Mt St-Sauveur QC – May 19, 2013 : Encore??? There is still skiing???

Weren’t they suppose to close on May 12? One weekend pass the anticipated last day of the season and MSS is still spinning the lift. Only two trails remained in the East this weekend, but Superstar at Kiilington wasn’t possible due to my busy weekend in Montreal.

Another Sunday at MSS. I mentioned in the first outing in May that I had only skied MSS in May 4-times: 3-times from 1994-2012. I’ve equalled that today with my 3rd outing at MSS in May 2013! This is somewhat similar to the relationship I had with Gray Rocks back in May 1982 and 1985 with repeated weekly visits, however this year was more of a convenient detour with return trips to Montreal than back to the unique skiing days of the 1980s.

Another weekend where I had to be in Montreal, unfortunately things spilled over into Sunday morning. I had an extreme late departure from Montreal, it was already past noon. Saturday was the day for skiing in the sun, but I was over my head in Montreal. I was detouring via St-Sauveur to head back to Ottawa. The sky was gray and looked like it was going to rain: rain was in the forecast for the evening.

It was a Green, White and Gray day. Trees are now totally green, a pretty rare sight when you’re skiing. Although the sun wasn’t out, the temperature was +17c. This Sunday is long sleeve skiing weather versus t-shirts two weekends ago and vest last weekend. There were cars in the parking lot, however it would seem more people were here for the Viking and Dragon in the Amusement Area: zipline and tobboggan on rails as I’ve seen in the Alps.

Conditions were similar to last weekend and similar amount of people. I meet up with a few people I keep seeing at MSS: Parti en ski (Done skiing) from Zoneski that I recall seeing at each visit: I know he’s already above his 100 ski days this season. We were started talking, Gerald showed up. I had skied with him last May and skied with him again two weekends ago and today. We ended up spending more than 15 minutes talking at the top. But it was that type of day; I was unwinding from a busy weekend.

Started skiing at 1:30pm and almost made last chair at 3:55pm. It was 3:49pm on our last ride when the liftie mentioned it was the last ride. Gerald next to me told him if we ski fast enough we might make it…just then, the chair slowdown for maybe 30 seconds. As we got the bottom, the patrol was getting reading load on the closing chair and liftlie smile at us. Thirty seconds were the difference between making that last chair. It was a short and condense day, 17 runs and 2:30 hours. We had gotten a few odd rain drop, but it held off
I arrived at the car. The rain continued until I reached Ottawa. MSS is attracting slightly more than more than the Montreal-Laurentians market, there were some people who drove from St.Albans VT mostly for the skiing. As I was getting my stuff in the car, I noticed a couple going for after-hour turns.

The base was very firm, icy and covered with some loose granular. I had my old slalom skis that could carve ice which was a good thing. The ice was gray and it was like skiing an old glacier. Snowdepth was still important, we are talking about approximately 4-10 feet along most of the trail. The only thin part was the flat top off the lift. MSS was suppose to open on “choose the name you like (Victoria, Dollars or Patriotes) Day as it is a Holiday in Canada, but just not named the same, but they weren’t going to spin judging by today’s weather. Is there going to be skiing next weekend at MSS? I don’t know? I believe there is enough snow for an extra weekend or two!!! However like everything in the Spring, it can changed really fast and MSS generally doesn’t open if the weather doesn’t cooperate, regardless of snow. Let’s hope for another clear weekend.

Vermonters at MSS

After-hours: Hikers in the rain

Day’s Ski Log

Recent MSS May Days and my last 4 May Days:

M.S.S. QC : SUNday May 6, 2012 – May Skiing Saviour

Mont St-Sauveur QC : May 5, 2013 – Skiing in May, Encore!!!

Mont St-Sauveur QC : May 12, 2013 – May, Mothers’ Day and Montréal

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GeekZone:

This was the 42 days of the season and 201 days since that memorable start in West Virginia for Halloween.

