In Montreal, journalist Louis-Philippe Messier travels mostly on the run, his desk in his backpack, on the lookout for fascinating subjects and people. He speaks to everyone and is interested in all walks of life in this urban chronicle.
Mount Royal offers a surreal rural tranquility in the middle of the city to winter hikers, whether on snowshoes or not, because the snow absorbs the sounds of the metropolis.
Did I teleport to Saint-Hilaire?
I no longer feel in Montreal.
On one of Mount Royal’s snowshoe trails, I feel like I’m no longer in the city.
Louis-Philippe Messier
However, I came to Mount Royal by STM bus: there is a stop five minutes from the snowshoe rental kiosk, next to the inner tube slides.
There, guides in blue coats wear arrow belts.
They supervise a francization group who will learn snowshoeing.
A guide with an arrow belt ensures that those he is introducing to snowshoeing correctly attach these special shoes to their boots.
Louis-Philippe Messier
“Many people who go snowshoeing for the first time are surprised that it is so vast,” Fabienne Chafe, a guide-educator, tells me.
Mme Chafe is employed by Les amis de la montagne, the organization that manages activities on the Montreal mountains.
Mount Royal has 3 km of trails exclusively dedicated to snowshoeing, where I went to reinvigorate myself.
Amazing calm
Further along a path, through the leafless branches, Place Ville Marie and the Tour du Canadien seem small (since I am at their height).
We hear the birds, but the metropolitan din is not audible.
Why can’t we hear horns and sirens?
The city’s buildings are visible through the trees, which is strangely inaudible.
Louis-Philippe Messier
“It’s snow: it absorbs sounds,” explains Charles Caron, 24, my guide for this report.
In the company of this history student who has a job which is excellent for his health, I climb the highest peak of the mountain: an easy task, nevertheless good exercise.
My guide Charles Caron, whom I photographed near the cross, has a healthy job.
Louis-Philippe Messier
On the way to the famous cross, we meet patrollers Audrey Émond and Vincent Alméras, also on snowshoes.
They are joining us.
“We fill the bird feeders twice a week,” M explains to me.me Emond.
Volunteers come to count birds, especially black-capped chickadees, near these feeders.
Further on, Audrey shows me an owl hole in a dead branch: “We have already had to intervene to prevent people from knocking on the tree to wake the owl and make it open its eyes to take a photo,” laments -she.
On the way to the famous cross, we meet patrollers Audrey Émond and Vincent Alméras, also on snowshoes.
Louis-Philippe Messier
Popular
It had never crossed my mind to snowshoe hike on Mount Royal and many people don’t know that it’s possible, but the activity is actually popular… more than ever.
“This winter has been ideal so far for snowshoeing… whereas last year, we just started on January 12 for only six weeks,” remembers Mr. Caron.
Evening snowshoe walks under the lights of the city are organized almost every Friday and Saturday evening… and they are often sold out.
There will even be a special night snowshoe hike for Valentine’s Day, on February 14.
If the prospect of a romantic snowshoeing session tempts you, hurry up and book here. Something tells me the places will be taken soon.
