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Winter 2012/2013 Season Finale...

Please Note: with no time pressure now, we'll be
building this page/topic over time, so we look forward
to your visit whenever you stop by!

From "Start To Finish", from "Door To Door", "Beginning To End",
over the "Length and Breadth", it was a "Wall To Wall" Winter!

Below: April 14th, 2013... Wow... full white winter snow on the
last day of a superb season.

Overlooking the Summit Entrance to "Rope Tow", Lowell Thomas sector. Any number of expressions could and have been used to describe the
overall excellence of this very fine winter season that has just concluded.

All of them are appropriate for the outstanding availability of Open
terrain that started right from day 1, November 22nd, 2012, with a record
12 Open trails and a record South Side top-to-bottom opened terrain, and
have continued right through to this magnificent closing day and weekend.

Back on March 10th, 2013 we wrote:

"This ambient cold storage within the Mountain is the main reason Tremblant's
very fine base and excellent coverage can endure so well into the long
sunny days of Spring....
and, on top of that.... statistically at least, there's
still great odd's of lots more natural snow!"

----------- end of quotation -------------

Not only did we get the statistical seasonal snowfall from
that point forward, but Mother Nature decided to bless us
with additional snow, far above those averages, along with
the cool temps that allowed the vast majority of it to be
retained on the ground, right up to "Last Run" on closing day.


Closing day itself was a real mix of weather, no rain, but from foggy
cloudy, to brightly sunny.

It was one of those days where if you don't like the weather, wait 5
minutes and it'll be different, as it was in these two shots below,
from across Lac Tremblant.

Below: Standing at the Summit, looking back the opposite way, one of our T360
team snapped this pic. from the entrance to Vertige.
While above, it looks overcast looking down or across, below, you
can see from the perspective of looking up.

Only two minutes later, you can see the sun and blue sky are both
visible from time to time.

Looking up Vertige.

Obviously, It Snowed... again...

South, North... everywhere!

Riding up the Duncan Quad at aprox. 3/4 mark, Summit in view. The snow did not want to stop, and for experts and confident intermediates
the un-groomed was a genuine last day treat.

Overhead Snapshot from Duncan Quad. The unusually winter-like surface quality was everywhere. While
not as light as a cold-formed February snow, to have such a complete
additional coverage on all the Open terrain on closing weekend
was welcomed by all those fortunate enough to be in attendance.

The exercise and fresh air were top level and there was challenge in the
form of required technical skill to Ski/Board well in accumulated new snow,
just the same as there would be on any mid-winter day.

Riding up the Top half of the South Side on the TGV Quad Chair,
overlooking the very fine surface conditions on McCulloch. The only thing as overwhelming as the last day Skiing was the last day
Scenery, equally spectacular with the dynamic drama of active weather.

North Side Trail Banzai, Mid-point entrance. Pictures can not really capture the Sky Drama that was constantly
changing, but when you look at the range shown in all the images
here, there's no doubt it was not only pure Winter Awesome, but
a truly unique April 14th!

Summit Entrance to North Side Lowell Thomas Trail. Summit Entrance to Rope Tow Trail. Anybody that had complaints about Tremblant closing day,
weekend or April Skiing in general was nut's, crazy or some other
form of whacky.... by any measure of "Spring" Ski comparisons,
it was exceptional... Period.


Notice: Page under evolutionary construction over maybe days or
a week or two, as time permits.

Secure Link to "Cut and Paste" or send this topic:

http://tinyurl.com/kvz7zvj



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More Closing day Pic's....

When you're out doing "Field Work", and trying to convey
a sense of relative dimensions, we've found our skis and/or poles
are often useful when included in the picture as crude measuring devices.

Skiers and Boarders know that if half or more of a 160 CM ski is below
the surface, or a 128 CM ski pole can be pushed into the snow down to its handle,
or practically disappears below the surface when tossed into the powder,
there's a fair amount of snow around.
Having these kinds of depths on closing day is an unusual treat.

