It’s winter time here in Quebec and when river surfing is not an option, we need to think outside of the box and find other activities other than surfing.
When I was in Tofino, I got a message from this company called “Les Chèvres de Montagne“—”The Mountain Goats” to shoot their all girls backcountry weekend in the Massif du Sud, the kind of event you can’t say no to, if you know what I mean!
I need to say that I was a little bit nervous coming closer to the weekend because I never did split boarding and well… these girls were natural splitboarders. But then again, the whole purpose of my quest into becoming a travel and surf photographer always been about getting out of my comfort zone, so even though I was nervous, it was a great way to push myself a little further in my career.
Currently, Quebec has been getting one of the best winter since a really long time, with whopping huge snow storms made for backcountry free skiing and boarding.
However, with all our luck, that weekend ended up being one of the worst possible weekends to go backcountry skiing because we hit a high 10 degrees with rain through Friday and Saturday.
Almost cancelling our weekend, we decided to stick to the original plans, head out there and have fun anyways! We will just have to be spontaneous and have fun even though the snow quality wasn’t that great. Either way, thanks to a beer sponsor, we were all good!
Saturday was a bad day weather-wise. We decided to try it out anyways as our guides took us in the backcountry, but the snow was so heavy and difficult we couldn’t even turn which made the outing a little more dangerous than fun. It was raining, but not pouring, kind of like a misty rain that covered the whole region.
For me, gloomy days are always a challenge to shoot because the light is a little difficult to capture. However, I find it gives a pretty gnarly vibe to the photos.
So I decided to just focus on getting nature and lifestyle shots of the girls as we wandered in the beautiful mountain forests.
For all the girls out there: when was the last time you had a girl only weekend adventure?
I’ve been on a lot of women retreats from surfing to yoga, and now backcountry, and there’s something about being with a group of women for a weekend or week that makes you feel powerful. As a young woman in an entrepreneur world, it is not always easy to be on this journey when you’ve been going through sexism during your early years. The pressure of achieving the best within yourself and proving to everyone that you can do it, especially in a men’s world, is tough. For that reason, I think it’s amazing to see companies like this one, created by women, make something to help us work together while teaching us how to be strong and powerful.
For all the girls out there: when was the last time you had a girl only weekend adventure?
It feels amazing and you feel like you can conquer the world afterwards!
On Sunday morning we woke up to some powder snow and got really stoked to hit the mountain. It was our last day and mother nature heard us loud and clear that we wanted snow.
Like little kids, we hurried through the mountains eager to hit those fresh tracks and let me tell you it was.. Wait for it… LEGENDARY!
Similar to that moment when the swell is so perfect and that you want to cry. The snow was beautiful and soft, easy to carve and you had the impression of surfing on a cloud. It might not have been like 3 feet of fresh pow, but it was enough to feel the high of the adventure.
The day came to an end and my muscles were starting to ache as I mumbled to myself that I should have stretched my body before going out, but whatever, it was too late anyway.
When you have too much fun, time goes by way too fast. I wish it was the other way around, but I like to tell myself every good thing needs to come to an end to make room for more amazing moments.
Being surrounded by these inspiring women gave me strength and power to keep pursuing my dreams and goals, and I can’t thank them enough for inviting me into their adventures.
Oh, and I totally found a new passion for splitboarding so… Can we get one last huge snow storm before spring please?