Last May 12 was the first time I had ever skied on that day. May 19 was the third time. I have now skied Gray Rocks, Killington and now MSS on this day.

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Forties are wild:

All ski areas with 40-49 days: Position #4 to #8 in MadPat’s ski visits since keeping track in 1981-82. Lifetime numbers is greater for MSS*.

42 : Ski Days in 2012-13 to date
43 : Ski Days in 2011-12
44 : Mont Cascades QC
44 : Mad River Glen VT
46 : Killington VT
46 : Mt St-Sauveur QC*
47 : Chanteclerc QC
48 : MadPat’s age in June
49 : Days since someone from my family last skied.

The irony is that I’ve skied MSS and Kiilington the same amount of days and are the only two options left for liftserved skiing in East. Will the tie be broken soon?
Who will head up on top?
Who will closed last?
When is Eastern liftserved skiing end?
Where am I going to skiing next?

MadPat’s Gallery:
Mont St-Sauveur – 19 mai 2013

Skiing Not Gone Yet – Eastern Closing Thread 2012-2013 Part 7

No changes for this weekend, same two ski areas standing. Killington lost Skyelark since last weekend, it’s now down to both areas traditional last season runs.

There is 4 possible days of skiing available around this weekend starting at Killington this Friday and closing out on Monday at St-Sauveur. Both areas will be open on the weekend. Go out if you can, not many days left.

MSS confirmed that they will be open for Victoria Day (Holiday in Canada). Since MadPat’s has been keeping track in 2006, this would be the first time for liftserved skiing on the May Holiday if MSS is open on Monday. MSS closed on Saturday May 22, but didn’t make it to the Monday. Killington is, of course looking to make it to June 2, but will be closed midweek. So St-Sauveur is the only one open on Holiday Monday. Late May skiing options were more frequent when I had just gotten my driver’s license. Not only at Killington, but at a few places like Gray Rocks.

LAST TWO SKI AREAS IN THE EAST

St-Sauveur QC – May 20 or more? (Sat-Sun-Mon), no confirmation on a closing date
Killington VT – June 2 (Fri-Sat-Sun only – closing day tentative)

Vital info:
Mont St-Sauveur :
Trail : Hill 70 West
Lift : L’Étoile Quad
Vertical: approx. 607′ (185m)
Price : $20 for all
Time : 9am to 4pm all 3 days.

Killington :
Trail : Superstar
Lift : Superstar Express Quad
Vertical: 1199′ (365m)
Price : $39 for adults – (passholders from anywhere? $19.50 (Fri – 50%) or $29.25 (weekend – 25%).
Time : 9am to 5pm (Fri) or 8am to 5pm (weekend)

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Previous years:

2006: May 5
2007: May 6
2008: May 11
2009: May 4
2010: May 3
2011: May 22
2012: May 6
2013: ???

Latest closing date since I’ve been official keeping track in 2006 – season latest in bold:

Previous late closing dates

2011 : May 22 – St-Sauveur
2013 : Killington and MSS currently
2011 : May 15 – Jay Peak
2008 : May 11 – St-Sauveur
2011 : May 9 – Sugarloaf
2012 : May 6 – St-Sauveur
2007: May 6 – St-Sauveur, Sugarbush, Wildcat & Killington

This is the latest date we’ve had two ski areas still open in that same time period. The previous latest pair was MSS and Jay on May 15 when both of them were still open.

Killington hasn’t been open this late since May 2003. Kmart made it to June the previous season.

Of course, this is not the latest St-Sauveur or Killington has been open. Or that two ski areas have been open this late. Killington’s latest day on record is June 22, 1997. MSS’s latest closing is June 2, 1997. At least 4 Eastern ski areas were open on June 1, 1997; in addition to K and MSS, Sugarloaf and Tremblant were also spinning for one last day.

Killington hasn’t been open this late since May 2003. Kmart made it to June 1 the previous season.

