Mont-Sainte-Anne Ski Resort, Quebec: A Complete Guide

In March 2018 I went to Quebec in Canada, where I wandered through Quebec City and had my first Mont-Ste-Anne ski resort experience.

I’d been stressing about this trip at first, since I’d never skied or snowboarded before. I traveled with my then-boyfriend, who had far more experience snowboarding, and pictured him sliding down the slopes for hours while I sat cold and tired at the bottom of the hill.

Luckily, I soon found out Mont-Sainte-Anne has a lot more to offer than just ski slopes. This resort works for a getaway in both winter and summer.

Good to know: the resort’s own hotel is now Delta Hotels by Marriott, Mont Sainte-Anne, Resort & Convention Center (formerly the Château Mont-Sainte-Anne), and the mountain itself is partway through a $100M, multi-year lift-replacement project announced in 2026, so expect some construction activity around the base over the next couple of winters.

Mont-Ste-Anne Ski Resort in winter

Ski and snowboard

Skiing or snowboarding here means working with a summit altitude of 800 m (2,625 ft), modest next to resorts in France or Italy but still enough to make Mont-Sainte-Anne one of the three biggest resorts in Quebec.

The resort currently runs around 71 trails, with 19 lit for night skiing, forming the biggest vertical drop for night skiing in Canada; check mont-sainte-anne.com for the exact current trail count, since the mountain’s ongoing lift-replacement project is gradually changing lift alignments and trail access. About a fifth of trails are rated easy, with most of the rest at an intermediate “difficult” level, and the remainder split between “more difficult” and “extreme.”

The beginner zone has one small, nearly flat hill and one wider hill to practice on, both served by “magic carpets” instead of chairlifts, which made it a good place for my first-ever skiing lesson. According to my ex-boyfriend, even the extreme trails here were easier than the toughest runs he’d ridden in France, Austria and Italy.

Beyond the regular trails, Mont-Sainte-Anne has terrain parks and a boardercross course for the more adventurous; a helmet is required to enter the parks, and at least one requires an additional pass.

Lift tickets: the resort’s own 2025/26 rates price a full-day adult (18-64) lift ticket at CAD 145-155 ($105-112, £81-86) walk-up, discounted to as low as about CAD 101 if you book online in advance; youth (13-17), child (7-12) and senior (65+) tickets are all cheaper, and prices are reviewed each season, so check mont-sainte-anne.com before you go. The regular ski season typically runs from mid-November to mid-to-late April, with snow conditions usually most reliable between December and mid-March, though this can shift year to year and some trackers list a later opening for the current season, plausibly tied to the lift-replacement construction; confirm the exact opening date directly with the resort if you’re planning an early-season trip.

Cross-country skiing

Just 8 km from the base of Mont-Sainte-Anne, at Rang Saint-Julien in Saint-Ferréol-les-Neiges, the Mont-Sainte-Anne Cross-Country Skiing Center runs around 200 km of groomed trails plus dedicated skating-stride trails, long considered one of the top cross-country ski centers in Canada.

I went cross-country skiing there one morning and boy, it was a workout.

The first thing I noticed on arrival at Rang St. Julien was how lightly everyone else was dressed. I was wearing the same layers I’d worn to explore Quebec City, plus ski pants: an Icebreaker merino woolen long sleeve shirt, another long sleeve shirt, a fleece long sleeve, a woolen turtleneck, a hat and thick ski gloves. Pierre, our guide, suggested I lose at least one layer, so I dropped the fleece. I was still overdressed for cross-country skiing, or ski de fond as it’s called in French-speaking Canada.

We headed out on the easiest trail on the terrain, flat enough that side slopes let you step off if you needed to. I started full of confidence and quickly learned that covering real distance on cross-country skis takes technique, not just balance.

Classic technique vs skate ski technique

Pierre explained there are two main cross-country techniques. The classic technique, a diagonal sliding motion (one foot forward, then the other), looks something like nordic walking in snow. The skate ski technique instead has you lift each ski and place it diagonally in front of you, pushing off at an angle. We used the classic technique on flat ground and switched to skate skiing on the small hills, which I did not master.

