit Montreal of course. A little detour made while work was being done on the Turcotte interchange. Nothing new there. Arrival at Sauveur was 8:30, parking was great as I was one of the early arrivals. I got there early so I could relax a bit and get ready to go when the lift opened for 9am. The Pente d'Ecole, and the 70 West, with the Etoile quad spinning today on Sauveur's Day 2. The temperature was about -3, cloudy, and no wind. The Etoile: The Pente d'Ecole Beginner's Area: The conditions were pretty decent for early season skiing. Coverage was nice with a good coat of artificial snow, groomed over a...

Whaleback Mountain is located right on Interstate 89 near the community of Enfield, New Hampshire, approximately a 2.5 hour drive from Sherbrooke, and just over 3 hours from Montréal. The mountain offers 30 trails and glades of different levels of ability, served by 4 lifts, which include a double chair, T-bar, and magic carpet lift, and a handle tow. The trails here are named in a whale and sea theme, such as the Dorsal, Flipper, Davey Jones' Locker, and Jonah's Revenge just to name a few. Snowmaking covers 12 of the 30 trails and night skiing is offered on those same 12 trails. Operating hours at Whaleback are Tuesday and Wednesdays from 2-8 pm, Thursday and Fridays from 1-8 pm, and Saturdays and Sundays 9-4, closed Mondays unless there is a holiday, or during a holiday week. There is a full-service chalet along with a pub. The hill offers an after-school program for the local kids, and they offer private and semi-private lessons through the ski shop. Rentals can be booked ...

Mont Orford, the highest mountain of the "Big 4" of the Eastern Townships in terms of skiable vertical terrain, is located a little over an hour from Montréal, just minutes from Autoroute 10. A total of 44 trails and glades are waiting for you served by 8 lifts; 2 Quad chairlifts, a Triple chair, Double chair, a 6 seater/gondola hybrid, and 3 Magic Carpets. Orford consists of 3 summits, Mont Orford, Mont Alfred-Desrochers, and Mont Giroux. There are 2 faces on Mont Giroux, known as Giroux North and Giroux East. In the main chalet, you will find the Groups and Client Services counter and seating area on the main floor. Upstairs on the second level is the cafeteria, and two halls, Salle Giroux and Salle Alfred-Desrochers. The daycare and Slalom Pub are also found here in the main chalet. Lift tickets are purchased at the windows outside. In the secondary chalet, the Boutique and Rental shop along with the ski school are located here. Lodging can be found at the base of Giroux East for gu...

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...

Owl's Head is located on the shore of Lake Memphremagog in the Municipality of Potton about an hour and a half drive East of Montréal along Autoroute 10 towards Sherbrooke. The mountain offers 50 trails and 10 glades serviced by 6 lifts; 4 Quad chairlifts (2 detachable and 2 fixed grip), 1 double chairlift, and a beginner's Magic Carpet lift. Snowmaking here covers 90% of the trails to keep them at their best. Owl's Head offers a wide variety of trails for the beginner right up to the expert skier. Accommodations can be found right at the base of the mountain at the MTN Haus. There are other accommodations nearby to stay at for the time being. Details are available in their website for other ideas on where you could stay. Summer activities include hiking, marina with boat rentals, boat slips for day visitors and residents who own properties at the mountain, and a magnificent 18-hole golf course with large clubhouse with dining room, and proshop. The Mountain and the Ski Trails Owl's He...

Mont Gleason is located in the community of Tingwick, Quebec, roughly a 2-hour drive from Montreal along Autoroute 20 heading towards Quebec City. There are several ways to get there, with the simplest route taking Autoroute 20 to Route 955 (Exit 210) to St Albert, and then down to Warwick. Mont Gleason offers a great variety of trails for the beginner right up to the expert skier. There are 21 trails and 10 glades available, served by 2 quadruple chairlifts, and 1 double chairlift. There is also a learning area that is served by a magic carpet lift. Snowmaking covers just over 90% of the mountain, adding to an average annual snowfall of 176 centimetres, making for great conditions. Night skiing is offered at Gleason. Gleason also has a ski/boardercross trail to go along with their snowpark with a variety of bumps and modules. The mountain also contains a tubing park with a choice of 5 different lanes with varying degrees of steepness. You will also find just over 7 kilometres of marke...

Mont Bellevue is a small community ski area located in the heart of the City of Sherbrooke, about 150 kilometers east of Montréal, a drive of just over an hour and a half to get there. The mountain offers great terrain for the beginner and intermediate skier. 11 trails are available serviced by a fixed grip Quadruple chairlift, along with a Pomalift, and beginners Magic Carpet. Snowmaking covers the entire mountain to ensure optimal coverage and to offer the best conditions possible. Night skiing is offered on all 11 trails from Monday to Saturday. The hill closes at 5pm on Sundays. Mont Bellevue also offers a few kilometers of trails for snowshoeing and cross-country skiing with equipment rentals possible for these activities through the rental shop. There are a couple of tubing runs as well serviced with a handle tow, and a skating rink is available behind the chalet. Hiking is also available during the winter months on marked trails.  The Mountain and the Ski Trails The trails ...

