“The laughter in this group was infectious and plentiful. On trail we looked out for each other…Encouragement and guidance from our teammates helped us to scale, what seemed in the moment, insurmountable obstacles. I felt the confidence in my backcountry abilities grow with each excursion.”
Expedition Team (from left to right): Lynne Boudreau (Waitsfield), Kitter Spater (Burlington), Mike Maloney (Burlington), Lauré Murphy (Moretown), Shane Bowley (Burlington), Bob Gifford (Starksboro), Jamie Fanning (Fayston).
Roughly 550 miles north of the Mad River Valley you will find the trailhead to Québec’s Chic Choc mountains in the Gaspésie National Park. The Chic Chocs, part of the Appalachian Uplands of Canada, are home to an array of wildlife including a small heard of endangered Woodland caribou (34 individuals remaining as of 2022) living in the wildlife preserve on an upper plateau, moose yards, the Ruffed grouse, and the elusive, nocturnal, Artic hare. You may ask where I’ve learned about this magical snow-laden kingdom. Simple, I signed up for the annual backcountry ski expedition sponsored by the Mad River Path Association. Tour guides Misha Golfman and Lynne Boudreau taught our group some incredible facts about the region, along with map-reading skills and survival techniques for this cold and often brutal climate. All this and more while we were skiing and living hut to hut for five days.
The journey from Waitsfield, VT started at 5 am on Monday, February 24, 2025. Two of us joined Misha and Lynne for a carpool to our first night’s lodging. We loaded up the backcountry skis, our personal backpacks with our required gear, and headed north for five days of backcountry adventures. Old man winter had been dumping snow in the Chic-Chocs and we were excited to carve new trails and explore this untouched wonderland.
Our first night was spent in the small town of Sainte-Felicité, in Québec. Nestled on the shores of the partially-frozen Saint Lawrence River, the quaint Auberge de Jeunesse du Manoir des Sapins, was the meeting point for the six participants and two guides. Introductions were made over dinner, followed by a team meeting to discuss our daily itinerary, food supplies, and safety protocols. The expedition would include four nights sleeping in two huts along the trail, heated by wood, cooking on a woodstove, each hut with a friendly little outhouse. After a long day’s drive, we set off to bed as the winds were howling off the St. Lawrence River.
The morning of Tuesday, February 25th, we awoke to no power. The raging winds had knocked out power along the St. Lawrence, so we began our “backcountry” cooking a meal earlier than anticipated. No worries, the Manoir des Sapins’ woodstove worked well to heat the water for cooking. A wonderful spread of fresh local bagels, cream cheese, and lox, as well as hard boiled eggs, yogurt, granola, and fresh fruit. A few team members ventured out for hot coffee and our meal was complete.
Each morning during our expedition, Misha and Lynne would set out food for us to fill our “day food” bags. We would snack as we needed energy while skiing. We filled our insulated water bottles with hot water to mix with snow for drinking along the trail. This method allowed our drinking water to be stretched further during our day-long outings in the backcountry. Following the packing of our food and water, we would share stretches and yoga poses to help limber our bodies for the day’s ski. We would then share a poem or inspiring reading to prepare our hearts and minds for the day’s adventures. Misha would cook up a hot and hearty breakfast using locally sourced grains, eggs, and meats – always delicious and filling. Hot camp coffee or tea with maple syrup was also on tap.
On day 1, we could opt to have our packs transported with the team food to the first hut (La Paruline), or carry our packs. Two of us opted to carry small day packs and send our 30 lb. packs by snowmachine to the hut. The first leg of the expedition was twelve kilometers, mostly a gradual uphill climb (no skins required), to La Paruline. The weather was beautiful, lots of fresh snow, and the winds had calmed from the previous night. We initially followed a snowmachine trail, soon splitting off to a less-traveled ski trail to our hut. La Paruline is a small and cozy hut. It was already warmed by the remnants of a fire left by a day skier passing by. This would be the only day skier I saw the entire week in the Chic-Chocs. We had the mountains to ourselves! La Paruline is located just above one of the many lakes in this region. Upon arriving, just past mid-day, Misha divided chores amongst us. Chores consisted of clearing snow from the hut’s deck and stairs, making a path to the outhouse, and shoveling a path to the sump station (where we were to dump waste water and have team hand washing before our meals). We collected fresh snow in large pots to melt on the stove for drinking water and cooking, chopped wood, and assisted with food prep. When all the chores were done, folks were free to explore the area by ski, relax by the fire with hot tea, read a book, or chat.
The tours into the backcountry were exhilarating! As the most novice backcountry skier of the team, I found the daily “optional” expeditions to be rigorous and breathtaking (visually and physically), and not to be missed! Misha is an excellent guide and bushwhacker (breaking trail), teaching as he moves along. He was always full of encouragement and confident in each person’s ability to meet a new challenge. Both Misha and Lynne readily coached and instructed those who were newer to the sport, while allowing the more experienced members to take turns bushwhacking and leading the group across snow bridges and around obstacles. I loved how Misha included everyone in reading the maps and how he taught us to keep a “chair rail” (a large natural feature such as a tributary or mountain) as a point of reference while we traversed the backcountry so as not to lose our way. The snow on these expeditions into the wilds was untouched and DEEP. We would often spot animal tracks, and, on one excursion, we had the good fortune to glimpse a moose and her calf leaving their moose yard and moving up the river, pushing through the drifts and snow bridges. On another excursion, we came across a flock of grouse foraging the snow-laden forest for food near the shores of Lake Cascapédia. We crossed this frozen lake on the way to our second hut, Le Pluvier. On the last day, another moose sighting occurred on our journey down to the trailhead. It was a true gift to spot these creatures in their natural habitat.
Our group formed fast and easy friendships over the course of our expedition. In the evenings, after Misha’s amazing one bowl meal and then dessert, contributed each evening by a participant, we would sit around the candle lit table to share a gratitude from that day’s events, play games, talk, and laugh. The laughter in this group was infectious and plentiful. On trail we looked out for each other. Two of us (yes, I was one!) found ourselves sinking into tree wells and it was our teammates that pulled us to safety. There were a few harrowing traverses and climbs, where the encouragement and guidance from our teammates helped us to scale, what seemed in the moment, insurmountable obstacles. I felt the confidence in my backcountry abilities grow with each excursion. The six of us arrived on expedition with different gear and different levels of experience. The variety of gear included wider alpine touring and narrower Nordic backcountry touring skis. No matter the equipment, all of us were able to keep up and we all used skins for steep ascents. Downhill was a bit easier for those who had stiffer boots and bindings to support easier turns on the steepest descents. We all had fun and were able to navigate the terrain with a few tumbles, a lot of laughter, and most importantly, no injuries!
Upon our departure from each hut, we left the sites better than we found them. We chopped wood for the next group coming through, swept, mopped, shoveled, cleaned the outhouse, and did our best to leave no trace. As I reflect on this time spent skiing in the Chic Chocs, it was a much-needed respite from the busyness of life and the noise of our culture. It was an exploration of self with the added benefit of making new friends and connections with my guides and teammates.