GETTING TO KNOW CHARLEVOIX’S ODDBALL SKI RESORT ONE VIEW—AND ONE TASTE BUD—AT A TIME.
A paintbrush has touched this place. Soft reds tint the early-morning sky, the snow in the fields is white, the St. Lawrence River a cold navy blue. Pretty cottages in pink and yellow line the road, smoke from chimneys curling into the air. And in the little town nearby, signs in spidery script hang over the sidewalks: Auberge, Gallerie, Café, Dépanneur.
So this is Charlevoix.
At the ski resort, snow is falling on the Chalet du Sommet and skiers are rushing out the door. They slap down skis, click into bindings, push toward a volunteer standing in front of a giant trail map. “Télécabin, télésiège, secteur hors-piste,” he is saying, tap, tap, tapping on the map with a pole. He switches to english, traces steep runs with his pointer, plus gentle pistes and pathways through glades. “Take La Bouchard for views of the river,” he advises, “or La Gagné for a run that’s not too difficult. The sous-bois snow will be soft on a day like today.”
The guide smiles and, all around him, helmets bob. The crowd pushes off murmuring merci. The sky has cleared and the sun’s popped out, it’s glinting on the river below. Everything everywhere is so fresh and French and colourful here.
So this is Le Massif.
THE UNCONVENTIONAL SKI RESORT
By Quebec standards, Le Massif de Charlevoix hasn’t been around very long. Yes, its slopes were created by a meteor thousands of years ago, but Le Massif is just a teenager in the ski world—an upstart, especially when compared to Tremblant, Gray Rocks or Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts.
Plus, Le Massif has always been unconventional, even a little odd. For example, its base area is at the top of the mountain not the bottom, so really it’s not a base at all. And this ski area didn’t get its start with chairlifts, T-bars or… does anyone here remember rope tows? Back in the day, locals trundled up Le Massif in yellow school buses, disembarking at the sommet like rowdy school children, then picking their own routes down—over and over, up to six and seven times per day.
But of course, that was before Daniel Gauthier came back to town. The co-founder of Cirque du Soleil was introduced to this artful region in 1975 while working with a troupe of stiltwalkers, fire-breathers and jugglers. “Baie-Saint-Paul let me develop a taste for the great outdoors, for showbiz and for entertainment,” he told Ski Canada in 2011. “I acquired some land before leaving [to tour with Cirque] just to ensure that someday I would return.”
True showmen always know how to make an entrance, and, after retiring from Cirque du Soleil, made an entrance in the ski world Daniel Gauthier did. His next project, Le Massif de Charlevoix, caught Canada’s full attention in the early 2000s, debuting as a $230-million eco-resort within a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve with the highest vertical drop in Canada east of the Rockies (770m). There came a gondola, a modern ski lodge, a cafeteria serving fine food, and a 150-room bio-climatic hotel called La Ferme (The Farm), plus several eco-friendly, slopeside “wind” homes—all by 2013. And don’t forget the train from Quebec City. Refurbished for $18 million with glass-ceilinged carriages, sumptuous seats and a foie gras menu, it was less transportation, more train cruise.
Why, one would ask, would anyone want to take up such a colossal task after coming off a smash-hit like Cirque du Soleil? “In Quebec,” the founder said simply, “if you don’t like to play in the snow, time hangs heavy in your hands.”
So this is Daniel Gauthier.
STICKING TO THE FRINGES
Situated 40 minutes from Quebec City—a little further northeast than Mont-Sainte-Anne—Le Massif is a pleasure to ski. Its trails were mapped out with the help of GPS technology, which means they follow the fall line near perfectly, trickling down the escarpment like streams. Skiers enjoy consistent, unrelenting faces that feel as if they go on and on and on. The grooming, especially in the morning, is as smooth as… well, corduroy, and in the afternoons springy bumps aren’t groomed away, they’re permitted to form.
The best pistes at this ski area may be those that, like Le Massif itself, exist on the fringes. The double blacks off Maillard Express—La Charlevoix, La 42, L’Écoutille—are a lark to ski. But the mountain is nicely balanced, with 15 percent easy, 30 percent intermediate and 20 percent difficult. Still, it’s the well-spaced sous-bois (glades) and the terrain marked très difficile (35 percent) that are hands-down the most fun to ride. Favourite glades include La Chaudière and La Dominique Maltais.