Previous weeks:

Ski Mad World’s weekly Eastern Closing 2013 posts:
Go skiing this weekend!!! – Eastern Closing Thread 2012-13 – Part 1
Eastern Closing Thread 2012-13 – Part 2
Start of Spring Skiing – Eastern Closing Thread 2012-13 : Part 3
Full Spring – Eastern Closing Thread 2012-13 Part 4
May Five – Eastern Closing Thread 2012-2013 Part 5
Corn Deep in May – Eastern Closing Thread 2012-13 Part 6

Mont St-Sauveur QC : May 12, 2013 – May, Mothers’ Day and Montréal

Encore…skiing this weekend at Mont St-Sauveur, especially after mentioning last week that I had only skied 4 times in the last 32 Mays here.

St-Sauveur and Killington were the only two choices with spinning lifts East of the Rockies on Mothers’ Day. There were a total of 3 runs “open” and one of them was one of the oldest in the East: Hill 70

Although the “Encore” theme is still accurate, it was a first for many reasons.

First time I’ve skied twice at MSS in the same season since November 2003.
First time I skied on this day. Not Mothers’ Day; I’ve skied on Mothers’ Day 5-times prior to this year: all at Gray Rocks between 1982 and 1990 with the exception of Sugarloaf in 2011.
But it was a first time skiing on a May 12th. Geek alert: Since I started keeping track, I had never skied on the 12th making it with December 23rd the only two days unskiied between December 8 and May 26.

Quiet on the terrace

I had 11c at the car. Last week’s temps was probably off also

Encore at St-Sauveur, but it wasn’t an encore weather of last weekend. Instead of +27c and bluebird, we had +8c and mostly gray. It was rainy when I left Ottawa in the morning. No bikinis or shorts this weekend; there was no crowds either. The DLS kids (Laurentian Zone) had to deal with some rain this week as they skied when the hill was closed to the public. Another thing was different: the trees were all green.

It was a big day, awake early for my wife’s Mothers’ Day, breakfast made by my youngest daughter then a slow departure for MSS at 10am. I had to go to Montreal to take care of some business, so instead of going a 400km return Ottawa-Montreal trip, I drove 465km and skied MSS a couple of runs.

White ribbon leftover on Nordique pitch and green trees

Someone knew who I was when I reached the snow, it was Bri7 from Zoneski and reader of this blog. He had also made the Mothers’ Day choice which involved a promise between snow and his mom and wife in the Townships. He drove north from Montreal to St-Sauveur to capture a few runs then drive to Granby to later meet his mom and wife. The surface was hard from the salting for the kids race camp and the cold weather. Flurries were expected later that night, so the snow isn’t going anywhere for a few days. The giant snowman was flatten with the bumps. We skied about 7 runs together before he rushed off. I went to get the camera to record the incredible amount of snow left.

12 runs on May 12th for 2 hours on base depth from 8 to 12 feet high to call it a day for myself, Montreal was waiting for me. Nordique was thin last week and didn’t survive, however West 70 still deep, so they should be fine for next weekend. They might be able to make it even make it to the following weekend if they want. Now that is the question?

The next day I haven’t skied is May 26th, so who knows? I might or might not ski before that date, liftserved or not.

Top of West 70

Snow depth

Encore a 12:34 start…

MadPat’s Gallery:
Mont St-Sauveur – 12 mai 2013

Monday Mad Addict’s Attic : Bromont

The Eastern Townships ski resort will be celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2014. Bromont started off modestly with the small Mont Soleil and Cowansville, Waterloo and Granby runs on Mont Brome. The resort had been around for 10 years and just pre-dates the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. Bromont was going to be the site of the Equestrian events. The ski resort has seen a few major expansions of its trail and lifts network around the many faces of Mont Brome in the last 12 years.

