[CarolinaCrawler]

My family and I are going up to MSA for the world cup in October. We decided to go up for the week and make a family vacation out of it too. We are planning 2 days in Quebec city for the touristy stuff and 2 days of riding before the race. Our plan was to ride La Massif both days but I would love to ride some of the local (free - not trail center) trails the other day. I was planning on riding at MSA but at this time of the year the trails are only open on the weekend and we were wanting to ride on the weekend.

I am very interested in these trails. We have ebikes (which I heard are legal pretty much everywhere up there) so climbs are not much of a problem. Any trail names or routes I can look up on trailforks? Preferably on the Quebec City/Beaupre side.

 

[canadmos]

My family and I are going up to MSA for the world cup in October. We decided to go up for the week and make a family vacation out of it too. We are planning 2 days in Quebec city for the touristy stuff and 2 days of riding before the race. Our plan was to ride La Massif both days but I would love to ride some of the local (free - not trail center) trails the other day. I was planning on riding at MSA but at this time of the year the trails are only open on the weekend and we were wanting to ride on the weekend.

I am very interested in these trails. We have ebikes (which I heard are legal pretty much everywhere up there) so climbs are not much of a problem. Any trail names or routes I can look up on trailforks? Preferably on the Quebec City/Beaupre side.

Le Massif is fun, but personally I wouldn't spend two days there. The trails are very long and a lot of them "feel" the same - wide flow trails made for more mellow riders.

I could be wrong, but you can ride at MSA on the cross country/enduro stuff at anytime, most of the trails on the north east side aren't really in the bike park. If you have ebikes it'll be even easier for you to access them via any uphill trail.

I don't know about about the non-trail center stuff - there is a lot of trails on Trailforks in the Quebec City area, but 90% of them are hidden on the map, so that's of no use.

Not sure if you've been, but Sentiers du Moulin has some pretty awesome trails. But of course has a cost. Not sure if the Maelstrom/south trails are open at that time of year though, they might be close for hunting or something?

I think @FlipSide lives nearby, so he probably has better input.

 

[FlipSide]

Massif is great, but I'd also only go 1 day and try another spot on the second day.

MSA is indeed open for trailriding during the week even if the gondolas are not in function. Since you have eBikes, it could be a great option for you.

SDM is indeed quite an amazing place and the price to access the center is well worth it.

The trail centers are so great in the area, I dont even ride hidden trails anymore.

 

[CarolinaCrawler]

Le Massif is fun, but personally I wouldn't spend two days there. The trails are very long and a lot of them "feel" the same - wide flow trails made for more mellow riders.

I could be wrong, but you can ride at MSA on the cross country/enduro stuff at anytime, most of the trails on the north east side aren't really in the bike park. If you have ebikes it'll be even easier for you to access them via any uphill trail.

I don't know about about the non-trail center stuff - there is a lot of trails on Trailforks in the Quebec City area, but 90% of them are hidden on the map, so that's of no use.

Not sure if you've been, but Sentiers du Moulin has some pretty awesome trails. But of course has a cost. Not sure if the Maelstrom/south trails are open at that time of year though, they might be close for hunting or something?

I think @FlipSide lives nearby, so he probably has better input.

The way you describe Le Massif sound pretty good for the family. The daughter loves flow trails. They should really enjoy it.

I will difinitaly look into the MSA XC trails. We will be staying halfway between Le Massif and MSA, so they are both close to us.

I wouldn't mind to check out SDM, I will just see how much the family are willing to travel. It looks like its about an hour there. I really wanted to ride at VDN but its quite a way to it. I would love to come back maybe next summer and spend a week at VDN and a week between MSA and SDM.

 

[CarolinaCrawler]

Massif is great, but I'd also only go 1 day and try another spot on the second day.

MSA is indeed open for trailriding during the week even if the gondolas are not in function. Since you have eBikes, it could be a great option for you.

SDM is indeed quite an amazing place and the price to access the center is well worth it.

The trail centers are so great in the area, I dont even ride hidden trails anymore.

That sounds great. Are there any trails that are must see or trails to avoid at MSA for the family? How about SDM? That place look huge! Its a little over whelming picking trails to ride for 5 people when your only going to be there for a day.

 

[canadmos]

If you've got family in tow then Le Massif will be great.

Whats is everyone's riding ability level?

 

[FlipSide]

Yep, knowing the level would help.

At SDM, the blacks and double-blacks are the most interesting trails. Lots of slow-tech with steep slabs everywhere.

E47 is more family oriented. There are lots of green and blue trails for beginner and intermediate riders, all the way up to extremely nice double-black trails.

I can recommend trails and point out trails to avoid if you give me more information about thenriding level of the group.

 

[CarolinaCrawler]

Whats is everyone's riding ability level?

I will have 13 year old twins and a 16 year old. They are solid blue trails riders. My wife will be there also, and she has ridden a few blacks but prefers blues.

La Massif sounds like a good place.

It looks like MSA has some good blue trails in the XC side.

 

[canadmos]

One tip for La Massif is to park at the bottom. It's a longer drive (it's a nice drive anyways), but then you don't have to worry about getting stuck at the bottom or questioning if you have enough time for another run.

