TR: WARP's RED group rocks Tremblant

When Jan 19 and 20,2012

Where : Tremblant

Conditions: Pow --dumpage

OK So 4 of our happy assed group of Retired Extremely Dangerous ski whackjobs loaded up the SUV with some good booze and muchies and headed out for one of our thrice yearly excursions to Disneyland North , er Tremblant that is .

We've been skiing together for damn near 3 decades and these guys are mostly ex hockey pucks from SLU or former ski racers from Dartmouth and they can rip top to bottom non stop . We all hit the gym 3/4 days a week to stay in shape year round. They are late 70's and me i'm the "young snot" in the group( 69 in May ).

This yr we missed 2 of our group. One a former ski school director unfortunately retired due to blindness in one eye and the other guy my age is recovering from 2 differant types of Cancer surgery . He has skied with us but only at our regional and didn't feel up to TREMBLANT.

We stayed on the Versant NORD side of the mtn which tends to be a bit more hardcore than the Versant SUD or Soleil sides with the Disneyesque faux French Alps Village . (been there , done that, cool to cruise at nite but we prefer the NORD) We stayed at a great Auberge with our own chef since we rented the place . Check out the snow load of the roof !!

The skiing was really fast with good coverage and low density.Temps were eh well CHALLENGING . Both days were sunny , full coverage following a 9 inch dump Wed and another 7 Thursday nites. It was "choice" with many trails left ungroomed for cold smoke runs , but colder than a well digger's ass :>). Thursday was tropical about 8 degrees F at the base and zero on top BUT NO WIND . Friday it was negative 5 on top BUT a strong wing around 25 mph so windchill was fierce . BUT we're equipped for it with full POLARGUARD heat exchanger masks and the usual balaclavas and hand and foot warmers , boot gloves etc . SO No problems

The first day we hit some serious fog again at the top station .Similar to last yrs photos in one of the attached photos u can only see the first 1500 vert of the NORD since the upper 700 vert WAS SOCKED IN . It lifted about an hr after the shot so we headed for the juicy blacks on the NORD hit up The Duncan and one other name excapes me .

After a couple hrs of those nice Looong steeps we hit the cruisers on teh Versant Sud sand hit up the Beauvallon and Grand Prix and the Alpine Lift line and several other cruisers before heading to the Disneyland Village for a Toddy

That evening we had just a wonderful dinner at the Auberge i had a Cognac laced Beef bourginon over a bed of fluffy pasta preceeded by some awesome Quebecois style apeeteasers and some Potato 'Leek annd BACON creem style soup , then a series of what amounted to a huge Creme Puff smothered in maple syrup .

Attached are a couple of shots of the Auberge .and several shots of the hill and village . BTW i'm the grinning fool with glasses in the RED jacket at the Base

Wash rinse repeat for the next 2 days and you got the picture .

At the end 2 great days of skiing , 48,000 vert racked up with great friends .

You can see the smile on my face ! We getting ready for a repeat cycle in Feb - it costs a few bucks but hell u gotta live large once in a while

These shots are of the base village on the Versant SUD , riding the lifts on the  Versant NORD and looking down to the valley on the NORD. Here is the link to the Auberge if you want to see more of that http://www.aubergeleversantnord.com/ check out the Table d'hote menu  -'mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

I've heard the whole Disneyland rap before, but a slopeslide accommodations with 2000+ feet of vert, 700 acres and some NICE looking natural snow ... looks pretty darn good to me.

The RED team's clearly got game. Nice report Warp Daddy!

Thanks Harv !!  From what i've read of your group's exploits on the hill you guys GOT GAME too .


My friends in this group are inspirational . Believe me they have all the enthusiasm they had in their 20's . The whole ski scene for us is one of life's great joys along with family life . We've all just had amazing times together for so long its like a band of brothers who never grew up

Happy trails to you and your crew Harv , OH and BTW i really enjoy reading what you are doing to bring Neve along in this sport. She's going to be a great little skier who both feeds off your enthusisam and also develops a full and rich treasure chest of memories skiing with her mom and dad .

W

Excellent report, WD. I haven't skied at Tremblant since the mid-80s and it always blows me away me to see pics of the development on the south side. I suppose people will say that about Jay Peak too, though when you are watching it happen it isn't such a shocker.

