Mont Tremblant, QC 02/15/12

jamesdeluxe

Administrator
I hadn't been to Tremblant since January 2000, so I was curious to see what had changed in the past decade plus. We were expecting to either pay for close-in parking or take a shuttle from a far-flung lot, but neither turned out to be the case -- we grabbed a free spot right in front of the village entrance.

Picture 050a.jpg


I was surprised that VW has never done this type of branding at other resorts with Cabriolet lifts (or maybe they have and I didn't notice):
Picture 051a.jpg


The good news was that on-piste conditions were pretty good: an inch or two of overnight snow on top of a hardpack base that was easy to put an edge into, except on the steeper pitches. I took a few runs into the trees on the North Side and the snow there was quite good with a decent base.

The bad news was that there was a thick fog bank hanging over the upper half of the mountain the entire day, which really hampered visibility and prevented me from taking any decent photos. You can see it here as Juliet skis to the bottom of the TGV lift:
Picture 054a.jpg


Tremblant's 2,100-foot vertical felt legit to us, and we liked the long runs. Here's the wife toward the bottom of the South Side with Lake Tremblant below:
Picture 057a.jpg


Even though we weren't there during a holiday period, I was amazed by how many people were on the hill -- anecdotally, the majority seemed to be from the UK. Tremblant must be doing a phenomenal job marketing the resort to anglophones from across the pond. Still, the mountain has a ton of uphill capacity, most of it high speed, so everything was ski-on.

On our way to St. Jovite for an apres-ski coffee, we drove past late, lamented Gray Rocks. Even though it only had 600-ish vertical feet, the terrain looks kinda fun from the road:
Picture 063a.jpg


Picture 064.jpg


Picture 066.jpg


We wrapped up our Tremblant visit with a stop at the former train station in St. Jovite, which is now inhabited by a restaurant.
Picture 067a.jpg
 
Looks like a fun place that the family would enjoy.
Is it worth the extra 2hrs drive past all of VT ?
I bet staying in the village must cost a ton .
 
jasoncapecod":iiq3e2xi said:
Looks like a fun place that the family would enjoy.
Is it worth the extra 2hrs drive past all of VT ?
I bet staying in the village must cost a ton .
Worth the extra drive? Yes, either for a change of pace and culture - the food really is rather fantastic - or if VT conditions are sub-par in comparison.

We stayed in the village on a trip in the late 90's and the rates weren't exorbitant in comparison to say Stowe or MRV. That's on a real basis BTW, not factoring in the exchange rate. IOW, a $150CAN room was comparable to a $150US room.
 
I always felt that Mont Tremblant was my home mountain for a number of reason enumerated in my last ski day and emotional TR from late March 2010. Although Tremblant isn't in MY top 10 favorite places in the East due mainly to the topography and not constant 2k ft fall line which also lacks the type of runs I really like. I've also skied there in the pre-Intrawest days which weren't as good as you might think. Intrawest added more needed expert terrain, more fall-line trails and better lifts (top to bottom). The mountain is foremost a great intermediate ski area. I would have loved to show you guys around James.

Gray Rocks: I have a few really late TRs to write about Gray Rocks last month. I believe that I talked about that place in my Tremblant TR. Gray Rocks had every type of pitch on a small 600' that someone could wish for. Its was up there in my favorite small areas. Never crowded and more cheaper for skiing than Tremblant.

The St-Jovite restaurant / Old Train Station : The Train Station was located a couple of miles along the road from St-Jovite to Gray Rocks. They moved it on a vacant lot (I'm trying to remember what was there before?). That is the restaurant that Morgane and I eat while not knowing that my mom's was suddenly admitted in a Hospital 60 miles further north almost two years ago.

Conditions: they were really fun last night at Vorlage also, so not so surprising that the Upper Laurentians were close to par with my locals.

Tony Crocker":252ednuv said:
James":252ednuv said:
Patrick doesn't paint a very appetizing portrait of Tremblant, at least if skiing is your main reason for going.
I'm with jamesdeluxe all the way on this one. I've never read a TR from Tremblant that would interest me in going there.

These are quote from my 2010 TR. So, what is your impression overall impression in light of your 2000 experience and statement made two years ago?

jasoncapecod":252ednuv said:
Looks like a fun place that the family would enjoy.
Is it worth the extra 2hrs drive past all of VT ?
I bet staying in the village must cost a ton .

Well, its different. Its Disney North if you like that sort of stuff. The skiing? Its a great intermediate hill. Expert runs lacks the constant and long vertical that you would find at places like MRG and Stowe. Its much closer than Quebec City, its biggest too in every sense (i.e. commercialism - mind you that you are within 90 minutes from Montreal (70 miles) and 2 hours from Ottawa (100 miles) (i.e. 5 million people within 100 miles) plus they are a few others from southern Ontario that will make the trip.


Marc C, the exchange is much less favorable than it would have been in the late 90s.
 
Patrick":20sofogp said:
What is your impression overall impression in light of your 2000 experience and statement made two years ago?
I agree 100% with your assessment -- it's a great intermediate/upper-intermediate mountain. Since my wife is far closer to Tremblant's target audience than me, I was trying to view the experience through my her eyes and she loved a) the terrain, b) the high-speed lifts, and c) all the food/shopping/entertainment options in the village. If the visibility hadn't been so poor, she would have loved the views too.

In short, I now understand why it's so successful.
 
MarcC":305zgw1e said:
or if VT conditions are sub-par in comparison.
That would be extremely rare IMHO. I was impressed with dining in Quebec City/Charlevoix and I presume Tremblant is comparable. But from everything I read the skiing is more interesting and the snow is better at the former than the latter though.
Patrick":305zgw1e said:
Its much closer than Quebec City, its biggest too in every sense (i.e. commercialism - mind you that you are within 90 minutes from Montreal (70 miles) and 2 hours from Ottawa (100 miles) (i.e. 5 million people within 100 miles) plus they are a few others from southern Ontario that will make the trip.
I think this convenience factor is key to Tremblant's success. For U.S. customers who have to make a major effort to get to anywhere in Quebec, Quebec City/Charlevoix seems the more attractive destination.
 
Back
Top