Quebec ice, just before xmas

[granite_grrl]

Yup, Nathan and I are packing up and making the drive from Ontario to Nova Scotia for xmas. I took the week before off and we want to stop in Quebec along the way to NS (we are not going into the States because of Nathan's immigration stuff).

So I'm looking for beta on stuff enroute, or almost enroute (an hour or two here or there is no big thing). What ice should be in, where we can stay over night (camping or huts, cheap hotels if it comes to it), etc. We have the Quebec ice guide already, but are unfamiliar with the areas. NB is also an option, but I was thinking it'd still be a little early for your season yet.

Also wondering if any of you NB peeps will be sneaking over to Quebec for some ice at the same time. It would be cool to meet up.

[martha]

I don't know what will be in for ice at that time. I would put money on Parlee Brook in Sussex being in for some great climbing but I don't know what else. Given the high temps yesterday and today we'll be starting from scratch again with ice formations.

A bunch of us are heading to the Gaspe after Christmas, hoping that the extra week will give the ice more time to get ready for us.

[Fred]

Grand Falls is en route and you can spot the ice from the road while crossing the bridge near the dam in downtown. It might be IN.

Chutes Mont Morency is amazing in Quebec city (small detour). Don't know what kind of shape it would be in that time of year. They post their ice conditions somewhere online.

Pont Rouge wouldn't be very good I don't think because the river has to freez over to access most of the climbs.

[mathieu]

Well Gaspe is out of the way but really not that much. TO to Halifax is 1800km
TO to Cap Chat (just before Chic Choc park) is 1200 and Cap Chat to Halifax is 800km so a 200km to 400km detour will bring you to some north facing cliffs with tons of world class routes. A few of the hard ones won't be in but i'm sure you can find some nice fat routes.

[mathieu]

Grand Falls is en route and you can spot the ice from the road while crossing the bridge near the dam in downtown. It might be IN.

Chutes Mont Morency is amazing in Quebec city (small detour). Don't know what kind of shape it would be in that time of year. They post their ice conditions somewhere online.

Pont Rouge wouldn't be very good I don't think because the river has to freez over to access most of the climbs.

Fred didn't we go to Quebec during the XMas break a few years back, Chute Momo where good, Pont Rouge was decent and the pubs where excellent.... from what I remember. A good place to stay is at the Hostel in downtown Vieux Quebec.

[granite_grrl]

Well Gaspe is out of the way but really not that much. TO to Halifax is 1800km
TO to Cap Chat (just before Chic Choc park) is 1200 and Cap Chat to Halifax is 800km so a 200km to 400km detour will bring you to some north facing cliffs with tons of world class routes. A few of the hard ones won't be in but i'm sure you can find some nice fat routes.

Yeah, that's kinda what i ment by enroute, but not really enroute. though looking at Google maps it looks more like 1900km, not 1800km .

An extra hour or two here or there won't kill us. We have a week to get to Hali.

[chossmonkey]

Gaspe is definitely on the list. I don't care if it is 5 hours out of the way. We should have a few days after X-mas too so maybe we could meet up with who ever is going after X-mas.

There is some stuff up in Cape Breton I'd like to get on too if it is could enough. Last year we found some cool stuff but is wasn't really formed well. The only other place I really wanted to go was Pont Rouge, but that sounds like it might be a no go.

Does anyone know any decent sport-mixed places besides PR? Trad-mixed with decent gear would be cool too.

[Fred]

Fred didn't we go to Quebec during the XMas break a few years back, Chute Momo where good, Pont Rouge was decent and the pubs where excellent.... from what I remember. A good place to stay is at the Hostel in downtown Vieux Quebec.

the pubs and the good times... ah yes... good times...

Chute Momo was pretty good on Xmas break. As long as you check conditions before you head over should be pretty good. Pont Rouge had some stuff but the river wasn't frozen in December when we went. When I went for Festiglace in February the river was frozen and you could access everything around the corner. The crappy thing about Pont Rouge is the routes are insanely difficult (in my opinion). Unless you are a World Cup climber it's a tough playground. Chute Momo is a much better place to visit I think... but then again I'm a weak ice climber. hehe

[chossmonkey]

The crappy thing about Pont Rouge is the routes are insanely difficult (in my opinion). Unless you are a World Cup climber it's a tough playground. Chute Momo is a much better place to visit I think... but then again I'm a weak ice climber. hehe

Did you get on any of the mixed stuff or just do ice at Pont Rouge?

I'll have to take a look and see if our book has Chute Momo. Then I'll have to see if my wife can translate it for me.

[chossmonkey]

Is Chute Momo, Chute Montmorency? If it isn't, does anyone know the page number in the Quebec Ice book?

[mathieu]

Yes, Chute Momo translates to Chute Montmorency? I talked to a ex-pat from Quebec on the weekend and he mentionned parc des grand Jardins is very good.

Another area I've been to when conditions weren't great in Quebec City was Riviere Sainte Margarite. Easy access to a dozen routes all in the Grade 4 range. This area is a bit out of the way (3 hours NE of QC) but if the ferry runs from Saint Simeon to Riviere du Loup then you can just zip across the Saint Laurent Seaway and be in NB within 1 hour. If it isn't running then its a 4 hour from Saint Simeon to Riviere du loup. The ferry would cut a long drive.

Topo: http://cms.uqac.ca/topoglace.pdf
Conditions: http://www.louisgagne.com/cms/forum/viewforum.php?id=11

[Fred]

http://www.beta-source.com/gal-frame.ph ... ontMorancy

[chossmonkey]

Yea ice climbing!! One week.

[Fred]

I'm actually kinda motivated for ice this year after our outing last weekend. I hope this keeps going all winter.

Last year was the pits.

[chossmonkey]

Pont Rouge had some stuff but the river wasn't frozen in December when we went. When I went for Festiglace in February the river was frozen and you could access everything around the corner. The crappy thing about Pont Rouge is the routes are insanely difficult (in my opinion). Unless you are a World Cup climber it's a tough playground. Chute Momo is a much better place to visit I think... but then again I'm a weak ice climber. hehe

Hey Fred, do you know about the second set of stairs at PR? I guess I don't know for sure, but I think you can access some of the stuff around the bend even if the river isn't frozen.

We were out there this weekend and the river was mostly frozen so we got to see the whole place. Never made it to the other side of the river, but we got to do some stuff that starts off the ice on the river.

Also, I don't think you need to be a world cup climber to enjoy it. Once you get past the intimidation factor, a lot of its not to bad. I found the worst part trying to find mixed routes that hadn't partially fallen down and were reasonably solid and had protection for the choss sections.

[Fred]

I didn't know about the second set of stairs. I wonder if it's a recent addition.

LOL. Looking for routes that hadn't fallen down? And you trust those bolts? heheheh

It's a nice spot but a bit out of my league. I won't lie, I'm about the worst ice climber out there. hehe

[chossmonkey]

The stairs were probably there for the last Festiglas as there were signs still up from it. They were buried under a lot of snow and the handrail is made of logs so if I hadn't seen anyone coming down them I probably wouldn't have noticed them either.

Those bolts are fine as long as the chunks of rock they are in are firmly frozen into place! I will admit it is very unnerving when you are climbing a route and all the rock on the surface is scaling off.


I still think a lot of that stuff just looks harder than it really is. You also can't get pro everywhere you might want to, but if it is hanging ice and you drytooled up to it there is usually plenty of air below you so you should fall clean. For drytooling St. Alban is still way better, but it doesn't have all the cool, hanging ice.