 

[canadmos]

@FlipSide on this note, I might look at coming the closing weekend.

But is the gondola closed for the year? On the website it makes no mention of the gondola jot being used after a certain date - like my last two times going.

 

[FlipSide]

As far as I know, the gondola is in operation. It was working last weekend for sure.

(Posting from the Squamish ER, so that's the most help I can provide at this moment).

 

[Jozz]

(Posting from the Squamish ER, so that's the most help I can provide at this moment).

What have you done old man?

 

[FlipSide]

What have you done old man?

Broke my foot on Hueso. I got surprised by the final off-camber mini-slab just before the end of the trail. It turns out this is probably the only slippery slab in Squamish. The front tire washed out, I took my foot out to avoid crashing, the foot rolled and the 5th metatarsal snapped. I rode intelligently the whole day, trying not to get over my head on anything, but this was a small mistake on a section of trail that simply caught me off-guard.

It sucks that it happened on the first day of the trip. I would be mad if I had injured myself on something risky and way above my skill level, but this was just pure bad luck that could have happened anytime and anywhere.

 

[canadmos]

Broke my foot on Hueso. I got surprised by the final off-camber mini-slab just before the end of the trail. It turns out this is probably the only slippery slab in Squamish. The front tire washed out, I took my foot out to avoid crashing, the foot rolled and the 5th metatarsal snapped. I rode intelligently the whole day, trying not to get over my head on anything, but this was a small mistake on a section of trail that simply caught me off-guard.

It sucks that it happened on the first day of the trip. I would be mad if I had injured myself on something risky and way above my skill level, but this was just pure bad luck that could have happened anytime and anywhere.

Damn, sorry to hear about that man. Hopefully not too bad of a break.

ALSO DOUBLE SUCKS doing that on the first day.

Umm, is it a bad enough break that you can't ride, against doctors orders?

 

[FlipSide]

Damn, sorry to hear about that man. Hopefully not too bad of a break.

ALSO DOUBLE SUCKS doing that on the first day.

Umm, is it a bad enough break that you can't ride, against doctors orders?

No chance of riding. It's a fracture with displacement and some small fragments floating around. Surgery will likely be necessary when I get back home. The pain is very intense if I put any weight on the foot.

 

[Jozz]

Broke my foot on Hueso. I got surprised by the final off-camber mini-slab just before the end of the trail. It turns out this is probably the only slippery slab in Squamish. The front tire washed out, I took my foot out to avoid crashing, the foot rolled and the 5th metatarsal snapped. I rode intelligently the whole day, trying not to get over my head on anything, but this was a small mistake on a section of trail that simply caught me off-guard.

It sucks that it happened on the first day of the trip. I would be mad if I had injured myself on something risky and way above my skill level, but this was just pure bad luck that could have happened anytime and anywhere.

Sucks indeed.
Most injury often happens on mellower sections of trails.

 

[canadmos]

No chance of riding. It's a fracture with displacement and some small fragments floating around. Surgery will likely be necessary when I get back home. The pain is very intense if I put any weight on the foot.

Bummer. Heal up!

 

[CarolinaCrawler]

We just got back from our trip. Had a blast! Weather was great until the last 2 days. It was a great experience. The whole family was super happy short of the long ass drive.

We decided on a whim to go to the US Open on the way up. Got to ride Killington. It was pretty good. I would like to go back and ride some more when all the trails are open.

We also rode La Massif. It was nice. The longest chairlift and run I have ever rode in my life. They were working on the gondola so only the chairlift was open. It took 25 minuets to get to the top on that thing. With the whole family in tow they only got 3 runs in all day. I got 2 more by myself.

We finished up at MSA. Truly wonderful place. My style of trails. I only had one day there and feel like I just scratched the surface. Definitely will be back there.

One tip for La Massif is to park at the bottom. It's a longer drive (it's a nice drive anyways), but then you don't have to worry about getting stuck at the bottom or questioning if you have enough time for another run.

Thanks for this tip. It kinda sucked because everything was at the top, but I really liked being parked at the bottom. Plus the drive down was nice. My wife said "look at the sky honey!" I replied with "that's the river....".

 

[canadmos]

We just got back from our trip. Had a blast! Weather was great until the last 2 days. It was a great experience. The whole family was super happy short of the long ass drive.

We decided on a whim to go to the US Open on the way up. Got to ride Killington. It was pretty good. I would like to go back and ride some more when all the trails are open.

We also rode La Massif. It was nice. The longest chairlift and run I have ever rode in my life. They were working on the gondola so only the chairlift was open. It took 25 minuets to get to the top on that thing. With the whole family in tow they only got 3 runs in all day. I got 2 more by myself.

We finished up at MSA. Truly wonderful place. My style of trails. I only had one day there and feel like I just scratched the surface. Definitely will be back there.



Thanks for this tip. It kinda sucked because everything was at the top, but I really liked being parked at the bottom. Plus the drive down was nice. My wife said "look at the sky honey!" I replied with "that's the river....".

Sounds like a good trip!

Yeah Le Massif is a big ass hill. I think the lift has 300+ chairs.. Perfect length for a beer. but yeah the gondola is much quicker.