After the Sochi Olympics I traveled to Ireland to visit family and to give my body a rest after a successful ski season. In short time I was eager to set out on another adventure. I returned to Canada and joined my friend Liam on an expedition to the Monts Groulx region of northern Quebec – near the Labrador border. A group of our friends had traveled to the area at the beginning of March and had to turn back due to frigid temperatures near -40C. We went two weeks later and still had temperatures around -20C but generally things were very comfortable. I have never felt so exposed and far away from civilization. Since there were only two of us, we were very aware of our vulnerability and our need to work together to stay safe and healthy. The trip was a great success, we especially enjoyed skiing wherever we desired. With no marked trails to guide us, we used our topographical maps and mainly followed water courses to stay oriented. We only saw a tiny proportion of the vast untouched landscape, I look forward to returning again one day.

We drove for a very long time.

A wooden sign marked the beginning of the riverbed we skied up to access the area.

We made camp at the edge of a small lake.

Plenty of snow on the lake – up to 225cm in some spots!

We added butter to all our meals to stay warm.

Skiing above the treeline.

Liam hiking to the high point of our trip.

Feeling very tiny and alone.

A well insulated visitor to our camp.

Skiing along a valley bottom.

It doesn’t get much better than this. No racing spandex being worn on this ski trip!

No shortage of snow here.

A tricky descent along a river.

Don’t fall in!