LAURENTIAN (TREMBLANT)SNOW REPORT

Anthony

New member
Depending on how long you have been skiing ,we are either off to a typical season start or a late season start. Back in the 70's and early 80' by early December the season was up and running on natural snow, today the season limps to the starting gate on few machine made snow runs. As of this morning, the Laurentian snow total for this season stands at about 1 inch (not much better in the rest of Quebec ski regions ). So you have a handful of machine made snow runs open throughout the area counting for about 10 % of the total terrain open. The percentage is higher at Tremblant due to their more extensive snow making coverage. Bottom line still no natural snow . Freezing rain and rain in the forecast for today so not much improvement in the short term. Northern Vermont appears to be out in front this season with already 13" recorded at the Mansfield Stake which from reading various accounts is offering decent early season skiing.
 
Took advantage of the Laurentions largest snowfall of the season (2" :shock: ) and finally started my ski season close to home spending 3 hours yo-yoing up and down 600' vertical covered in machine made with 2 " of natural on top. Skied across some natural snow green trails on 2" of snow with leaves and grass as a base just to break up the routine. There is a general consensus among us long time skiers and locals that it just isn't that cold anymore and that December is the new November . We are about on average 1 month behind where we should be at this time of year. This is becoming the new norm as good skiing in December is becoming rare and November is a right off in terms of natural snow skiing. Laurentian total snowfall of the season stands at about 4" 5" inches with about 2" to 3" currently on the ground.
 
Anthony":r6wbxfk3 said:
There is a general consensus among us long time skiers and locals that it just isn't that cold anymore and that December is the new November . We are about on average 1 month behind where we should be at this time of year. This is becoming the new norm as good skiing in December is becoming rare and November is a right off in terms of natural snow skiing.
Based on similar reports from so many people north of the border, it appears there's nowhere else in North America that's been as adversely affected by the warming trend in recent winters more than Quebec. Down here, skiing in December has always been a crap shoot, so we're not as shocked. That old Vigneault phrase "mon pays, ce n'est pas un pays, c'est l'hiver" (my country isn't a country, it's winter) no longer appears to apply.

While it's purely anecdotal, whenever I seem to go up there on trips, it's always brutally cold.
 
Tony Crocker":3c8duod9 said:
The Laurentians do not get much snow, so ski quality is very temperature dependent.

I can see my Anthony isn't to motivated to get out; he seems like the Natural stuff. November temps have been on-par with my definition of November temps, although he didn't get much snow. Options offered are much better than in the previous year that were unseasonably warm.

Tremblant opened on their fixed date on US Thanksgiving with runs on both sides of the upper mountain + one t2b on the south side. Way better than recent years. The same applies to local hills in the Outaouais that are similar to the Laurentians. All 6 regional ski areas (4 in Quebec and 2 in Ontario) were open by December 1st. Quebec had already 26 ski areas open, although I believe that Le Massif is close midweek and there is a storm there today as we got freezing rain.

Skied yesterday and Edelweiss had Yodeler open also. In the previous 3 seasons, they weren't able to open it prior to New Years. A short TR to follow...

Further of my thoughts here...

http://madpatski.wordpress.com/2012/12/ ... o-mondays/
 
Having skied extensively in Quebec and Northern Vermont ,will agree with Tony that the Laurentians do not receive the snow that Northern Vermont does . Laurentian snow on average falls in small quantities that builds up over time instead of having epic storms like Northern Vt. Historically , the sub zero temperatures kept the snow dry and if it wasn't tracked out would stay as powder. Tremblant is not the best place to measure snow as although it has the highest vertical it does not receive the most snow. Certain pockets to the east and south of Tremblant receive more snow which is never recorded. All of this has now changed as we are now witnessing big temperature swings and constant rain preventing the build up of the snow pack. The current season is being run 100% on machine made snow and as a natural snow fan is discouraging. Just imagine how short the season would be without machine made snow Probably about 8 to 10 weeks at the max with this type of weather and even that wouldn't be a consistent period of time.
 
Since last week there was about a inch of new snow (last Monday Dec.10) followed by rain then sub zero temperatures setting up a groomed frozen granular surface on the machine made snow surfaced trails. Natural snow depths still about 3" to 4 " inches of rain soaked frozen over snow. Official open terrain count in the region is now at 32% all driven by snow making. Compare this to the X country areas where the open terrain is at 6% ( rails to trails areas ). Active weather pattern coming up this week so will see what happens.
 
Anthony":spikvh9e said:
Since last week there was about a inch of new snow (last Monday Dec.10) followed by rain then sub zero temperatures setting up a groomed frozen granular surface on the machine made snow surfaced trails. Natural snow depths still about 3" to 4 " inches of rain soaked frozen over snow. Official open terrain count in the region is now at 32% all driven by snow making. Compare this to the X country areas where the open terrain is at 6% ( rails to trails areas ). Active weather pattern coming up this week so will see what happens.

I made a comment about on the post I just did about Edelweiss. Snowmaking isn't depended to natural snow fall and cross-country skiing. Edelweiss is going better than previous years in opening terrain.
 
A average of 15" of new snow in the lower Laurentians today ,less farther north. Have 2 vacation days (Thursday/Friday) so time to hit it. If you cherry pick your days now is the time. Tomorrow would be the best but have to work.
 
