The TRAVELER'S JOURNAL: November twenty-eighth, skiing the Canadian Laurentians.

The knobby mountains of central Quebec have a long-standing reputation for downhill skiing. Just 90 miles north of Montreal via the well plowed Autoroute 15, the Laurentian area is an easy, two-hour drive from Dorval Airport. With favorable exchange rates and generally reliable snow, Laurentian skiing can also be something of a bargain.

Chief among the Laurentian resorts is Mt. Tremblant, which Ski Magazine rated eastern North America's best resort for the last five years. Although it lacks the altitude or steepness of the Rockies, Tremblant's four faces do offer some 2100 feet of vertical on slopes laced with 92 trails and served by 12 lifts. The base resort and nearby residential villages have a huge range of hotels, inns, B&Bs, condos and chalets, all within easy reach of the gondola to the top.

Several other Laurentian resorts are smaller in scale and even closer to Montreal. The Saint Sauveur Valley is ringed by six ski areas united by a common lift pass, offering days of active exploration.

But often overlooked are the Laurentian cross country possibilities. There's the Petit train du nord, a 200 mile long rail to trail route favored by those skiers who want to avoid all elevation or endurance types looking to collect kilometers.

More interesting is the extensive network of woodland trails that lace over and around the low mountains near the village of Val David, with its collection of craft shops and galleries. La Sapiniere, a nearby rustic resort known for its gallic hospitality and haute cuisine, is as elegant a base as any cross county connoisseur could ask for.

FMI For information on Laurentian Tourism - www.laurentides.com or

For Tourism des Quebec www.tourismegouv.qc.ca

For Val David www.valdavid.com

For Tremblant - www.tremblant.com or 1-800-567-6760.

For Mt Saveur Valley - www.montsaintsaveur.com or 1-800-363-2426

For La Sapieniere - www.sapiniere.com or 1-800-567-6635

For Hotellerie Champetre - Quebec Resort and Country Inn Association - 1-800-714-1214 or www.hotelleriechampetre.com

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