Everyone we spoke to, and skied with, fully understood the great
good fortune, the privilege of skiing/boarding in such extraordinarily
abundant end of season snow.
Typically, closing day in mid-April might be sunny, warm, even hot by
winter seasonal standards, but certainly not this year as winter fashion
was necessary to be appropriately equipped for winter conditions.
Every trip to the Summit provided unique perspectives on the day.
On more than one occasion during the day we found ourselves thinking...
"Wow, we've got a really good week coming up here...", only to be snapped
back to the reality that "This is it ... yikes!, How's it possible that we can't
be coming back tomorrow for this??? "
Easy Air Bump Runs... Expo has you covered!
"Are you sure this is April 14th ???" .... "Don't pinch me in case I
wake up from this dream!".... Common feedback from those
lucky enough to be here...
Scene's that you would not think were possible for mid-April were around
virtually every corner....
The overwhelming Winter White of every view on the Mountain
was a never-ending fascination...

scroll images ---->>> for complete views where necessary. The day's ambience was universally one of peaceful, majestic
winter beauty no matter where you were.
As usual, closing day attendance was comparatively few, so
frequently you had entire sections of the Mountains fabulous
runs all to yourself. The feelings of closeness to Nature were
inescapable when surrounded by such spectacular settings.

Scroll--->>> for the Human Dimension/Perspective

We have sometimes described days when attendance is light as
having the feel of it being your own "Private Club", however....

We would very much want to encourage all passionate Skiers and
Boarders to change that and make the very best effort they can to
get out for any closing day.

Regardless of the amount of Open Terrain, closing day never fails to
kindle a heightened sense of appreciation for the great, good fortune
that Tremblant Winter Snow Sports Fans can take part in. It
definitely deserves to be a tradition that is shared by more.



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More April 14th ... Arguably one of the top 2 or 3 Closing days of our 40 year Tremblant Experience....

To be sure, we have not been able to attend every closing day over all those seasons, so if there
are closing days from any of your Tremblant Seasons that you think are better than this one...
in terms of pure, outright winter conditions, let us know.

Sky/Weather drama over the Summit Nord, North entrance to Lowell Thomas.
The seamless white winter snow of upper Lowell Thomas
with the Lowell Thomas fixed Triple Chair running up over
"Rope Tow", in the background.
The main upper pitch of Lowell Thomas had Mid-day Moguls formed
by traffic, but they were not difficult to navigate with controlled speed.
Summit of Expo Quad visible, screen right.
Descending down through to the mid-point entrance of Banzai,
a stop at the first glade to look back up towards the summit
where the Duncan Quad can be seen approaching the final crest.
Fine Fresh Winter Snow... Skiing Bumps Under The Expo Quad....

April 14th ??? ... You Bet !!!!
(The shot above was taken looking down, just below the Expo Quad Lift
Tower on the extreme right of this frame below.)

Riding back up the Duncan Quad, this is a 300mm hand-held Telephoto
looking up at the Summit sectors of Cossak and Expo, as well as the
Expo Quad's rise over the final crest.
Farther up the Duncan Quad we get a great view of Vanier as it descends
from the Expo Quad Summit, down to the Duncan Trails mid-point.
Not a single thin or brown spot on it, truly remarkable for this date.
A bit farther up the Duncan Quad, looking back down over Lower
Saute-Moutons as it intersects with the Duncan Trail. If you look
closely at the upper left corner of the frame, at the closest ridge
in near focus, you will see a faint line, just below the ridge-line,
running almost horizontally which is Vanier descending down under
the Duncan Quad.
Summit Arrival Views ... over Marie-Claude Asselin, immediate foreground,
to Edge, distant background.



Run after Run... no end to spectacular scenery, fun, skiing and boarding!!!
"Dear Family, Friends, back in the U.K. ....

Here we are at Tremblant having FUN!
Wish you could be here, but even so, it's the
last day of the season and we've had a great time!"
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Opportunities to capture images of any seasons final day that
have these outstanding conditions compel us to document as much
as we can.

Basically, it's a prime mid-February day... on April 14th.

(Please note: Contrast, highlights and colour balances have been
modified to display as much of the snow quality as possible.
With highly variable light/contrast conditions, photography on the fly
was quite challenging.)

This forum is limited to a 420KB pic'file size, so due to the complexity of the
two photo's below that created very large files, they've been reduced dimensionally
to include the entire scenes without reducing the resolution.

We are still adding to this file. With over 400 images from
the one day to evaluate, process and generally sort through,
it takes more time than the hobby allows sometimes...

Thanks for your patience, drop by anytime to view the
latest additions.

Better yet, go to the Mountain Reports index and scroll
through any or all of the days of this exceptionally fine winter.

T360 Winter Reference/Research Links:

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 Archive 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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