Everyone’s light clothing made sense once we got moving: cross-country skiing works your legs, your abs (to stay upright) and your arms (for the poles) all at once, which is exactly why people dress for it like it’s warmer than it is. Rang St. Julien is large enough that you can ski for a long stretch without crossing another group; ours passed a cluster of kids clearly being taught the sport on the same easy trail, and otherwise saw nothing but snow, a few trees, and open space the whole way. If I lived in Quebec, I’d be back here weekly.

Snowshoeing

Mont-Sainte-Anne is a solid choice for snowshoeing near Quebec City, with two trail networks: about 37 km at Rang Saint-Julien and about 29 km across 7 trails at the base of the mountain, both ranging from easy to extreme.

I dressed warm and tried the base-of-mountain network, picking the 3 km “Jaseur” trail (rated easy) since it was my first time on snowshoes and I wasn’t sure what to expect. It turned out to be genuinely fun, and far less clumsy than I’d imagined; unlike skiing, there’s no sliding or chairlifts involved, which suited me fine as a beginner.

Dog sledding

Les Secrets Nordiques, a dog sledding outfit about 6 km from the base of Mont-Sainte-Anne, still runs kennel visits and sledding trips as of this writing. You’ll pass their kennels on the base-of-mountain snowshoe trails, and the dogs tend to get vocal at any sign of movement nearby.

Ski museum

A ski museum used to operate at Mont-Sainte-Anne during winter, covering the skiing history of Quebec. I could not find any current mention of it on the resort’s own site or elsewhere, so it may no longer be running; confirm directly with the resort before planning a visit around it.

Mont-Sainte-Anne summer activities

Mountain biking

Once winter ends, Mont-Sainte-Anne turns its slopes over to mountain bikers, with cross-country, all-mountain and downhill trails plus a pump track. The resort’s summer gondola and bike lift both operate seasonally (roughly May through October, weather and construction permitting); day lift tickets for biking run in the rough range of CAD 35-72 depending on age and ticket type, and a hiking-plus-gondola one-way ticket runs roughly CAD 17-39, per the resort’s own current rate pages. Check mont-sainte-anne.com for exact dates and prices before you go, since the lift-replacement project mentioned above is expected to affect summer lift operations at points through 2028.

Hiking

You can’t use snowshoes in summer, but Mont-Sainte-Anne’s hiking trails run both on top of the mountain (reachable by gondola) and up and down the summit itself. The Chemin des Chutes trail, past three small waterfalls, is worth the mention; I did part of it in the snow and it was beautiful, though it involves a lot of steps.

Golf

Le Grand Vallon, a 4-star, 18-hole, par-72 course with 6,618 yards of fairways, typically opens in early-to-mid May; confirm the current season’s exact opening date with the course.

Multi-purpose track

The cross-country skiing terrain at Rang Saint-Julien stays open in summer too, with a 4.9 km multi-purpose track well suited to rollerblading.

Summer and winter

Paragliding, canyoning and the nearby spas all run in both winter and summer, if the slopes and trails above aren’t enough.

Where to stay at Mont-Sainte-Anne ski resort

I spent three nights at what was then the Château Mont-Sainte-Anne, right at the base of the mountain, now rebranded as Delta Hotels by Marriott Mont Sainte-Anne, Resort & Convention Center. The hotel has a grand lobby worth lingering in, a bar for a drink before dinner, its own movie theater, playrooms for younger and older kids, a gym, an indoor pool, a sauna, and an outdoor pool open in summer.

There were also two outdoor hot tubs my ex-boyfriend wanted to try on our first night. Since they sat below our hotel room, I stayed on the balcony to photograph him in one while he went down alone, only for it to take much longer than expected, with another guest already in the tubs wondering why a stranger kept pointing a phone at her from above. She seemed to work out what I was actually aiming for once he appeared. WiFi throughout the hotel was strong enough that I posted the photo straight to Facebook from the studio.

The studio

I stayed in a studio with a separate bathroom, a kitchenette, a small living area with a sofa bed, a television and a king-size bed, my first time sleeping in one. Chocolate, candy and marshmallows were waiting for us on arrival, a nice touch.

