Ahhh Treblant. It puts patience or determination to the ultimate test. But fortunately, it makes these tests of personality attributes (or deficiencies) well worth it. If someone provided you with the numbers, even those with impeccable math skills would deduce that the amount of people who purchase lift tickets in the morning could never actually fit on this relatively (for the East) sizable mountain. A million go up, and then somehow (until the bottom) they don’t all seem to come down. So, truth be told, you may have to wait a little, push a little, dodge a little, and bamboozle some, but in exchange, you will be blessed by the ski gods with some great terrain, fun runs and if your lucky a little powder.
Some, o.k. most, of Canada’s top ski racers have come off of this mountain and I am convinced it is because they are way more versatile then us spoiled western Canadians. They know how to fight for personal ski space, work it on the ice, find one of the three cliffs, hit it, then pull off a backflip. Never doubt that a skier from Québec will shock and awe you. You will see some super styling on Tremblant and there is no way that you will be able to ski all day, even the experts among you, without finding a bit of a challenge and a big stupid grin.
In addition to all of this, you’re in Québec; grab a beer, laissez faire.
Tremblant is Canada’s most historic ski hill. History tells us (or Mark tells me because he went through a faze of reading all about the history of skiing) that Tremblant is in fact one of the first, if not the first, ski hill in the world, at least as we know them. Montreal elite used to train-it to Tremblant on the weekends to escape the hustle and bustle of the city in exchange for the beauty and peace of the mountains. These elite Quebecers brought with them a thirst for the drink and feet hungry for dancing and thus, today, Tremblant still boasts an atmosphere of excess to the utmost fun degree.
After a day of battling it out on the slopes, you can find an après ski scene that would pick a fight with the best of them. Providing any after-four skier with a full menu of fun, Tremblant boasts bluesy and chill, jazzy and upbeat, rockish with mullets on top, or top 40 for the barely legal. If you want it, you can find it in this village.
Smattered with colour, class and style, the Tremblant village makes you feel like you are in an adult fun-land. After the skiing, your other skills will be tested. Skills not as friendly to your liver but equally demanding of your balance and fancy footwork. Head to the Club Caribou and enjoy the hunting party gone wild atmosphere and the I’m-having-too-much-fun-to-care crowd.
Mt Tremblant is especially fun in the spring. The conditions really hold up and so you can get some amazing late-season skiing in and also hit the patios and sign along with the live outdoor bands.
Be sure to sample the Québec delicacy poutine. I hear Le Shack is the place to go. And don’t forget, poutine is not only a delicious lunch-time and après ski snack, it is the perfect gastronomical device to soak up unprocessed alcohol after lack night indulging so that you will still make first tracks on the morning corduroy.
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