Aug 19, 2009
Author: Christina Raymond, Photo: Oli Croteau
Boasting the highest vertical drop in Canada east of the Rockies, Quebec’s Le Massif has a lot more to offer than just breath taking views overlooking the beautiful St. Lawrence River. It s also well known for an above average annual snowfall: a fact that has locals bragging about the abundant number of powder days they receive, which in turn provide the best freeriding conditions you could imagine on the eastern side of the country.
But the past few seasons have seen this shift slightly as the resort has made vast improvements to its terrain park, accommodating those who prefer park riding over powder days or the combination of both. And seeing that it takes less than an hour from Quebec City to reach Le Massif, its park has begun growing in popularity. For the 2008-09 sea son Le Massif has redesigned, relocated and expanded its park, which is now located off of the Camp-Boule Express chairlift.
The design and maintenance of the new park is headed by park ranger Gabriel Rochefort, whose main objective is to cre ate an environment that is safely accessible to riders of all freestyle abilities. Progression from beginner to intermediate and of course advanced level riding is a major factor in the layout of the park as well as the features incorporated within it.
According to Le Massif's Isabelle Vallée, "The park is set up similar to a slopestyle course with a mix of rails and jumps.” She adds that new for this season is a number of naturally occurring features that have been these, riders will find a spine stall and a 20 foot flat down jib. Le Massif also offers snowboarders many of the features that have come to be regarded as standard in any good terrain park today. An assortment of rails can be found, including an 18 foot C rail and flat rail, a 23 foot down rail and a mon strous 50 foot down flat down rail.
For the intermediate jib enthusiasts, the park contains several boxes that are a little more forgiving than their rail counterparts. There are several smaller boxes that have been de signed for the less experienced rider.
As one of a few resorts in the Quebec City region that hasn t banned jumps from itsroster of terrain park features, Le Massif‘s park has become more sought after by local shreds looking to become strong all around riders. At any given time there are two or more jump features available in the park, ranging in size depending on the avail ability of snow.
Unique to Le Massif is its location in an area that has been designated a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve. The goal of the biosphere reserve is not only the protection of the environment but increasing the har mony between people and nature in the giv en area. For this reason the resort does not offer night riding. All park laps take place under the sun. The focus on maintaining a healthy environment at Le Massif has also carried over to the cafeteria menu, which can best be described as gourmet. There is no fried food on the premises to slow you down if you intend to spend the day riding the park.
For more informatio on Le Massif check out: lemassif.com
|
.jpg)
