When I wrote this, it was the first day of winter. It’s odd really, I always have the impression that our seasons are conflicting. Winter starts when the days are the shortest, but from then on, each day gets longer and longer until June 21. But even if there’s going to be more sun, we still have to survive the intensity of winter!
No matter how we define this season, in order to survive it, you've got to savour it. At the beginning of winter, Magalie and I took advantage of the change in season and treated ourselves to a little hike, the snow not yet deep enough to need snowshoes.
Aujourd’hui, c’est le début de l’hiver. C’est drôle parce que j’ai toujours l’impression qu’il y a un certain conflit dans nos saisons. L’hiver commence lorsque les journées sont les plus courtes et à partir de maintenant, chaque jour sera un peu plus long et ce, jusqu’au 21 juin. Mais bien qu’on aura plus de soleil, il reste tout l’hiver et toute son intensité!
Mais peu importe notre définition de cette saison, au Québec ou du moins à Montréal, on peut s’entendre que ça fait deux semaines que l’hiver a commencé. Et justement, il y a deux fins de semaines, Magalie et moi en avons profité pour se taper une petite rando, le niveau de neige n’étant pas encore assez haut pour nécessiter des raquettes.
Une moustache est nécessaire afin de réellement savourer un paysage
We’re trying out a new concept at altitude-blog.com. Janick Altitude and I are going to share a hiking story with you. We’ve chosen five key words that we must use in our texts: Rain, Wind, Garbage, Cheese and Running. The rest is totally our point of view. We wrote our respective articles without having the read the other’s. Enjoy!
*Please note that Janick’s article is currently in French. Translation coming soon.
It’s morning. It’s raining. It’s cold. Janick asks me with a worried look whether we’re still on for the hike. Fearing she’s having doubts, I answer: “Yeah!” Her response warms me up: “Sweet!”
The plan was to hike up Mont-Tremblant. I was looking forward to it. I also was hoping for a rigorous experience. You know, to kick up the intensity a notch or two. It started off well, what with the rain and the cold. As we started hiking, we realized that we were simply generating too much heat. The sweat was going to wet us more than the drizzle. So off went the shells. I was covered in merino wool, a little rain wasn’t going to faze me. I also decided to shed the bottom legs of my convertible pants. God bless convertible pants. With clothes set at breathable, I was more comfortable than a warm hug from someone you love. Ok, I wasn’t that comfortable, but close enough.
C’est un lundi matin pluvieux que mon super collègue Juan Altitude et moi décidâmes de notre plan pour la fin de semaine suivante : Tremblant. Prétexte premier pour aller visiter nos amis Altitudiens qui ont émigré dans le nord pour ouvrir une nouvelle boutique ; une petite randonnée avait tout de même été vaguement projetée au courant de la fin de semaine. Avoir su qu’une simple petite randonnée de fin d’été pouvait s’avérer aussi extrême, peut-être aurais-je planifié mes cartes différemment…
Samedi matin, un matin gris, pluvieux et froid bien sûr, ne m’inspira point à quitter mon sac de couchage. Dans l’espoir d’apercevoir un éclaircit illuminé le ciel, nous nous préparâmes plutôt lentement à trouver une randonnée à la hauteur de nos attentes. Ouf!
Everyone has fantasies. Things they would like to accomplish before they die. I certainly do. I would like to finish hiking the Appalachian Trail with Juan, I would like to spend a summer working with the girls from The Boutique North Face in Montreal, cycle from Montreal to the Hershey’s Chocolate factory in Pennsylvania, actually give a public speech where the audience is naked, so on and so forth, you get the idea. Many fantasies can be quite secretive, selfish and even ridiculous in others’ eyes, but I guess that is what defines them as our own personal fantasies.
Well this afternoon I can say with confidence that one of my fantasies has become reality. I know, I know, anyone from Montreal is hoping that I will be spending time with those beautiful girls, but no unfortunately not- I’ve never been that lucky I’m afraid. This afternoon I walked into my local coffee/bakery and found that a sandwich had been named after me (read: not me, but Altitude Sports). Please keep your applause until the end. That’s right, there is now officially an Altitude sandwich ready for your consumption at Les Cafés La Fayette in the Promenades de Mont-Tremblant development.
A little backstory if you’ll permit. Like the sun sets in the West, I always order the same ham and cheese baguette sandwich for lunch. It didn’t bother my undeveloped palate, but apparently it did bother the chef: “When the heck are you going to order something else?” I get thrown at me one lunchtime. Momentarily flabbergasted, I stupidly mumble something about the rest of the menu not being to my liking. Oops. Anyone who knows me, knows that quick, idiotic retorts is part of my charm- needless to say I make many enemies with my charm. But instead of getting a thrashing with a fresh baguette I got the ultimate question: what would I like? Now asking this to a self-indulgent, pretentious, wannabe writer like myself, gets the old noggin rolling.
