During our recent ski trip, we had the chance to finally check out Mont Bellevue in Sherbrooke. It's located about 50 minutes away from my in-laws in Newport, VT, and on our other visits we've focused on the larger Eastern Townships areas. We discovered that they have a 2 hour ticket on weekends for a little less than $15 USD, so the price and conditions were right to make it over there.

We met up with our friend and fellow ski history buff Paul Giddings, who was gracious enough to give us the full tour of the area.

From left to right, Jeremy, Paul, and Scott

Mont Bellevue has 10 trails, and a 255' vertical drop (though official lift installations show less, it was definitely 255'). All the trails are beginner or intermediate in difficulty. There are no steep pitches on the mountain. It is served by a newer Doppelmayr quad, and a Magic Carpet. Sadly, one of their Pomas is no longer in service but isn't officially dead yet. Another poma was removed several years ago and is now a lift line.

Trail map:

Bottom of quad

Down the quad lift line

Summit area and giant cross

Semi-lost Poma

Most of the mountain was open, with packed powder conditions. They were making snow in the terrain park.

Trail 4, which had the "steepest" drop at the top of any trail

Bottom of Trail 3

Trail 4A, former Poma lift line

After getting in 10 runs, we headed over to Siboire, a microbrewery in Sherbrooke, recommended by Paul. An excellent choice! The beers were fantastic and the food was great.

Beer selection, and note the bike frames for lighting

My venison burger

Scott's salmon tartare. I'm not a big tartare fan, but I tried a bit and it was quite good.

Always nice to venture into Quebec. There's a lot to do just over the VT border and Sherbrooke has come a long way, along with Magog, compared to 25-30 years ago when I was in college. Before leaving, we stopped by Provigo (supermarket) and picked up some things we can't get back home - all kinds of pate (like kangaroo with kumquats, and deer with berries), ketchup potato chips, pain du chocolate, and some local beer.

Sky watchers in Québec will catch a lucky break on April 8, when a total solar eclipse will sweep across the southern edge of the province. The 115-mile-wide "path of totality" — the zone where viewers will see the moon block the sun entirely — nicks the city of Montréal, then passes over Magog, Sherbrooke and the International Dark Sky Reserve of Mont-Mégantic as it travels northeast.

Along the way, you’ll find astronomer-led events, Victorian-era reenactors and open-air parties hyping all-ages crowds. Considering an eclipse-themed trip across the border? Order your viewing glasses and start planning: Developed by the Fédération des Astronomes Amateurs du Québec, the My Eclipse app (for iPhone and Android) has Québec-specific viewing information, while the website Eclipse Québec lists public viewing areas and activities. Here are the highlights, with some favorite Québécois experiences to try when you get there.

Thanks to a prime location at the center line of the eclipse path, the Parc National du Mont-Mégantic will experience a long totality — the sky will go dark for around three minutes and 30 seconds. That’s a windfall for the astrotourism capital of Québec, already a key destination for enthusiasts. With limited light pollution and great opportunities for stargazing, in 2007 Mont-Mégantic became the world’s first International Dark Sky Reserve, a designation recognizing efforts to keep starry nights pristine.

On April 8, the park will host a four-hour outdoor event at its ASTROlab, the museum and astronomy center located at the foot of Mont-Mégantic. (Note: As of the date of publication, the French-language event is sold out for in-person attendance. A live broadcast of the eclipse and related presentations will stream online and on big screens at several nearby locations, including the town of Lac-Mégantic, the Robert Fournier Arena in East Angus and Parc Pomerleau in Ascot Corner.)

If you go: The Cabane à sucre Mégantic does old-school, all-you-can-eat Québécois feasts from March 1 through mid-April, featuring pea soup, baked beans with bacon, maple tarts and eggs in maple syrup.

The Eastern Townships’ lakeside community of Magog might be the only Québec town where some eclipse viewers will don petticoats and bowler hats. At its 1821 Maison Merry, the oldest house in town and a local history museum, a two-hour éclipse à la ancienne (old-fashioned eclipse) event, starting at 1:30 p.m., will feature performers in late 19th- and early 20th-century garb. Visitors will have a chance to view the eclipse the using a small box with a pinhole that projects the image; totality will last for three minutes and 28 seconds. Staff will share stories (in French) about the 1932 total eclipse that took place in both Québec and Vermont, sparking a flurry of travel and widespread enthusiasm amid the Great Depression. (Modern eclipse glasses will also be sold on-site.)

