Bromont - December 2, 2019

[Ocean]

Today was my friend's birthday, and what better way to celebrate than riding down the mountain! Bromont opened the Versant du Village on Saturday, and I was excited to try some new terrain after having spent the previous 15 sessions at Saint-Sauveur. 

As I was having a long day at the office, I didn't arrive until quite late, with everyone else arriving about a half hour before me. I arrived about 8:30pm and headed to the office to activate my Option nord-est pass which is the Bromont add-on to the Sommet Saint-Sauveur Passe Parfait. Each year, the system of delivering these passes seems to generate some confusion and I was initially told I needed to recuperate my pass at Saint-Sauveur, before they figured out I had my Saint-Sauveur pass and was there to activate my Bromont pass (Bromont also offers a reciprocal deal where you pay $70 for an option to ski Saint-Sauveur). Once I had my pass sorted out, I got ready and headed to the lift. 

The temperature was a bit more moderate than at Saint-Sauveur, and by the time I arrived, much of the wind gusting that we'd seen earlier in the day in the city had subsided. I met up with everyone, and we hopped on the chair of the chondola. We did about four fast runs, opting to take the gondola on the last run. Getting off the chondola at Bromont is a bit weird, because you go around the bullwheel before the door opens, unlike most other gondolas where you get off before going around the bullwheel. To note, the chondola is much quicker than the quad used to be and is a nice, smooth ride.

Conditions were a bit icy/crusty in spots but with decent coverage from the snowmaking that has been ongoing. There was practically no one on the mountain at that hour so we had the runs to ourselves! Pretty sure we did Brome, Knowlton, Bedford, and Coupe du Monde. Even having already done 15 days of skiing at Saint-Sauveur, the long runs at Bromont definitely work the legs a bit more!

Unfortunately my phone is full so I wasn't able to get any snaps of the mountain. Afterwards however, we went to the West Shefford Brasserie at Edgar Hyperlodge for apres birthday celebrating, the stout is pretty delicious! I did catch this snap of the toasty fire they have out front. I'll post more snaps during my next trip to Bromont!

 

 

[Paul]

Great to see you got to Bromont! Lucky that you didn't have much traffic on the slopes, it's usually packed. I may get there at some point this season after the last time I skied there...........about 35 years ago when there was a double chair on the Versant du Village. The Edgar Hyperlodge is a great après ski place. Great food and usually packed. If you end up there on a Thursday night, there is live music. A buddy of mine plays there quite a bit, and the band I'm in had played there occasionally. Did you go into the new summit chalet to look around?

[Paul]

@Ocean the Hybride at Orford is the same way. The unloading platform is set up starting at about 2 o'clock on the downside of the bullwheel. There is so much involved with the synchronization between chairs and cabin. It's all about timing and spacing. If it is off by the slightest, the lift won't run properly. It's amazing how this type of lift works.

[Ocean]

@Paul yeah that makes sense, I figured it was a timing reason. Unfortunately I was there for such a brief time I wasn't able to stop and check out the lodge, but from the outside it looks beautiful with ceiling height windows that surely have an outstanding view of the townships. I might try and go in the next few days again before next Monday/Tuesday's forecasted warm air and rain (I'll head up to St-Sau those days!).

The Edgar Hyperlodge btw stops serving food at ten, except in peak season when it is slammed they will on occasion extend the kitchen hours. I'm sure I'll make it back there at some point but with night skiing I tend to apres back in the city so that I'm not getting home past midnight. However, you can get the same brews at the Pub West Shefford on Mont-Royal Est (totally different vibe though!).