We had the fist powder day of the season today as took advantage of the storm earlier in the week and skied natural snow trails thru the Laurentian snow belt. Powder had a bit of crust on it but once we tracked it out it skied better as chopped up snow. Base depths are about 20 inches on average. New storm on the way tracking down the St. Lawrence which should be all snow north of the river. Amounts are forecasted to be over a foot.
 
Base depths now about 4 feet in the mid Laurentians . Yesterday was another great day with a few inches of new snow on top of a packed snow base . The constant wind and temps hovering at - 16 C all day caused drifting dry snow in open areas . Venturing deeper into the forest allowed for more powder turns . After a slow start the last 2 weeks of December have been record breaking in this region .
 

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About 7 inches of new snow in the last few days has brought the snow total in Tremblant Provincial Park ( not the ski hill ) to 50 " at their snow stake . I have measured unofficially a few inches more to the south in the snow belt . Interesting stat as the Laurentian snow depth is slightly ahead of the Mount Mansfield snow stake in Northern Vermont at a much higher evaluation .

Report from the Provincial Park
Condition State
Snow latest 24h 3 cm
Snow latest 48h 15 cm
Snow on the ground 127 cm


On to the skiing , with our favorite powder ridge ( Alta ) still closed and without touring ski equipment ( Hiking with snowshoes in alpine boots and alpine ski equipment on your back is brutal ) where to go is a growing concern . Yesterday we were at Mt. Blanc just to west of Tremblant . Got there early and skied wind blown powder and bumped up runs filled in with powder . Crowds built up but the general skiing public for the most start stay on the wind blown hard pack groomed trails blown down to their base regardless how much snow falls :shock: Despite over 4 feet of snow falling in the last month Mt. Blanc still has sections closed . Looks like they made a mess with snow making in some areas .

Currently snowing again with a few more inches in the forecast .
 
Anthony":2shx2g37 said:
Crowds built up but the general skiing public for the most start stay on the wind blown hard pack groomed trails blown down to their base regardless how much snow falls :shock:

You'll be proud to know that I passed a couple of students from Montreal hiking Baldy at Alta on their first day in Utah yesterday.


Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note II using Tapatalk 2
 
Anthony":2697sdzc said:
regardless how much snow falls :shock: Despite over 4 feet of snow falling in the last month Mt. Blanc still has sections closed . Looks like they made a mess with snow making in some areas .

Currently snowing again with a few more inches in the forecast .

Yeap, pretty a mirror of what I've seen at Edelweiss in the Outaouais. I need to work on a compilation TR for Dec 21, 27, 28, 30 and Jan 2 (Fortune) and 6. Wife took my place to drive the kids on the 29, 31, Jan 5.

Best Local Holiday skiing in recent memory.
 
Well, we had almost a 3 week stretch of above average skiing with over 4 feet of snow falling . Reality is back as the last 2 days have been nothing but low hanging clouds , fog , mist and rain . The snow pack is currently wet saturated snow with temps above the freezing point for over 24 hours . The best thing for the natural snow trails would be to stay off them and let them drain out prior to the inevitable freeze up which should take place within the next 24 hours. Upcoming weekend looks questionable as remains to be seen if any snow falls during the freeze up.
 
Time for a midweek update after the rain and freeze up . Total snowfall for this season in the Laurentians is reported at 178 cm , snow on ground before the rain maxed out at 129 cm . Snow pack after the rain now at 110 cm . Rain soaked snow has frozen over to granular and ice .
 
Had a no BS Powder day in the Laurentians today . Snow started falling early Saturday morning and stopped Sunday Morning (Jan 20 ) . Depending on where you were the snow totals were at the 1 foot range . Snow squalls throughout the day today added a bit more as the cold front came roaring in with high winds . Depending on where you skied today made the difference between damp snow and dry snow . Skied in dry snow in the mid Laurentians with new snow above the boots . Natural snow trails were deep enough that we did not hit the frozen granular /ice base from last week after all the rain . Snow totals from Tremblant Park listed below. The new snow has now made up for loss in the snow pack that took place during the rain last Sunday (Jan 13 )

Condition State
Snow latest 24h 23 cm
Snow latest 48h 26 cm
Snow on the ground 137 cm
 
What are some of the YTD snowfall totals in the Laurentians? With the exception of the previous week's thaw (which hit everywhere in the NE), it sounds like you've had a decent season so far.
 
If you look at averages over the last 50 years , the current snow pack at 4' 5" at this time would be average . However, over the last 10 to 20 years would rate it above average , For sure there have been some great years in the recent past but there have been more that have not been so good snow wise. Therefore, this year in my books would be above average. Have been out on the boards 10 times this year and 9 times making first tracks so can't complain this year. The thaw in the Laurentians was not that bad, had the rain but temps were just above freezing so no huge snow loss. As mentioned previously, the snow last weekend has brought the snow total back above the pre -thaw levels.

Now if only our own Alta would open with all this snow ](*,)
 
Everything your saying seem to be close to my local observation. Amount of snow was less north of Ottawa, base depth were reduced, but coverage is still good.

Anthony":195zbd6k said:
Now if only our own Alta would open with all this snow ](*,)

I heard that they were waiting for inspection, but I have a feeling that there are probably other serious issues. Not saying that it is the case, but if the area couldn't open this year, not sure they'll open next year. It's not hard to imagine Alta joining the "lost" areas and be divided as lot for houses.
 
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