That was K'K'K'Kkkkkkooooolll!
It was also Beautiful...
- www.Tremblant360.com photo. All rights reserved.
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Marie-Claude Asselin, pictured above that were almost tranquil.
The pockets of tranquility were just that... pockets, here and there.
Sometimes, even usually, a whole side of the Mountain may be wind sheltered.
Not today. Swirling air around the Mountain was creating uphill gusts
and then 200 meters away, downhill gusts.
Regardless of what anyone forecast, it was cooler, a lot cooler.
The wind at the Summit was vicious. It was so vicious that
it would strip the heat out of you faster that a starving Monkey
could peel a banana.
It should be noted here that we have a far greater problem than
almost any Skier/Boarder because we constantly open and close
our outer layers/gloves to deploy and/or store/carry a somewhat bulky
camera. Any normal people don't usually do that with anywhere
close to our frequency, if ever, and consequently would have
been maybe a bit cool, but still fine today.
If it had not been so ambient cold, the wind would have been far easier
to deal with. If it had not been so windy, the cold would have been
far, far easier to deal with.
Below...
When Is It Going To Get Warmer? ...or not quite so windy?
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but building to moderate to brisk by early evening. Hopefully, it just
won't be quite the Howler it was today!
Tremblant360 "Proof Of Snow"
Taken Trailside, Lowell Thomas Sector.
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- 12.29.12.Tremblant360.Com.Proof.Of.Snow.jpg (307.71 KiB) Viewed 2410 times
The skiing was exceptional. The lateral grip is outstanding on the vast
majority of surfaces. There are some surfaces, including freshly milled
blown surfaces, that have a big marbles surface that is still quite skiable,
but needs a day or two of Mountain User traffic to help render a finer
particle size. La Griffe is a good example of that.
There was a lot of Snowmaking going on. It made it's own weather system
around the Summit and in localized production zones.
Some people are questioning the Snowmaking with so much natural around
but we think the answer to that is... remember, it's only the end of December
and normally we would have half or a little more than what we have now,
so it's still very much in the normal snowmaking time frame. All the additional
blown snow will absolutely contribute critically to the endurance of many surfaces
when Spring eventually comes with it's heat and sun, so we need to appreciate
what the long term benefit is regarding the sustained long term coverage far
into the future.
12.30.12.Flying.Mile.Big.Bump.Therory.b.jpg
Scroll --->>> for complete images. This is a No-Thumbnail Zone
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The whole idea is use stationary Snow Guns(which you only have to
install and plumb once) to create the huge bumps on any given run
you can cover. The bumps have a relatively high humidity, so you
let them sit for a day or so to "Dry Out", sort of, then, when they're
ready, you just plow them all down to perfectly flat with the Groomers
and Viola! Presto! You've got a perfect run underfoot because all the rocks
stumps and debris are instantly covered by Perfect, Flat, Snow Surfaces
that in Years gone by, might take 'till the end of January or more
to fill with natural.
We think this is an excellent way to build coverage.
Lot's more in the morning... Thanks for your visit today!
---------------- 6:59 A.M. Orig. Post -------------------
86(*) Open Trails on the very beautiful, incredibly Snowy,
4 sides of Tremblant.
- www.Tremblant360.com/R.Birden contributor photo. All rights reserved.
- 12.29.12.PB.1223.P'tit.Bonheur.White.Winter.Holiday.jpg (249.12 KiB) Viewed 2657 times
- www.Tremblant360.com/R.Birden contributor photo. All rights reserved.
- 12.30.12.PB.1223.P'tit.Bonheur.Mixed.Cloud.Sun.jpg (381.24 KiB) Viewed 2642 times
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We hope that everyone out there appreciates just how lucky we are
to have these mid-winter conditions so early in the season.
To have this Open run inventory to select from in-between Christmas
and New Years is exceptional to begin with.... to have it with such
immaculate snow surfaces, makes it even more exceptional.
Seasons are all uniquely distinct and thanks to the Grooming and
Snowmaking teams, they have all provided top quality surfaces
for Christmas Holiday Guests, but the shear number of Open Trails,
the vast acreage and miles of superb skiing/boarding will forever
make the 2012 Holiday period a standout for the record books in
both quality and quantity.
To be realistic, there have been glitches. Mechanical Lift Systems have had
issues and Mother Nature has thrown very aggressive Winter Storm systems at
the East Coast of North America that have created great hardship and fatalities.
