Canada  Dry

By Louis Marroquin

Mont-Sainte-Anne warms up for that other  season

Think Canada and you might envision the ultimate in wintertime recreation. Skiing, snowboarding, ice skating. But come spring and summer, things heat up in the Great White North, and naturally that means goodbye snow. That’s not a problem at Mont-Sainte-Anne. Just a 30-minute drive from Québec City in Beaupré, this famed ski resort transforms into a whole new world of fun once the weather warms up. And what was once one of Canada’s best-kept summertime secrets is being discovered by golfers, hikers, mountain bikers, and those who just want to experience mountainous beauty.

It is perhaps the mountain experience that is most alluring about Mont-Sainte-Anne. Snow or no snow, it is clear why the recreational area’s slogan is “The Beauty & The Beast” (or La Belle & La Bête, as Québec’s French-speaking locals say). The Beauty is evident no matter the season. Whether it’s in the quiet of May when each new day brings more green to the sky-reaching trees, or in glorious fall when the colorful, leafy mountain is transformed into New England-on-steroids, or in the midst of winter when the setting sun casts its twilight glow on the frosted terrain. The Beast requires no explanation — the mountain’s intimidating dimensions seem to say it all.

Just ask any of the 1,200 athletes or more than 75,000 international spectators who gathered last fall for the prestigious UCI World Mountain Bike Championships. With its respected network of cross-country and downhill trails and its proximity to Québec City’s abundance of accommodations, Mont-Sainte-Anne proved a popular location for this world-class event.

Overseer for this multi-season vacation resort is ClubCorp Resorts regional vice president Jon Reveal, an outdoorsman masked with a freckled, Redford-esque ruddiness earned from years on the Colorado slopes and unprotected from the sun. A quick stop in his office clearly explains why a man raised in the mountains would pitch tent at Mont-Sainte-Anne — an entire wall is an unadorned window yielding a spectacular view of the mountain and all its activity.

On the spring day of this visit, it is rather quiet as Reveal views the property from his perch. The whirlwind winter season is completed, and the burgeoning summer season is yet to arrive. But as Mont-Sainte-Anne aggressively increases its year-round profile, these tranquil moments will become fewer. Already, scattered bikers and hikers speckle the backdrop, heading to the heavily wooded trails. A couple of golfers head toward the golf course, rolling pull-carts behind them.

“The idea is [for guests] to be able to sleep with their windows open at night, and hear the birds chirping in the morning,” Reveal says. “They are going to experience nature.”

THE MOUNTAIN EXPERIENCE
Mountain biking is a top sport for warmer temperatures at the resort. Two hundred kilometers of trails and three downhill runs criss-cross the mountain. Trails range from “green” for beginners to “double diamonds” for expert bikers.

The gondola, which transports skiers to the summit in the winter, is used by bikers to access the downhill runs. It’s also convenient transportation for those who want to paraglide above the mountain. The paragliding school offers guests the opportunity to soar over The Beast in a tandem flight with a certified instructor. And in its daily trips up the mountain, the gondola provides casual riders breathtaking views of the St. Lawrence River and the Orleans Island before reaching the top, where guests find the summit restaurant and picnic areas.

For those who like to keep their feet on the ground, the Mont-Sainte-Anne Campground, just east of the mountain, provides 166 sites accessible for tents or all types of vehicles. Nearby there’s swimming, biking, hiking, and stream fishing. In other words, “the complete mountain experience” is within walking distance.

And, often surprising to those who know The Beast of winter, there’s great golf. Despite Mont-Sainte-Anne’s mountainous reputation, its two 18-hole golf courses meander across much gentler terrain, allowing for enjoyable play for golfers of all skill levels. From April to mid-October, Mont-Sainte-Anne’s golf pleasures are overshadowed only by the mountain itself. Le Beaupré, designed by Howard Watson, is a par-72, 6,700-yard course; Le Saint-Ferréol, designed by Robert and Andre Gagne, is a par-72, 6,200-yard course. (The Beaupré course will be closed this summer while it undergoes improvements.)

ETERNAL HOLIDAY
Reveal realizes that when people come to Mont-Sainte-Anne, no matter the season, they are trying to escape boardrooms, cell phones, and stressful deadlines. “The people who come here are on vacation,” he says. “So they’re in a pretty good mood. They just want to have a good time. It’s kind of fun to work in a place where it’s always vacation.”

Still it is challenging to create the atmosphere of eternal holiday on this 70,000 acres of land. Reveal’s job is not just about maintaining the safety and appearance of the slopes, trails, and lifts. The recreational complex also includes the condos, the hotel, the restaurants, the convention center, the shops, and more. Chateau Mont-Sainte-Anne is a full-service hotel at the foot of the mountain, complete with 236 rooms (each with balcony and kitchenette), a restaurant, a health club, a theater, and indoor and outdoor pools; all this, and the gondolas are just 42 steps away. And, of course, historic Québec City is just a short drive away.

The newest activity at Mont-Sainte-Anne is surfing — well, on the Internet. The site at www.mont-sainte-anne.com provides a calendar of events, as well as information on conditions, rates, lodging, transportation, and more. One visit to this website will have visitors wondering why they ever thought Canada, and especially Mont-Sainte-Anne, was just a winter destination.

IMAGINE THAT
On a midwinter’s day, the massive wonder that is called Mont-Sainte-Anne is a swirl of cold weather activity. The ski area annually attracts about 420,000 people and averages 180 inches of snow. But on this spring day, the grand fixture is strangely quiet, taking a well-deserved breather from the winter traffic. A few patches of snow still pockmark its countenance, and the mountain’s peaks hang on to their snowy-white winter coats.

