T360 Late Evening Apres Ski Edit @ 10:37 P.M.
A very complex weather scenario generated equally complex
Alpine Trail Surfaces that had everything from soft fresh snow
to hard pack, to icy, to immaculately groomed, and everything
in between, but...
It Could Have Been A Lot Worse.
If it had gone from warm, just to rain, then refroze...
it would have been a lot worse...
But We Got Snow! 13cm's Officially. More on that below.
“Windy” might be thought of by some as an understatement,
but no matter how you might describe it, every once in a while
there were the distinct sounds of howling through the structure
of the Summit Comm. Tower. Fortunately this “Windy” condition
was bringing a lot more snow with it, so we were glad to have
all this extra new snow, even if it was “Express” delivery.
12.15.19.Summit.Views.Over.Windy.Soleil.Quad.Offload.d.jpg
- www.Tremblant360.com Photo. All Rights Reserved.
- 12.15.19.Summit.Views.Over.Windy.Soleil.Quad.Offload.d.jpg (450.43 KiB) Viewed 2972 times
We wanted to go back to Algonquin to revisit and see how, or if,
the spectacular Super Shred Spring performance of yesterdays
opening, had survived the warm to cold weather cycle. Indeed
it has. Algonquin actually had a significant new snowfall retention.
It’s not perfect, but surprisingly, if you did a couple of laps to
figure out where the best snow lay, you could have a really fun
carving descent.
12.15.19.Soleil.Algonquin.Upper.Snow.White.Highway.Wide.b.jpg
- www.Tremblant360.com Photo. All Rights Reserved.
- 12.15.19.Soleil.Algonquin.Upper.Snow.White.Highway.Wide.b.jpg (639.56 KiB) Viewed 2972 times
Everything in this scene below was brown, green and grey yesterday.
Today, it’s nearly all Snow White and riding up the Soleil Quad,
you could feel the wind moving quickly from left to right, headed
right over to Algonquin, were it was laying in, mostly on the right
side, descending. It was a very pleasant surprise to find more new
snow here that we thought there may/could have been.
12.15.19.Soleil.Quad.Views.Up.To.Summit.d.jpg
- www.Tremblant360.com Photo. All Rights Reserved.
- 12.15.19.Soleil.Quad.Views.Up.To.Summit.d.jpg (679.75 KiB) Viewed 2972 times
Early this morning, we called for a beneficial “Back-Fill’, "Drift-In” on
Versant Nord/North upper Lowell T, Sector.
That is exactly what happened. We can tell you for a fact that there
are 30cm’s drift lines running across Mountain topographical contours
here.
12.15.19.Lowell.T.Mid.Sector.Signs.Of.Great.Skiing.e.jpg
- www.Tremblant360.com Photo. All Rights Reserved.
- 12.15.19.Lowell.T.Mid.Sector.Signs.Of.Great.Skiing.e.jpg (455.37 KiB) Viewed 2972 times
The bottom line is that to optimize the new snowfall, Mountain Crews
are probably going to be working all night. Any “Icy” in the mix causes
extra machine time and they are getting ready to do that as soon as Last
Run winds up.
12.15.19.Nord.North.Base.Groomers.Prep.For.Night.Shift.f.jpg
- www.Tremblant360.com Photo. All Rights Reserved.
- 12.15.19.Nord.North.Base.Groomers.Prep.For.Night.Shift.f.jpg (641.93 KiB) Viewed 2972 times
For tomorrow, anyone lucky enough to be here should see
very big steps forward in evenly distributing the new snow,
grinding up the icy bits, and producing a way more even
top layer of loose skiable snow. The light weekday traffic
will only enhance the all-day durability due to the reduced
stress levels of use. PLUS... Sunny and daytime high temp @ -7C!
We’re looking forward to all of that!
--------------------- 5:59 A.M. Orig. Post --------------------------
43(*) Open Trails On Sud/South, Nord/North and Soleil Sectors At #Tremblant .
------------------- 10:59 A.M. Update: ----------------------
REVISED Open Trails to 47(*).
