(orig. 7:54 A.M. post below)
It was a ghostly day... and you may not believe us...
A Very Fast, Ghostly Day...
Firstly, the forecast rain did NOT really show up anywhere during the day.
(Typical, we see this a lot. It may rain or drizzle driving to the Mountain,
but once your riding up into the cloud towards the Summit... no rain at all.
What we often observe is that it rains below the cloud, not in the cloud.)
- www.tremblant360.com photo. All rights reserved.
- 1.30.13.Gondola.Fog.Over.McCulloch.d.jpg (180.45 KiB) Viewed 2267 times
but complete.
The temps were just high enough to create a semi-soft top layer with
better than expected grip, but the real surprise was the speed.
- www.tremblant360.com photo. All rights reserved.
- 1.30.13.Fuddle.Duddle.Lower.Contours.g.jpg (213.26 KiB) Viewed 2264 times
you are correct. These surfaces were faster than yesterday. Less lateral
grip than yesterday, but that just made the speed all the more
responsive to subtle edge and steering control.
We said "Slick" above and we mean "Fast Slick", not so much "Icy Slick",
although there were some icy portions.
Sharp edges were and will be a critical element for safe enjoyment, and
with those sharp edges, you could go anywhere on the open terrain with
very high confidence.
- www.tremblant360.com photo. All rights reserved.
- 1.30.13.Foggy.Ground.Levels.Nansen.Lower.f.jpg (245.02 KiB) Viewed 2263 times
The high humidity warm air came in contact with the cold, dense
Surface layer air directly above the Trails at Tremblant which have been
Super-Cooled by over a week of -30's C... then, were the warm humid
contacted the super cool, the humidity condensed into fog.
You could see and feel it almost everywhere.
It was Thicker at the Summit, perhaps due to the lower Summit temps.
- www.tremblant360.com photo. All rights reserved.
- 1.30.13.Foggy.Summit.Sunny.Staff.b.jpg (161.39 KiB) Viewed 2263 times
Foggy overtones are evident even in this very close range wide-angle...
That's foggy!
Surprisingly also, that there is not much water moving on the Mountain,
although it has started. Much of the flow is previous ice in this view,
and in our opinion, that's exactly what's holding it farther up the
the slopes.
- www.tremblant360.com photo. All rights reserved.
- 1.30.13.South. Watershed.Nansen.Catchment.c.jpg (279.14 KiB) Viewed 2263 times
Your Modules are all there, surfaces complete, they may need
some use to break down the crusty top layer, but there's not
really even a mark on them!
- www.tremblant360.com photo. All rights reserved.
- 1.30.13.Nord.North.Park.Rope.Tow.d.jpg (252.38 KiB) Viewed 2262 times
and the temps appear to be holding at + 7 C or so, through the night
with a steady drop down after lunch to - 6 C, so once again, good
edges will be your best friend.
It is currently raining in St.Jovite, however, in keeping with our earlier
remarks about different precip. patterns on the Mountain, there may be
differences there that we won't know about either way, until morning.
The Sun is supposed to return on Friday, along with steady sub-zero's C
for the next 2 Winter weeks! We "Like" that!
--------------- 7:54 A.M. Orig. Post ----------------
49(*) Open Trails on 2 sides, South and North at Tremblant.
Our One Pic. "How To" and Forecast For Today...
There's not a damn thing we can do about the weather...
But there's a lot we can do with the weather...
(Shown below, the brilliantly simple, totally effective, Descente Poncho.
Usable 365 days a year, whenever rainy, keeps you dry and comfy with
no restrictions on your efforts. One of the best items of all weather Ski,
Camping, Spectator Sport gear we own. Available all over the Tremblant
Resort at most sporting goods shops.)
- www.tremblant360.com photo. All rights reserved.
- 3.13.12.PB.38.Dscente.Poncho.Dry.Comfy.Fun.jpg (229.13 KiB) Viewed 2464 times
For today, and the day(s) immediately following....
Remember Tremblant Rule #1:
There is always good Skiing/Boarding
within the Open Terrain at Tremblant.
