Ontario and Quebec ski touring

Dear All,
just back from an excellent ski tour in Norway. One of my first chores in
returning from such trips is to plan the following years one. I might be in
Ontario next February and I am exploring the possibility of a tour there
and/or in Quebec and would welcome advice or websites that could give advice
to help me plan the trip for a group.
My first impressions are that back-country touring revolves around marked
trails and pre-booked accommodation. Distance, basic maps, lack of drop-in
huts/hostels and trees blocking GPS's are issues that we don't have to deal
with. to the same extent, in Europe.
Any way I would welcome any advice you can offer.
Thanks,
Neil

"Neil" wrote in message
...
Dear All,
just back from an excellent ski tour in Norway. One of my first chores in
returning from such trips is to plan the following years one. I might be
in Ontario next February and I am exploring the possibility of a tour
there and/or in Quebec and would welcome advice or websites that could
give advice to help me plan the trip for a group.
My first impressions are that back-country touring revolves around marked
trails and pre-booked accommodation. Distance, basic maps, lack of drop-in
huts/hostels and trees blocking GPS's are issues that we don't have to
deal with. to the same extent, in Europe.
Any way I would welcome any advice you can offer.
Thanks,
Neil

Ok, as a former Ontarian, here are my suggestions:

Hardwood Hills www.hardwoodhills.ca Near Barrie/Toronto

Algonquin Provinical Park www.algonquinpark.on.ca

North Bay Nordic www.northbaynordic.ca

Sudbury Area: http://www.laurentiannordic.com/ In Sudbury, and
http://www.onapingfallsnordics.com/ which is about an hour north of Sudbury

And 2 nice gems: www.wasiski.com/ just south of North Bay and
www.temiskamingnordic.ca which is near the "Tri Towns" Latchford.

As far as places to stay... well, I have no idea your price range, and what
amenities. There are numerious hotels/resorts close to each of these.
However, since Latchford is a small town, you may have to travel up to 50km
to it, but well worth it.

Micheal

Dear Michael,
Thanks for your reply and suggestions, we are interested in ski-touring
rather than cross-country racing, what Canadians seem to call back-country
skiing. We have just toured in Norway going at one stage 5 days without
seeing anyone else. We stayed at DNT and AST huts, which had quite good
facilities, but were empty apart from us - and they operate on an honesty
system. None of these huts were more than 10k from each other. My impression
is that we will have to choose a base and do loops from there, perhaps
changing our base for variety. I know Ontario in the summer and while it is
pleasant and has some nice small towns such as Latchford, by Scottish and
Norwegian standards it is fairly flat and distances are much greater than
Europe. I haven't been in Quebec and I am wondering if we will get more
variety of terrain there within in smaller distances?
Thanks,
Neil
"Micheal Artindale" wrote in message
news:hntyl.18565$Db2.14721@edtnps83...

"Neil" wrote in message
...
Dear All,
just back from an excellent ski tour in Norway. One of my first chores in
returning from such trips is to plan the following years one. I might be
in Ontario next February and I am exploring the possibility of a tour
there and/or in Quebec and would welcome advice or websites that could
give advice to help me plan the trip for a group.
My first impressions are that back-country touring revolves around marked
trails and pre-booked accommodation. Distance, basic maps, lack of
drop-in huts/hostels and trees blocking GPS's are issues that we don't
have to deal with. to the same extent, in Europe.
Any way I would welcome any advice you can offer.
Thanks,
Neil

Ok, as a former Ontarian, here are my suggestions:

Hardwood Hills www.hardwoodhills.ca Near Barrie/Toronto

Algonquin Provinical Park www.algonquinpark.on.ca

North Bay Nordic www.northbaynordic.ca

Sudbury Area: http://www.laurentiannordic.com/ In Sudbury, and
http://www.onapingfallsnordics.com/ which is about an hour north of
Sudbury

And 2 nice gems: www.wasiski.com/ just south of North Bay and
www.temiskamingnordic.ca which is near the "Tri Towns" Latchford.