Archival Data Attached Below.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Yesterday’s Opening of the Soleil Sector featuring Trail # 95, Algonquin,
was one of the single most impressive Trail Openings we’ve ever seen
at Tremblant due to the sheer size and quality of the square area it covers.
This was made possible by the multi-million dollar investment in
permanently plumbed snowmaking along Algonquin this summer
past, along with weeks of current, right up to yesterday morning,
work of Tremblant Mountain Op’s to spread and finish snow along
the entire length and width. It was a monumentally huge task and
they finished it to excellent standards of coverage and smoothness.
This pic is very underwhelming in the foggy, flat, misty, cloud overcast
ambient light, however what it very effectively depicts is the scope
of the Algonquin Trail width dimension at the upper entrance level crest.
The Human Scale below is a 6ft +, male individual, looking small against
the backdrop of such a wide descent.
12.14.19.Versant.Soleil.Algonquin.Upper.Crest.Foggy.Views.Open.Wide.Super.Smooth.Human.Scale.d.jpg
- www.Tremblant360.com Photo. All Rights Reserved.
- 12.14.19.Versant.Soleil.Algonquin.Upper.Crest.Foggy.Views.Open.Wide.Super.Smooth.Human.Scale.d.jpg (608.22 KiB) Viewed 3100 times
We do not normally like to re-cycle pictures but the overwhelmingly grey,
atmospherically foggy, fine, misty particles rendered about a 50:1 ratio
of useable images, so for the action shots we want to include in the
yesterday review we only have this one we used in last nights Apres Ski
from farther down Algonquin that also helps to convey in particular, the
finished wall-to-wall width.
12.14.19.Versant.Soleil.Trail.95.Algonquin.Mid.Point.Opening.Day.Performance.Conditions.Sample.e.jpg
- www.Tremblant360.com Photo. All Rights Reserved.
- 12.14.19.Versant.Soleil.Trail.95.Algonquin.Mid.Point.Opening.Day.Performance.Conditions.Sample.e.jpg (679.93 KiB) Viewed 3100 times
The other pic we need to repeat is from the also excellent Versant Nord,
North Side Opening, Trail # 59 & 61, combined to be Duncan.
12.14.19.Duncan.Opening.Day.Fast.Super.Shred.Spring.Fun.b.jpg
- www.Tremblant360.com Photo. All Rights Reserved.
- 12.14.19.Duncan.Opening.Day.Fast.Super.Shred.Spring.Fun.b.jpg (883.68 KiB) Viewed 3089 times
Duncan was a Shred Factory from Summit to Base. Super fun
and super fast, it would have been worthy headline news on
it’s own, if not for the marquis Algonquin Opening that
overshadowed it.
As far as everything else was considered, within all the
Green, Blue, and Black Open Trail categories, it was all
Spring-like easy.
We did have one note of feedback that you may find
interesting for future reference which was a question
about(paraphrased), “Did you not find some stickiness
in the soft snow?”
No, we were “Fast” all day. We were also on a fresh
hydrophobic polymer Ski Base Coating, applied 3
minutes before jumping onto the first lift ride up,
so if anyone else experienced a bit of sticky/drag,
there’s your reminder that for future warm/soft days,
an appropriate Wax or Base Coating can add real utility
function that gives you a genuine descent speed advantage.
Today we have a continuation of the number of Open Trails,
but definitely not a continuation of Super-Soft Spring-like Conditions.
So, Welcome to a new day of Technical “Winter” Skiing.
Co-incidental to the up-coming 12.21, Official Seasonal change...
If you look at the 14 day long range forecast data below,
you will see that yesterday may just have marked the final
day of “Fall”, and for the foreseeable future, a solid Sub-Zero C
trend appears to be indicating the beginning of “Winter”.
A review of the preceding days and weeks will show that there
have been very typical Below/Above/Below normal “Fall” temperature
patterns, so we are glad to see at least the forecast of a longer
and more durable Sub-Zero temp pattern that should yield greater
stability in the base, as well as the potential shown in the forecast
for more natural snow.
