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Full Apres Ski Posted in Reply below @ 10:45 P.M.
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Apres Ski Intro... @ 6:15 P.M.

Welcome Back Winter, Limited Time Offer !!!

Groomed as Flat as a Billiard Table and due to sub-zero
temps, just about as hard as a Billiard Table too, but in a good way...
Not hard to understand why after yesterday when it was "Plus" 10 C,
and now it's "Minus" 5 C, it would be almost as firm as a Billiard Table.
Anyone who has put an Ice Cube Tray in the fridge understands that, but
it's exactly what the Mountain needs to stabilize the base and stop the
thaw advance that was occurring so rapidly before.

The day's traffic had worked on it too, so there was actually a nice little
top layer of fine granular that was quite carve-able in lots of places.

Carve This!
As usual, P'tit Bonheur comes through in the crunch,
although these kinds of surfaces could be found to
one degree or another within all the Open Terrain. More to follow in reply, below, but if you're on your way...,

don't forget to do your edges. You absolutely need good, sharp,
fresh edges to have optimal control. If you can't do your own edges,
bring them to the Ski Tuning/Repair shop at the foot of the Cabriolet
and let the Pro's do it for you.

Any Skis/Board Worth Owning Deserve Appropriate Edge Maintenance,
and this is when you need it.



-------------- 8:33 A.M. Orig. Post --------------

17(*)(**) Open Trails on the -8 C "Crisp"
North and South Sides of Tremblant.

SNOWMAKING AT TREMBLANT!

It's not fancy DSLR High Rez Photography,
but it's one of the sweetest sights we can
imagine after all the recent heat. Please also
note that Johannsen has been Groomed Flat...
Very big improvement for Beginners/Intermediates. 3 Main descent paths.

On the South, all roads lead to Johannsen.
Nansen Bas, Lower is off the list, so Mi-Chemin will take you
back over to the TGV base zone.

On the North, we still have Geant, as well as P'tit Bonheur/Beauchemin
to the Expo Quad and on up Via Lowell Thomas Triple.

The trail count is showing 10 less than yesterday, However...
what is Not on the list is less important than what Is on the
list...

With the drop in temps to below freezing, many things become possible
at a Ski Resort in terms of trail repair, restoration, recovery or any other
dimension of "Open" after all the recent Hot weather.

Today will be a day of tremendous dynamic at Tremblant and we'll
do our best to record that in pic's and report.

The most important thing for the moment is the use of the word...

"OPEN"....

"Open" is the only word the really dedicated Ski/Board freaks want to hear.

Of course, it logically follows "How Much?" and "What Shape?" and we're
no different than any other Mountain User's in that regard, so we need
to get out'a the chair and on the road A.S.A.P. to answer those Q's.

But before that....

All Things Considered... i.e. Most of the East Coast is shut down...
we're very lucky to be able to use the word "Open" in the first place.

The foundation for whatever Mountain Crews can do today is what
they had to work with from yesterday. Realistically, it did not snow
3 feet of powder, so we don't expect to see 50 Trails come back on
the list tonight...

However, when the list is what it is today to start with, it is possible
that we could see some % increase back on-line, just because
the numbers are small to begin with, or, an improvement in
what we have now that will permit "Open" to continue on for a while
with the existing count.

Ultimately, the important thing is going to be the Quality of what's on the
list, and that's where the Pro's of Tremblant's Mountain Operations Staff
need the time and space to work with what they have to maximize
the "User Friendly" characteristics of what is Open.

Tremblant Open Trail Case Study:

P'tit Bonheur to Beauchemin Bas, Lower.
Return to Summit Via, Expo Quad and Lowell Thomas Triple.

We're looking at this route because it has miraculously survived intact through
the recent Heat Wave and in our opinion is the best descent sequence available
at Tremblant, and today, probably anywhere East of the Rocky Mountains.

To begin with, the ride up to the Summit brought you into the cloud.
As you can see by this pic. that was not stopping anyone from having
fun on the North Park, Rope Tow Jump Line.
The snow was very soft and forgiving, but it was not mushy to any
great depth due to the previous nights low temps.
On P'tit Bonheur proper, you came out below the Cloud/Fog by the
3rd. bend. What is impressive right from it's entrance, is the
complete "Wall to Wall" pure white snow surface that goes on and on
without interruption.
Looking Up, just below where the Cloud ended. Looking down towards the last pitch. The intersection with
Beauchemin is just below and to the right.
On to Lower Beauchemin, the remarkably well preserved width of this
descent path carries on without a single significant glitch. There are some
very minor spots along the way, but compared to everything else that is
either somewhat, or very patchy, this virtually seamless coverage defies
the heat that has rendered most other Eastern Ski areas "Closed"!
This carries on right to the Expo Quad Loading Zone and in our opinion,
it qualifies this path as the best "Real Estate" at Tremblant!
Bottom Line # 1,
we had a serious high quality, high speed carving/training day
on this one path. It was our "Gym du Jour" with the most winter-like
workout we've had after a week of primarily "Bumps".

