QuebecNovember 23, 2015 | 3 min read
A Quebec winter sports student trip combines physical challenge, teamwork, outdoor adventure, and winter culture. Activities such as snowshoeing, tubing, skiing, and dog sledding can give students a more active connection to the destination. The province has developed one of the most distinctive winter cultures in the world.
Built around the conviction that the cold is not an obstacle but a resource. For student groups visiting in winter, this means a set of experiences genuinely unavailable anywhere else in North America. Quebec winter activities on a student trip offer experiences that are genuinely unavailable anywhere else in North America.
The ice canoe race across the St. Lawrence between Quebec City and Levis is one of the most physically demanding athletic events in Canada. Teams of five navigate their canoes across the partially frozen river. Alternately paddling through open water and hauling the canoe across ice floes on foot.
The tradition is rooted in the era before bridges. Ice canoe crossings were the only way to cross the St. Lawrence in winter. For student groups watching from the shore, the race is an immediate demonstration of the physical relationship between the Quebecois people and the river that has shaped their culture for 400 years.
A guided dog sledding session in the forested hills north of Quebec City gives students the experience of driving a team of huskies through a snowy forest trail. The briefing introduces students to how a sled dog team is structured. The session alternates between driving the sled and riding as a passenger. Our Quebec City Winter Carnival Tour can include a dog sledding session as part of the winter programme.
Quebec has some of the best ski terrain in eastern North America, accessible within an hour of both Montreal and Quebec City. Mont-Tremblant in the Laurentians, two hours north of Montreal, is one of the largest ski resorts in eastern Canada. 102 trails and a pedestrian village operated entirely in French. For groups that include non-skiers, most Quebec resorts have tubing parks and snowshoe trails.
In winter, the mist from Montmorency Falls freezes into a large ice cone at the base called the pain de sucre. Grows through January and February. Ice climbers ascend the cone using crampons and ice axes. The activity is open to beginners with proper guidance. Even for groups who do not climb, watching climbers on the face of the ice cone from the suspended bridge above the falls is a genuinely memorable spectacle.
The Carnaval de Quebec, held each February, organises the winter activity calendar around ice sculpture competitions. A night parade through Old Quebec, outdoor concerts. The activities of the snow village. For student groups visiting during the Carnaval period, the festival provides a fully French-speaking environment in which winter activities, cultural programming.
Language immersion all operate simultaneously. Our Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City Tour can be timed to coincide with the Carnaval.
Prometour builds fully private school group tours to Quebec in winter. Browse theQuebec City Winter Carnival Tour, theOttawa. Montreal and Quebec City Tour, or the Bonjour Quebec: Spring Journey to start planning. For teachers planning a quebec winter activities student trip, the curriculum connections and logistical support available make this one of the most rewarding programmes to build.
