And in other news, Canada gets snow.
Tourists comically, ceaselessly wipe out on a slippery Quebec City. Quebec is a fairly hilly place in the Old City. It has a funicular so you can get around; if that’s not evidence of hills, I’m not sure what is.
We expected inclines. We expected snow. We expected cobblestone.
But the whole experience was slightly more nuanced than that.
Before leaving for the Great North, I read cars registered in the Province of Quebec require snow tires. Crampons are very much encouraged and borderline required. I have lived in New England or Chicago for most of my adult life and have handled bad snow plenty of times. How bad could it really be on some random weekend?
Well, pretty slippery. Two reasons. The first is obvious. Uh, it snows a lot in Canada. Something about latitudinal relationships with snowfall, I suppose.
The second is that it would appear that paths are cleared less readily, less quickly, and well…less, than a pansy Yankee would expect.
Lots of the scenic spots and tourist traps are located on hills or require a quick traversal of steps to access. Unfortunately, mother nature undermines stairs’ primary function when they become an ice chute.
Normally when traveling I walk everywhere. As in *everywhere*. I see something. I say “I wanna go there.” And then I go there.
In a glacial Quebec City this becomes problematic, and often sends you back 350 millennia, sliding about on all fours albeit without the aid of a tail.
Cameras should be brandished only at the exact moment of picture taking, at the risk of flinging a $1,000 piece of equipment is nonzero.
Lawsuit Happy USA
When I got back to the good ole US of A, I saw an ad from a law firm in Hartford encouraging people to seek legal help if they slip and fall on a sidewalk. This seems normal to me. One, it’s the US; you can sue anyone for anything. Two, it’s reasonable that everyone should clean their walks instantly after a blanketing of snow.
Quebec City made me reconsider. Very little was shoveled immediately after it snowed when we were there. In fact, it kinda snowed ceaselessly so it might be a difference without distinction.
I kept thinking to myself that if this were the US, it would be lawsuit central. But that’s also the point.
There was even a moment we were walking on an incline right after it snowed and a group congregated around a small icy patch. As we walked by, I slipped and fell, on account of it being sheer ice and a 30% grade.
Then the group started laughing in union and I realized they had a camera filming. So, either they purposefully engineered it to be slippery or they were just capitalizing on a slightly comical situation.
They were also standing on the only portion of side walk that had traction, so everyone was wiping out. As we got there, someone fell; as we left, someone fell. If anyone finds me on YouTube rocking my tailbone in the Quebecois capital, do note the capturers of said videos are low, low people.
It got me thinking about places that weren’t cleared. Narrow cobblestone streets. Touristy areas. Stairs doubling as Olympic luge facilities. Main roads. Hilly spots.
Even the major highways into the city weren’t salted or covered in sand for traction. Why??
Not everything is as it appears
A little bit of research reveals a Canadian propensity for salting roads on par with its southern neighbors. I must’ve gone to the city on an odd day. Who knows?
One thing that has become clear in the last few years is that the way we treat our roads is harmful to both the environment and to the roads themselves. Salt corrodes the rebar in bridges and the chemical effects of salt and water can eat away at concrete.
Municipalities are leaning towards brine solutions as a perhaps cheaper, more efficient and certainly more environmentally friendly solution.
I’m left confused trying to reconcile myriad news articles regarding Canadian overuse of salt with my firsthand experience of the slippery conditions of both the roads and walkways.
I chalk it up to two things. One, an American love of lawsuits means we are overcautious with everything even remotely legally troublesome. I’m probably used to fat layers of chemical salts on my wintery paths. Two, an intentional move by city governments away from these solutions (double meaning intended) so perhaps I didn’t notice.
In any case, Quebec is hilly and slippery in the winter. If you needed a warning, there it is. *insert shrugging emoji*
Let me know what you think in the comments below! Do I expect too much? Do Americans indeed love to sue? Tell me!
Like what you’re reading on Canada? Check out some other related articles in: The Canada Chronicles!!
