T360 Apres Midnight, Apres Ski @ 12:25 A.M.
There’s Good News and as far as we’re concerned... More Good News...
First, The Good News...
2.20.16.Tremblant.Snowfall.Sample.Courtesy.Tremblant.ca
- 2.20.16.Tremblant.Snowfall.Sample.Courtesy.Tremblant.ca
- 2.20.16.Tremblant.Snowfall.Sample.Courtesy.Tremblant.ca.b.jpg (378.5 KiB) Viewed 2887 times
Secondly, The More Good News...
The Temps at the South Resort Base Level did not get as high as predicted
as they only reached +2 C instead of the forecasted +4C, so there was
far less Thermal exposure than there might have been. There was some rain
but not a substantial or destructive quantity in terms of the outright vastness
of the recent 5 days of massive, record level Snow accumulation.
As we explain below in the Original Post, we feel the "More Good News” is
the increase in the internal humidity/moisture levels of the New Snow that
is going to render out a far more dense and stable Groomed Base because
of the higher levels of compaction effectiveness for damper Snow.
Ultimately, we therefore feel the slight Heat/Moist exposure of today combined
with tonight’s Grooming Cycle is going to yield more durable, smooth surfaces
more quickly.
------------------ 8:29 A.M. Orig. Post ------------------
96(*) Open Trails On The Yet Again, Snowed In Slopes Of #Tremblant.
A Supportive Editorial, Theorizing Positive, Both Short and Long Term
Benefits of All Current Weather Factors At Tremblant.
Stat’s-Wise... Another 13 Cm’s Of Fresh Overnight Snowfall.
If this is not a 77 Year Record for either 5 or 7 day Natural Snowfall Accumulation,
it’s damn close, and other than the “Headline” Status that a genuine Record
allows for “Bragging Rights”... we don’t care about the absolute statistical accuracy
as much as we care about what this HUGE amount of Snow means for the Balance
of the Ski/Board Season in the Long-Range Outlook at Tremblant.
Fantastic!
Regardless of what Mother Nature does from now on... as long as we see nothing
other than seasonal averages, including the naturally occurring periodic “warm”
spells.. the Incredibly Positive Impact of all this Snow is that Tremblant’s Open
Terrain has been elevated from a statistically Low Snow Season to a statistically
Above Average Season in 5 Wonderful Days of Very Beautifully Messy Winter
Weather that most of the surrounding community is still going to be digging
out of for another Week!
Weather Notes:
In the immediate, short-term, mean-time... what we have today is a very
complex mix of weather factors that includes the possibility of light rain
and an above zero daytime high temp forecast of South Resort Base Level
at +4 C, so there’s a good chance that the South Side at least will see a
slight Thermal exposure, and the whole Mountain may experience an increase
in the Snow Surface Humidity levels causing a certain amount of “Stickiness”
in the Snow. There’s a high level of probability that things could seem “Messy”
out there today, although there will be very sweet sectors of exceptional quality
too, as there always are.(**)
With the usual Cooler Summit/North Elevation Differential at -4C lower than
South Base, it means there's at least a possibility that whatever precipitation falls,
could actually remain all Snow on the the Summit and North Sectors.
Time will tell... but... we think there’s a very positive aspect to this short little
Warm bubble for the following reason...
Conditions Notes:
Please Note: Review trail status icons/legend in graphic below
for individual trail detail.
Otherwise:
In Our Observations...
Snow compaction density occurs through two primary means, the first is a
Mechanical Bond that exists when you can exert sufficient pressure to lock
all the 6 sided Snowflakes together so the air space is forced out and the
microscopic barbs of the flakes actually hook into one-another tightly.
In a “normal” 10-15 cm’s Snowfall, that can be nicely done by a 12,500 Lbs.
BR350 Groomer/Packer. With 50 some-odd cm’s... not so easy.
The second means of compaction and density building is through what we
identify as Adhesive Bonding that occurs when there is a higher internal
moisture level in the Snow that allows it to have the previously mentioned
“Stickiness” that goes way beyond what pressurized Mechanical Bonding
alone can do. With the same 12,500 Lbs. Groomer/Packer, that generates
a very high density addition, almost regardless of depth.
We analogize the distinct differences in these two Bonding forms by relating
them to Child’s Play Snowball Throwing because any Kid that’s tried to throw
a Snowball made out of Super-Cool Light, Loose, Dry Snow knows it’s very
difficult, sometimes impossible, to press the Snow hard enough to stay
together when thrown, and these poor quality Snowballs tend to fall apart
in mid-air because the flakes can not be locked together with simple human
generated pressure.
On the other hand, introduce even small amounts of humidity, dampness or
moisture content into the Snow that makes it any sort of “Sticky”, and suddenly
you have Great Snowballs that pack easily and stay together easily with hand
pressure and retain excellent shape and density as they fly all the way to the target.
Scale that up to the size of Tremblant and we think that’s why this short Thermal
Event is going to be a very big long range asset to conditions because the snow
that’s been a challenge to pack due to it’s light looseness will now pack far
more efficiently and perhaps more importantly... it has a far higher rate of
retained compaction due to the Adhesive Bonding caused by a small degree
of Heat-Induced Internal Moisture Level... So It Stays Together as a Smooth,
firm, traffic resistant Base Layer that is far less likely to end up as deeply shredded
mogul fields.
Another way to think of it is like Pavement compared to a Dirt Road.
Ruts, Ridges, Bumps, Pot Holes, etc., etc., don’t happen in High Quality
Pavement in the same way that Well Groomed Adhesively Bonded Snow
Trail Surfaces are Mogul Resistant and Durably Smooth.
In a way, we think the Mountain Needs this little Heat Exposure to help
stabilize, shape and retain all this great huge amount of New Snow through
the Grooming/Packing process. That really means today could be a very Good
Thing for the long run, despite any minor inconveniences of the moment.
(**) It is Vitally Important that Tremblant Guests, particularly Beginners and
Intermediates Select Skill Rated Green or Blue Terrain that is appropriate for
their Actual Skills and Abilities, with a bias for Easier Rated Terrain, as there
may be considerable Additional Challenge due to Abundant Deep Natural Snowfall
and Irregular Traffic Generated Surface Patterns.
96(*) Open Trails on the Archival Copy of Official Open Trails, Grooming,
Snowmaking and Lift Status for February 20th, 2016, Courtesy of Tremblant.ca
- Archival Copy of Official Open Trails, Grooming, Snowmaking and Lift Status, Courtesy of Tremblant.ca
- Screen Shot 2016-02-20 at 1.24.00 PM.jpg (307.01 KiB) Viewed 3041 times
Thanks for your visit and adding more as time permits,
but we sincerely hope you are cooking up plans to get to
Tremblant or get back to Tremblant, because all this Snow
is truly a Game-Changer worthy of every effort possible to
attend for. In our opinion, the entire balance of the Season
has been very favourably enhanced.
If you are one of those in the Group that booked a Tremblant Visit last
August or September for the end of February/beginning of March...
You Just Won The Mother Nature Lottery.
For those looking at this record as part of any future research for Tremblant
Visit Planing Timeframe Options, this is one of the reasons we encourage
planers to give serious consideration to all of February, if you can wrangle
this time off at all, because these types of Natural Snowfalls have Optimal
Benefit when the Season is already mature and the Mountain is typically at
Fully, or Very Close to Fully Open, to begin with.
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.)
.