#murdochville

[drowster]

Gaspésie, Canada

[fredtougas]

Murdochville, 2023

[zealoptics]

Chasing Winter Adventures in the Great White North: A Vanlife Tale Beyond the Clichés

By Alex Arseneault

When we hear about Vanlife most people see the classic cliché of someone laying on his bed rear doors open with a view on the ocean, right? For me, it’s anything but that.

My name is Alex Arseneault, I live in Quebec City (Qc), Canada and I consider myself as a ‘’weekender adventurer’’. Experienced Kitesurfer / mountain biker / Snowboarder, I try to make the most of what my region has to offer while still have a normal job. The best tool I have found to make all those outdoors sports so much easy to handle is a Van. I often say to people that our van is our ‘’Mobile Chalet’’ ; it allow us to chase the best (Or worst) conditions, bring all the gear, be home everywhere and be selective on the destination.

This winter I wanted to go explore further and experience what the alpine backcountry skiing has to offer in our region and because life is better when you are in good company, I wanted to do this trip with my girlfriend & our dog. Meet Cynthia & Gustav! The spot on the radar: The Chic-chocs mountains in Gaspesie. We prepared ourselves with an AST1 Course early in the season and analysis of the approach & terrain of each mountain in the Gaspesie National Park. Thank to the APP Ski Haute-Gaspésie that give so much information’s and you can also use it in GPS mode to find the official skintrails & descent hallway.

There we go. It’s early February, it recently dumped 25 to 40 cm in the mountains, the conditions are at their best. We checked the Avalanches & Weather Forecast, loaded the Van of food, water, gear and hit the road for a 6-hour road trip. The route become quite scenic when we left the Trans-Canadian highway and reach the route 132 along the Saint-Lawrence River. This road is famous during the summer but let’s say it can be quite hazardous during winter. We get excited when we reach the small village of Saint-Anne-des-Monts, which is the entrance of the Gaspesie National Park. The view is insane while we drive on the sinuous road between the mountains. At this point, we have no more signal. No cellphones, no internet, nada. Just us, our small house on wheels and the white mountains.

We spent two days at a mountain called Mount Lyall. Well parked at the entrance of the skin track, we made our basecamp in the parking thanks to SEPAQ that allows autonomous Camper to stay in the parking for 25$/day. A dry toilet Cabin is at our disposal if required. We had amazing conditions, beautiful weather and even manage to bring Gustav with us for a descent in the treeline. What a nice experience, we felt so grateful to be out there together and enjoy winter at his best. Let’s be honest, winter in the east can somehow be challenging. Trip like this, certainly reconciles us with those ‘’Quebec winters’’. Oh... and speaking of ''challenging'' did I mention that it announces extreme cold during our journey? Well, Environment Canada has issued extreme cold warnings that covers most of the province with wind chills expected to be between -38 and -42 degrees Celcius. Not worried, we build our van for it, but we knew we were not going to go snowboarding in the backcountry in that temperature, let’s say that it would not be safe or even fun.

So, before this major polar vortex hit us, we spend another day in a mountain called Hog’s back. Same basecamp setup, different terrain. We did two laps on this mountain, but the conditions were a bit more challenging when we reach the Alpine terrain. A crust of ice covered the entire alpine territory which made the terrain unstable and difficult to cross. We then decided to stay in the treeline limit and managed to find some powder again. The highlight of the day was the encounter with a Caribou, a first for us! We were extremely lucky since this species is endangered. What a beautiful creature!

The next stop of our trip is a small village called Murdochville. This old mining town reborn from its ashes and has become the hub for backcountry skiing and snowmobiling in East Canada. We wanted to see this place, somehow sticked in the 80’s by its architecture and see what it has to offer. We parked the Van at the Chic-Chac resort wich has a ‘’Vanlife’’ space and offers access to showers and more... After a well-deserved shower, we spoiled ourselves with dinner at the Chic-Chac headquarter. This place is famous for parties and hosting events!

The next day we walked the town and finally went for a lap on Mont Porphyre. Being located just outside the northern limit of Murdochville, this mountain allows residents and town visitors to ski directly from town. As the day progresses, temperature drop every hour and strong Northwest wind is picking up. We checked the forecast and there were no chances of doing any outdoors activities for the next two days in this ridiculously cold weather. We ended up driving in a polar vortex blizzard for 6 hours at 25 mph but managed to reach my friend’s house and spend the coldest night still comfortably installed in our van. Let’s just say that the webasto heater has run like never before.

We spend the cold weather playing card games and drink hot chocolate next to the fireplace at my friend’s house.

I conclude on this quote: ‘’Winter forms our character and brings out our best.’’ Better enjoy it? #Exploremore

[independentartistbuzz]

Multifaceted Artist Melissa Furlotte Soothes the Soul on Wistful and Poignant Single “Virginia Creeper”

Melissa Furlotte is a singer, songwriter, composer and pianist based in Montreal. Raised in the copper mining town of Murdochville, Quebec, in the picturesque region of the Gaspésie, she grew up playing piano, singing and listening to a mix of popular, folk, country and jazz music. 

In 2021, Melissa released her debut album, Old Road. The collection of 10 original songs was inspired by the landscapes of her youth, adulthood in the big city and the stories in between. Her style has been dubbed fine folk. Releasing Old Road with the support of the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Quebec was an experience of a lifetime. At the same time, it fostered a new desire to reach a larger audience.