It’s true, distractions abound. The view of the St. Lawrence River from Le Massif’s summit is photographed—and Instagrammed—time and time again, especially when a freighter is making its way to or from the sea. The art and images on the walls in the Chalet du Sommet are always colourful and worth a gander—in 2007, nearby Baie-Saint-Paul was designated as a Cultural Capital of Canada. It’s telling that instead of a computer-generated trail map distributed at most ski resorts, Le Massif’s free ski map—the one you shove in your jacket pocket—was hand-painted by artist Kevin M. Mastin
Still, what everyone asks about when you return from Le Massif isn’t the art, it’s the food—always the food. No-fried-anything is on the menu at the cafeteria in Chalet du Sommet—cheeseburgers and fries aren’t a thing. As in Europe, most skiers line up with trays for three-course meals made from organic and regional fare: veal parmigiana, roast chicken with rosemary, wood-fired pizza, stringy mac & cheese. At the end of the meal, a sweet pouding chômeur. There’s a crêperie at the base of the mountain, bien sûr. But the star of this ski-friendly foodie show is Camp-Boule. Called a buvette, which translates to tavern or bar, it is situated on Le Massif’s highest peak (806m). In the evenings, diners are transported to Camp-Boule from the top of the gondola by snowcat, and are greeted inside by a warming fireplace, a long, broad bar, and tables with panoramic river views. Chef David Forbes regularly emerges to welcome his guests. On his menu: grilled meats, braised beef, local cheeses and yummy surprise desserts.
So this is la belle vie.
GLOBAL SKI MARKET: BONJOUR
None of this describes a run-of the-mill ski area, but that was part of Daniel Gauthier’s plan. “I have challenged myself to repeat the Cirque’s success in the world of skiing,” he has explained to Ski Canada, “by being different, by being original and by avoiding the standard recipe.”
Still, it’s true that at Le Massif de Charlevoix, everything hasn’t always gone as planned. La Ferme, once the pride of Groupe Le Massif, is now operated by Germain Hotels. (This fall, the hotel earned a coveted one-key designation from the 2024 Michelin Guide.) And that bougie train Gauthier conceived? The one with luxe seats and panoramic view? It no longer operates in wintertime, and it no longer stops near Le Massif. We were told by Le Massif’s communications department that tracks are simply too costly to keep clear in winter.
Instead, Gauthier’s team has turned its attention to other ambitious partnerships, including the 2021 launch of Canada’s first Club Med—Club Med Québec Charlevoix—that dominates the actual base area at this upside-down resort. In another project, a nest of ultramodern and ultra-family-friendly Grande-Pointe Chalets—heated boot rooms, outdoor hot tubs, games rooms and wide views of the St. Lawrence—opened recently steps from Le Massif’s Grande-Pointe lift. Currently, this is the place to stay. The base’s first four-storey, 118-room apartment-hotel, Le Camp de Base – Secteur Grande Pointe, is expected to launch in autumn 2025.
In December 2023, Radio-Canada Québec reported Gauthier was looking for partners to raise $400 million to increase Le Massif’s scope by 50 percent: new lifts for Le Massif’s Mont à Liguori sector (currently reached by 20 minutes on skins or snowshoes), improved snowmaking and expansion of accommodation. Little news has emerged from the notoriously media-shy Gauthier since then. When asked if the plan is still on track, Le Massif’s PR team replied: “We have not made any updates since the publication of this announcement.” What is clear: Gauthier’s team has skiing’s international market in its crosshairs. In 2019, 10 percent of Le Massif’s clientele came from outside Quebec. Club Med increased this proportion to 30 percent in 2023. “Our goal for the future,” says Gauthier, “is to increase that to 50 percent.”
So this is the future of Le Massif de Charlevoix.
BEE NETTING & FUN SLEDDING
When they handed me a yellow-and-black chequered snow sled with no steering and no brakes, my thought was: What am I supposed to do with this? When the guide showed us how to steer and brake with our feet—on an easy-peasy practice hill—my thought was: Okay, I think I’ve got this figured out.
Turns out, I was blissfully unaware of the chaos to come. I fiddled with my headlamp and chatted about the cold. The stars above the Le Massif de Charlevoix were bright that night, but the top of Mount Ligouri’s 7.5km sledding track was still very dark—and very steep!
My mom and I were the last to go, we didn’t want to be rushed. When the guide finally gave me the signal, I picked up my feet and sailed away. On the first pitch I hit near mach speeds, propelled by lack of fear and brakes. But when the first turn loomed ahead I panicked: jamming my boots into the snow, seeking the braking action that’d worked so well on the practice hill.
Not so. My treadless boots were not equipped for such rigorous braking. I hit the bee-netting face first.
With my goggles askew and snow in my gloves, I laughed and gathered myself again. From that point on I adopted my mom’s “emergency braking” technique the entire way down: place both hands on the sled’s wooden frame and reef upward as hard as you can. It results in a slow pace and the wimpiest wheelies ever, but it helps you avoid the bee-netting on sweeping, Olympic-style bobsleigh curves.
Our hot chocolate break restored my warmth and my nerves. The highlight of the night was the straightaway at the end of the track, the one that speeds past Club Med Québec Charlevoix. On that straightaway I finally released my sled from its death grip and let loose.
I finished second-last. At least I beat my mom.
_GRACIE GILBERT
