Ski resorts have gone from making snow earlier in the season to now being buried in it.
There’s plenty of winter left and some hills say this year is already better than the last.
At Mont Orford, skiers braved the roads and winds to enjoy the fresh snow.
Simon Blouin of the ski resort says they broke a record this past weekend. He says they had 15,000 visitors over from Feb. 14 to 16.
Also in the Eastern Townships, Mont Sutton’s snow accumulation is the best in five years, according to Lydia Lyonnais, which has led to more skiers.
“We have an increase of 80 per cent of visitors this year compared to last year,” she said.
The vast terrain at Sutton is 100 per cent open.
“With almost five metres of snow at the summit this year. So it’s quite exceptional. We still have 23 centimeters of snow at the base yesterday,” Lyonnais said.
Yves Juneau of the Quebec Association of Ski Centres says this season is much better than the last one.
“Last year, we were down to six million visits and two years ago it was our best season over the past six years with 6.6 million visits. We’re expecting this year to be able to reach that number,” says Juneau.
He added that sales for season passes are down, but sales for daily passes are up. But, ski resorts aren’t counting their money just yet.
“A storm like this puts some pressure on operational costs because we have to make sure it’s a safe environment,” Juneau said.
The President of The Laurentian Ski Museum in Saint-Sauveur, Guy Thibaudeau, says this snow is also good for cross-country trails.
“I think this snow is also critical for cross-country skiing,” he said. ”The Laurentians are the Mecca of cross-country skiing in the province of Quebec. There are hundreds and hundreds of kilometres from Saint-Jerome right up to Mont Tremblant. Some of those trails were not in fabulous shape, especially backcountry trails, because there wasn’t a whole lot of snow before these two events,” he says of the recent snow storms.
They all agree this ski season could last another two months.
“We’re going to be able to be open all the way through April, through Easter with all the snow we’ve had,” Juneau said.
