3/16/12 Tremblant Conditions

[T360]

Apres Ski Posted below @ 7:35 P.M.

For Best Results... Get to Tremblant Soon!

--------------- 6:21 A.M. Orig. Post --------------

75 (*) Open Trails on 3 sides of Tremblant

At this stage we're calling for a "Carbon Copy" of the day
before yesterday...

Fast Snow, but, it also means Skiing, Boarding where Mountain
Sectors are in the Cloud. There may be Vision "issues" that
could include rapid icing on goggles and consequently, Speed,
Safety Caveat's.

Slow Down In Cloud/Fog, you must be able to come to an
abrupt stop within your range of vision.

There will be sectors that have either no, or far less dense
cloud, where speed can be safely used when low traffic volume
will allow safe travel for everyone without potential collisions.

This is about how far away 6 Meters worth of Cloud/Fog gets
you for vision...

www.tremblant360.com photo. All rights reserved.

3.14.12.North.Park.Tricks.c.jpg (176.94 KiB) Viewed 4381 times

Cloud/Foggy Or Not....

This is a Pic. Description of the Snow commonly found around
Tremblant.

www.tremblant360.com photo. All rights reserved.

3.16.12.PB.314.Spring.Snow.jpg (229.74 KiB) Viewed 4357 times

There are varying degrees of thickness to this snow, and where
moisture could be said to be "pooling" or "gathering", there are
are also varying degrees of forward resistance to this snow.

The first day of "warm", back a week ago, this snow had a comparatively
high forward resistance factor, but that only lasted one day and since then
it has continued to be surprisingly "fast". We have gotten supportive "fast"
feedback from others while riding the lifts, so we know it's not just us.

In terms of our personal experience, we've been passing about 85% of
Mountain users while Skiing, not because we're recklessly speeding
or all that much better than they are, but because our bases are coated
with a Hydrophobic treatment that keeps our Skis from being effected
by the drag or resistance of surface moisture suction.

The bottom line on any "Spring" snow is that you WILL be Faster when
your bases are waxed or coated for "warm" Spring Snow. "Faster" is a relative
term in this context, even with the best base treatment, speed is unlikely
to ever come near to the rates of cold deep winter "squeaky" dry snow.

"Pay Back" on the efforts and/or expense of properly doing your bases is
when you whizz by everyone else who seem "stuck" or "slow" on the run-out's
from Versant Nord, the North Side Trails "Superieur" or "Beauchemin", for examples,
and you get to the base of Duncan and are riding up before the people you passed
come into sight.

We would estimate that good "Spring" base prep will net you 3 to 5 extra runs
on and average full day, when snow surfaces have this high a level of ambient
moisture.

www.tremblant360.com photo. All rights reserved.

3.16.12.PB.314.Macro.Coniferous.Tree.Needles.jpg (314.87 KiB) Viewed 4355 times

A Comment On Trail Debris...

We've heard comments about the debris found on trail surfaces. Some
people feel this debris is somehow effecting either their Skis or Performance.

We do not think so on either account. A very rough estimate might be that 80%
of the debris is from the natural shedding of Coniferous, or "Evergreen" Tree
needles. We've put this pic. above in so you can have a close look at the brown
ones that are being shed by the trees in their natural growth cycles. These end up
on trail surfaces, but they do not slow you down, nor do they harm your bases
in any way. As the Snow melts, they show up more because they don't melt
and they can all end up on the surface as the snow recedes. On Trails, they get
broken up into fine particles by traffic... sharp edges and all... so they may
look a little grungy, but they are clean and of no concern.

This is a One Pic. "Shred Factor" Forecast for Tremblant Today...

North, South, Up, Down, Cloud/Foggy, Clear...
it should all be very nicely carve-able....

www.tremblant360.com photo. All rights reserved.

3.16.12.PB.314.Expo.Shred.This.jpg (172.17 KiB) Viewed 4339 times

We've all been flying under, into, above, through, around...
the cloud that's covered Tremblant for the past few days...
This is how it looks coming up the Expo Quad, you can see
Duncan disappearing into it on it's way to the Summit.

www.tremblant360.com photo. All rights reserved.