Back in 1976, the ski area was limited to the steep north face with the exception of Mont Soleil. Taken from the brochure from circa 1975-76:

We invite you to Bromont for great skiing and a variety of recreational activities for the whole family. 15 miles of well-groomed trails and slopes to challenge the expert and tempt the beginner.
- Two major mountains
- Almost 2000′ elevation
- 1300′ of vertical skiing
- 15 major ski trails
- Runs up to 2 1/2 miles long
- 5 major lifts (3 modern double chairs)
- Night skiing
- Cross country touring
- Short ski progression (GLM)

The Ski Week included:
- instructions;
- slope side accommodation “complete with heartily skiers’ meals;
- charming dining and lounge facilities in the French-Canadian tradition;
- riding and sleigh rides at Bromont Equestrian Centre.
- “Granby…a city of fine dining is only six miles away and Montreal is easily accessible within 45 minutes”.
- complimentary night skiing and cross-country touring.
- “interchangeable at all Ski East areas…Mont Orford, Sutton, Owl’s Head and Jay Peak (small additional charge at Jay)”

Click to access larger image

Mont St-Sauveur QC : May 5, 2013 – Skiing in May, Encore!!!

Encore!!!

Encore!!!

Is the Slogan, Mt St-Sauveur remains the Eastern Canada ski area with the longest season by a long shot. In fact, it’s been the only ski area in the East to make it into May every season since MadPat’s has been keeping track of Eastern closing dates (the last 8 seasons – the closer competition have made it only 5 out of 8 years in May : Sugarbush, Sugarloaf and Killington). I don’t recall MSS having closer prior to May in the last 30 years. We were Corn Deep in May.

Summer activities…is skiing included?

Encore!!!

MadPat has always skied in May since 1981-82 (94%) with the exception of two season due to medical conditions (1983 and 1998). Although I’ve skied 65 days in May, only 4 of those days (6%) have been at Mt St-Sauveur. There have been many May players over the years, but MSS has been the constant May opener.

Breakdown of ski areas for MadPat’s 65 May Days since 1982:
Killington VT (1984-2005) : 23
Gray Rocks QC (1982-1992) : 14
Sunday River ME (1994-2001) : 6
Mt Washington NH (1990-2006) : 5
St-Sauveur QC (1994-2013) : 4 (6%)
Ste-Anne QC (2002-2004) : 3
Chic Chocs QC (2009) : 3
Jay Peak VT (2008-2010) : 3
Sugarbush VT (1993) : 1
Tremblant QC (1997) : 1
Wildcat NH (2007) : 1
Sugarloaf ME (2011) : 1

As you can see, MSS has been far from my favorite ski area in May although it has always been an May skiing option even it was only 65km from Montreal and 160km from Ottawa over these years. Even within Quebec, MSS only accounts for 16% of my Quebec May Days. In the 1980s, I would often drive past an open MSS to continue the extra 45 minutes to ski Gray Rocks. Of course, Ste-Anne, Tremblant now close prior to May and Gray Rocks stopped spinning in May a long time before the ski area closed down in 2009.

In the shade

Encore!!!

A return to MSS for May turns. Warm enough to ski in t-shirt weather “encore” similar to last May 6, 2012, but only hotter.
M.S.S. QC : SUNday May 6, 2012 – May Skiing Saviour

Hottest day of the season, and I’m not only talking about the 27c (80F) weather. Probably up one of the hottest days I’ve ever skied. Bring out your sunglasses, sunscreen, your shorts or bikini…the Waterpark isn’t open yet, but there is still skiing happening at MSS. It was a hot one. This was Summer skiing at it’s best.

Lift tickets were $20 for all, however my Edelweiss pass which is owned by MSSI got me on for free. I just needed to recharge my MSS RFID. I decided to use my old slalom skis instead of an all-mountain. It definitely felt like a day at the beach. Instead of sand, it was corn. Most of the people were dressed in their best summer attire.

