Chic-Chocs - Steep couloirs and powder in the East

The Chic-Chocs are located inside the Parc national de la Gaspésie at the eastern end of Quebec. Pat and I left after I was done attending a job fair with the faculty of education at the University of Ottawa. We left on Friday, Feb. 15th and arrived in the parc at 3am. We settled for the night in the parking lot and slept in the car. Overall, the conditions were supposed to be generally crusty since they received 50mm of rain earlier this season. Fortunately for us, there was a good amount of snow that accumulated in the couloirs. Our last day was a real treat! (read more bellow)

It was a great ski trip!

Our first day was spent doing laps on "Le mur des patrouilleurs" on Mt. Albert. We brought our crampons along, but chose not to wear them on our first ascent. That was a mistake. The slope was crusty and it was hard to get confident footing. We opted to wear them during the following two ascents on the slope. Overnight, we spoke with someone who suggested we take a look at an area called "La coulée du diable". He told us "It's off limits, but locals still go there." It sounded interesting! We slept in the tent overnight.  There were huts and heated washrooms nearby, but we were the only ones sleeping outside.

Usefull info

Avalanche report: http://www.centreavalanche.qc.ca/info.php

Preparing on the first day.

Oatmeal. The best way to start the day.

Bootpacking up "Le mur des patrouilleurs" on Mt. Albert.

Windy conditions near the top.

We spent our second day skiing the beautiful and steeper couloirs of "La vallée du diable" area. Again, we used our crampons to ascend the crusty slope, but we found great snow accumulated in the couloirs. Each descent was a different line. After 4 laps of going up and down we felt tired enough to call it a day. This was our last night. Before settling down for the night. Pat came running and yelling "I found an Igloo!". Sure enough, there was a snow cave that was built earlier in the season and it even had a bed frame made out of pine and twine. It was a warmer and more comfortable alternative than our tent.

On the approach in "La vallée du diable"

Taking in the view.

The various lines we skied are seen here.

Choosing the right line was important.

Storm clouds moving in.

Nice snow in the couloirs.

We ended the day with a lap down open trees.

The third day was a treat! There was 60+ cm of snow that fell overnight. We woke up with the hole of our snowcave completely blocked. To get out of the parking lot, we needed to use our avalanch shovels to dig around the car and through the snow bank that was along the road. When we reached our skiing destination for the day. We needed to dig through the snow bank and clear some space in the parking lot. There was a lot of snow!  We skied the "Champ de Mars" area. The powder was better than the average day skiing out in interior British-Columbia. We planned to ski until noon and start the 10hr drive home. But the snow was too good. We chose to do an extra lap in exchange for a latter return. It was worth it! 

Deep powder!

A coastal view on our way home.