What Makes Quebec a Special Snowmobile Trail Riding Destination?
Quebec Photo © Craig Nicholson
Related: Quebec Snowmobile Tours
Quebec snowmobiling advantages deliver a world class experience. This premier status is about much more than trail operations. My recent post, comparing trail operations in Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick, tells the operational side of that story. There’s no doubt that clubs and volunteers in each province can deliver great trails at any given time. But Quebec clubs and volunteers also benefit from many exceptional Quebec snowmobiling advantages…
Quebec Photo © Craig Nicholson
Quebec Snowmobiling Advantages: The Right Geography
Geography is the most obvious of Quebec snowmobiling advantages. First, more of Quebec is positioned at a more northerly latitude than either Ontario or New Brunswick. For example, Montreal is slightly farther north than Ottawa, while Gaspésie is much farther north than Cochrane. And all of Quebec is farther north than New Brunswick.
Second, more of Quebec is at a higher elevation than either Ontario or New Brunswick. North of the St. Lawrence River, the Laurentian Mountain range runs from the Ottawa River into the Saguenay Region. They include Monts Valin and the rugged north shore east of the Saguenay Fiord. Meanwhile, the Appalachian Mountain range extends through Quebec south of the St. Lawrence. And include the Chic-Choc Mountains, which form the northern backbone of the Gaspé Peninsula.
Together with their northerly latitude, this mountainous terrain means more snow in more locations for a longer season. For example, Monts Valin normally gets rideable snow in November that often lasts into early May! Yes, thanks to geography, Mother Nature is firmly on the side of most clubs and volunteers operating Quebec trails.
Quebec Photo © Craig Nicholson
Quebec Snowmobiling Advantages: Unrivalled Scenery, Variety & Choice
Another one of Quebec snowmobiling advantages is that Quebec’s huge territorial size. In fact, Quebec is roughly 43% larger than Ontario. Along with being north and high, this means snowmobilers have many snowbelt destination choices thru a generally longer season. Plus, Quebec surpasses other trail riding destinations with more varied scenery and interesting terrain. Thus, resident and visiting snowmobilers can access more unrivalled trail riding adventures near and far within La Belle Province. To say nothing of many bucket list destinations. Plus, Quebec is also easily accessible from other provinces by major highways and by connected trails.
Quebec Photo by Al Fletcher
Quebec Snowmobiling Advantages: Unique Cultural Context
Culture is an intangible contributor to Quebec snowmobiling advantages. Quebec embraces winter as a way of life through numerous outdoor activities, unique festivals, and traditions that celebrate the season. The culture has evolved around winter, and residents view the season not so much as a time to endure. But more as an opportunity for unique celebrations and a chance to reconnect with nature and each other.
Thus, Quebec is the birthplace of Ski-Doo for good reason. A heritage of embracing winter with passion made Quebec a natural for discovering better ways of travel on the snow. In fact, the first iterations of what would become a snowmobile emerged from J. Armand Bombardier’s workshop in 1936!
So, Quebeckers are proud of their unique winter legacy. As a consequence, snowmobiling is generally more a part of its cultural fabric. It’s also a more familiar winter recreational activity to its population, government and media as part of longstanding Quebec tradition.
Consequently, Quebec has more registered sleds and more active snowmobilers than either Ontario or New Brunswick. And a much larger customer base with a larger pool of potential volunteers to draw from.
Photo courtesy Auberge du Vieux Moulin.
Quebec Snowmobiling Advantages: Good Tourism Partners
The cultural benefit also means that another one of the Quebec snowmobiling advantages is tourism related. In fact, Quebec tourism agencies’ aggressive snowmobile marketing has helped create its reputation as the #1 snowmobile tourism destination.
But that’s not all. Unlike Ontario or New Brunswick, the FCMQ’s 13 snowmobile regions are 95% aligned with and named after Quebec tourism regions. This overlap encourages a collaboration that has also motivated tourism regions to actively and consistently market snowmobiling. And since inception, the Quebec Tourism Alliance has taken over coordinating the entire tourism component responsible for promoting snowmobiling.
Their support includes publishing regional trail maps (which are gradually going online), taking that workload off their clubs and volunteers. And even includes tourism regions working together to create great new rides like the Grand St. Lawrence Snowmobuie Tour.
This symbiotic relationship helps keep Quebec at the forefront of global snowmobiling tourism. It also attracts thousands of visiting, permit-buying riders who boost revenue available for trail operations. And that also helps Quebec clubs and volunteers.
Pourvoirie Club Fontbrune. Photo credit: Martin Lortz
Quebec Snowmobiling Advantages: Exceptional Hospitality
With snowmobiling so ingrained in Quebec culture, visiting riders are always welcome. And well taken care of by bilingual tourism operators who cater to every snowmobiling need. From gourmet cuisine and classy lodgings, visiting riders are more consistently pampered than anywhere else. In a plethora of trail accessible rustic lodges, unique inns and full service hotels. Quebec trails also benefit from a large network of back country pourvoiries (outfitters). These backwoods lodgings serve as essential trail way stations for touring riders. In some areas, they also work together to attract and support riders throughout their entire ride. The Wood Runners Loop is a prime example of this co-operative competitiveness.
The pourvoiries are also necessary for grooming operations in many areas. Why? Because their on-site fuel and operator accommodation facilitate longer and more frequent grooming runs in remote areas.
Quebec Photo © Craig Nicholson.
My Last Word
Not to take anything away from Quebec clubs and volunteers, but they do benefit from many Quebec snowmobiling advantages. Not least is the highest permit fee in Canada, one that reflects the true cost of delivering snowmobile trails. These are advantages that clubs and volunteers in the other provinces don’t share as consistently or to the same degree.
Yes, Quebec snowmobile clubs and volunteers do a uniformly great job of maintaining and grooming a premier network of snowmobile trails. But hats off to all the clubs and volunteers in the other provinces. In less advantageous circumstances, they also deliver great trails when and wherever possible. So, wherever clubs and volunteers are located, all deserve our support by purchasing a permit to ride their trails.
Like This Post? Follow Me on Facebook!
The tips and advice in this blog are the opinions of the author, may not work in every situation and are intended only for the convenience and interest of the reader, who has the personal responsibility to confirm the validity, accuracy and relevancy of this information prior to putting it to their own use.