Ontario skiers have flocked back to western Quebec hills, report finds

It was a profitable ski season for resorts in the Outaouais last winter, driven largelyby the fact that COVID-19 restrictions were lifted and Ontarians returned in droves, a new report says.

The Associationof Quebec Ski Resorts released its financial report for the 2021-2022 seasonThursday, which showedthat revenues at the region's ski hillsincreased by 44 per cent over the previous winter.

Michel Archambault oversaw the report and told Radio-Canada that increase could partially be explained bythe reopening of restaurants, ski schools and retailoperations afterCOVID-19 restrictions were lifted.

Those restrictions were generally stronger in 2020-21 than 2021-22 andincluded telling Ontario skiers not to cross to Quebecfor much of ski season.

The report also shows that Quebec ski resorts saw a "massive return" of visitors, especially from Ontario, he said.

"More than 27 per centof Ontario skiers chose the Outaouais to pursue theirfavourite activity." he said in a French-language interview.

The report ranks the Outaouais the fourth most popular region in Quebec for skiers and snowboarders, behind theLaurentians, the Eastern Townships and Quebec-Charlevoix. The region held a 7.2-per-cent share of the Quebec market in 2021-2022, it said.

"The culture of alpine skiing is developing more and more in the Outaouais." saidthe association'sCEO and presidentYves Juneau in a statement to Radio-Canada.

"There is no doubt that the region will continue to attract a large number of skiers from the neighbouring province, thus confirming the role of ski resorts as the main winter tourist activity for the region."

Operators excited by the report

At the hills on Saturday, operators were excited about both abig recentsnow dumpandthe good news out of thereport.

"We're really excited to be the fourth most popular ski region," said Camp Fortune directorErin Boucher, noting there were about4,000 skiers Saturday afternoon at the hill near Chelsea, Que.

"Skiing is really popular in the Outaouais. It's a really great sport [that gets] alot of interprovincial funds as well because we're so close to Ontario. So it's a great injection into tourist dollars in the province."

At the Mont Cascades ski resort near Cantley, Que., it's the same situation.

"We receive a lot of customers from the Ottawa side, so it's helped [us compete]with the other regions of Quebec," said general manager Alexandre Leblanc.

And after a tough start to the season, Leblanc said theconditions may help keep those revenues up.

"[In]the last 48 hours we had over 35 centimetres of new fresh snow," Leblanc said. "So conditionsare great right now."