The Blueberries: skiing, having fun and filming

One of the powder passionate, Raph Duchaine of the group Blueberries also has many stories to tell about the mountains here. At a very young age, he was introduced to the pleasure of hiking by his parents. A resident of the Saguenay, he remembers very well outings to Cap-Trinité in the Parc National du Fjord-du-Saguenay or to the Sentier Eucher, which he even had the opportunity to hike to Cap Rasmussen (16 km) a little older. " I've never stopped doing it, from childhood until today," he says. When I got a taste of alpine hiking, my interest only increased. Pairing my passion for skiing with the mountain expedition is just a perfect mix!"

One of the most memorable outings for him and his group, The Blueberries, was a trip to the heart of the Chic-Chocs with the Rac-City gang last winter: " The starting point being at Rivière-à-Claude, we had to make a 12 km approach by snowmobile followed by a 2 hour climb, all at -35 degrees Celsius. Of course we had to be very well dressed because we spent almost 12 hours outside at that temperature."  In fact, you can see some of the footage captured during their visit in their most recent video, AHOUH.

As Alexis Nantel reminded us of the importance of being well prepared, the guys had to make sure they had their avalanche gear, their warmest clothes and most importantly, a good thermos of chicken broth with them! "We were even lucky enough to see a beautiful moose on our way, he recalls. This incredible day allowed us to ski a mountain with a lot of quality snow, and to film images that can be seen in our latest film."

What attracts The Blueberries' accomplices to mountain hiking is the pleasure of being surrounded by wilderness and enjoying every moment of the outing in good company. "Fun, exploration and physical challenge," says Raph.

Marie-Pier Desharnais: touching the highest peaks

If many people were introduced to mountain escapades as children by active parents, it is surprising to note that this was not the case for our new ambassador, Marie-Pier Desharnais. The woman who has climbed the highest peaks in the world did not have the great thrill as a child, although some activities revolved around the peaks of her native region. "As a child, we would go sliding at the Domaine du Lac Louise, at the Pères du Sacré-Coeur in Victoriaville or at Mount Gleason in Tingwick, but that's where it ended. I also often played King of the Mountain on a snow hill with friends from the street, but I'm not sure that counts, right?" Her first real high mountain, she describes, was climbing Mount Fuji in Japan in July 2015. It wasn't until a year later that Marie-Pier revealed she had a passion for the mountains. "During my trek to Everest Base Camp in September 2016, I was completely blown away by the beauty of the Himalayan landscape but also by a kind of feeling of peace and inner joy. I knew immediately that my life would never be the same again. And when I saw Mount Everest for the first time, I knew right away that I would stand on the roof of the world one day" she said to herself at that moment, far from imagining that it would be the case less than 5 years later since she indeed touched "the roof of the world" on May 31, 2021.

Alex Godard: pushing his limits

Even before starting pre-school, Alex Godard had seen the four corners of Quebec because of his parents who liked to explore our vast territory with him and his brother. The first time he went to the mountains with them was at Mont-Tremblant and he remembers finding it "immense and impressive because we took a gondola to get there". As a teenager, he was more into music than he was into mountains, although after his band broke up, he wanted to get back in shape. With his best friend, he went to climb Giant Mountain in the Adirondack Mountain Range. "Blindly, I jumped on board this adventure he was planning, and since then, all my plans revolve around hiking. We still joke about that day because it created a monster," laughs Alex.

We asked him to tell us about his best mountain hiking adventure in Quebec. This adventure covered two weekends and gave him the confidence to realize all his future projects. He had 2 years of hiking behind him and several summits on his roadmap. "I had never attempted anything more than 24 km in one day. However, I was fit enough to challenge myself to do the entire sentier Inter-Centre (tête blanche, montagne grise, montagne blanche et montagne noire) in the Laurentides/Lanaudière region.», he recalls. He had a few layers of clothing in his backpack because of the cool mornings - the first morning, it even snowed! water, a small first aid kit and lots of soft bars. The first crossing went well and he covered about 40 km and over 1700 m of elevation gain in 8 hours. He was very happy with himself. So the following weekend, he repeated the experience with about 48 km and more than 2000 m of elevation that he took the trouble to draw in advance on a map to be able to reach as many peaks as possible. "At that point, I would hike the roof of the Laurentians and the peaks of Mont-Tremblant, come back down and pick up the sentier Le Centenaire to the Vache Noire peak, come back down to do the Nixon loop and finish it all off by walking back to my car at the bottom of the ski resort. It was about 10 hours. I really believe that this experience gave me confidence in my abilities and gave me the desire to constantly push my limits," he says.

His next adventures will take him to the Chic-Chocs in the Parc National de la Gaspésie where he plans to shoot a few scenes. "Going across the Magdalen Islands would also be something that interests me," he says.