Millions of people have experienced everything from fallen trees taking out
power lines, impassable snow drifted roads, hazardous driving, so many
accidents they can't be practically counted, delays, cancellations, sleeping
in airports, stuck on chair lifts, all while it has continues to Snow as heavily
as any Skier/Boarder could wish for.
While "Too Much Snow" might be an Alpine Snow Sport Participant's Dream,
obviously it can be a logistical nightmare for everyone, including the afore-
mentioned, who may be faced with some of the inconvenience while on the way
to the top.
How far we've come though, since those decades ago, 73 years or so, when
it took Joe Ryan and his friends 3 to 4 hours of very difficult deep snow
Mountain climbing to make it to Tremblant's Summit once, and having one
run down for the entire day was a huge accomplishment.
That's why we think we have so much to be thankful for now. If everything's
working well, we can make 12-13 minute Full Mountain Vertical Training laps,
that's 4 to 5 an hour, or over 20,000 vertical feet of fabulous skiing an hour
without more than the lift ride up to hold us back.
What a privilege.
An appreciation of this privilege is what leads us to encourage those who
can make it out, to do so. So much effort has been undertaken to provide
these magnificent conditions that it seems to us it would be a shame to
miss them if you had any choice.
Enough of the philosophy....
We hope you get as much of a kick out'a this(below) as we did.....
There we were, takin' pic's on Sunny Taschereau, looking for a
colourful, high contrast "Victim" to show against the white background
when we saw Junior here, in the green coming down, then... BOOM!!!,
into the frame Skis Grama and Man 'o Man !!! ... She's haulin' A%$ in
WARP DRIVE as she shreds by Junior leavin' him in a confused cloud of
"EAT MY SNOW DUST" !!!!
Gramma Shreds Junior!!!
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- 12.30.12.PB.1215.Grama.Shreds.Junior.Taschereau.jpg (380.88 KiB) Viewed 2633 times
A) There's NO AGE Restrictions on Fast Fun At Tremblant!!! LOL!!!
B) We couldn't have "staged" that shot for a Million Bucks!!! Check out the look
of surprise on Junior's face !!! Too Cool... Gramma's Rule !!!
Todays Weather starts out at -16C, it's supposed to be sunny with cloudy
periods and at this stage as it's not yet full daylight, it looks like a thin
overcast. Maybe the sun will poke through.
The winds are going to be moderate to brisk and from the Nor-West, so you'll
be facing into them as you begin to descend on Beauvallon while they'll be
at your back as you ride up the TGV.
There was a light Snowfall last night that was visible on the Versant Nord,
NorthSide base webcam and it was also visible through the street lights in
St.Jovite, so that may turn into a nice little surface refresher, particularly
on the North where the trails are in the lee, or shadow of the wind and there
may have been a bit of drifting.
We'll let you know Apres Ski on that.
"Eyes in the back of your head" Safety Caveat:
One of our T360 Team fans, over from London England has been taken
out twice while standing trailside over the Holidays by reckless speeders
who won't or can't control their speed or stopping. The first occasion was
during a Ski lesson with an Instructor who had her stopped in a safe place
between Beauvallon and Alpine for part of the lesson, the second on La Crete
at the top of Nansen when there was not another person within 30
to 50 feet either up or down, as she was making gear adjustments.
We don't know exactly what to say because the Mountain User Code requires
EVERYONE to be able to safely navigate around and avoid those below them,
so clearly these individuals are in violation, but non-the-less, she was hit.
There are lots of Newbies on the Mountain for the Holidays and many are still
having their first days of the season when enthusiasm exceeds capability, so
there can be people who for one reason or another are just not that good at
their sport and may represent danger to those around. It's unfortunate to be
sure, so that's why we're including this.
From a pro-active standpoint all we can do is say that where ever possible
face the general direction of traffic and constantly be scanning with the eyes
in the back of your head whenever stopped. If possible, report any reckless
individuals, identifiable by gear colour or any other means, to Ski Patrol or
Mountain Staff.
86(*) Open Trails on the Official, Downloadable, PDF,
Trail and Grooming Status Report, Courtesy of Tremblant.ca
- Screenshot of the Official, Downloadable, PDF,
Trail and Grooming Status Report, Courtesy of Tremblant.ca - Screen Shot 2012-12-30 at 8.09.01 AM.jpg (224.16 KiB) Viewed 2648 times
to go Tremblant, that's the one that we like.
P.S. Hope to have a big Apres Ski feature today, so stop
by later if ya' feel like it....
Links 'n 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.)
.