As far as places to stay... well, I have no idea your price range, and
what amenities. There are numerious hotels/resorts close to each of these.
However, since Latchford is a small town, you may have to travel up to
50km to it, but well worth it.

Micheal

On Mar 26, 7:57*am, "Neil" wrote:
Dear Michael,
Thanks for your reply and suggestions, we are interested in ski-touring
rather than cross-country racing, what Canadians seem to call back-country
skiing. We have just toured in Norway going at one stage 5 days without
seeing anyone else. We stayed at DNT and AST huts, which had quite good
facilities, but were empty apart from us - and they operate on an honesty
system. None of these huts were more than 10k from each other. My impression
is that we will have to choose a base and do loops from there, perhaps
changing our base for variety. I know Ontario in the summer and while it is
pleasant and has some nice small towns such as Latchford, by Scottish and
Norwegian standards it is fairly flat and distances are much greater than
Europe. I haven't been in Quebec and I am wondering if we will get more
variety of terrain there within in smaller distances?
Thanks,
Neil"Micheal Artindale" wrote in message

news:hntyl.18565$Db2.14721@edtnps83...





"Neil" wrote in message
.. .
Dear All,
just back from an excellent ski tour in Norway. One of my first chores in
returning from such trips is to plan the following years one. I might be
in Ontario next February and I am exploring the possibility of a tour
there and/or in Quebec and would welcome advice or websites that could
give advice to help me plan the trip for a group.
My first impressions are that back-country touring revolves around marked
trails and pre-booked accommodation. Distance, basic maps, lack of
drop-in huts/hostels and trees blocking GPS's are issues that we don't
have to deal with. to the same extent, in Europe.
Any way I would welcome any advice you can offer.
Thanks,
Neil

Ok, as a former Ontarian, here are my suggestions:

Hardwood Hillswww.hardwoodhills.ca*Near Barrie/Toronto

Algonquin Provinical Parkwww.algonquinpark.on.ca

North Bay Nordicwww.northbaynordic.ca

Sudbury Area:http://www.laurentiannordic.com/In Sudbury, and
http://www.onapingfallsnordics.com/which is about an hour north of
Sudbury

And 2 nice gems:www.wasiski.com/just south of North Bay and
www.temiskamingnordic.cawhich is near the "Tri Towns" *Latchford.

As far as places to stay... well, I have no idea your price range, and
what amenities. There are numerious hotels/resorts close to each of these.
However, since Latchford is a small town, you may have to travel up to
50km to it, but well worth it.

Micheal- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -


The Chic-Chocs area in Quebec's Gaspe peninsula (http://www.sepaq.com/
pq/gas/en/ ) are likely the best for country ski touring in Eastern
Canada. They aren't flat: good for off-piste boarding, apline,
telemark, and you need to be avalanche aware and trained if you head
for some of the slopes there. There are huts that you can stay at and
ski between you'll need to book in advance from SEPAQ. I have done a
5 day ski tour and stayed in three different huts there.

Gatineau Park, in Quebec, near Ottawa has over-night stay huts and
back country trails too, if you know where to go (not on the official
maps) but it would be hard to put together a trip that's more than a
couple of days, since the overnight stay huts are clustered close
together in one sector of the park.

In Ontario, Algonquin Park is the closest thing, AFAIK, but I'm not
familiar with the hut system there.

Parham.

Thanks for the suggestion. I have read reports of tours in the Chic-Choc
mountains that were quite promising, 2 Questions: do you need to prebook
these huts and are there good maps of the area - I could only find basic
road maps in Ontario
wrote in message
...
On Mar 26, 7:57 am, "Neil" wrote:
Dear Michael,
Thanks for your reply and suggestions, we are interested in ski-touring
rather than cross-country racing, what Canadians seem to call back-country
skiing. We have just toured in Norway going at one stage 5 days without
seeing anyone else. We stayed at DNT and AST huts, which had quite good
facilities, but were empty apart from us - and they operate on an honesty
system. None of these huts were more than 10k from each other. My
impression
is that we will have to choose a base and do loops from there, perhaps
changing our base for variety. I know Ontario in the summer and while it
is
pleasant and has some nice small towns such as Latchford, by Scottish and
Norwegian standards it is fairly flat and distances are much greater than
Europe. I haven't been in Quebec and I am wondering if we will get more
variety of terrain there within in smaller distances?
Thanks,
Neil"Micheal Artindale" wrote in message

news:hntyl.18565$Db2.14721@edtnps83...