Nordique and lift

Nordique, lift and part of waterpark

Top of the hill

Started skiing at 12:30 as I wasn’t in the hurry to leave Ottawa that morning, especially the lift were suppose to be open from 11 am to 5pm. Door to lot in less than 2 hours with the newly completed Autoroute 50 plus I lose time driving through Lachute this time. As I got to the lift after my first run, I bumped into Ken and his son Tristan from Edelweiss and Gerard which I meet and skied here one year ago all at once. There were a few familiar faces from last May it would seem. Later in the day I also meet up with Wake from Zoneski. I made laps with Ken and Tristan as they making laps until they left at 2pm. Ken asked where my daughter was, as she is part of the Edelweiss Race club with Tristan. It was so hot that I was sweating skiing in a t-shirt.

Beautiful bluebird day with two runs with excellent coverage : Nordique and West 70 which spilled over onto East 70. There was great base on both runs, however the steeper Nordique base was thiner. It was not going to survive the Summer temperature for this past week. The final pitch was bumping up, but a few bare spot were starting to open up.

Top of Nordique

West 70 had a deep base along the whole trail, especially the bottom pitch where they were probably over 10 feet deep. Skiing was schedule to start at 11am when the ski camp was finishing. The B-net was up on the side of the top of Hill 70. Judging by the snow, courses were setup with salting on various spots of Nordique and West 70. I don’t know if it was continuous, but you could tell where it was as the snow was hard in a few lanes. The rest of the stuff was pretty corn snow.

There was a giant snowman at the top of the bottom West 70′s pitch. Immediately below was a mogul field. There was enough snow on the side wasn’t bumped which spilled over into East 70. Skied with Gerard later in the day and meet Wake later on the Terrace of the Chalet at the end of the day. The only break I took was to get my camera to take a few pictures for prosperity, whoever he is? They were only 45 minutes left when I started taking pictures, but I believe I managed to capture the vibe even if most people had stopped skiing.

Top of West 70 with B-netting on the side

Giant snowman above the final pitch of West 70

Mogul field on West 70

The menu of the day was generally 2 runs 70 then 2 runs down Nordique. When the day was over, I had skied 27 runs in little over 4 hours. The mountain looked greener at the end of the day are buds were opening up. The unfortunate part was that the chair is at tree height and my allergies were giving me a hard time.

The extra snow from the giant snowman is going to be needed spread for the next weekend. The ski area is closed to the public this week, but it is open for a race camp. We noticed at the end of the day, the groomer pressing the reset button for the bumps.

End of day

Cooling off

Encore!!!

As other players (Jay, Sugarbush and Sugarloaf) were folding in the last few days, MSS skied into May with another strong hand. Anyone that was here today, bearing a total meltdown, MSS is going to be open next weekend and maybe even longer. The talk now that the planed May 12 might not be the last weekend of the season after all; talk is May 17-18 might be also possible.

Resetting the bumps for next week

MadPat’s Gallery:
Mont St-Sauveur – 5 mai 2013

Day’s Log

Fortune QC : April 27, 2013 – Good Fortune, Sucker Moon, Local Vibes

Another busy week had me spend the weekend close to Ottawa.

Banquet at Edelweiss Golf Club QC : April 26, 2013

The weekend started off on Friday evening with a Banquet at the Edelweiss Golf Club near the ski area of the same name. The Edelweiss ski area has been owned by MSSI for about a decade, but the Golf Club is still owned the Tommy family.

There was still some good patch skiing potential at Edelweiss. For April 26, the snow coverage was similar to what was found last season on March 24, 2012 after the huge meltdown.

It was a great idea for the Race Club executive to renew, what I was told, the Banquet tradition. Many parents and athletes were present and we received by the Golf Club and the Tommy family. Kids were presented with awards and their certificate. An inspirational speech by ex-Edelweiss ski racer, 17-year old Mikaela Tommy who made her World Cup debut this season and won the GS Nor-Am title (Ottawa Citizen). The Puttick family also donated the “Ted Puttick Memorial” trophy for the athlete that showed the greatest work ethic and thrive, the young Mykael that had a serious season ending injury.

