Chic Chocs cat skiing

The skiing video thread got me surfing ski videos and I stumbled across cat skiing in the Chic Chocs which is an region that has always interested me

This place is a hostel and Inn that offers cat and heli skiing on a couple of mountains they have cut glades into from the snow fields above.  It looks awesome.  For $1100 CD you get 4 nights stay and all your meals and 3 days cat skiing.  If they have less than 4 booked then they use snowmobiles instead.  The terrain looks great.  I got to do this at some point.  It would make a great father son trip with my son though it really hard to find time in his race season to do something like this and will only get harder.  The negative is its a 10 hour drive from here.

http://www.chic-chac.ca/en/home/


https://vimeo.com/86616827

https://vimeo.com/60129098

Harv I tried for 10 mins to get these to imbed and couldn't do it

It looks so cool up there. There is a ski area that looks pretty fun too. I would like to tour around a bit and check out the different opps in that area. I imagine it's a little unique culturally as well. It seems like it's sort of in a world of it's own.

Another place that would be fun to visit I think would be Marble Mountain out in Newfoundland. You might be able to tie that together with your trip to the Chic Chocs.

The food looked really good at the chic chac when i went in.

To reduce the driving there is a via rail train  to Madapedia qc from Montreal The distance from Matapedia Quebec to Murdochville Quebec by car is 242 km.  Rental car  from this point. This would cut down on the driving. Up until 2013 via trains travelled further east into the Gaspe region, however  track requires repairs  so terminal is Matapedia QC.

For $1100 CD, I could pay for my entire ski season. I'd love to give the Chic Chocs a rip but the fancy pants accommodations up there seem like a bit of a rip off. $1100 for three days of skiing? Pass. I like the looks of the no frills cabins up there, though.

Les Amis de Murdochcity from Jimmy Paquet-Cormier on Vimeo.

riverc0il wrote

For $1100 CD, I could pay for my entire ski season. I'd love to give the Chic Chocs a rip but the fancy pants accommodations up there seem like a bit of a rip off. $1100 for three days of skiing? Pass. I like the looks of the no frills cabins up there, though.

Cat skiing is typically $300 to 400 USD a day so $1100CD for 3 days cat skiing including lodging and meals is super cheap

I'm in.  When are we going?

mm

Coach Z wrote

Cat skiing is typically $300 to 400 USD a day so $1100CD for 3 days cat skiing including lodging and meals is super cheap

Fair enough, I am not familiar with cat skiing but anytime you can get the product plus lodging for what competitors charge for the product only is a good deal. I'd rather fly out to JH for a week than spend a few days cat skiing. I guess it all depends on what you consider worth the money.

I've cat skied at 6 different Ops usually just for one day but once for a week in BC which was the best skiing experience of my life.  I was hooked the first time I did it.

The idea of cat skiing in the east is intriguing and this looks really good with a deep snow pack of essentially ocean effect snow.  It looks like a truely unique experience and since I've been lucky to ski pretty much just about everywhere unique and different appeals to me a lot.

Coach Z wrote

I've cat skied at 6 different Ops usually just for one day but once for a week in BC which was the best skiing experience of my life.  I was hooked the first time I did it.

The idea of cat skiing in the east is intriguing and this looks really good with a deep snow pack of essentially ocean effect snow.  It looks like a truely unique experience and since I've been lucky to ski pretty much just about everywhere unique and different appeals to me a lot.

Only downside for you is that I could see you complaining about the vert. Their main hill at Porphyre is only about 1k.

You'd have to hike up Lyall with their guides if you really wanted to stretch your legs.

Actually most cat skiing runs even out west are not much more than 1000 to 1200 Vert per run.    If it's bigger then you wait too long for the cat as you can ski faster than the cat can go down hill as they gave to follow zig zagging cat roads.  Most cat Ops average 15 to 20 k Vert per day so you get plenty of skiing.  You get in the cat, grab a piece of fruit or energy bar and some water and listen to tunes riding up while chatting with the group and your guides.  It's usually two guides per group and sometimes an Avy dog as well.  Depending on snow stability some time you have to ski at a time and other times it's a free for all powder orgy.