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Mont Tremblant Early Season Kick off
SBC SKIER managing editor Mike Berard has an awesome time at Tremblant…again.
To a westerner, Central Canada (and yes, that includes Ontario) is a strange place to start the winter. When late November rolls around and the snow is scattered sparingly on the landscape, I get confused and don’t know what to do. Where is the snow? Where do I ski? Listening to the reports of deep days out west only aggravate the lack of natural snow within three hours of my apartment. As a result, in search of my first day of the winter, I packed up the car and headed east to Mont Tremblant, a hunk of Laurentian rock that resembles a mountain far more than anything else I have experienced east of Castle Mountain, AB. The decision was a good one.
As I slowly made my way up highway 117, a skim of snow turned into flakes and then into a full-blown storm. The thick flakes were hammering down and I didn’t pull into Tremblant till late at night. Tomorrow was looking good.
In the wake of last year’s rough start it was comforting to see a healthy amount of white coating Tremblant’s trees and slopes. While the snowguns were blowing hard, Mother Nature made sure man-made snow was only a supplement to what she herself was putting down. I woke to 10cm of fresh snow and conditions that I have never had out east. For the first time this season, top-to-bottom gondola runs were open so I hooked up with visiting Calgary skier Jeff Bridge to sample the goods. In typically cold Quebecois winter weather, we hammered laps out on the south side of the mountain. Unlike previous trips to Tremblant and surrounding Laurentian areas the snow was amazing; soft, plentiful and forgiving enough to come up short on flat landings. It was a surprisingly great day of skiing for a self-admitted western snob and we made the most of it, skiing till last bell and making sure we hit up the entirety of the open runs.
Nighttime at Tremblant is legendary. We started out with dinner and micro-crafted brews at La Diablo. Naturally, the place was packed with skiers looking to unwind after the great day of skiing. Quebec is a great example of how après should be done, with vigour. After, a few pints of the establishment’s infamous high test brew we naturally headed across the lane to the most famous ski bar east of Whistler, Le P’tit Caribou. After a late night of dancing and watching the locals dance way better, we headed back to our hotel for a late night hot tub session in preparation for another day of skiing.
Completely satisfied with our two days of skiing and carousing in Tremblant we headed to Montreal to catch a hockey game and another late night of amazing cuisine and partying that most ski bums can barely keep up with. That’s the beauty of Tremblant, for those who are used to city-like amenities; the village provides but just down the road Canada’s most cosmopolitan city awaits. No other ski town in Canada can boast as close a proximity to world-class culture. Of course, it comes with a warning: After a late night of too much culture, we awake to 30 centimeters of deep snow, a fate that weighs heavy on the mind of a city-bound skier. As we sat dejected and hungover in a hotel room, unable to get out and ski the deepest day in recent memory for Quebec, we remembered why those who take skiing seriously stay in the mountains; it’s where the skiing is. However, if you have to be stuck anywhere without your skis, Montreal ain’t half bad. – Mike Berard