So I didn’t ski tonight, got a great view of the Sucker Moon on the drive back to Ottawa. Planning to ski the next on the other side of the Gatineau River.

MadPat and Morgane

Tara had certificate for “heart warming personality”

Morgane receiving her certificate for “Prettiest Face Plant!”

Mikael receiving the first Ted Puttick Memorial Award from Gail, Jonathan and Donna Puttick

Kids partying

Mikaela Tommy signing autographs

Mikaela Tommy and the Edelweiss Ski Team minus most of the boys. They were checking out the bats outside

MadPat’s Gallery : Edelweiss Banquet – April 26

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Fortune QC : April 27, 2013

What is the sucker moon? I didn’t know before that day at Fortune. First sucker is a fish, not a person. It is from the First Nations’ “Moon Teachings”. Sucker Moon is the April Full Moon.

The fourth moon of Creation is Sucker Moon, when sucker goes to the Spirit World in order to receive cleansing techniques for this world. When it returns to this realm, it purifies a path for the Spirits and cleanses all our water beings. During this time we can learn to become healed healers.

Source: Kanawayhitowin site

A different type of gathering was planned for Fortune on the following day. A gathering at the Skyline Lodge at Fortune for celebrating of good fortune for one of his local skiers: “the 40th anniversary of his being alive and more or less intact”. The fastest ski patrol I know and one that has, unfortunately, sometime tested his body for various injuries from skiing to car crash related. Funny, he’s not the only great skier I know that has gotten his share of injuries. The other is nicknamed Lucky.

I got this Facebook invitation…which appealed to me.

No real itinerary and nothing fancy, just some bootpacking up Hegg, a bonfire and BBQ eats, with a keg or three o’ cheap beer on hand.

Do: bring the kids and/or dogs, lawn chairs, guitars, other likeminded revellers.

Don’t: forget your rock skis or sliding device of choice.

Hope to see you there!

Here’s a rough guess at the itinerary. Weather looking just ok, but we’ll make the best of it of course.

2PM – 8PM skiing (or whenever you feel like really)
5:30PM some burgers and hot dogs
6:30PM wee bonfire
8:06PM sunset and bigger bonfire
8:30PM more burgers and hot dogs
10:37PM Sucker Moon rises, pagan worship begins (kids should probably head out before this part)
10:45PM speeches
11PM some spider dogs and more marshmallows
12PM clean up and head to Ritual

Anyone that know Andy, know that the time are real approximate as I left at midnight and the party was still happening.

There was a good amount of snow left on Skyline on their closing weekend two weeks ago so I didn’t know what to expect condition and silliness wise, so I brought FOUR pair of skis – one that I had only use twice in the last 9 seasons.
- Good skis with touring bindings and skins.
- Everyday skis all-conditions skis.
- Old rock skis.
- An old straight pair of skis.

You can never bring too many skis

Aaron starting to hike

Chute and Canadian

I meet Aaron and Carmen with are fellow Masters and Chile traveler from last Summer. They had just finished their first run. Judging on the amount of snow, there is no question that Fortune could have opened if the chair bearing didn’t brake on April 14th. I took the good skis with the skins and joined Aaron for his second run. A trio of skiers/boarders had just finished their run and we going home. I was skinning up while Aaron was hiking, we parted way where went up Canadian-Bud Clark and Chute respectively. I thought the snow looked continuous on Canadian, but it wasn’t really. I decided to remove my skis instead of going up the narrow steep ridge at the top. I ended up removing my skis 3 times to reach the top of Skyline. It took me about 23 minutes to skin and hope the 170 vertical with my skins.

Aaron above Chute. Upper Canadian is next.

