Open Trail List expanded to 91(*)
haven't had time to go over it yet, but that puts us
only 4 short of "Fully Open", a remarkable thing
for....
Happy New Years Eve. ! ! !
----------------- 8: 59 A.M. Orig. Post ----------------------
88(*) Open Trails on the quite chilly 4 sides of Tremblant.
Winter Gets Assertive!
Just in time for New Years Eve., Winter decides to drop in
with a short Cold Snap that is going to require carful attention
to dress for.
- www.tremblant360.com photo. All rights reserved.
- 12.31.13.PB.22.Gondola.Views.b.jpg (177.22 KiB) Viewed 1985 times
Riding up the Gondola Today(and until Friday), will serve a very
important utility, namely Body Heat, and the chance to warm
up, even if briefly, in preparation for the next run.
The Skiing/Boarding Will Be Fabulous!!!
....however, you will need to be prepared in order to take advantage of
the very fine surface conditions with these ambient temps....
- Screenshot Courtesy of The Weather Network.
- Screen Shot 2013-12-31 at 9.16.53 AM.jpg (146.63 KiB) Viewed 1983 times
Where we try to make the very best of Kool Weather
that we can't do a damn thing about...
What We Have... are "Cryogenically" Treated Snow Surfaces.
- Screenshot Courtesy of Apple On-line Dictionary.
- Screen Shot 2013-12-31 at 11.51.04 AM.jpg (23.63 KiB) Viewed 1919 times
and very desirable performance characteristics which make it
separate and distinct from all other types of Alpine Snow Sport Surfaces.
Speed, Grip, Traction and any other forms of Control Inputs are
all executed at the highest levels possible with Cold Formed Snow.
Next: the difference between Adhesive and Mechanical Bonding
in Alpine Snow Sport Surfaces.
If you looked at a Snowflake Crystal, it is basically a 6 sided,
3 dimensional, singularly unique structure of which there are no
2 the same. On top of that, it relies on Sub-Zero temps to exist
and even then, it is sensitive to humidity. That sensitivity to humidity
is what takes us to the main point of this discussion.
As Kids who grew up anywhere there was Winter and Snow, any of us
knows full well what makes a good Snowball.
The Snow while sub-zero, has a certain humidity, or ambient dampness
to it that renders it "Packable". Any Kid that ever made a Snowball
knows instantly what makes a good one. Density is one factor, and
compact-ability is another.
Part of the latter is the quickness that it compacts with, i.e. how many
hand squeezes does it take to form. When you're in a good Snowball fight,
quick ammo supply is key. Snow that packs quickly and stays packed without
falling apart works best, and that kind of Snow has high levels of humidity
that is facilitating what we would call an "Adhesive" bond. It's sticky, and for
snowball wars, that's the best thing you can hope for.
While Adhesive bonded Snow makes great Snowballs, the same stickiness
makes it less desirable for Alpine Snow Sport Surfaces.
On the other hand, when the snow is really "Dry", it has virtually
no internal humidity or dampness, and it does not want to pack. There's
not much worse in a snowball fight than snowballs that take multi-multi
compressions and then either fall apart in your hands or fall apart in the
air when thrown. It is possible to pack it, but the result is a very fragile
snowball that is only being held together by the Mechanical bond of the
6 sided crystals being locked together by the projections, barbs and
other irregular features of the crystal structures when interlocked
by the force of pressure, generated by hand forming.
For reasons we explain below this pic., what we like is this
Mechanically bonded ultra-dry Cold Formed Snow.
- Screenshot Courtesy of The Weather Network.
- 12.30.13PB.24.Flying.Mile.Fast.Cold.Formed.Snow.b.jpg (176.68 KiB) Viewed 1828 times
The Human hands can only go so far and again, any of us that have
grown up with winter with snowball fights using un-packable snow
already know that.
The difference at Tremblant is a 12,000 pound Pinroth Groomer/Packer.
What we can not do with bare hands, is very nicely done with the weight
of a Groomer over top, especially with repeated daily cycles.
The Surface we get is faster and way more responsive to all control inputs
like steering and braking, but the best part is the way it carves so cleanly
and with such little resistance as you pass over it.
In this way, Ultra-Dry, Cold Formed, Groomed Snow is "Transparent" in
the macro-surface sensations of Skiing and you come as close as possible
to "Floating" over surfaces that you can also approach 1 G of lateral
acceleration when carving.
"Floating" on Cold Formed Snow is really an inadequate term,
it's a crude way of trying to express the concept of rapid passage
without sensations from the medium of travel, i. e., the snow, and
typical feedback from the Skis of forward resistance over it. This is
why Cold Formed Snow always feels/is Fast.
There's not a damn thing we can do about the arrival of cold weather,
but when properly dressed for it, "Squeaky' Dry Cold Formed Snow
offers an opportunity for remarkably fine Skiing that you only get
in these circumstances.
Quit whining about the Weather, get properly prepared, and be open
to experiencing some of the finest Quality Snow you will ever have.
With the right mental attitude, you may just have some of your personal
best Ski/Board Days.
88(*) Open Trails on the Archival Copy of Official Open Trails,
Grooming, Snowmaking and Lift Status for Dec. 31st, 2013,
Courtesy of Tremblant.ca
scroll ------->>>>> for complete data display.
- Archival Copy of Official Open Trails, Grooming, Snowmaking and Lift Status for
Dec. 31st, 2013, Courtesy of Tremblant.ca - Screen Shot 2013-12-31 at 11.00.19 AM.jpg (320.32 KiB) Viewed 1944 times
Page under Evolutionary Assembly while we bundle up
over the keyboard.
Links and not-so-fine print:
http://www.tremblant.ca
http://www.tremblant.ca/mountain/winter ... port-e.htm
(*)
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.)
.