"Neil" wrote in message
.. .
Dear All,
just back from an excellent ski tour in Norway. One of my first chores
in
returning from such trips is to plan the following years one. I might
be
in Ontario next February and I am exploring the possibility of a tour
there and/or in Quebec and would welcome advice or websites that could
give advice to help me plan the trip for a group.
My first impressions are that back-country touring revolves around
marked
trails and pre-booked accommodation. Distance, basic maps, lack of
drop-in huts/hostels and trees blocking GPS's are issues that we don't
have to deal with. to the same extent, in Europe.
Any way I would welcome any advice you can offer.
Thanks,
Neil

Ok, as a former Ontarian, here are my suggestions:

Hardwood Hillswww.hardwoodhills.ca Near Barrie/Toronto

Algonquin Provinical Parkwww.algonquinpark.on.ca

North Bay Nordicwww.northbaynordic.ca

Sudbury Area:http://www.laurentiannordic.com/In Sudbury, and
http://www.onapingfallsnordics.com/which is about an hour north of
Sudbury

And 2 nice gems:www.wasiski.com/just south of North Bay and
www.temiskamingnordic.cawhich is near the "Tri Towns" Latchford.

As far as places to stay... well, I have no idea your price range, and
what amenities. There are numerious hotels/resorts close to each of
these.
However, since Latchford is a small town, you may have to travel up to
50km to it, but well worth it.

Micheal- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -


The Chic-Chocs area in Quebec's Gaspe peninsula (http://www.sepaq.com/
pq/gas/en/ ) are likely the best for country ski touring in Eastern
Canada. They aren't flat: good for off-piste boarding, apline,
telemark, and you need to be avalanche aware and trained if you head
for some of the slopes there. There are huts that you can stay at and
ski between you'll need to book in advance from SEPAQ. I have done a
5 day ski tour and stayed in three different huts there.

Gatineau Park, in Quebec, near Ottawa has over-night stay huts and
back country trails too, if you know where to go (not on the official
maps) but it would be hard to put together a trip that's more than a
couple of days, since the overnight stay huts are clustered close
together in one sector of the park.

In Ontario, Algonquin Park is the closest thing, AFAIK, but I'm not
familiar with the hut system there.

Parham.

On Mar 26, 12:49*pm, "Neil" wrote:
Thanks for the suggestion. I have read reports of tours in the Chic-Choc
mountains that were quite promising, 2 Questions: do you need to prebook
these huts and are there good maps of the area - I could only find basic
road maps in wrote in message

...
On Mar 26, 7:57 am, "Neil" wrote:





Dear Michael,
Thanks for your reply and suggestions, we are interested in ski-touring
rather than cross-country racing, what Canadians seem to call back-country
skiing. We have just toured in Norway going at one stage 5 days without
seeing anyone else. We stayed at DNT and AST huts, which had quite good
facilities, but were empty apart from us - and they operate on an honesty
system. None of these huts were more than 10k from each other. My
impression
is that we will have to choose a base and do loops from there, perhaps
changing our base for variety. I know Ontario in the summer and while it
is
pleasant and has some nice small towns such as Latchford, by Scottish and
Norwegian standards it is fairly flat and distances are much greater than
Europe. I haven't been in Quebec and I am wondering if we will get more
variety of terrain there within in smaller distances?
Thanks,
Neil"Micheal Artindale" wrote in message

news:hntyl.18565$Db2.14721@edtnps83...

