The Town of Sutton, Quebec.
The Town of Sutton is bound to the south by US border. Town’s large area is surrounded by mountains. The highest summit is Round Top, which has an elevation of 962 m. This mountainous area offers many attractive activities: downhill, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing in winter; hiking and treetop adventure courses in summer; hiking and mushroom hunting courses in fall.
Archaeological sites reveal traces of Aboriginal peoples passage two to three thousand years ago. The official history of Sutton begins in 1802 mainly with the colonists who had fled the U.S. after the American Revolution (1776–1783).
Harold Boulanger, who with his family moved to Sutton in 1945 to operate the Sutton Dairy Creamery, is considered to be one of the first who opened up the region to tourism. The development of the Mont Sutton ski resort in 1960 marked the beginning of a new economic boom.
Mont Sutton ski resort.
Mont Sutton ski resort is a perfect destination for the ski addict. It has 60 trails designed for every level of skiers. Almost half of the slopes are glades. There are many junctions between the trails, so you can create your own paths.
Why have we decided to go to Sutton.
- We planned to go to ski together with my friends from U.S. After comparing the alternatives and USD/CAD exchange rate the conclusion was in favor of Quebec. We decided to visit as many ski resorts as we can and Sutton was the first one.
- I’ve never skied on Sutton before, but had very positive recommendations from my colleges.
- It’s a great place for nature lovers which could enjoy the glade skiing.
Accommodation.
As usual the choice has fallen on AirBnb to be a source of the place to stay. To be honest we considered another resource as well, but the vote was in favor of the house posted on AirBnb. Important components were price, proximity to different mountains and … a hot tub 🙂 . Later I realized that the hot tub was indeed very important part of our adventure.
We arrived on Saturday at 2 PM. While waiting for our friend, who had a long trip from U.S., we wanted to check what we have available for the one week stay.
Overall the house was nice and clean, with 3 sleeping rooms, 2 smaller office/gym rooms, one entertainment space and one dining space with fireplace.
Internet.
Unfortunately very soon I found the issue with internet and spent plenty of time trying to fix it with the owner of the house and with the technician from the local internet provider. By luck my smartphone was able to connect and I was happy about it because: first – we need internet for booking the tickets, second – it was Saturday and was hard to get professional help. My joy didn’t last long. First Dana couldn’t connect to the internet, later nobody from our friends who arrived at 6 PM. At the end of the day my phone lost connection and all magic I previously tried didn’t help me anymore.
This internet issue at the end cost us money 🙁 . We paid more on Sunday for the lift tickets and Andy had to purchase a daily plan from his US provider. First lesson learned – don’t trust WiFi connections at the rented places. Next day owner brought the new router and the issue was resolved.
Family Skiing on Mount Sutton.
I’ve never skied on mount Sutton and I couldn’t compare it to other ski resorts in Quebec. For me it was important at least once to ski there. We’ve been in this area only once the last fall for hiking and I wanted to come back during the winter. Additionally we wanted to decide where to ski over the week. As a result mount Sutton was our choice for the first ski day.
The forecast was worrisome – about 20 cm of snow. Good for skiing, but not as good for driving.
We arrived about 11 AM. Unfortunately due to the issues with the internet we had to pay maximum on the place. Everybody were hungry to ski, so we started as soon as we could.
Together with Dana and Maxim we went to the green slope first. It was the first time for Maxim to ski on the slope outside of the family zone with magic carpet ski lift. The first challenge for me was to go with him up on the regular lift.
The lifts on Sutton are not good for new skiers. I couldn’t hold Maxim when sliding from the lift and the lift slide was icy and high. As a result he fell. The next challenge was to slide with him down on the green slope.
I chose the wrong way skiing together with Maxim. He hang on my poles and I was holding him. On the steep icy parts of the slope I strained myself so much that at the end I felt the pain in my head.
After the first attempt we decided that Dana and Maxim will ski on family area and I will have time to ski by myself.
Later, when Maxim was already tired, Dana found a day care for one hour and we could ski a little bit together. The mount is nice, most of the slopes are between trees.
The snow was falling the whole day. Dana joined Maxim and by the end of the day he was the king of the family slope 🙂 .
After Dana left I met Diana on the slope and we skied together.
Challenge and reward of the day.
We finished at 4 PM, the snow was coming and coming, the car was covered with snow and the roads were not cleaned.
This was not the problem till the moment we reached the last 700 meters. The house was on the hill, so there was a bit of driving up. Unfortunately these last meters of not cleaned road became impossible for us. Winter tires didn’t help. First time I regretted to not having AWD (all wheels drive) car. The local guy on the tractor wanted to help us, but we couldn’t find the place to hook his chain to. I didn’t have time to read manual, but later I found that I have rings in the car which could be easily connected … Second lesson learned – don’t be lazy and read manuals, it could save you time later. At the end I gave up and parked down the road. Local women was very kind to allow me to park on her driveway.
Finally we all reached the house. After the dinner tiered but happy we went to the hot tub. This was the best reward at the end of the day.
It was amazing day!
Leave a Reply