Snowshoeing Through History: A Rugged Promenade in the Plains of Abraham

When the celebrated British General, James Wolfe, launched a surprise attack up the steep cliffs that lead into Quebec City's Plains of Abraham, the opposing French forces were instantaneously overwhelmed. They had assumed that the rocky, densely vegetated cliffs looming over the St. Lawrence River would serve as a natural fortification of sorts, preventing any foolhardy British attack. But in these majestic cliffs, General Wolfe had noted weakness. If only his soldiers could scale their heights, in the early morning hours, they would be met with little or no resistance.