"Neil" wrote in message
.. .
Dear All,
just back from an excellent ski tour in Norway. One of my first chores
in
returning from such trips is to plan the following years one. I might
be
in Ontario next February and I am exploring the possibility of a tour
there and/or in Quebec and would welcome advice or websites that could
give advice to help me plan the trip for a group.
My first impressions are that back-country touring revolves around
marked
trails and pre-booked accommodation. Distance, basic maps, lack of
drop-in huts/hostels and trees blocking GPS's are issues that we don't
have to deal with. to the same extent, in Europe.
Any way I would welcome any advice you can offer.
Thanks,
Neil

Ok, as a former Ontarian, here are my suggestions:

Hardwood Hillswww.hardwoodhills.caNear Barrie/Toronto

Algonquin Provinical Parkwww.algonquinpark.on.ca

North Bay Nordicwww.northbaynordic.ca

Sudbury Area:http://www.laurentiannordic.com/InSudbury, and
http://www.onapingfallsnordics.com/whichis about an hour north of
Sudbury

And 2 nice gems:www.wasiski.com/justsouth of North Bay and
www.temiskamingnordic.cawhichis near the "Tri Towns" Latchford.

As far as places to stay... well, I have no idea your price range, and
what amenities. There are numerious hotels/resorts close to each of
these.
However, since Latchford is a small town, you may have to travel up to
50km to it, but well worth it.

Micheal- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

The Chic-Chocs area in Quebec's Gaspe peninsula (http://www.sepaq.com/
pq/gas/en/ ) are likely the best for country ski touring in Eastern
Canada. *They aren't flat: good for off-piste boarding, apline,
telemark, and you need to be avalanche aware and trained if you head
for some of the slopes there. There are huts that you can stay at and
ski between you'll need to book in advance from SEPAQ. *I have done a
5 day ski tour and stayed in three different huts there.

Gatineau Park, in Quebec, near Ottawa has over-night stay huts and
back country trails too, if you know where to go (not on the official
maps) but it would be hard to put together a trip that's more than a
couple of days, since the overnight stay huts are clustered close
together in one sector of the park.

In Ontario, Algonquin Park is the closest thing, AFAIK, but I'm not
familiar with the hut system there.

Parham.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

You can find all topo maps of canada at:

http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/maps/topo/map

Search for map# 22B16 to get a fix for the relevant Chic-chocs maps.

You do need to book the huts in advance. They are harder to get in
March, but not too bad in Feb. You can contact SEPAQ. The relevant
info, including a park map is at:

http://www.sepaq.com/pq/gas/en/

Drop me a line if you need more.


Parham.

Thanks Parham, That was very helpful, I'll pass it on to my friends.
Neil
wrote in message
...
On Mar 26, 12:49 pm, "Neil" wrote:
Thanks for the suggestion. I have read reports of tours in the Chic-Choc
mountains that were quite promising, 2 Questions: do you need to prebook
these huts and are there good maps of the area - I could only find basic
road maps in wrote in message

...
On Mar 26, 7:57 am, "Neil" wrote:





Dear Michael,
Thanks for your reply and suggestions, we are interested in ski-touring
rather than cross-country racing, what Canadians seem to call
back-country
skiing. We have just toured in Norway going at one stage 5 days without
seeing anyone else. We stayed at DNT and AST huts, which had quite good
facilities, but were empty apart from us - and they operate on an
honesty
system. None of these huts were more than 10k from each other. My
impression
is that we will have to choose a base and do loops from there, perhaps
changing our base for variety. I know Ontario in the summer and while it
is
pleasant and has some nice small towns such as Latchford, by Scottish
and
Norwegian standards it is fairly flat and distances are much greater
than
Europe. I haven't been in Quebec and I am wondering if we will get more
variety of terrain there within in smaller distances?
Thanks,
Neil"Micheal Artindale" wrote in message

news:hntyl.18565$Db2.14721@edtnps83...

