12/27/10 Conditions

[T360]

Every Operational lift running...
71(*) Open Trails....

You've got options!


We're going to address this point first because if you're sitting
in Montreal, Ottawa, Trois-Riviers, Toronto, Syracuse New York,
or Burlington Vermont, you may be thinking: "I'd really like to
go to Tremblant this week, I wonder how they're doing there?"

Answer: Just fine, Thank You very much! we're doing so well
that you should simply toss your gear in the vehicle, hit the road
and then hit the slopes, because when you get here...

You've got options! more on that in a minute, but first...

We have one lift down due to an accidental fire in a control cabin.
that is expected to come back on line as early as the 29th.

Until that happens though, the Tremblant operations crew has compensated
by firing up all the other lifts on the Mountain, even before some areas are
ready for Christmas early season opening, in order to maximize up-hill
capacity, so basically, you should be able to rely on getting all the vertical
you want when you come to Tremblant.

Now for those familiar with Tremblant's legendary layout,
all the details so that you can take advantage of the provisions
put in place for Holiday traffic.

You've Got Options...

1) Gondola, enclosed 8 passenger from South Side Resort Village to Summit.

2) Flying Mile, Detachable High Speed Quad Chair to top of Flying Mile sector,
South Side, Resort base.

3) "Destination", enclosed 8 pass. gondola from Summit du Neige, South Side
Resort Base to Soleil sector.

4) Soleil, Detachable High Speed Quad Chair to Summit.
It should be noted that with the Destination Gondola to the Soleil base
in service, you could park at Soleil as an option too.

5) TGV, Detachable High Speed Quad Chair from Mid-Point South side to Summit.
Note: TGV can be linked with "Flying Mile" for Base to Summit access.

6) Expo, Detachable High Speed Quad Chair from North Side Base to Mid-Point
North Side.

7) Lowell Thomas, Fixed Triple Chair from Mid-Point North Side to Summit.

8) The Edge, Fixed Quad Chair to top of Edge Sector.
Note: South Side can be accessed from top of Edge Via Trail #1, Bon Vivant
to South Side Trail, Nansen.

9) Shuttle to South Side From North Side for those who choose to return to
the Resort Village by this method, starting at 11:00 A.M.

Experience so far has shown traffic to be easily handled by the in-service lifts.
It would be speculation to say whether the extra shuttle will be necessary for
tomorrow or the rest of the week, however, in a Tremblant.ca Official Press
Release, management has committed to this service, just in case, until the
Duncan Quad is restored to service.

So, there you have it... You've got Options!

...and we haven't even begun to talk about the 71 Options
you have for skiing and Boarding on the Mountain yet...

Just for the fun of it, and a bit of a change of pace for a minute...
Earlier in the week we were talking with a new member here
(thanks for the question Richard!) about grooming.

Anyone looking at the Official Tremblant.ca Snow Report is going
to see "Winch Grooming" on Expo Haut (upper) and on other runs too.
I was going through some file pics and found another good pic of Expo
after it has been just "Winch" groomed. In this process a cable is fixed
to the summit of the run involved and the Groomer/packer is "Winched"
up and/or down the run to produce an extremely uniform surface of the
highest possible quality.

Here's the pic sample:

Any experienced Skier/Boarder is going to instantly recognize
the surface quality story that this pic tells.

Tremblant Skiers and Boarders get these kinds of conditions
almost all the time!

www.tremblant360.com photo. All rights reserved.

Expo.Winch.Groomed.TG.jpg (235.57 KiB) Viewed 5397 times

Now, on to your 71 options on the Mountain at Tremblant.
Today's copy of the Official, Downloadable pdf file of
Trail and Grooming status, courtesy of http://www.tremblant.ca

Screenshot courtesy of www.tremblant.ca

Picture 9.png (169.09 KiB) Viewed 5394 times

Todays weather is brilliantly sunny with a "Crisp" -17C to start,
but will rise quickly to -9C or so under all these rays. The wind is
moderate to strong and from the North-West. That means it will be
coming up the Nansen sector and moving across the summit towards
Duncan. At these temps you will not only need to eliminate gaps around
wrists, neck and waist, but you may need to cover all potentially exposed
skin for maximum comfort.

