I love this one so much! It inspired me to get a copy of the biography of him written by his daughter, also a good read. The history of skiing in the laurentians is described and it's very interesting. There was a train from montreal with stops in various towns. People would take the train to a station and spend the day skiing back to another station. All the first trail maps were published by the train and cigarette companies. Eventually cars + downhill areas with lifts took over... but nordic + backcountry is still alive and well. (see http://skiglisse.blogspot.ca this guy is amazing, he reviews just about every nordic area around)MikeK wrote:
It made me realize how much a single person did to bring skiing culture to this part of the world. And what's more, we can still ski on some of the trails he cut in the laurentians + northern new york state.
Here's an interview with him in french at 100 years old:
some of his quotes translated:
"ski every day, don't eat, drink or smoke too much. everything in moderation"
"canada in february and march is way better than florida. in canada we have everything we need for canoeing in summer and xc skiing in winter"
"I live alone, I cut my own wood, I clean up, make my own meals and I'm very happy. I'm very conscious that I have the health to do all this. But, you have to ski every day, and come back after you've sweated a bit. Then have a bit of beer in front of the fire with a pipe. that's the good life"
