This year we once again made the trek north to Foret Montmorency in search of snow. Where we were staying throughout the week, in Stoneham, Quebec, there was no snow, save for some man-made on the alpine runs of the resort. That, however, did not deter us from getting on snow.
Saturday, upon our arrival, we went for an easy 1 hr jog around the ski village. After finishing up, we returned to the boys’ house for dinner–Ethan’s parents heated up some delicious lasagna which the team made quick work of.
Sunday made for an epic run. We drove about 15 minutes north to Jaques Cartier Parc where most of us were going to trail run, while about four others would rollerski. Due to falling wet, heavy snow, and slush covered pavement, those planning on rollerskiing had a quick change of plans. We set out on our trail run through timber cuts, slush and some pretty gnarly terrain. The trail took us all the way back to the top of the alpine mountain, and after 2 hours and 45 minutes of running, we never hit pavement once, and arrived back to our houses muddied and tired with appetites like no other.
Monday was our first day on snow. We made the 40 minute drive north to Foret where they had about 10 cm of crusty white stuff. We parked the vans and began skiing up a trail/logging road header. The going was slow and hard, as breaking trail through the crusty snow proved to be extremely taxing. Eventually we came to a point where we skied in a 1km stretch due to the efforts of everyone on the team. There, we did some no-pole drills and ended up with a solid 2 hours on snow. During our training session, some of the girls saw a cow moose pop out on the trail in front of them, and about 30 minutes later, the guys’ team saw another cow on the trail in front of them. Certainly some wild country and a unique place to ski! We used the afternoon to go for about a 30 minute jog and stretch out some tired legs. Total for the day was 2.5 hours.
Tuesday we drove back up to Foret to get on the 1km loop that had been groomed. We classic skied on some rock-solid tracks and made for a morning total of 2 hours. The afterno0n’s workout made for a 15 minute warm up jog and cool down, while we made up a strength session in between. With a couple medicine balls benches, staircases, and playground equipment, the team engaged in a strength routine that was anything but a walk in the park.
Wednesday made for a double session at Foret. Classic ski in the morning on the 1km loop, followed by skate skiing in the afternoon on a 3km groomed stretch in which rock skis were a must. We hammered out some intervals, 5x6min, all the while weaving in and out of on-coming ski traffic. While we all skied for at least 3 hours, there were some that closed in on 3.5 and 3.75 hours.
Thursday’s workout made for skate skiing in the morning, then an immediate switch to classic skiing on the 1km loop. We got in a total of 2.5 hours before coming back for Thanksgiving dinner, go-karts, and a relaxing evening in Quebec City.
Friday we embarked on another epic journey through the wilds of Foret. We skate skied un-groomed trails and log-roads, never knowing exactly where we were going, just hoping that we’d eventually circle around to the vans. After skiing through un-broken trail and seeing copious moose and wolf tracks and skiing an unforgettable downhill run of upwards of 2.5 minutes, we eventually made our way back to the vans, starved, beat up, and all smiles. The afternoon consisted of a half-hour jog and stretch.
Saturday was a time trial between SLU, UMPI, Colby and Bowdoin. Results can be found here: Foret 5K TT Results 2011 Definitely some impressive times by some SLU-Skiers. Those unhappy with their finishes shouldn’t be too concerned, as we have had a huge week in volume, and those arms and legs should have been a bit tired anyway.
Sunday morning we went for a trail run up a hiking trail that brought us to the top of the ski mountain and back down. Some continued on for an extra half hour, while most of us ended at 1 hour. After a quick breakfast, we packed, cleaned, and took off for Canton, New York.
All in all, we had a big week in volume, putting up 22 hours of training, while some pushed it to 24. Certainly an unforgettable week with an awesome crew.
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