"Neil" wrote in message
.. .
Dear All,
just back from an excellent ski tour in Norway. One of my first
chores
in
returning from such trips is to plan the following years one. I might
be
in Ontario next February and I am exploring the possibility of a tour
there and/or in Quebec and would welcome advice or websites that
could
give advice to help me plan the trip for a group.
My first impressions are that back-country touring revolves around
marked
trails and pre-booked accommodation. Distance, basic maps, lack of
drop-in huts/hostels and trees blocking GPS's are issues that we
don't
have to deal with. to the same extent, in Europe.
Any way I would welcome any advice you can offer.
Thanks,
Neil

Ok, as a former Ontarian, here are my suggestions:

Hardwood Hillswww.hardwoodhills.caNear Barrie/Toronto

Algonquin Provinical Parkwww.algonquinpark.on.ca

North Bay Nordicwww.northbaynordic.ca

Sudbury Area:http://www.laurentiannordic.com/InSudbury, and
http://www.onapingfallsnordics.com/whichis about an hour north of
Sudbury

And 2 nice gems:www.wasiski.com/justsouth of North Bay and
www.temiskamingnordic.cawhichis near the "Tri Towns" Latchford.

As far as places to stay... well, I have no idea your price range, and
what amenities. There are numerious hotels/resorts close to each of
these.
However, since Latchford is a small town, you may have to travel up to
50km to it, but well worth it.

Micheal- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

The Chic-Chocs area in Quebec's Gaspe peninsula (http://www.sepaq.com/
pq/gas/en/ ) are likely the best for country ski touring in Eastern
Canada. They aren't flat: good for off-piste boarding, apline,
telemark, and you need to be avalanche aware and trained if you head
for some of the slopes there. There are huts that you can stay at and
ski between you'll need to book in advance from SEPAQ. I have done a
5 day ski tour and stayed in three different huts there.

Gatineau Park, in Quebec, near Ottawa has over-night stay huts and
back country trails too, if you know where to go (not on the official
maps) but it would be hard to put together a trip that's more than a
couple of days, since the overnight stay huts are clustered close
together in one sector of the park.

In Ontario, Algonquin Park is the closest thing, AFAIK, but I'm not
familiar with the hut system there.

Parham.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

You can find all topo maps of canada at:

http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/maps/topo/map

Search for map# 22B16 to get a fix for the relevant Chic-chocs maps.

You do need to book the huts in advance. They are harder to get in
March, but not too bad in Feb. You can contact SEPAQ. The relevant
info, including a park map is at:

http://www.sepaq.com/pq/gas/en/

Drop me a line if you need more.


Parham.

On 2009-03-26, Neil wrote:
Dear Michael,
Thanks for your reply and suggestions, we are interested in ski-touring
rather than cross-country racing, what Canadians seem to call back-country
skiing. We have just toured in Norway going at one stage 5 days without
seeing anyone else. We stayed at DNT and AST huts, which had quite good
facilities, but were empty apart from us - and they operate on an honesty
system. None of these huts were more than 10k from each other. My impression
is that we will have to choose a base and do loops from there, perhaps
changing our base for variety. I know Ontario in the summer and while it is
pleasant and has some nice small towns such as Latchford, by Scottish and
Norwegian standards it is fairly flat and distances are much greater than
Europe. I haven't been in Quebec and I am wondering if we will get more
variety of terrain there within in smaller distances?
Thanks,
Neil
[--Snip--]


Hello Neil,

If you want remote and challenging skiing i would consider
The Mont Vallins (Saguenay Lac-St-Jean region) as well as the "Traversée
de Charlevoix" (North of the St-Lawrence, east of Quebec City).
See the SEPAQ web site (www.sepaq.com) for the first. A bit less
known than the Chic-Chocs but interresting if you have the
required skiing skills.

Sylvain
Montreal, Qc, Canada
fauvel at emt dot inrs dot ca

The "Charlevoix Ride" is a great backcountry trail to do (http://
www.traverseedecharlevoix.qc.ca/) by camping or going from shelter to
shelter. The luggages can even be carried form shelter to shelter for
a less demanding trip. I did it about 10 years ago and it has been one
of my best memorable backcountry ski trip.
Rock

The "Charlevoix ride" (http://www.traverseedecharlevoix.qc.ca/) is a
tremendous 105 km 5-7 day backcountry ski ride. I enjoyed it a lot
when I was a "wildskier". They can even carry your luggages from
shelter to shelter if your back does not follw your skis. Now, that I
have come back on the tracks I really miss skiing backcountry.Winter's
too short here in QC...

Rock