Access to the outdoor site is free, while admission to Maison Merry, plus a pair of eclipse glasses, is CA$13 for adults, and CA$32 for families. Within Maison Merry, which has been restored in period style, find exhibitions on both Indigenous and settler cultures in Magog.

If you go: A 20-minute drive from downtown Magog is the Benedictine Abbaye de Saint-Benoît-du-Lac, a monastic community known for its housemade cheeses, hard ciders and pick-your-own apples. Tours of the abbey don’t kick off until late June, but the shop is open year-round; all are welcome at daily services, including lauds, mass and vespers sung in Gregorian chant.

The Eastern Townships’ vibrant capital will host eclipse watchers at the Centre de Foires de Sherbrooke (Sherbrooke Exhibition Centre) from noon to 4 p.m., bookending the three-minute, 23-second totality with educational presentations by astronomers. BYO chairs and make a reservation online; entry is CA$10 per car and includes eclipse glasses. (While the details are still under wraps, rumor has it that Sherbrooke’s poutine and burger joint OMG Resto will have a special eclipse-themed lunch menu for the occasion that comes with a pair of viewing glasses.)

If you go: The Sherbrooke outpost of Strøm Spa Nordique is perched at the edge of Lac des Nations, with open-air hot pools, a beach and saunas. The on-site Nord Restaurant serves Nordic-inspired cuisine using Québécois ingredients.

Québec’s largest city is at the path of totality’s northern edge, so the sun will reemerge more quickly there than in some locations. Complete darkness in Montréal will range from a fleeting 39 seconds to one minute, 48 seconds, but the city’s going all out anyway.

A free gathering at outdoor events complex Espace 67 in Parc Jean-Drapeau, on Saint Helen’s Island, will see a one-minute, 26-second totality along with spectacular views over the Saint Lawrence River and the city skyline. Food and drink vendors will be on-site, and French-language presentations on the science of eclipses — by experts from the Planétarium and Espace pour la Vie — will kick off at 11 a.m., along with musical performances. (Parking is limited, so consider taking public transportation; the Jean-Drapeau metro station is a three-minute walk away.) At the Montréal Science Center in the Old Port, a free viewing event will take place from noon to 5 p.m. Eclipse-viewing glasses will be available at both events.

If you go: You can get a taste of the Québécois sugar shack experience in Montréal, too. In early April, restaurants around the city will feature maple-themed menus — Québécois restaurant Caribou Gourmand has you’re-not-in-Vermont-anymore sugar-shack brunches starring deep-fried salt pork and maple-poached sausages, Friday through Sunday from March 15 until mid-April.

WARNING: The following article contains graphic descriptions of degrading treatment.

An investigation by Radio-Canada has found that some biology students at the Université de Sherbrooke experienced hazing last year.

Students described being sprayed with water guns filled with horse urine, being asked to eat another person's vomit as well as being asked to swim naked in a nearby lake.

The events allegedly occurred during orientation week in August 2023.

The CBC and Radio-Canada have agreed to keep the students' names confidential because they are still attending the university, and they fear reprisal for speaking out.

Alexandre, a student who has been given a pseudonym, compared his second day at the university to a "military boot camp."

"We were all on our knees and insults were shouted at us," he said. "They [the hazers] arrived with a pan filled with a kind of porridge that we had to eat. [...] A guy got sick. We got yelled at so much that someone else agreed to eat it [the vomit]."

Hazing activities involving animal urine, incitements to undress in public and other forms of humiliation also occurred in 2019, according to Radio-Canada sources who described those actions as "traditions."

Orientation activities are meant to be an opportunity for students to build a circle of friends in a new school environment. They are generally organized by second-year students who commit to following several guiding principles dictated by the Université de Sherbrooke and obtain approval for the activities that will be offered to new students.

Another student, whom the CBC is calling Marie, also says she had a bad experience during the series of events, where she had hoped to connect with other new students in the biology program.

"After the sort of military camp, they put us back on our knees, in rows," she said. "They started spraying us with water guns. We quickly realized that they were filled with urine from a mare in heat."

Naked in Lac des Nations

Several games were organized at Jacques-Cartier Park, but one activity in particular took students by surprise.

Participants were allegedly told to go skinny dipping in Lac des Nations according to several Radio-Canada sources. Signage on the bank indicates that swimming in the lake is prohibited.

Marie said the hazers insisted that students undress themselves before pressuring them to jump in the lake.

"They told us we were idiots if we didn't do it," she said. "I refused, but others really did it. It created a lot of discomfort afterward with those who had said no."

Other students, like Julianne (not her real name), didn't hesitate to take off their clothes and go swimming.