So here it ladies and gentleman, the pièce de resistance: it is healthy, filled with eggplant, grilled peppers and sun-dried tomatoes, partly wild with a cream cheese sauce, and undeniably raw and honest stuffed between La Fayette’s 9 grain bread. To me it epitomizes who we are as Altitude Sports. To be honest I have not figured out how we are going to ship the Altitude in the mail, but I will work on that at lunch after I lick my fingertips dry.
Thank you very much La Fayette for not only fulfilling a life long fantasy, but for creating a piece of culinary history.
My calves ache and my quads shake, but my smile shines like a thousand LED headlamps. It is certainly true that without pain you cannot have pleasure; however, this afternoon I learned once again that having both simultaneously can be a more fervent experience. Let me, like I so often do, set the stage for you:
Alongside his wheeled, aluminum steed stands a man (trying desperately to remain a boy- that’s me), helmet in hand, modest calves coyly poking out from his cycling shoes. A nervous smile escapes his lips. Next to said man/boy is the owner of a great local bike store (Tremblant’s Cycles et Sports), and all-round pleasant fellow who had graciously accepted to take me for a “relaxed” ride around the nearby trails. A beautiful sheep dog, barely bigger than her owner’s cast iron legs, waits for the proverbial bell to signal the start of what I believe to be an epic ride with a fierce, but relaxed, pace. What have I gotten myself into?
Mark should have neither watched nor listened to this video before leaving Read more about the Ride
I do apologize for leaving you hanging like that in my previous article, but my unquenchable desire to use question marks got the best of me. Here I am once again. So fret not my darlings, that fresh air did not choke my city lungs, nor did the sun burn my pasty skin. Quite the contrary in fact: I am told I wheeze much less when watching my soaps, and that raw chicken skin look I was going for seems to have been remedied (my Udon noodle shade of white is much more becoming).
Oh, did I mention that Veronique and I are now waiting for your patronage at our new Mont-TremblantAltitude Sports? Well we are. Seriously. Come buy stuff. I’m nicer than I look, I swear. Ok, maybe not Monday mornings, so swing by Wednesday-ish. I’ll make you a coffee. Latte, not filter. Just off the 117 after the grocery stores.
Max is going to be mad if I don’t incorporate some outdoor epiphany I have recently had, so I will get to the point: I love water. Not playing with it, sillybilly, but drinking it! Read more Back to Basics
I can't imagine anything more amazing than a weekend in a small, picturesque town surrounded by tall, lush mountains, and that indistinguishable odour of 'non-city.' Mornings at the local bakery stuffing delicious pastries and coffee past your broad smile, waiting for the sun to warm enough for the inevitable discussion of what outdoor activity(ies) you and your buddies should partake in that day.
A few readers have noticed that we were talking in our recent posts about a store opening in Mont-Tremblant. You wanted to know more about this store. Well here is the latest news regarding our new Concept stores by Altitude-sports.com opened since June 25th!
Certains lecteurs ont remarqué dans les derniers articles des allusions plus ou moins subtiles à l'ouverture éventuelle de Boutiques concept par Altitude-sports.com, à Mont-Tremblant. Vous nous avez demandé des détails, anxieux que vous êtes de pouvoir enfin aller profiter des nombreuses activités de plein-air de la région tout en ayant accès à vos vêtements favoris! Eh bien en voilà...nous sommes ouverts le 25 juin!
Depuis plusieurs années, nous avons remarqué qu'il y a beaucoup d'intérêt pour certaines marques clés que nous représentons. The North Face, Arc'teryx et Icebreaker semblent avoir retenu plus particulièrement votre attention. Naturellement, lorsque vous visitez notre magasin de St-Denis ou possiblement d'autres magasins (c'est correct, c'est correct, c'est bien de comparer), vous constatez que la sélection n'est pas toujours complète. Même si nous sommes toujours heureux de faire une commande spéciale avec la compagnie pour dénicher le modèle ou la couleur que vous ne trouvez pas nul part, des fois, c'est plus facile de se faire une idée en voyant toutes les options possibles. En savoir plus sur nouvelles boutiques concept à Mont-Tremblant
Depuis plusieurs années, nous avons remarqué qu'il y a beaucoup d'intérêt pour certaines marques clés que nous représentons. The North Face, Arc'teryx et Icebreaker semblent avoir retenu plus particulièrement votre attention. Naturellement, lorsque vous visitez notre magasin de 
