night is not yet thorough. We think there's more snow on the way
based on this radar image. The bands of precipitation on this display
are moving diagonally from the lower left of the screen toward
the top right of the screen, so unless it vaporizes into thin air
there will be at least one more significant deposit of precip.
- Screenshot of radar image, courtesy of Environment Canada.
- Screen Shot 2011-12-28 at 12.49.40 AM.png (416.08 KiB) Viewed 3162 times
--------------- 6:59 A.M. Orig. Post ---------------
41(*) Open Trails on 3 Sides of Tremblant.
South, North and Edge.
Good News About Bad Weather!
Potentially Very Snowy!
- Screenshot Courtesy of The Weather Network.
- Screen Shot 2011-12-27 at 7.02.47 AM.png (38 KiB) Viewed 3316 times
- Screenshot Courtesy of The Weather Network.
- Screen Shot 2011-12-27 at 7.03.32 AM.png (55.5 KiB) Viewed 3316 times
so far this season!
- www.Tremblant360.com Photo. All Rights Reserved.
- 12.27.11.PB.Bring It On.Mother Nature.jpg (313.56 KiB) Viewed 3286 times
We're Ready To Go!!!"
The implications of such a large amount of Natural Snowfall
to the Alpine Quantity and Quality of Tremblant's Open
Terrain are Enormous!
Lets look at some of the reasons:
1) The absolute amount of direct snowfall will
be what it will be, but the weather forecast is
for "Base" level, flat ground.
2) The physical presence of the Mountain changes all of the
potential accumulation factors due to the disruptions in air flow
that would not occur if the base level was on flat ground with
no nearby topographical features.
3) Tremblant's ridge of conical peaks with their vertical rise
of over 2116 feet, or 645 Metres act as a "Ramp" that cause
base level air masses to rise up into contact with colder, higher
elevation air masses.
4) Orographic Precipitation(**) Is An Almost 100% Probability
with these weather conditions that include moderate to
strong wind velocities that will propel moisture laden air
upward, increasing the potential snowfall accumulations by
substantial amounts beyond the base level forecast.
5) Blowing And Drifting Factors Can Create disproportionally
huge accumulations of Snow Deposits on the Leeward sides
of Mountain Geographic Features.
Here's how we think it's going
to shape up over the next 24-36 hours:
(...and Subject to the whims of Mother Nature)
Satellite Image of Mont Tremblant' Alpine Terrain
- Screenshot courtesy of Google Earth
- 12.27.11.Orographic.Drifting.Snow.jpg (376.24 KiB) Viewed 3288 times
N.A.S.A./.Gov.USA.
- Screenshot Courtesy of
N.A.S.A./.Gov.USA. - Screen Shot 2011-12-27 at 8.57.30 AM.png (235.07 KiB) Viewed 3301 times
on the leeward side, what we are usually talking about at Tremblant
is the orographic phenomenon as an addition to the ambient snowfall
which is already going to be happening regionally. This creates the
dynamic that occurs at the summit that we have observed over and
over again through the years that can, and often does, result in
disproportionally large accumulations up there.
On top of that... what we would call the "Swirl" factor over
the Summit and around trail sides and contours often creates MASSIVE
drifting features on the sheltered sides of Tremblant's "nooks and crannies".
Here's an actual, real sample of the potential
we feel is possible with this approaching system.
- www.tremblant360.com Photo. All rights reserved.
- 3.10.11.Drifting.Sample.jpg (332.39 KiB) Viewed 3267 times
on March 10th, 2011. This snowdrift is over 100CM deep, but the
statistically recorded snowfall was 52 Cm for the preceding 7 day period.
Ergo, the wind caused "Drifting" that was over double the recorded total.
We actually had "FaceShot" drift-busting runs on Lowell Thomas last
season from this phenomenon.
The only "Caveat's" in all of this are the wind speed and the
unexplainable shifts in Earths weather patterns.
Excessive wind can prevent accumulation on wide open runs and
in rare cases, blow it over the top, but even then snow can still
be deposited in very large amounts on the narrower runs where
the trees that line them act as "scoops" that capture and help
retain snow.
If Mother Nature decides to shift gears, change course or alter
Her plans, She may not tell us at all, and the whole system could
go in a different direction, reduce or increase in intensity or any
other variation that suit's Her fancy.
A basic understanding of Geographical/Weather concepts, in
combination with almost 4 decades of Tremblant experience and
observation lead us to these hypothesis', so we're really going to be
both interested and fascinated to see how this weather plays out.
Will we be right, either a little or a lot, or not at all?
Good Questions! ...and we don't know the answers for
sure. That's why we say "Potential", "Possible" "Maybe"
and "If" when we talk about what "Can" or "Could" happen.
From that standpoint, the question is not really whether we're
"right" or not, the possibilities always exist on either extreme,
but as Skiers, we'll always hope for the Snow!
No matter, weather predictions are as much an art as a
science and to us, part of the magic of Tremblant is how
Mother Nature surprises us so often with such a
Wondrous Wintery World. Besides, like most humans, we
just love to talk about the weather!
Stay tuned for her Reply!
41(*) Open Trails on the Official, Downloadable PDF,
Trail and Grooming status report,
Courtesy of http://www.tremblant.ca
- Screenshot of Official, Downloadable PDF, Trail and Grooming status report, Courtesy of www.tremblant.ca
- Screen Shot 2011-12-27 at 7.12.07 AM.png (219.47 KiB) Viewed 3315 times
The Skiing/Boarding Are Excellent.
If We Get A Big Bunch Of Snow...
It Will Be More Excellent.
Either way, you should not be missing it!
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
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: Winter Reports, Index/Archive: http://tinyurl.com/yktelmu
When reviewing dates from any past, numbered, archived index 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.)
.