3.15.12.Expo.Quad.Cloud.Over.Summit.View.jpg (234.28 KiB) Viewed 4338 times

75(*) 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 2012-03-16 at 7.11.05 AM.png (224.56 KiB) Viewed 4381 times

Page under construction. Additional to follow, as time permits.

You can have fun today, but if you have the appropriate layers,
you can have fun and be comfortable too!


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: Archive, Search Reports by Date: Index: http://tinyurl.com/yktelmu

When reviewing dates from any of the 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.

( If You "Bookmark" the link above, it will always take you to the
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).


.

[T360]

T360 Apres Ski....

Skiing and Boarding held up well today, despite "damp",
but we need to focus on "Tomorrow(s)"

If you want to Ski/Board Tremblant...

You Should Go "Sooner", Rather Than "Later".

It's not that there won't be Skiing or Boarding for a few weeks more, there will be,

but...

The main reason for this recommendation is the near future Weather Forecast and how
that relates to "How Much" will be open.

Consider the forecasts....

Firstly, tomorrow is going to be the quintessential Magnificent Tremblant
Spring Skiing Day... Sub-zero tonight, Sunny, rising to a very warm +10 C...

Screenshot Courtesy of The Weather Network.

Screen Shot 2012-03-16 at 7.42.56 PM.png (50.32 KiB) Viewed 4279 times

The Tremblant.ca Preliminary Snow report for tomorrow shows 80(*) Open trails.

If you are in Ottawa, Laval, Hawksbury, or Montreal, and sitting on the fence
about getting out tomorrow... don't.... just go...

This is our One.Pic.Forecast for tomorrow, mostly sunny and Warm!

3.15.12.Beauchemin.Lower.Pitch.jpg (351.7 KiB) Viewed 4278 times

We were experimenting with pic.taking in motion, so if the closeup
foreground looks a bit blurred, that's 'cause we were Mooovin'!!!


Secondly, let's look at the future....

Screenshot Courtesy of The Weather Network.

Screen Shot 2012-03-16 at 7.43.20 PM.png (46.93 KiB) Viewed 4279 times

Nice as the Sunny warm weather is, we do not "like" this forecast because
not only does it show a potential "heat wave" with daytime highs up to
+18 C, but, and here's the part we really don't "like", ... it shows significantly
above zero overnights.

What does this mean?

Two main things....

1) We'll have 24 hour thermal "Momentum", as in sustained thermal energy
that does not take any time off.

Typically, Spring transitions can mean nice sunny "+" days, but usually, they
also include below zero nights. Maybe not always a lot below, but enough to
interrupt the daytime heat and re-solidify the surfaces. With grooming, the snow
responds very well to this "+/-" daily cycle, keeping the overall thaw to a net
minimum and providing a genuine "Sweet Spot" of perfect, forgiving, not too firm,
not too soft, surface conditions that you can stay one step ahead of as the sun makes
it's way overhead.

With this sustained "+" forecast, there are no below freezing nights to slow the
progress toward Spring and that's why we're calling it "Thermal Momentum",
it's a one way heat trip with no overnight "brakes" to slow it down.

2) There's a ton of snow,particularly on the main runs that were augmented with
early season snow making, so we'll have Skiing and Boarding for some time yet, but...

It may be unlikely that the existing Open Trail count at the current
high numbers can be kept up with a weeks worth of this kind of heat,
so, if you want the best variety on the most possible open trails, better
to go "Sooner" than "Later".

Conclusions:

These sustained, overnight above freezing temp's at this time
of year are a statistical anomaly. One or two.... maybe, but very
rare to see this forecasted multi-day string.

Thank Goodness For Tremblant's Northern Latitude!

This Heat Wave is going to "Cook" a lot of Ski Areas
South of here, so comparatively speaking, Tremblant,
being as nicely North as we are, will come out with far
less damage than practically any other area of the
North American East Coast.

Our recommendation is, if possible, book a couple of vacation days, or play hooky,
or run away from home temporarily, with your Skis or Board of course, and try
to get some days in as soon as you can.

No One In The Ski Resort Business Can Do A better Job Of Preserving Open Trails
than the Tremblant Mountain Crews, however, "Snow" and a daytime average of
"+16 C", or "61 degrees F", do not go in the same sentence for too, too long...

Consequently.....

For Best Results... Get to Tremblant Soon!

oh... and wax/coat your Bases with "warm" rated surface temp range.
.