"I just did it because I felt like it," she said. "The more clothes you took off to go in the lake, the more points you got," she said.

Her participation earned her an "X" drawn on her face — a mark to identify the most "resourceful" among new students, which the hazers said was worth its weight in gold.

"We didn't know it at the time, but it was the start of lots of tests," Julianne said. "They really wanted to see how far we were willing to go."

The next test allegedly consisted of running a few hundred metres on Wellington Street South, completely naked, according to Radio-Canada sources.

"We get there, and they tell us to undress and run to the bar [La P'tite Grenouille]," said Julianne. "Those who had an X on their face, they could do it. It was like, 'If you're into games, do it!'"

For her, being naked in the heart of downtown Sherbrooke was the last straw.

"They were definitely pushing for it," she said. "There were a few who decided to do it, but for me, that's really where I decided that it was too much," she said.

Those who passed previous tests were invited to take another one the next day. While the sun was barely up, participants were allegedly encouraged to drink large quantities of alcohol on campus, according to our sources.

University launches investigation

Jocelyne Faucher, vice-rector and secretary general of Université de Sherbrooke, said the university has launched an investigation into the allegations.

"This is completely unacceptable," she said. "At no time does the university tolerate such actions, violence, intimidation."

Initiation activities were organized by unofficial groups without the approval of the institution, Faucher said.

Radio-Canada contacted the people in charge of the initiation activities on multiple occasions, but they did not respond to requests for an interview.

with files from CBC's Émilie Warren

Global News Morning Calgary

What you need to know about Monday’s total solar eclipse

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Evan Zucker has been on a cross-continent journey from San Diego, chasing clear skies ahead of Monday’s total solar eclipse.

While he originally planned on watching in Texas, a cloudy forecast had him and his wife, Paula, packing up their Kia SUV with their cameras and telescopes and starting the long drive to Sherbrooke, Que., 130 kilometres east of Montreal.

Eclipse chasing, he said, is “all about the weather.”

In order to maximize his chances, the 68-year-old made cancellable reservations a year ago in half a dozen cities that fall along the eclipse’s path, including Dallas; Little Rock, Ark.; and Rochester, N.Y.

While he may still change his mind, he expects Quebec’s Eastern Townships to be his final destination, and he believes other eclipse-watchers will follow. As the forecast in the southwestern United States has darkened, he said the best weather is increasingly looking like it will be in the northeast, including parts of Quebec and New Brunswick.

Lysandre Michaud-Verreault, a spokeswoman for the regional tourism office, said the Eastern Townships are ready for an influx, with more than 40 viewing parties and events planned. She said the region is special because it offers stargazing potential that goes beyond the eclipse.

“It’s exceedingly rare for such a unique astronomical phenomenon to take place here, where the heart of the eclipse is positioned above two dark sky preserves and above the ASTROlab,” Michaud-Verreault said, referring to an observatory and astronomy museum near Lac-Megantic, Que. “It’s really something for the Eastern Townships.”

As they make their way toward Quebec, Zucker and his wife have been dealing with “really bad weather” on the road, including tornadoes, severe thunderstorms and flooding. “It’s been a real challenge,” he said. But it will be worth it if he can reach clear skies to watch his 10th total eclipse.

6:42

Zucker said he’s been fascinated by the celestial phenomenon since he was a teenager in New York, when at 14 years old he convinced some of his teachers to drive him to Virginia for his first total eclipse on March 7, 1970.

“It’s just very visceral,” said Zucker, who spoke to The Canadian Press as he travelled north from Ohio. “The sun basically disappears, replaced by a big black disc of the moon and the white curly atmosphere of the corona around it.

Breaking news from Canada and around the world sent to your email, as it happens.

“It’s like nothing else you can see on Earth.”

Canadian cities from Niagara Falls, Ont., to Gander, N.L., are preparing to welcome visitors hoping to spend a few minutes plunged into darkness during the rare alignment of the sun, Earth and moon.

More on Canada

Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador all have areas along the path of totality — where the moon will be seen fully blocking out the sun. Airbnb reports that Niagara Region and Montreal are the two most booked Canadian destinations ahead of April 8.

The flagship event in the Eastern Townships will take place in and around the ASTROlab, where scientists and presenters will guide activities, and an outdoor stage will be set up to broadcast the eclipse’s progress on a giant screen.

Many towns will host their own smaller events, with amateur astronomers on hand to give explanations, as well as food, crafts and free eclipse glasses to protect eyesight.

