Thrilling Snow Tubing At Valcartier In Quebec City

I thought I’ve seen everything in winter tubing.  I was wrong.  Tubing traditionally has meant sliding down a modest hillside of snow with your butt on a tire-sized tube.  Quebec City’s Village Vacances Valcartier has taken that and amped it up 10x with massive drops, spin-o-rama’s, unconventional rafts, and air lifting bumps.

Turn into a kid again

I honestly don’t even need to sell it to any of you after you watch the video.  This is the kind of place where grown adults turn into hysterical kids and screams turn just a little higher pitched than normal.

With names like Himilayas, Everest, Avalanche, Snow Rafting and Tornado, you know Valcartier isn’t messing around.  What I loved about the whole experience was just how different each tube ride was.

I’ve never had this much fun tubing EVER.

Drift city

Oh did I forget to mention that they have go karts…but on ice?  Yes it exists!  And thank goodness it does because now I know what it’s like to drift wildly out of control on the track.

While I’d like to say I was awesome with the go kart but I must confess that I spun out so many times.  I really felt bad for the kid that had to find me every time to swing my kart back around.

Ironically you quickly learn that you really can’t drive fast because once you hit the corner there’s no way even those studded tires keep you in line.  Granny driving prevails.

A full service village

Another great thing about Valcartier is that they have its own indoor village to tend to your every need when you need a break from having too much fun.  The main building reminded me of Las Vegas in a lot of ways with their faux sky ceiling and its European chalet facades.

Watch the Six Flags of tubing

What To Pack For Snow Tubing

You obviously want to dress for the winter temperatures here so make sure you have your layers.

• Base Layer: Start your base layer with merino tights, a wool long sleeve shirt and wool socks.
• Mid Layer: You’ll want a fleece top like the Arc’teryx Kyanite AR Hoody. It’s so comfortable, light, highly breathable, velvety soft, and very warm. Pair that with these thicker weight fleece pants and a down jacket. This will easily be one of your favorite pieces of clothing in the winter. I could wear this as a stand-alone piece all day long. In below freezing temperatures, this’ll provide a bulk of the warmth. A Polartec fleece like this Polar BUFF provides the warmth around your neck while the rest of the BUFF gives your face protection.
• Outer Layer: This shell jacket also doubles as a wonderful rain coat. It is superb all-around. Pair it with these shell pants, you’ll be waterproof top to bottom! Staying dry is key to having a good time while tubing!
• Hat and Gloves: A must-have, and while you’d think for really cold weather you might need something extra, but your standard toque (what we call a beanie in Canada) is totally enough. If your head gets really cold though you can always layer with this layering beanie. The layering continues with this nifty glove system that has roots in the military but really taken up by the photography community. This liner glove has a pocket for hand warmers and is touch screen compatible. Throw a pair of The Heat Company Shell Full Leather gloves on top, which open up to reveal the liner gloves so you have full access to your fingers.
• Shoes: These Sorel Glacier XT or Caribou Wool Boot are fully waterproof and rated for -32°C (-25.6°F).
• Ski Goggles: I would highly recommend bringing ski googles or else your face will burn like mine.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Village Vacances Valcartier

• Address – 1860, Valcartier Boulevard, Valcartier, Québec, G0A 4S0
• Phone – 418-844-2200

Price

• Price list is below in the photo but for the complete listing see the price list.
• You may reserve tickets online but there are no cost savings in doing so.
• Ice go karting used to be an extra at $4.35 + tax for 4 minutes but it appears they don’t have this anymore.
• The below are a list of prices from 2015:

This article is part of the Quebec in the Winter series so make sure you check out my other posts on Ice Canoeing and Quebec Winter Carnival.

This trip to Quebec City was sponsored by the Quebec Region and Tourism Quebec, however the opinions expressed in this post are my own.