Food at the hotel

Breakfast ran as a sit-down menu when the hotel had fewer than 100 guests, switching to a buffet (granola bars, fresh fruit, smoothies or yogurt) when busier; I had pancakes twice, with apple and raisins one morning and blueberries the next. The hotel’s own restaurant is reportedly good, though I mostly used my kitchenette and stuck to simple food after being sick the week before the trip, so I can’t personally vouch for the restaurant.

Want to stay here too? Check current reviews, prices and availability.

When to go to Mont-Sainte-Anne ski resort

The ski season generally winds down through April, closing for the year before mountain biking season picks up around the third week of May; Le Grand Vallon golf course usually opens a little earlier, in early-to-mid May, though the summer gondola doesn’t typically start running again until around early June. In past years the resort has run a Spring Madness Festival to close the winter season and a Fall Festival of weekend events in September and October before winter operations ramp back up around mid-November; check the resort’s current events calendar for this year’s specific dates, since these shift annually.

How to get to Mont-Sainte-Anne ski resort

Address: 2000 Boulevard du Beau Pré, Quebec, Canada

From Quebec City

Take Highway Dufferin-Montmorency (Route 440 East) and Route 138 East, following signs for Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré and Mont-Sainte-Anne; in Beaupré, follow Route 360 to the resort. A daily shuttle runs from downtown Québec City and picks up at your hotel if you don’t have a rental car. If you do want one, which makes exploring the wider Quebec province easier, DiscoverCars compares rental companies to help find a good deal.

Flying to Quebec

Quebec City has its own international airport, though travelers from Europe may need to connect through the US or elsewhere in Canada. Check Trip.com for a good overview of your flight options.

Don’t forget travel insurance

Travel insurance covers you if part of your trip is cancelled, you get sick or hurt abroad, or your electronics break or get stolen. Check out SafetyWing. Their plans are flexible enough to sign up for even after a trip has started, and their claims process handled a personal COVID claim without complications.

We received a 3-day stay at Mont-Sainte-Anne to review the resort and its activities. This did not affect my opinion of the place.

WonderfulWanderings Pro Tips

The 5 tips below come from my March 2018 trip and from re-checking the resort’s own prices, lifts and hotel branding in 2026.

1. Confirm which lifts are running before you fix winter dates. The mountain is partway through a $100M lift-replacement project announced in 2026, with three lifts on order and due into service between February 2027 and December 2028 and clearing work running across that whole stretch. Some season trackers already list a later opening than the resort’s usual mid-November start, so ask mont-sainte-anne.com directly rather than trusting a printed season table.
2. Book the lift ticket online before you arrive. A walk-up full-day adult ticket runs CAD 145-155 ($105-112, £81-86), and booking ahead online brings it down to around CAD 101. Youth, child and senior tickets sit below that again.
3. Wear one layer fewer for cross-country skiing than you would on the slopes. Pierre, our guide, took one look at the layers I had worn around Quebec City and told me to lose one, and I was still the most overdressed person at Rang St. Julien. Cross-country skiing works legs, abs and arms at once, which is why everyone else turned up dressed lightly.
4. Take the 3 km Jaseur trail for a first go on snowshoes. It is rated easy and it is the one I picked without knowing what snowshoeing would feel like, on the reasoning that a second trail from the base network is always available afterwards. Nothing slides and no chairlift is involved, which is the whole appeal for a nervous beginner.
5. Search the base hotel as Delta Hotels by Marriott, not as the Château. It trades now as Delta Hotels by Marriott Mont Sainte-Anne, Resort & Convention Center. Ask for a studio if you would rather cook, because mine had a kitchenette and I used it every evening of the stay.

About the author. This guide is written and maintained by the Wonderful Wanderings editorial team. Wonderful Wanderings was founded in 2012 by Sofie Couwenbergh, and the first-hand notes in this post come from her March 2018 ski trip to Mont-Sainte-Anne. The team covers Canada for independent travellers, including the resort’s winter and summer activities, hotel and practical logistics worth knowing before a visit, and updates this page when prices and season dates change.