Laurentian Ski Museum and Most Hills Skied in one Day World Record

This March break I decided to return to my roots in Quebec and explore La Musee du Ski, otherwise known as the Laurentian Ski Museum and Hall of Fame www.museeduski.com. The proprietors were very polite in opening the doors even when it was closed during the quiet mid week period. The location is located on 30 Filion Street in St. Saveur des Monts, next to the post office and one street west of Page's bakery.

The Ski Museum traces the history of skiing in Canada, starting with the original native form of transportation  the snow shoe. The French traders known as Courer du Bois learned from the natives and would use snow shoes for winter travel in the forest fur trade. Around the the turn of the century the introduction of a new form of transportation from Norway was popularized. The Norwegians would travel in their wintry lands on a basic form of cross country ski. These skis were used for ski jumping as well as transportation. With the advent of the railway in the early 1900's the Laurentian Mountains became a tourist destination for downhill and cross country skiing, and the industry was born in Canada.

A variety of pioneers developed ski resorts, such as Emile Couchard. The famed Snowy Eagle Ski School of Grey Rocks was formed and  a long line of ski entrepreneurs such as Raymond Lanctot, Rod Roy ski Schools, and the Booth family developed the Laurentians into a hub of social and winter sports life.

The Norwegian engineer Jack Rabbit Johansen, developed most of the cross country trails in the laurentian mountains. He is credited as a true pioneer of skiing in Canada, and he embodied the healthy lifestyle of outdoor living. His passion for health enabled him to live to the ripe old age of 111 years.

The museum is a simple display, but traces the history of skiing in Quebec, which was one of the orginal hubs of the sport due to the railway construction and the social development of tourism in the warm laurentian mountains. The Norwegian cross country binding and leather ski boot design evolved over time into plastic buckle boots fibre glass skis with metal edges and  metal bindings.

One event which I notice remained unmentioned in the museum was our attempt at creating a Guiness World Book record for skiing the most ski hills in one day. In 1977 myself and the CHOM FM Powderhounds,  developed the concept to ski all the Laurentian resorts in one day. We managed to ski 28 ski resorts in one day. From Mt. Tremblant in the north to  Mt. St. Sauveur in the south, we skied every little operation in between. Nowadays, there are only 10 ski resorts left in the laurentians, so it was a feat impossible to repeat these days. The mountains that we skied are now closed, such as Grey Rocks, Mt Fugere, Mont Ste Agathe, Mount Alouette, Mont Castor to name a few. It was great fun driving up to the mountain in the CHOM FM 4 wheel drive and jumping through the lines to ski one run and then back into the truck to go the next ski area. Full credit goes to Mark Sherman the originator of the CHOM FM powderhounds, who created the concept to ski all the Laurentian Mountains in one day.

A second attempt to break our record was done the following season by another group of CHOM Powderhounds. Both attempts were never recorded in the Guiness Book, as there is only one area in the world with so many ski resorts in close proximity to one another, so it did not qualify for their records.

La Musee du ski is a beautiful presentation of the history of skiing in Quebec. It is a rich and deep history, which all of us from this great province should cherish.

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The Adventure Guy