As a few scattered hikers wind through the mount’s wooded trails, I imagine the mountain in full winter motion. Eyes closed, with the still brisk wind whistling in my ears, I hear the smooth swoosh of skis rushing downward on snow. I amplify the muffled laughter of the isolated hikers to compose the soundtrack for this winter playground. I picture the various ski lifts and impressive high-speed, eight-passenger gondola transporting excited skiers to their choice of 54 trails of varying difficulty.

The mountain’s 2,625-foot elevation and 2,050-foot vertical drop earn its nickname of The Beast, but visitors can be as laid-back or as adventurous as they want. In addition to downhill skiing, there’s snowboarding, cross-country skiing, dogsledding, ice skating, snowmobiling, paragliding, and let’s not forget the currently trendy snowshoeing. Mont-Sainte-Anne’s 170 certified ski and snowboard instructors are ready to teach you at any skill level, either privately or in groups. The Kinderski program offers a winter camp for children so parents can enjoy the mountain on their own. The Ski and Snowboard School also offers a program for disabled skiers, allowing them free use of special equipment during lessons. And the mountain of fun doesn’t stop when the sun goes down. Here you will find the highest vertical drop for night skiing in Canada. During the season, 14 lighted trails remain open, Tuesday through Saturday, until 10 p.m.

Nighttime in the village takes on a magical buzz as the ominous Beast — dotted with indefatigable night-skiers — looms in the distance, silhouetted by moonlight. L’Aiguille du midi, a French-style bistro, offers light meals to take the edge off of hunger built up by a day on the slopes, while the Chouette Bar and ZigZag Bar provide the perfect ski resort ambience for an end-of-day cocktail or a defrosting hot beverage.

WHERE THE RIVER NARROWS
Even though I didn’t know much about Québec City’s storied past, I quickly gained a sense of appreciation for its history. The novelty of the wall surrounding the city (the only walled city in North America) conjured images of barricades and battles. As I strolled along the St. Lawrence River, the battle-torn motif of cannons lining many of the lookouts that keep vigil on the incoming tide emphasize the fact that major warring had once occurred in this place.

This combative theme was disconcerting — not because blood had been shed where I was standing — but because of its sharp contrast to the peaceful essence of Québec City. That’s the point, though: The haunting reminders of the past allow for this quiet community today.

Québec City offers North Americans the experience of a European vacation without having to cross the ocean, and the hefty worth of the U.S. dollar in Canada makes it quite affordable for U.S. travelers. Walking onto the narrow cobblestone streets of Lower Québec, I felt I had stepped into a production of Les Misérables, only there were no beggars and thieves. Instead, shops were filled with the various wares of artisans; pubs bustled with an ambience for every mood; and restaurants and cafes offered delectable menus for every taste.

In the lower village, I sampled Italian (Da Vittorio), an assortment of French cuisine and gourmet seafood (Café de la Paix), and delicious rabbit (Le Lapin Sauté), a house specialty. Open the door of any village restaurant and walk into a memorable dining experience. Thanks to cozy accommodations, I also enjoyed the hushed whisperings of the nearby French-speaking diners. They may have been talking about what they needed to pick up at the grocery store before heading home, but for my ears, the language sounded romantic. I have not a single complaint about service at the restaurants I sampled and, believe it or not, there was no wait for a table — although granted, this was off-season. In Québec, patrons don’t rush through their meals to get to the next event; the meal is the event.

I appreciated the fact that fast-food franchises had not polluted the landscape of the village of Old Québec, supporting the illusion I had been transplanted to a more gentle, less commercial time. As I traveled toward Mont-Sainte-Anne, though, I was hit with a little fast-food reality and even spotted the Golden Arches kneeling a half block from the gorgeously ornate Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré.

But standing at the foot of the Basilica, looking up at the glorious carvings of the building, I easily forgot the modern distractions. And once I stepped into the cathedral, I was so tongue-tied I couldn’t even remember what comes on a Big Mac. Built on the site where legend has it that the Virgin Mary appeared, the Basilica attracts about 1.5 million people each year.

The Basilica is just one of the stops on the 30-minute drive from Québec City to Mont-Sainte-Anne. On first gander, the shores appeared to be littered with Styrofoam cups, but as I focused my 20/20’s, I discerned the flocks of geese pausing on the banks of the St. Lawrence before taking off to their next destination. The battles between England and France are apparent in the architecture on some stretches of highway. On one side of the road, homes were built with sloped roofs and bright colors, while the other side sported housing with a colonial look.

The most spectacular stop between the city and the Mont-Sainte-Anne resort area is Montmerency Falls. Though not as wide as Niagara Falls, Montmerency drops 272 feet — 100 feet higher than Niagara. In the winter, the spray from the falls freezes into an ice cone on which visitors toboggan and ice climb. Throughout the year, a cable car climbs to the top of the falls to Manoir Montmerency. In addition to being a gourmet restaurant, the Manoir and its six reception halls accommodate meetings and events for groups from 10 to 500 people. I enjoyed high tea looking over the falls, then took a stroll across the footbridge to fully experience the intensity of the falls.

Back to the streets of Lower Québec after the day’s sojourn, the agenda included a well-crafted meal and a walk back to my hotel along the rain-slick cobblestone illuminated by antique street lamps. For a moment — if not for the muted strains of modern music wafting from a village pub — I could easily have forgotten time and place.

BOOK IT
For more information about a vacation at Mont-Sainte-Anne and reservations at the Chateau, call the ClubLine at 800-433-5079. In addition, Reservotel is the region’s official reservation bureau. Call 800-463-1568 (if calling from Canada or the United States) or 418-827-5281 (if elsewhere). Reservotel will match individual needs and budgets with one of more than 50 lodging establishments, including bed and breakfasts, cozy inns, condos, chalets, motels, and hotels.