Her latest track, “Virginia Creeper,” is the first in a new collection. The wistful single is played on by collaborator/guitarist Joe Grass. The instrumentation includes a warm toned antique converted player piano, recorded simultaneously to add to the song’s deeper meaning.

It’s compelling to tell a human story through the relationship of a brick wall and a “tenacious vine,” even better when the music sets the scene; piano and guitar, cushioning chords and enveloping melody. Every layer has the relationship of two entities. – Melissa Furlotte

[lastfrontierh]

Canadian Heliskiing Packages & Summer Time Wilderness Lodge

Whistler Heli-Skiing does allow minors to go heli-skiing offered they're 14 years old or older and they are an advanced degree skier or snowboarder. If they are beneath sixteen years old then they must be accompanied by a father or mother or guardian. Only two hours from Banff (or a 10-minute drive from Kicking Horse village), and you’re at CMH Purcell, a launchpad to some of Heli skiing Canada the best heli-skiing terrain in Canada. At the tip of every descent our heli awaits, to take us up to experience one other slice of powder heaven. “Several regarding layers exist in the snowpack that are producing giant human-triggered avalanches,” reads the alert.

Wake up in your Copper Point Resort lodge room, ski the wild purcell backcountry all day, back to ULLR for a burger and a beer. The international grandaddy of heli-skiing, CMH shockingly, is opening only one of their twelve lodges this coming season, Bobbie Burns north of the Bugaboos lodge. The origins of heli-skiing are debated depending on the supply you verify. Some credit Mike Wiegele, founder of Mike Wiegele Heli-Skiing Resort in Blue River, as the primary particular person to charter a helicopter to untapped mountain ski terrain.

Nothing matches an exhilarating day on the slopes greater than a soothing soak in Canada’s largest pure mineral sizzling springs, which is included with each lift ticket. This is a unique Heli skiing Canada Powder Highway experience you don’t wish to miss. In highschool, Rempel wrangled a dishwashing job at Meadow Creek’s Selkirk Wilderness Skiing—the world’s first cat-ski operation when it opened in 1975.

Dinner is a 3-course dinner, hosted in the 30-foot ceiling dining room, an environment created for perfection with unbelievable meals by the fireplace accompanied by fine wine. Delicate dishes are served a la carte with an emphasis on aesthetic presentation and mouth-watering flavors that let you actually savor the complete meal, course by course. Bouncing out of Squamish into the untracked backcountry items. Ski tour for a full day and return again to the valley with an afternoon decide up. Bicycles can be found to explore Stewart’s again streets, visit the museum or cross the border to Alaska, just to feel the call of the north. Ramble by way of the forest with the Mike Wiegele’s professionals by your facet as they ship you to the snowy slopes of Saddle Mountain.

Ski guiding turned a singular focus, achieved by the tender age of 21. Immersed daily in Western Canadian can-do spirit and the wild cowboy atmosphere of dreaming massive and skiing bigger, Rempel labored his means up to operations manager. By the time he left in 2014 to concentrate on Stellar Heliskiing, the business he’d founded in 2005 with life-partner Kerry Luckey, he’d spent 23 years guiding hundreds of people from around the globe. The Chic-Chocs The only place one can ski via a helicopter in eastern North America, Quebec’s Chic-Choc Mountains provide lengthy, above-treeline slopes with 460-metre verticals . Some seven metres of annual snowfall blanket limit-pushing cliffs and chutes – all just about unexplored, except by a choose group of guides, who run the Chic-Chac Hostel, in Murdochville, Que. I highly advocate the Whistler Heli-Skiing expertise, it does not get better!

On the aviation aspect, these embody better coaching and maintenance, and extra conservative weather and performance limitations – practices that change by operator. However, the trade can additionally be keenly conscious that every heli-ski accident impacts the business as a whole, a proven fact that has encouraged important cooperation on safety issues. Yet the sector is a difficult one for Canadian helicopter operators. Heli-ski operations may be terribly tough on both pilots and machines – elements that might usually dictate premium charges, notably within the presence of an affluent clientele.

Specialized bindings can usually be transferred to rental snowboards. Powder skis and snowboards can be found for rental in Whistler, and are issued to match your talent degree and the present snow situations to guarantee that you ski with the right tools. Heli-skiers are provided with an avalanche transceiver to strap beneath their parkas, and “powder cords” or “ski tracers”, certain lifesavers in the event of an avalanche.

Each of these examine sites has a stake for recording the height of accumulated settled snow in addition to a second stake for recording the height of recent or storm snow. Untouched powder over hundreds of thousands of hectares of backcountry terrain provide skiing nirvana for travellers with a passion Heli skiing Canada for adventure. Banff-based Canadian Mountain Holidays has a significant presence in the Kootenay/Columbia area with heli-ski and heli-hiking operation in the Bugaboos, Golden and Valemount areas. The CMH winter season runs from mid-November to late-April.

[anjunalangevin]

Bleu et or d’automne

Murdochville #gaspesie

[the-insomniac-marmot]

murdochville par Mériol Lehmann Via Flickr : Facebook Instagram Tumblr

[drowster]

Alpine touring in Gaspésie, Canada

[fredtougas]

Murdochville, '23

[ynoly]

On brûle de la poude 4. #chicchac #murdochville #getoutside #snowboarding #splitboarding #powderpuff #chicchocs

[sheopatra]

Scat personals washington and scat hookup Saint-Jérôme

[meriol-lehmann]

murdochville

[ynoly]

On brûle de la poude 3. #murdochville #chichac #mtyork #snowboarding #yannickraymond #getoutside #powpow #chichocs