If it's "Open" and theres a way to the top... we're on it!
Notice:If you don't have a positive mental attitude... go home now...
we don't need the negative vibes.... and as we've written here dozens of
times... we've had some of our most fun days skiing EVER, at Tremblant
in the rain. The Soft Shred-able Top Layers can be a "Hoot" to ski
and often have technically very fine speed and carving characteristics.
All we have to do is ADAPT.
...and that's easy.
For Today, Things at Tremblant are in:
Strategic Preservation Mode:
Definition:
A Course of action that facilitates the most efficient retention
of Surfaces and their condition, prior to, during, and after a
"Thermal Event". Thermal events begin with any rise in temp's
above freezing @ Zero degrees C or 32 degrees F. Thermal
events may also occur when the surface temps are below zero, but
precipitation comes in the form of rain from warmer air masses
aloft.
The effects of Strategic Preservation Mode to Mountain Guests can be
little, to whatever, depending on the length of the anticipated or experienced
warm cycle, or the amount of precipitation either anticipated or experienced.
In todays case, the Preliminary Official Snow Report for today, published
yesterday afternoon showed an expected Open Trail Count of 67. 33 South,
33 North and 1 Edge, which is the Beauchemin to Edge entry/exit trail.
By this mornings final reckoning, the number was reduced to 49, but we
would want to point out that the snow on the other 44 Trails that are now
closed has not gone anywhere.
24 hours ago it was roughly -17 C, 48 hours ago it was -27 C, 72 hours
ago it was -36 C., ...and was around -30 C for close to a week before.
You don't take an object as large as Mont Tremblant from the depths of
full winter frost to warm enough to loose surface coverage overnight.
Strategic Preservation Mode allows as much of the existing base as possible
to endure the Thermal Event, with as little damage as possible, so that in
the return to regular Winter conditions, as much as possible can be opened
as soon as possible.
Hmmmmm..... that's a lot of possibilities.... but the point is... that by
reducing the wear factors on surfaces that are the most sensitive to
Thermal Events, Mountain Crews can minimize loss in both surfaces
and time to re-open.
The other priority is to keep as much of the Mountain Open as possible,
to offer Tremblant Guests the best Skiing/Boarding that is practical
under the highly individual characteristics of any given Thermal Event.
Those are the decisions that Mountain Operations make
and they take us to:
49(*) 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 2013-01-30 at 8.32.49 AM.jpg (219.36 KiB) Viewed 2494 times
document at 5:29 A.M. which is a very normal time for this information
to appear. Really attentive readers may count up some of the "Open",
technically including all the "Progressive" or "Gradual" Hour-Glass icons,
and see that the number is actually greater @ 55, than the Snow Report's 49
Open trail count which was published at 6:08 A.M.
The differences highlight the dynamic nature of Strategic Preservation Mode
that can see "On the fly" real-time adjustments to the Open Trails that can
change within minutes as the Field Reporting comes in first thing from Crews
on the ground.
There will be times when the Open numbers go up just as quickly too.
Tremblant reserves the right to adjust all Open parameters at their
discretion, and without notice where circumstances are changing too
rapidly to keep up with or anticipate. We Support Managements decisions
completely, and very much respect their skills in doing so.
Bottom line on all this is... We cheerfully accept whatever is Open
when we get to the Mountain and by adapting, we have fun and great
exercise anyway.
Todays Conditions... +9 C with light and variable rain.
Obviously a lot of wild-cards and of course, we'll be able to tell you
lots in Apres Ski, but for now here's what we know, and what's going
through our thoughts as we get ready to head off to the Mountain.
Webcam Homework...
- Webcam Snap Shot Courtesy of Tremblant.ca
- Screen Shot 2013-01-30 at 10.28.51 AM.jpg (202.35 KiB) Viewed 2447 times
All Published Weather Values are for South Base Level. Summit
Conditions are typically 4 to 5 C cooler and the whole North Side is
on average 3 degrees cooler. Can all be "More Or Less".
Today's report is brought to you by...
Tremblant Rule # 5 :
Those that can adapt the quickest,
Have the most fun!
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.)
.