Mont Restigouche is located in Pointe a la Croix, Quebec across the Restigouche River from the town of Campbellton, New Brunswick. The history of the mountain goes back to when the first trees were cut by owner William Desrochers in 1964 with dreams of having a resort one day that included camping, discotheque, artificial lake and much more. A few years later a chalet was constructed, and finally in 1994 Mont Restigouche opened its doors to its first skiers. The fruit of many years of hard work by Mr. Desrochers without any financial aid from the Government. Mont Restigouche was one of the later ski areas to open in Quebec.
When Bathurst-Campbellton was awarded the 2003 Canada Winter Games, Mont Restigouche was chosen to be the site for where the Slalom and Super G skiing events were to be held. The resort however needed upgrades to the Chalet, widening of a few trails, and improvements with the connection to the summit from the lower sector of the mountain. The estimated cost was around $1,8 million. To obtain the necessary funds, the resort formed a non-profit organisation with the municipality. There was a promise made by the Federal Minister of Sports Canada for financial aid to help offset the costs of the necessary improvements to the site. Work was carried out by Mr. Desrochers over the period of a year and a half to deliver the goods in time for the games, hoping that the Federal money was to arrive someday. That day never came. Promises of financial assistance for the improvements to Mont Restigouche was unfortunately never honored. What was to be a high point in the history of the resort did not end up that way behind the scenes.
Over the next couple of seasons Mont Restigouche had accumulated debts, and with a couple of lean snow years, this affected the operation of the resort. With another nearby ski area that was aggressively promoting an inexpensive season pass, this was the beginning of the end for Mont Restigouche. The resort closed its doors in 2008. There had been rumors in the past few years that the mountain would reopen, however it will be more difficult now since the chalet has been demolished. The lifts are still standing on the abandoned site deteriorating from the elements from sitting idle.
There were 21 trails with 1 Double Chairlift, and 3 T-bars, with a vertical of approximately 320 meters. The mountain had welcomed 15,000 skiers per year on average during its operation. Access to the site is not recommended as there are Private Property signs posted, however you can still see quite a bit of what remains on site from a distance on the road that passes by the former ski resort.
Info Source: Acadie Nouvelle online Newspaper article “Une tempete parfait” a eu raison du Mont Restigouche by Jean-Francois Boisvert. February 27, 2018.