If you're here for an extended stay, then you can look forward to a
warming trend from this point on and for the rest of the week,
as well as continued sunny days. It's going to be a good week for pictures!

The Ski and Snowboard surfaces continue to be prepared to
the highest levels possible. The Pro's of the Tremblant Mountain
Crews deserve the reputation they have for excellence and when
you get here, you'll see for yourself.

It's easy to be enthusiastic when you've got these kinds of
conditions to back you up. Day after day we're greeted by
classic tremblant runs like P'tit Bonheur, Nansen and McCulloch,
all as smoooth as a billiard table.

Even the un-groomed runs that experts enjoy have a superb
base of abundant natural snow right now that we do not
always see at this still early stage of the season.

Bottom line for this report is:

There's something for everyone here at Tremblant right now.
All skill levels from beginner to expert are going to find delight
on these classic Alpine slopes!


What's under your skis?
If it's not Tremblant, it's not this!

More on the way...
.

Links:

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










.

[richardvoyageur]

Hello friends, from tremblant

Just got back from the hill, it was mighty cold up on the summit, it was probably close to minus 35 this morning. The summit was being blasted by wind and swept a lot of the snow off the top. Towards the end of the day it was getting super icy on crete especially and the top of sissy schuss where people were going from expo lift to lowel thomas lift.

North side was fairly empty all day w/ much better conditions than south side.

Fun mountain, I liked these in particular:
Petit bonheur
Beauchemin bas
Desseres bas

Nansen is too slow and flat for snowboards in my opinion

No soleil today unfortunately, I want to try tobogan...

Until tomorrow, hope it warms up!!

[T360]

Hi Richard...

When I looked at the hourly breakdown on the temp
projections from the weather network for 8:30 when the
lifts open, they were calling for -17 as I recall, however
you've indicated it was cooler than that and there's no
doubt that weather forecasting can be "off", to be polite
to Mother Nature.

Wind chill added on top can certainly compound the effects
which is why we routinely say...

"At these temps you will not only need to eliminate gaps around
wrists, neck and waist, but you may need to cover all potentially exposed
skin for maximum comfort."

...as we said this morning... again being polite to Mother Nature.

I think one aspect of regular Tremblant attendance is our ability to
adapt on the fly to Tremblant's variable weather and remain positive
regardless because there's nothing we can do about it other than
cope. Whenever it's this cold we recommend that all exposed skin
may need to be covered and evidently, today was such a day.

Realistically speaking, it looks like it will be cooler first thing tomorrow
than it was today, so we hope you have enough layers to bundle up
sufficiently.

Back to the Mountain, the wind can make surfaces slick if it can work
at it long enough, that's for sure. Your experience with finding the best
conditions on the North are consistent with what we would have thought
with the wind going across the summit from Nansen towards Duncan.
That puts the North in the "lee" of the wind which gives it an advantage.

Being a "glass half full" site means we run the risk of being criticized.
We can only wish that in balance, you had a good day and with
preparation appropriate for the conditions tomorrow, you can make
the most of it too.

That brings up one of our annual utility reminders.

Utility function applicable to all Tremblant Mountain users
that can help maximize performance and enjoyment...

...Should have spent some time on this point before...
Tune-up. For me, sometimes I simply forget how important
it is to get back to basics, in this case equipment basics.
I have no idea whether or not how many out there have
either done, or have had done, a basic base stone grind
and edge sharpening so far this season.

