Quebec Awaits Families

By Heather Burke

Ready to explore beyond New England’s ski areas with your family? But less than enthused about putting your family on a plane? A visit to Canada’s nearest province, Quebec, can satisfy your lust for international ski adventure – without the expense or hassle of flying, passports and baggage checks.

Here are two dreamy destinations in Quebec that have all the accouterments of a European ski vacation (posh lodging, expansive skiing, culinary treats and foreign language) accessible to your family the American way – by car. These Quebec ski spots are just over 400 miles (a 7 hour drive) from the Boston area.

Tremblant is hands-down the best slopeside ski village in Eastern North America. This self-contained resort, 90-minutes northwest of Montreal, is an extremely entertaining place to take the family for a ski holiday.

Your kids will approve of the Disney-like atmosphere, as parents you will appreciate the tasteful Zermatt-esque village. Intrawest had their thinking caps on, and their wallets open, when they designed this resort. Everything from the pedestrian village brimming with restaurants, inns and shops to the underground parking, is first class.

From the delightful village, the gondola whisks you up to Mont Tremblant’s summit, for 2,000’ vertical of skiing on 94 trails covering four diverse mountain faces. The South side, facing the village, has lots of cruisers, a park and a few steep ones off the top. The North side and Edge both offer glades, steeps, and bumps. Versant Soleil gets the midday sun on its tree runs and meandering trails.

Tremblant’s lifts are modern and the snowmaking is assured in this colder climate. L’ecole de neige (ski school sounds better in French, n’est pas?) is exceptional for anyone in the family needing basics to pointers.

Non-skiers in your genetic group? Tremblant’s village will keep them amusé until you rendez-vous for lunch at a slopeside café. There is a highly scenic cafeteria at the Grand Manitou summit lodge (walkers can ride the Gondola), or you can ski to a cozy bistro in the village.

The après ski scene at Tremblant is as close to a Euro-Alpine village as you are going to get in your mini-van. Skiers head to Le Shack for bière, ladies don fur coats to browse chi-chi boutiques. Kids stuff their rosy cheeks with Beaver Tails (Canadian fried dough) before heading to La Source – the indoor aqua-club themed after a Laurentian Lake with rocks, slides and a rope swing.

Closest to the slopes and most elegant, the Fairmont Tremblant has a “Family on Skis” package with 2 nights hotel lodging, lift tickets for 2 adults, and ski camp for 2 children, starting at $510 CDN per family per night.

Tremblant also has an abundance of suites and condos – all within the animated village and a stroll to the lifts.

For another slice of Canadian culture served with a heaping side of skiing, take your family to Quebec City. With historic Quebec City as your base, you can day trip to two major ski resorts in under an hour, Mont-Sainte-Anne and Le Massif, and return to this fascinating city each night to wine and dine.

Quebec City is educational for the kids (with historic forts from the 1600’s), and romantic for Mom and Dad (ooh la la - horse drawn carriage). Staying at the celebrated Château Frontenac, you can walk around the “old city,” watch the ice flow along the St. Lawrence River, ride a wild toboggan chute, then rest up for skiing in your four-star castle.

Mont-Sainte-Anne is twenty minutes from Quebec City. This three-sided mountain has 2,050’ vertical of superb skiing. Sainte-Anne’s 56 trails comprise gentle terrain for timid tikes, exciting steeps for speed seekers, plus bumps and glades, all framed by a beautiful backdrop of the St. Lawrence River below and Quebec City in the distance.

The children’s programs at Mont-Sainte-Anne are well choreographed (in French or English versions), and conveniently placed by the gondola base – making drop off and take off easy for parents.

As kid-pleasers, a sensation slobbering Saint Bernard is posted in her summit doghouse at the top of Sainte-Anne’s gondi, and you can ski to a traditional Sugar Shack for maple syrup on snow.

Since slopeside lodging reduces the heavy lifting in a family ski trip, consider staying a few nights at the Château Mont-Sainte-Anne. While not as grand as the Frontenac, there is a pool and enough bars, shops and restaurants at the resort base to keep the gang smiling. The hotel has prime viewing of Sainte Anne’s night skiing, if anyone has energy overload come evening.

Le Massif is twenty-minutes beyond Sainte-Anne (or 40-minutes from Quebec City) and well worth a day trip, or two. This phenomenal ski area is just over a decade old, the lifts and day lodges are an impressive display of new wealth – and government subsidy.

Le Massif is an upside-down ski area, you drive to the summit lodge and start your day headed downhill. Another novelty, the limited bunny slope is located at the top.

The terrain at Le Massif is more advanced than Sainte-Anne’s. Le Massif’s 2,526’ of spine-tingling vertical is punctuated with sensational views of the St Lawrence – which gets frighteningly closer with every turn. Skiing here is a thrill.

Le Massif is the training facility for the Canadian ski team – which is exciting to watch on the Charlevoix trail. But the view from the slopes, and the two lavish lodges on top and bottom, of the mighty River is most remarkable.

The Carte Blanche is an interchangeable lift ticket valid at Mont-Sainte-Anne, Le Massif and Stoneham ski resorts. Carte Blanche lift and lodging packages start at $150 Canadian per person for two nights in Quebec City, and $137 Canadian per person for two nights at Mont-Sainte Anne.

A couple of Canadian cautions:

Whatever you do, don’t drag the family to Quebec for the weekend. The seven-hour drive is simply too much, even if you cruise at 120 – that’s kilometers silly. Go for the week, park your wheels, immerse yourself in the joie de vivre Quebecoise.

Try to parlé a bit of français, but rest assured that English is spoken and understood too. Your kids can tap into the foreign accents, and should pick up a new expression or two – especially if they hang at the Parc Gravité - that’s a terrain park.

Be warned that these resorts have been discovered - especially weekends (when the Montréalers arrive in droves) and holidays, including our US vacations. If you can squeeze in a midweek trip, your experience will be considerably more relaxing.

Canadians are très serious about their winter sports, namely hockey and skiing. Our skiing friends to the North are dressed in the latest technical outerwear (Avalanche, Couloir and Descente), matching of course. If you want to blend, leave your duct-taped woolies at home.

The Quebecois are a tad aggressive in the lift lines – tactics adopted from their European cousins. Opening bell at the Gondola tends to be frenzied.

The climate is indeed colder as you go further North– quel surprise! Celsius even sounds colder than Fahrenheit. January can be especially arctic. Pack your snuggliest stuff, or plan your travels for sunnier March or early April.

If you go:
For Tremblant lodging and skiing information, go to www.tremblant.ca or call 1 888 215 5322

For Quebec City, Mont-Sainte-Anne and Le Massif information, go to www.fun2ski.com or call 1.888.FUN.2SKI (1.888.386.2754)..

For lodging information at the Fairmont Tremblant or The Château Frontanec, go to www.fairmont.com  or call 1(800) 257-7544.