Weekend at Mount Orford

We made our annual trek to Mount orford this weekend to go skiing. It was a bit different this year as it was the first time we were making the trip up as "parents". That's right, we decided to take along little Brandon. Thank goodness for our Jeff and Marlon, our resident babysitters.

For those of you infamiliar with Mount orford region, it is located in the Eastern Townships- approximately 1.25 hour drive east of Montreal.

Mount Orford consists of 3 great mountains- Mount Orford, Alfred-desrochers and Giroux, The highest one being 850 metres and one of the third highest in Quebec.

Orford lacks the glitz and allure of Mt. Tremblant or Mont St. Anne in Quebec. There is a visible absence of the zillion boutiques, restaurants and cafes that you'd find in your typical ski village. And you're out of luck if you're looking to stay at the Fairmont or another ridiculously priced resort. Heck, we were hard pressed to find a decent coffee shop in the area.

The real charm of Orford lies in the rustic feel of the town.

The quiet sleepy village, fresh mountain air, combined with the spectacular backdrop of the mountain were just the right ingredients for a relaxing weekend getaway.

There really was something soothing about waking up at 7am in the morning and looking out your balcony window and seeing a family of 6 deers grazing in your backyard. SIX deers!!! I'm sorry to say that when I tried taking pictures, all i got were the harsh reflections from the window.

Anyways, after a hearty breakfast of sausage and eggs on Saturday morning. We all bundled up into our snowpants and ski gear and headed off.

Here's a shot of one of the slopes.

Skiing was absolutely divine. I got off to a bumpy start but was skiing like a pro by the end of the day. My limbs were completely sore on Sunday. But it felt GREAT.

I would just like to say that if you're a beginner skiier, Mount Orford is NOT for you. They have these slopes that they've designated as "easy" slopes. But they are by no means easy. In fact, they just seemed downright dangerous combined with the patches of ice on some of them.

They also had these signs on parts of the trail saying "This trail was open" but it just seemed that some of these trails lead right OFF the side of the mountain. Suicide.

Whilst going up on the lifts, you couldn't help but notice how many trees and streams were on the mountain. I could just imagine how lovely the mountain must look during the summer months. Here's a pic I found on the net of mt. orford.

Apres-Ski: Reena, me and Brandon

Are you sure you need to put my teddy bear in there to start a fire, Reena?

Here are the 2 video-holics. When we came back from skiing, these 2 were glued to the video game screen while Brandon was off Deerback riding.

For dinner on saturday night, we drove to magog for dinner. Company and atmosphere was great, unfortunately the food was not.
Here's a couple snapshots of the crowd.

Until next time, ciao!