Without a doubt, if there are either slick/icy or "Eastern Hardpack"
conditions on the Mountain, a good 'ole basic Ski or Board tune-up
could make the difference between surgeon-like carving capability
and zippy quickness, or slip 'n slide skidding and high resistance
due to dull edges and an un-waxed base.

At the beginning of the season it's up to us to decide what level
that our equipment is prepared and further, if we might even use
an old pair of "Rock Skis" or an old Board because of the natural
hazards that can occur in early season, before we have complete
coverage. This older gear's state of tune can often be less than ideal.

Even if we're using our good gear, it's possible that it's seen quite a
few days of use since it's been tuned and because the performance
decreases on a gradual, daily basis, we just don't think a lot about it
until it finally registers that our edges just aren't hooking up when
we have to negotiate, firm hardpack surfaces or icy patches.

The first time we either personally experience, or hear of others
experiencing firm conditions or icy sections we are reminded of this
point and we immediately move into tune-up mode, because with
modern titanium/alloy edges, there's not much you can't handle here at
Tremblant with a freshly tuned set of edges and wax or base coating
appropriate for the temperature range.


I'll up-date tomorrows post with this caveat too.

.
.

[richardvoyageur]

We really liked the pedestrian village and surroundings, and even the old village where we are staying.

The hill was great in the morning (other than the blasting cold above) and we fully expected the deteriorating conditions as the day went on.

We're going to change a few things for tomorrow: 8:30 on the hill, early lunch at 1045, stay on the north and off the hill by 230. I think that will give us the best opportunity.

Gondola line looked long today but moved quickly. Going to soleil via casino gondola and then going up soleil lift was not faster than the main, I would not advise.

this is being written on a blackberry by the way

Can't wait to rip petit bonheur tomorrow morning. Hoping for duncan on wednesday!

[T360]

We really liked the pedestrian village and surroundings, and even the old village where we are staying.

The hill was great in the morning (other than the blasting cold above) and we fully expected the deteriorating conditions as the day went on.

We're going to change a few things for tomorrow: 8:30 on the hill, early lunch at 1045, stay on the north and off the hill by 230. I think that will give us the best opportunity.

Gondola line looked long today but moved quickly. Going to soleil via casino gondola and then going up soleil lift was not faster than the main, I would not advise.

this is being written on a blackberry by the way

Can't wait to rip petit bonheur tomorrow morning. Hoping for duncan on wednesday!

Hi Richard,

Please note there is a big edit and additional content addressed to general users
that was put in the post above at the same time you were adding this.
Sorry about that.

Hope you get a good rest and that you've had adequate re-fuel/food for another
day of big vertical.

In your initial post about recommendations for an intermediate snowboarder, we're
interested to know how you feel about the difficulty level for the different "Greens"
and "Blues" you have encountered?

Are you finding the trail ratings corresponding to your own abilities?

We hope that during the course of the day tomorrow that you do a bit of exploring
and let us know if you find other runs that appeal or suit your skills well.

Other potential good sectors of the North side might be the trail Lowell Thomas to
Rigodon to the Lowell Thomas Chair and/or...

... turn left off the top of the Expo Chair to Vanier, then Lower Duncan all the way
or...

...cut left off of Duncan across the bottom of Cossak to Lower Expo to the North Base.
The left cut-off to Expo off of Duncan is about 300 meters or so, below where Vanier
comes on to Lower Duncan.

Screenshot of Downloadable pdf Trail map, Courtesy of www.tremblant.ca

Picture 12.jpg (207.27 KiB) Viewed 5256 times

If you go carefully the first time trying this circuit, hug the left side of
Duncan. Referring to the map above you will see the cut-off appear as
a small trail, that as you are Boarding down Duncan, is going off left,
just below "Buzz", to Expo.
This brings you out on the smoothest part of lower Expo.
It is easy to see this as you ride up the Expo Quad, just as the lift
begins it's steepest accent toward the top, off to the left.
If the Bottom of Expo looks good from the chair riding up, it may be
worth a try.