Glad you dig the north side. It was the place to be back in the day and it clearly still is. You and your friends are an inspiration. I shared a chairlift the other day with an 82 year old fellow who skis four to five days a week. Keep it up, brother, you are now honourary Hinterlandians for skiing in those temps!



PS: did you ski Ryan? What a wild run that used to be. Hope it still is.

SBR !!!   thanks bro

Hell yeah ! the Ryan---------- the posse  skied that back in the day too . Some of these sickos also skied something called the "frozen waterfall" back in the day too . I really don't know exactly where in hell it is but I think it may have been part of what used to be the LOWER section or the Ryan Bas


This time on the  Versant SUD side  we did Mc Culloch , Teshereau , Beauvallon , The Alpine lift line and of course the Nansen  course now they make each of them about 3 trail names ..  On the Nord we did The Duncan ,Lowell Thomas , Beauchemin, Petit BonHeur which we call the Petite Manure  Actually the Petite is a newer trail and a really nice one where u can really open it  up  it cuts into the Beauchemin . Also did Fuddle and Cissy's . Toboggan is also a fav on the Soleilside . we did more but can't remember all the names .

Also poached a Closed trail one bumpy ass sumbitch that i never did b4 -- . I was never good in the bumps -- still ain't worth a damn in them . I try but hell u know the drill

Enjoyed the report WD.  Skied there last March (and twice in the late '90s), but didn't have as nice conditions as you.  I didn't realize you could stay on the North side, that sounds great.  The highlight when I visited last March was first tracks above the cloud layer.  I highly recommend signing up for their free first tracks program next time you visit - you get access to the mountain an hour before lifts open for the general public.

"Retired Extremely Dangerous ski whackjobs"

I love it, that and "colder than a well diggers ass"...you RAWK Warp


Great report...thanks for sharing.

 the McCollough !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! or at least it looks like it . Yeah that first tracks deal is a great idea

"DO" stay on the NORD my man  its pristine quiet  and  then u can drive over to the Village for shitz n' giggles when u want

Campy :  I TRY my man , I try   those one- liners  are good ole North Country aphorisms-- good to hear from ya .

 BTW did u get the MRI results ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~vibes that all went well.

 Gotta have u back on the hill

warp rockin' it old's kool! great report and pics! i'd like to get the mrs up there but those temps might scare her away!

warp daddy wrote

Campy :  I TRY my man , I try   those one- liners  are good ole North Country aphorisms-- good to hear from ya .

 BTW did u get the MRI results ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~vibes that all went well.

 Gotta have u back on the hill

Not yet...results will be in tomorrow.

Try March or even late March.

Its beautiful in summer too . Lac Tremblant is a good sized body of water. The Laurentians are dotted with great lakes , rivers etc and some really nice golf courses if that's your thing.

@warp - definately on the hit list, might be a consideration if we don't make it out west in late march

@camp  - hoping all goes well! how's it feeling?

Great trip report. I last skied Tremblant in 2000. We stayed on the South and had a great time. I do not think there was any housing on the North yet. We were there the end of March and we lucked out with some warmth. I have skied Tremblant in similar condtions to your trip. The place can be cold and brutal. I would still head back.

gorgonzola wrote

 
@camp  - hoping all goes well! how's it feeling?

Sore (no real pain) and still swollen...was at GP yesterday...gave ski patrol a Hollenbeck's hot apple pie thanking them for the ride down the hill then hit the bar w/ the crew.

Just  to clarify : THERE IS NO  Slopeside HOUSING AT THE BASE ON THE NORD .

 Our Auberge is about 2 miles from the NORD base lodge an easy drive , we park right next to the lodge . It is low density , retro and easy, quick  access. There are many places to stay on the NORD side but they are all located Auberge s or in some cases rentals .

i guess that's  good - describes about half the parts of my body! we got a bye week from hockey next weekend, might try to get up depending on the weather and mrs snowbunski's psia clinic schedule

sorry for the thread jack warp!

Gorgo : There are several closeby easier hills  toofor the Mrs if u r up there a couple of days . EG Mont Blanc about 1200 or so vert is right there by St Jovite another great ski town about 5 miles from Tremblant , and there are many , many others too .

2012

Where : Tremblant

Conditions: Pow --dumpage

OK So 4 of our happy assed group of Retired Extremely Dangerous ski whackjobs loaded up the SUV with some good booze and muchies and headed out for one of our thrice yearly excursions to Disneyland North , er Tremblant that is .

We've been skiing together for damn near 3 *