It was not cold though, and with the Sun peaking through, not only were
there pleasant temps, but some were finding it "Hot"!
With much Sunnier, but cooler temp's today, it's unlikely we'll be seeing any
of that today... Damn....

Not only is it cooler today, looks like -4 or -5 C will be all we get,
but it's quite windy and very gusty from the Nor-West, so it will
just ripping across the Summit from basically the Nansen sector.

Compared to all the heat we've had, we're going to need to bundle up
today to keep heat loss from being peeled off like a banana...

Bottom Line # 2...
Basically, our expectations now are very similar to Opening day,
so when compared to the alternative that might be "Closed",
We Are Still Skiing and both Happy and Thrilled to say so!

17(*) Open Trails on the Official, Downloadable,
PDF, Trail and Grooming status report,
Courtesy of Tremblant.ca
((**)we apologize for the late report. Ongoing
host server technical issues are almost as frustrating
as the weather! ...but Tremblant is Open, we are going Skiing,
and we will get the essence of what's going on out there
if it takes all bloody night.)


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
First 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.)
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T360 Apres Ski...

After all the past 10 days or so of Hot Weather Drama, it would be very safe
to say that Tremblant is making the most out of the remaining, reasonably
accessible and linkable Alpine Snow Base.

To the great Joy of all die-hard Tremblant fans who are Not ready to pack their
Skis and Boards away just yet, Mother nature dropped the temp's to well below
Zero, and Tremblant Mountain Operations Flipped the "On" switch on strategically
located Snowmaking guns.

Make it to the Summit of Tremblant and you're still Good To Go!

As far as we can see, the operational Snowguns are an effective and efficient
means of extending the Quality and Durability of the season by Bridge Building
either to, or between pre-existing areas of stable base.

This Cool little portable Snow Gun below is largely self-contained with it's
own electrically driven air compressor and needs only to be hooked up
to a water source and plugged in. It's a good way to get coverage where
conventional infrastructure may not support the localized focus they can
easily achieve with this unit. If you tried to look at the Summit Web Cam
to the North today, it's also the reason the lens was coated this morning.
Essentially, if we understand it correctly, what's happening is large scale "Spot Repair"
in high wear traffic zones that will enhance or facilitate traffic flow and ensure the
length of the season with the highest possible quality on the limited terrain that is
capable of lasting for another couple of weeks, +/- a bit.

Of course this all depends on Mother Natures own whims of natural snow
in the near future, but statistically, we should get more and we should
also see continued, stabilized, cooler temps too.

A little farther down on the North side looking back, we can see the
scope of Summit Surface repair. Two days ago this was becoming a
big Brown zone, but overnight, has been restored to white!
Another enjoyment factor is the complete grooming that was undertaken
while the Mountain was firming up in the transition from "Plus" to "Minus"
last night.
Johannsen, South Resort Base. Wide.Flat.Fast.n.Firm So, what we all found on the mountain today was "Flat as a Billiard
Table" with a bit of "icy", but...

...with even only a few hours of traffic there were clear improvements
with the creation of a fine granular top surface layer that was very nicely
carve-able and would easily hold an edge with subtle control inputs.

With any degree of icy substrate, the last thing you want to do is apply jerky
control moves. There's depth, but not enough for extreme carving on all surfaces.

As far as beginners go, flat, firm and even a bit icy is a lot easier to handle
with a well executed snow-plow than a choppy, deep 'n steep mogul field,
so all the grooming represents a big step forward in "user friendly".

This is a closer detail of the pic. we ran in the Apres Ski Intro above.
Edge hold is obvious, as is surface smoothness. All you need to do this
with, is fresh sharp edges. For optimum utility in these conditions, you need fresh, sharp edges,
and a repertoire of smooth, refined moves that won't push past the
boundaries of grip however you may find it.

There were many in attendance today with those skills and they were making
the most out of the open terrain, and in a hurry to, because as well as all else,
it was really, really Fast!
Tomorrow will be nothing but "better" as Mountain Crews have all night
to refine the surfaces. Additional grooming will render deeper top granular
layers and traffic will help too, so do your part and get out for some
fast fun at Tremblant before you have to make do with(yawn),
...dull old Golfing!



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