EPIC TRIP
Chic-Chocs: True Eastern Alpine words :: Colin Field photos :: CHOK Images
There are some first times that we will always remember. Like the time I skied off-piste through the alpine highlands of le parc national de la Gaspésie
S
omehow I ended up at the top of a super-steep pitch with pro skier Samuel Grégoire. He was waiting for the filmers to give the green light. Then he’d drop in and show everyone how good the skiing in the Chic-Chocs really was. From here it looked sick… but intimidatingly steep; 30 cm of fresh snow stretched out for about 350 vertical metres below me. We were a crew of 12, with two filmers and one photographer slowing the pace. Somehow I was the second “athlete” in line. I was nervous because it’s not unusual for me to yard-sale on my first run of a trip. Plus I knew, as the lone guy from Ontario, I’d be judged—harshly. 44
Grégoire dropped in, turning through the fresh snow beautifully, schussing down the slope with grace, power and speed. The crew whooped with appreciation and it was over as quickly as it began. The filmers reset, their lenses pointed at me. With 11 people watching, I was about to drop in, but I didn’t get to decide when. I heard the radio: “Tout est prêt?” I heard a drone buzzing above me. “Okay, Colin! Three, two, one, dropping!” And that was my cue. I side-slipped past a crevasse and then dropped in, following closely to the pro’s tracks; my first turn was good. My second turn: good. My third turn: success as well. “Keep your hands out front,” I said to myself, “pole plant, pole plant, charge.” The snow was incredible; the pitch was perfect as well. I knew I wasn’t skiing as well as the pro, but I was holding it together. Through the fresh snow, carving my own track down the face, I fell instantly in love with the Chic-Chocs. When I came to a stop beside the pro we high-fived and laughed at how fun that was. I pulled off my pack, pulled out my skins and got ready to head up again. It was day one of a trip that had the working title of the Rab Steep Ski Camp. We were in a valley near the Gulf of St. Lawrence at