The choice today to pretty much end my 2016-17 ski season was Mont Orford. I have ended 3 of the past 4 seasons here and what a day to close out the year! Today had been announced that Orford would be closing for the season due to the weather for Easter Sunday and Monday not being great with rain in the forecast for the Townships. Beautiful bluebird sky to start, really mild, and true spring skiing at its best were to be had. 2 lifts were spinning, the Hybride, a 6 seater chair/gondola serving the Trois Ruisseaux and Grand Coulée trails on Mount Orford, and the Mont Giroux North Quad serving the Magnum, Jean-Davignon, Magog and Pente Douce trails. The conditions were fantastic, true spring skiing with corn snow on a soft base. The first runs were up the Hybride to the Trois Ruisseaux (3 Creeks Trail) and the Grande Coulée. Trois...

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...

Wow what a beautiful day! Today's plan was Mont Gleason. This mountain is located in the town of Warwick about 1 hour from Sherbrooke. I left this morning at 7:30 to be there early enough for decent parking and to beat the rush to get some early runs in. Gleason has 5 lifts in all, 1 fixed grip Quad, 1 double chair, 2 t-bars serving 20 trails, and a Magic Carpet for the learning zone for beginners. I met up with a friend of mine with whom I skied with at Whaleback a month ago. We hit the Quad lift a few minutes before opening at 9:00. This is usually the first lift to open and the double follows soon after usually by 10:30, but today was different. We expected this to be a busy day with the great weather and with the snow we received lately. The double chair opened early in...

After a couple of weeks of no skiing, tonight I needed a ski fix, so Mont Bellevue was just what the doctor ordered. Mont Bellevue, located in the heart of the city of Sherbrooke is operated by the Municipality and offers a small variety of trails, 10 in all. You are not going to find many challenges here as there are no trails marked any higher than Intermediate. The hill is a popular spot for mostly families with small children, and teens. The cost of a lift ticket here for residents of Sherbrooke doesn't run higher that $16, with proof of residency, for a full day ticket. Non-residents do not pay much more than $20 or so. Bellevue has 1 fixed grip Quad, new this season, 1 Poma, and a beginners Magic Carpet lift. During the construction of the Quad, they had removed a second Pomalift that served as a back up lift for the old...

Today's Destination was Owl's Head. My second home from 1989-2001. The temperature was around -10 degrees and cloudy upon arrival at 8:15 this morning, and to a few cars in the parking lot. The weatherman had announced for a mostly sunny day. It did clear out later on during the morning. Being that it is school break this week, I was expecting a lot more cars than what I saw. With the weather we had this past 7-10 days and everything being practically brown, people may have the wrong perception on what is out there. There is snow still to be had on the mountain. The conditions today were pretty good considering what we've had. Just had to watch where you ski in some areas, other wise pretty good. The conditions today were groomed granular over a hard base. Skiing was fast! There were ice patches to be had, no denying that. Approximately 40 trails...

Today's Destination was Whaleback Mountain located in Enfield, NH, about 15 minutes south of White River Junction, VT right on Interstate 89, to meet up with a friend who had been skiing in the region the past couple of days. I left Sherbrooke this morning at 6 am for the journey, 95% all autoroute for this trip. Whaleback is very easy to find and easily accessible. Whaleback has 1 double chair, and magic carpet serving 31 trails and 700 foot vertical with a variety of different levels of ability and glade skiing. You will notice the trail names named are in relation with a sea and the whale theme. The mountain has seen a number of closures over the past number of years, at least 3, but this latest group, the Upper Valley Snow Sports Foundation, is running it as a non-profit organization. Originally opened as Snow Valley in 1956, it operated under that...

Previous report of my ski day at Mt. Abram, ME that was posted on another ski website forum. The Choice of Destination - Mt. Abram, Maine. The day began with my departure from Sherbrooke at 5:30am via Colebrook, NH and Balsams Wilderness, (route 26) with a brief stop to visit the closed ski area, and I arrived at Mt. Abram at 08:30. I noticed that there was no cellular service from Colebrook, NH to Newery, ME, (Sunday River) on Highway 26. It is a remote area, not a lot of cars travel this road. Balsams Wilderness, NH: Today at Mt.Abram, there was telemark racing (USTSA – the United States Telemark Skiers Association) with their Telefest, a day of free demos for people who wanted to try telemark skis. The price of a weekend lift ticket is here $59 USD. The conditions were fantastic, mixture of granular snow and packed powder on a...