Quebec's best-kept ski secret is Le Massif, 45 miles east of Quebec City in the Charlevoix region. It's come a long way since the early '90s, when we used to hop into the resort's trademark yellow school buses after each run for the bumpy ride to the top. What hasn't changed is Quebec's top downhill powder that makes Le Massif the best western skiing in the east. It's also the highest vertical drop in eastern Canada. The glades and trails plunge down the mountain face, and it feels dizzyingly as if you're skiing straight into the ice-dotted St-Lawrence River. Huge changes Le Massif won't stay little known for long. Purchased in 2002 by one of Cirque du Soleil's founders, Daniel Gauthier, it's undergoing a Cirque-size revamp en route to becoming a cutting-edge resort by 2014. A new gondola opening this winter doubles the off-piste area to 64 acres. Coming soon is a chic ecolodge called the Farm in the nearby artsy town of Baie-Saint-Paul, complete with a greenhouse, circus workshops and public market. And starting in the summer of 2011 is the revival of the old rail line that will shuttle skiers on the 30-minute hybrid rail-car trip from Baie-Saint-Paul to Le Massif. Après-ski? Charlevoix is Quebec`s gastronomy central. An excellent end to a day on the slopes is fine dining in one of Baie-Saint-Paul`s characterrich country inns, at Chez Bouquet Eco-Bistro, which specializes in fresh local cuisine, or at Le Saint-Pub, a microbrewery with a beer lineup inspired by the brews of Belgian abbeys. How do you say "blissed out" in French? Margo Pfeiff last wrote for Travel on the Rocky Mountaineer. E-mail comments to travel@sfchronicle.com