Winter New Brunswick Style
Canadian province New Brunswick is rich in snowmobiling, skiing or snowshoeing—not to mention native Mi’kmaq culture.
Jan 9, 2007
New Brunswick, Canada, offers a wintersports paradise, be it skiing, Nordic skiing, snowmobiling or snowshoeing. The snowiest of Canada’s Maritime Provinces, with annual snow falls of up to 13 feet in the northwestern part of the province, New Brunswick answers the call for even the most demanding winter sports aficionado.
This is snowmobile country and New Brunswickers are fanatics about getting out in their white open spaces. After all, they’ve been at it for over 80 years–ever since fellow Canadian Joseph-Armand Bombardier invented the first one in 1922 out of an old Model T Ford.
And there’s no better place to whiz through snow-covered woods than over some of the 4,400 miles of well-maintained trails around towns like Miramichi, Bathurst, Campbellton and Edmundston. Permits can be purchased for as little as $75 a week.
Here are some sample packages available in the province:
At the Atlantic Host Hotel in Bathurst, the "Snowmobiling Capital of Atlantic Canada," the five-night "Powder Runs Deep" package includes daily breakfast, three dinners, three days snowmobile rental (108 miles daily), gas, insurance, snowsuit, boots, helmet, pass, maps and indoor sled parking for about $1160 per person, double occupancy, including taxes.
Crabbe Mountain, New Brunswick’s highest vertical at 853 feet, offers challenging terrain for skiers and snowboarders from intermediates and to black diamond, as well as easy slopes for snow bunnies and beginners. A quad chairlift, the only one in the Maritimes, takes skiers up the mountain quicker so they can zoom down the 18 alpine runs. Snowboarders will enjoy the terrain park complete with tabletops, hips, spines and rails. Crabbe sits in the middle of a 12-mile cross country trail system and at the end of the day, these skiers can catch the lift back to the base free of charge. With daily lift tickets costing between $22 and $35 – about half what they are in Vermont or Maine – and rentals combined with lift tickets going for $33 to $40, dedicated, cost-conscious skiers are sure to discover one of North America’s best kept winter secrets.
Larsen’s Log Lodge has a five-night package for two in a suite complete with private outdoor hot tub, full breakfast, three dinners, a picnic lunch, lift tickets and ski rentals for three days, a snowman building kit and use of snowshoes for $1,180, not including taxes and service.
More than 3,000 years ago, the Mi’kmaq, a First Nations people, settled on the banks of the Miramichi at Metepenagiag. Here at New Brunswick’s oldest village, visitors staying at the Metepenagiag Outdoor Adventure Lodge in Red Bank can see rabbits and porcupines as a Mi’kmaq guide leads them on a snowshoe "safari." At the charming cedar lodge, guests can stay in one of the ten rooms decorated with aboriginal art and enjoy traditional specialties such as Atlantic lobster, snow crab and fiddlehead chowder. A five-night package for two including breakfasts, suppers and use of snowshoes and toboggans is $550. Guides are available for an additional charge of $22 per hour.
For cross-country skiers, the Heron's Nest in Charlo near Campbellton offers a five-night package in a country cottage including daily breakfasts and one supper at Restaurant La Source with a bottle of wine, and five days of ski rentals and passes for $311 plus tax, per person, double occupancy.
For more information about New Brunswick, go to www.tourismnewbrunswick.ca or call 800-561-0123.