Aaron’s leap

Heggtveit looked like the “run”. Aaron opted for Upper Canadian-Chute, as Hegg was his 1st run. He started building a jump to leap over the melted out waterbar. Hike down to traverse to the top of Hegg as it was pretty melted out. I hiked around at the top, checked out Swan Dive. The snow on Heggtveit was continuous 155 meters, which was a continuous fall-line skiing getting steeper at the bottom. It started narrow and widen to the entire trail with the exception of a few spots. As I was skiing down, I meet a hiker with crampons that was training for a hiking trip to the Alps. The corn was perfect.

Traverse

Swan Dive

Heggtveit

A few people started to show up once I reached the bottom. For the second time up we hiked up directing on Heggtveit which was more efficient: 19 minutes on snow with no hiking back down. Much more direct for the most interesting terrain. The snow was even better for the second run: smooth like butter. This time we were 4.

Heggtveit

Andy and a few other people showed up for my third and last run. Fellow Masters racer Rog was in bike mode, we dropped by to say hi as he was riding in Gatineau Park. Needless to say that the schedule was off as started hiking shortly before 6:30pm. We hiked to the highest continuous snow. The snow was changing over as sun was lower and temps were dropping. I chatted with a random telemarker that was surprise to see some many people, he wasn’t aware of the festivities. Snow on part of Heggtveit was going to late a while; they was 10 feet deep on the sides of the trail on the last part of the pitch.

Andy

After 6pm climb

Andy and Aaron skiing down the top of Hegg

At the end of that Andy had to give a hand for the food; it was his party after all. Some of us kept our boots, just in case they would be a later run. It was getting dark, keg were open in the lodge and food was being prepared. BBQ on the deck. Camp Fortune permitted the use of the lodge as long as they were providing the food and beverages. Being a longtime member of the Ski Patrol definitely has had some advantages. Trucks got positions and almost stuck (a few times) to get better position for the bonfire. We all waited for the Sucker Moon, but didn’t see it. I could clearly see the moon as I returned to my car a few feet away from the slope, it was sheltered by the hill. I guess I was suckered to keep my ski boots most of the evening for hoping a moon light run…it didn’t happen.

Skyline Lodge

Inside the Lodge

Seeing the sucker moon from my car – not visible from the Lodge or bonfire

I got a great view when I got home

MadPat’s Gallery : Camp Fortune – April 27

Ten years ago : the Ski Mad World seed to Social Media

Ten Years ago today, I published my first trip report on the FirstTracksonline ski forum :

Mont Ste-Anne, May 3rd, 2003

It was MadPat’s start in my personal account on the slopes. I had started keeping track of my ski days after finding out that a ski friend Jean-Pierre in High School kept a detailed record of his seasons. In 1981-82, I started my own. My track record wasn’t a detailed diary, it just touched at the basic “When, Where, Who”. A coincidence? But for that MSA May 2003 day, I was skiing with that old high school friend Jean-Pierre.

The participation for trip reports and various discussions on FTO spilled over to various ski forums. I would also write from French TRs in the first few years of Zoneski; the Quebec ski forum. However my participation on the skiinternet dates back to the rec.skiing newsgroups days back to the early 1990s.

I’ve gotten many of my pre-Ski Mad World TRs reproduced on this site, but they are still many left to add, including a many of my favorites. I intended to, eventually, get them all up on the site and continue writing current and not so current trip dairies.

It will be officially 3 years in September that Ski Mad World has come online. Now Ski Mad World has it own Facebook page and Tweeter site.

Follow my tracks Facebook and Twitter – see the button on the side.

Timeline:
1963 – parents meet skiing.
1973 – After a few season as a skiing toddler, MadPat is making regular turns.
1983 – Finished second season of Ski Days record keeping.
1993 – The Rec.skiing newgroup days
2003 – Started writing on ski forums
2013 – After the Blog is now connect to Facebook and Twitter.