Chic-Chocs 101

[samthaman]

i'm sure this has been discussed before, but i'm having trouble finding any info. can someone help me find some resources on openings/weather/current conditions for the chic-chocs ?

maybe some line suggestions... (jumpturn had a few a while back)

[icelanticskier]

so many options, so many lines, so many great trips. a few of us will be heading up between the 20th-26th of this month. pm me with any specific queries. you wanna ski exposed and steep? mt washington is a good warm up.

rog

[RR]

Hi Sam, I can give you what I have on it tonight.

Drop a line to JollyJ or Some Good or El-bagr.

Cheers!

[surfsnowywaves]

OGE sells some sweet topo maps of the park that, in my humble opinion, would make VERY, VERY nice wallpaper additions.

;)

[donski]

Guide service offering hike or snowcat.
http://skichicchocs.com/vw/fs/p022.htm

Chick Chocs Mountain Lodge which offers rooms, meals, guides and AT or Splitboard equipment.
http://www.sepaq.com/chc/en/forfaits.html

There are also cabins you can drive to with wood stoves and showers right in the Chic Chocs. I stayed in some near Hog's Back.

[RR]

oops...got caught up in sanding and staining last evening..

will attempt again :o

[samthaman]

^^^^ its ok, post up when you get a chance.

[cfrac]

I think the best bet is to stay in the woodstove cabins which are about $20/person/night (1 800 665-6527). The allowable skiing in the Parc is limited to protect the Caribou. The Parc will give you a map with the legal spots to ski (Murs De Patrollieurs, Grand Cuve, Hogs Back, Champs du Mars). The rest you can figure out when you get there. As for conditions it's pretty similar to Tuckerman's but will have a better longer lasting snowpack. When to go? Now until late April? I'll be there April 11th-17th.

For conditions click the Anglais version, it's updated every few days.
http://www.centreavalanche.qc.ca/info.php

and conditions pictures too!

http://picasaweb.google.com/CentreAvalanche


From March 20th...

http://picasaweb.google.com/CentreAvalanche/20mars2009#5315392783758598354

and from the 23rd...

http://picasaweb.google.com/CentreAvalanche/23Mars2009#5316496263543786418

[samthaman]

if i go i'll be car camping or staying in a tent and not paying. tis trip has to be done on the cheap.

[icelanticskier]

i'll be at the gite with the meal plan program. i've camped, i've stayed in the cabins, the chalets, the gite. the gite is the way to go if ya don't mind spendin some dough. the food is so good and plentiful that grocery shopping for the week is pointless. the frenchie girls are fun as well;). just a few more weeks till big terrain time.

rog

[RR]

if i go i'll be car camping or staying in a tent and not paying. tis trip has to be done on the cheap.that's a bit out of my CC experience. If it's a tent trip, the driving and the food are the biggest hits to the wallet.

Buy all the food and any booze up there as the import limits are rather low with the taxes and duties amounting to 150% of the merchandise value if you exceed the limits. They will ask, don't lie, they might check your stuff.

Grocery prices are only a tic higher up there. Booze and beer are cheaper in Quebec than in New Brunswick, but only right close to the provincial border. For what it is worth, I would enter Canada via Quebec next trip. Crossing into NB really cost Joel and me a bundle! Maybe the Quebecois like me better? I sure like them!

Anyway I'm looking for the files to email.

[cfrac]

Buy all the food and any booze up there as the import limits are rather low with the taxes and duties amounting to 150% of the merchandise value if you exceed the limits.
I found this link...
http://www.traveldocs.com/ca/customs.htm

I never considered any of this before, the food part seems nebulous.

[RR]

I found this link...
http://www.traveldocs.com/ca/customs.htm

I never considered any of this before, the food part seems nebulous.....check on smokes too! Cigars are limited to an amazing degree...as one might imagine, that matters to me :confused:

[Jolly J]

I found this link...
http://www.traveldocs.com/ca/customs.htm

I never considered any of this before, the food part seems nebulous.

Don`t worry, American customs are just as weird on food. You can`t import Fruit from Canada into the US that has already be exported from the US. Which makes me wonder what the **** is wrong with if you can`t take it backÉ

[icelanticskier]

save yerself any and all trouble and don't even have an apple core or banana peel in yer car for in or out of canada.

rog

[cfrac]

I just ordered this platter for our trip across the border...

http://image51.webshots.com/51/6/53/69/482165369ZScJBy_ph.jpg

[RR]

Don`t worry, American customs are just as weird on food. You can`t import Fruit from Canada into the US that has already be exported from the US. Which makes me wonder what the **** is wrong with if you can`t take it backÉYeah, like what the F is up with that?!

Being a long-hair, I am resigned to hassles at borders, just goes with the territory. Getting back into the USA from Canada is currently at 5 to 1 more problematic.

[RCL1]

The term 'meal plan' is unfortunate. it hearkens back to college days and crappy full fare. A dirtbag camper by disposition, last year I baited my wife into a week of Chic Chocs with the promise of civilization at the Gite. It was money well spent.

Every day we skied ourselves silly, were fed slowly into submission in their quintessential european style, drifted off into sleep and and repeated the next day. It really needn't have ended, except to restock the coffers at work.

Though they have a wonderful selection of wines and scotches, you may want to stock up on beer and liquor in Sainte Anne des Monts just before leaving route 132.

Wish I could go this year. :cry:

-Ralph

[icelanticskier]

It was money well spent.

Every day we skied ourselves silly, were fed slowly into submission in their quintessential european style, drifted off into sleep and and repeated the next day.


ya, and how bout them breakfasts as well? the rooms are nice and when ya meet a girl it's much nicer to bring her back to yer room then it is a stinky cabin or tent. i'm very much lookin forward to the gite again.

rog

[RCL1]

For sure. Though my girl is pretty much contractually obligated to come back with me whether it's a tent, van or gite. Have a blast rog!