A history museum in Magog, Que., is offering an old-fashioned eclipse day, complete with actors in period costumes and the chance to build a pinhole eclipse box and safely observe the celestial phenomenon through it. Hampden, Que., is having a viewing event featuring free eclipse-themed food, including “solar” juice, “meteorite” cotton candy and “total eclipse” pizza.

The region has several ski hills, and most of them are hosting guided hikes or chairlift rides for viewing parties on the summit, Michaud-Verreault said.

1:40

Outside of the Eastern Townships, Montreal is expected to host several large viewing events, including one at Parc Jean-Drapeau, on an island in the St. Lawrence River, that will be attended by Canadian Space Agency astronaut David Saint-Jacques.

Zucker says he likely won’t be at a major event. While he likes to watch with others and will bring hundreds of eclipse glasses to hand out, he travels with 11 still and video cameras and three telescopes, which require a lot of room.

He says he’s hoping to find a spot with a good view of not only the eclipse itself but also the different horizons, so he can photograph the moon’s shadow coming in from the southwest and departing to the northeast.

While he had originally dubbed this month’s event the “great American eclipse,” his northern trip has him calling it the “Great North American eclipse” instead. A solar eclipse in 2017 was only in the U.S., he said. “This one is in Mexico, the U.S. and Canada.”

Nov. 27, 2023 — French quantum computing company PASQAL announced it is part of the inauguration of Espace Quantique 1, a $90 million quantum initiative, in the center of the DistriQ Quantum Innovation Zone in Sherbrooke, Quebec, showcasing its approach to developing neutral atom quantum computers.

The project aims to conduct manufacturing and commercialization activities for quantum computers, as well as research and development in collaboration with academic and industrial partners in quantum computing within DistriQ, a quantum innovation zone. The goal of this innovation zone is to establish Sherbrooke as an internationally renowned quantum hub. The Government of Quebec is providing a $15 million loan in connection with this investment project for the establishment of PASQAL SAS’s subsidiary in the quantum innovation zone, DISTRIQ, based in Sherbrooke. Moreover, the project is expected to create 53 permanent jobs over the course of five years.

On November 24, during an official ceremony, the Premier of Quebec, François Legault, officially announced the opening of Espace Quantique 1 alongside the Minister of Economy, Innovation, and Energy, and the Minister responsible for Regional Economic Development and the Minister for the Metropolis and the Montreal Region, Mr. Pierre Fitzgibbon. The CEO of PASQAL, Georges-Olivier Reymond, Chief Technical Officer Loïc Henriet, co-founders Christophe Jurczak and Nobel Prize laureate Alain Aspect, were also present.

PASQAL will play a key role in this initiative, not only as a major partner of DistriQ within Espace Quantique 1, but also in the production, development of technological laboratories, training, and funding for new ventures in the quantum field. The initiative stands as one of the most ambitious endeavors in North America within the field of quantum computing.

PASQAL’s presence in Sherbrooke represents a major step in the evolution of quantum computing. “Thanks to this unprecedented collaboration between the private and public sectors, we are creating an environment leading to major technological advancements, especially in terms of sustainable development,” emphasizes Georges-Olivier Reymond, CEO of PASQAL. “We aim to actively participate in the creation of a dynamic ecosystem that will serve as a catalyst for innovation in the quantum industry, while attracting talent and companies from all over the world.”

In 2024, PASQAL will open a facility at the heart of DistriQ, within Espace Quantique 1, aimed at manufacturing neutral atom quantum computers and the next generation of machines. Quantum Space 1 will also provide a collaborative space of nearly 5,000 square meters dedicated to quantum innovation. Equipped with advanced quantum computers, it will be utilized, among other purposes, by PASQAL as an R&D center, for prototype testing, and for business activities in Canada.

DistriQ also focuses on training talent. In this context, PASQAL announced a contribution of $500,000 to the creation of a research chair within the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Sherbrooke, which will also benefit from federal and/or local grants.

Quantonation, and the Quebec fund Quantacet will collaborate to fund QV Studio, that will support the transition to commercial quantum applications, creating a unique ecosystem within DistriQ for sector startups. This fund aims to invest in around fifteen Quebec-based or foreign companies, especially at the pre-seed or seed stage, that are active within the DistriQ innovation zone. It will foster the development of a strong and internationally competitive Quebec ecosystem in this future-oriented sector.”

Christophe Jurczak, CEO of Quantonation and co-founder of PASQAL, states: “Espace Quantique 1 will become a leading center of innovation, facilitating the transition of quantum startups from concept to commercialization and forming a dynamic community around quantum technologies.”