Nordic skiing and mountain skiing are more and more popular

The off -piste cross -country skiing (or Nordic skiing) and mountain skiing (or Alpine ski skiing) are increasingly enthusiasts, find enthusiasts of this sport and equipment retailers.

Two reasons explain this. First of all, For the past two or three years, winter begins in mid-January and ends at the end of Februarysupports Danielle Vibien, a skier who came to attend a conference on white roads, a new network of Nordic ski trails which connect the villages of the Laurentians. That makes sure, she adds, that Everyone is about at the same time.

Nordic skiing consists of skiing on marked but not mechanically traced trails as are the cross -country ski trails. This allows you to venture deeper into the forest or to higher peaks in search of an intact nature.

Coming to attend the same conference, Dorothée, another skier, adds this: The effect of climate change highlights the importance of the beauty of our winter. One has the impression that we have a treasure that must be enjoyed: it’s time there. Dorothée says that her friends have been skiing Nordic for 10 or 15 years, but recently, she has seen an effervescence.

Outdoor stores, sports groups and ski centers confirm this: Nordic skiing has been increasingly increasing but constant for several years. And this effervescence is not only the result of a season that shortens

The director of equipment purchases at La Cordée stores, David Tingle, recalls that during the COVVI-19 pandemic, outdoor sports, cross-country skiing in particular, experienced a huge craze, followed by a slowdown .

We have not seen it in the off-piste, in ski touring, this slowdown. [Ces secteurs] continue to be increasing.

In Val-David, in the Laurentians, Quentin Leroy, of the Roc & Ride store, specialized in Nordic skiing, argues that sales doubled between 2019 and 2021 to then experience a slight constant increase. With regard to the rental of Nordic skis, demand increased by around 50 % during the same period.

The world attracts the world, which allows many people to realize that the practice is very accessible.

Faced with this popularity, several regional park and outdoor organizations have adapted their offer and offer Nordic ski trails or more refuges for several days. One can think of the Domaine de la Montagne Noire in Saint-Donat, Mont-Kaaikop, Mont-Alta, Mont-Avalanche.

For the president of the Le Canadian mountain club, Elizabeth Currie, the practice explodes. 10 years ago, she said, Our club and others like the Val-Morin outdoor club offered Nordic ski trips, but now, even during mid-week, the trails are frequented. And it’s not a bad thingshe wants to specify.

The new trend

Some followers are also looking for descents, such as alpine skiing. They then use suitable alpine skiing equipment allowing them to climb mountains, then descend them. We then speak of mountain skiing or Alpine touring skiing.

These skiers have contributed to the Renaissance of the Municipality of Murdochville, Gaspésie, who became Quebec Mecca of Quebec from the Mecca of Ski Ski, has been contributed to the Renaissance.

However, no need to go so far to practice this sport. Since 2017, the Orford ski resort in Estrie offers mountain skiing. 60,000 tickets were sold last year, 20 % of the entries, specifies the director of the station, Simon Blouin.

In the Charlevoix region, Grande Fonds, Mont-Saint-Anne and the massif also offer mountain skiing. This is not yet what turns ski resorts: it remains the ski lift ticketsays André Simard, Managing Director of the Development Society for Charlevoix communities.

This is the new trend in the ski industry. We really see that there is an interesting dynamic on the side of outdoor development, Alpine hike. People are looking for this, there is a dynamic and a market.

Now considered one of the biggest areas in Quebec for off-piste skiing, Mont-Ét-Edouard, in the Bas-Saguenay, put as much on alpine skiing as on Alpine hike, says its general manager, Marc-André Busque

In terms of strategic plan, we will continue to bet on our two call products. In Mont-Ét-Édouard, we really want to stand out and accentuate the notoriety of the mountain thanks to two important vehicles: the off-piste, the Alpine hike. There are several synonyms, but all this pan attracts a lot of people.

Mont-Ét-Édouard has several mountain shelters for long ski hikes followers. When opening reservations online this year, all the shelters for the season were rented in 16 minutes, against 26 minutes the previous year.

There is also a question of affordability, specifies Marc-André Busque. What we see a lot in the ski industry is skiers who make the transition to Alpine hike, for example, which is a sport where, often, the price of the daily ticket is much lower.

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The powder road

The Quebec Federation of Mountain and Climbing has a ski director in 2015. The latter, Maxime Bolduc, argues that the increase in the popularity of mountain skiing was slow but constant, which gave to the federation time to restructure to include this sport. We now have a road to the powder that makes people have routes across Quebec and go to the specificities of each region, go discover the flavor of each region, in mountain skiing.

Maxime Bolduc compares the growth of mountain skiing with that of mountain bikes, a temporary trend, according to some, but whose popularity, even today, is not denied.

The Quebec Mountain and Climbing Federation has recently launched its new application which lists mountain ski sites.

For its part, the SKI of COUNDE DE COUNDIE Québec will launch, on Monday, January 27, a new mobile application which will bring together for the first time all the mechanically maintained trails of the province. This provincial initiative is the culmination of four years of georeferencing efforts and development work with the aim of making the practice of cross -country skiing more accessible and more security in the Quebec populationwrites the organization. SKI DE COUNDIE Québec hopes to integrate the Nordic ski trails into its application, but he emphasizes that it will take a little time.