It’s the entirely normal, very usual, seasonal advancement that
gets us day-by-day, closer to the point that Mother Nature decides
to put a firm “Winter” grip on the weather.
Weather Notes:
With the windspeed values indicated here, a legitimate
“Bundle Up” advisory. Closures and overlaps/seals will be
critical for keeping cold out and warm in.
- 12.15.19.Weather.Data.a.jpg (201.74 KiB) Viewed 3107 times
Conditions Notes:
13cm’s of Fresh New Snowfall will certainly be a very big
help, however the base underneath has been subjected to
yesterday’s warm, ever-so-slightly “+” C value of a couple
of degrees, to today's now well below Zero C. Consequently,
wherever the new snow is thinner over the base, firm or icy
substrates may be present.
From that standpoint, today will be a much more technical day
of Skiing/Boarding. Initial descent line explorations should be
conducted with cautionary slower speeds and under absolute
control in order to confirm safe passage.
We are not at all surprised by the substantial percentage of
“Progressive”, gradual trail openings(subject to Ski Patrol
clearances), on the Official Trail data below due to the radical
differences in overnight thermal force. It is possible that they
will all come on line as planned, maybe even additions(?),
however, we would not be surprised if some of them turned
out to be not possible to open. If you are on the Mountain and
looking for an update, check with the Tremblant Info.Ski Crews
at the Summit Offload Zone, they will have the very latest Intel.
We think it is also fair to point out that with the Westerly Wind
direction the new snow came on, there could be “Back-Filled”
“Drift-In” zones on the upper Versant Nord, Lowell Thomas Sector
trails. If there’s a possibility for additions, we think that is a good
candidate zone.
43(*)Open Trails on the Archival Copy of Official Open Trails,
Grooming, Snowmaking, Lift Status and Mountain Conditions
for December 15, 2019, Courtesy of Tremblant.ca
- Archival Copy of Official Open Trails,
Grooming, Snowmaking, Lift Status and Mountain Conditions Courtesy of Tremblant.ca - 12.15.19.Trail.Status.Data.a.jpg (350.63 KiB) Viewed 3115 times
------------------- 10:59 A.M. Update: ----------------------
REVISED Open Trails to 47(*).
Archival Data Attached Below:
47(*)REVISED Open Trails on the Archival Copy of Official Open Trails,
Grooming, Snowmaking, Lift Status and Mountain Conditions
for December 15, 2019, Courtesy of Tremblant.ca
- Archival Copy of Official Open Trails,
Grooming, Snowmaking, Lift Status and Mountain Conditions Courtesy of Tremblant.ca - 12.15.19.Trail.Status.Data.b.jpg (357.49 KiB) Viewed 3051 times
Page Under Progressive Assembly...
Bottom Line...
Bring “Edge”, Focus On Control, Have Fun!
Links and not-so-fine print:
http://www.tremblant.ca
What’s The Use? Research Benefits of this Archive: http://tinyurl.com/gp5vjps
(*)
Understanding Trail Counts - http://alturl.com/n54py http://www.tremblant.ca/mountain/trailmap-e.htm
http://www.tremblant.ca/galleries/webcams/index-e.htm
http://translate.google.com/translate_t ... =fr&tl=en#
http://www.theweathernetwork.com/weather/CAQC0360
Forum Index: http://alturl.com/r4cco
Bring Back The Memories... 
Research Future Visits... If you would like to look up dates you visited Tremblant, or you
want to research days/weeks/months to visit, you can sample what
they look like historically, month by month, year by year.
GoTo: Archive, Search Reports by Date: Index: http://tinyurl.com/yktelmu
When reviewing dates from any of the past, numbered, archived pages,
you can use the "Previous Topic" or "Next Topic" buttons, located
screen far right, in upper date/message bar to scroll through sequential
dates, or use your browsers "back" button to stay on the selected index
page for non-sequential date reviews in either forward or reverse order.
There are approximately 6, 25 day Index pages per season.
(
If you "Bookmark" the link above, it will always take you to theFirst index page with the latest posts. That gives you an immediate,
current to 25 day past, review scroll of Winter Alpine Conditions by
consecutive date.)
.