A special facet of the Mont-Tremblant experience is its European-style village.
MONT-TREMBLANT
RECOMMENDED BY Eric Gagne
You may not be able to escape to Chamonix at a moment’s notice. But if you live in North America and have a hankering for a distinctly French-flavored alpine experience, point your compass northwest of Montreal and head to Mont-Tremblant.
“Mont-Tremblant has some challenging runs and great acreage,” Eric Gagne began, “but you’re not going to find the big-mountain skiing that you might encounter in the Rockies or the Alps. What you will find, however, is a total experience that’s very pleasing. Visitors who aren’t French speakers really appreciate the Quebecois atmosphere, which has an exotic feeling; it’s like visiting Europe without going abroad. The European feeling is enhanced by the pedestrian village at the base of the mountain, and the beautiful architecture of the structures. Here in Quebec, we can’t always rely on Mother Nature providing all the snow we’d like to see. Luckily, we have one of the most powerful snowmaking systems in the east, so we can give visitors nice coverage. There’s also a strong grooming program in place. For skiers who enjoy a carpet, we can provide it.”
Mont-Tremblant (elevation 2,871 feet) rests in the Laurentian Mountains in southern Quebec, eighty miles northwest of Montreal. The Algonquin Indians called it Manitonga Soutana, or “Mountain of the Spirits.” These First Nation people believed that anytime someone broke the laws of nature or broke the peace, the spirits would make the mountain tremble … hence tremblant. Like so many European ski destinations, Mont-Tremblant was first developed as a summer retreat, in this case for urbanites in Montreal and Ottawa City seeking cool mountain air. Development was facilitated by the construction of a train line, the P’tit Train du Nord (Little Train of the North), in 1892.
It was American millionaire Joseph Bondurant Ryan who recognized the mountain’s potential as a ski resort. Ryan was introduced to the area, then a wilderness region, by a friend, the acclaimed broadcaster Lowell Thomas, in the mid-1930s. The two men climbed Mont-Tremblant on skis, hoping to take in the view across the Laurentians. At the summit, Ryan is alleged to have said, “This has to be the most beautiful sight in the world. There is only one thing wrong. It is too difficult getting up here. I believe I’ll fix that!” Ryan’s “fix” was to buy the mountain. Initially, the province of Quebec, which owned the property, was resistant to the idea. Ryan eventually called in a favor from Ben Smith, a powerful Wall Street broker, who placed a call to Quebec’s premier, and the deal went through. Ryan was given two years to develop his fledgling property, or risk forfeiture. Working frantically, he was able to meet the deadline, cutting trails for twenty runs, installing lifts, building roads into the property, and constructing the twenty buildings that would make up the village. Mont-Tremblant opened in February 1939.
Mont-Tremblant is consistently ranked among the best eastern skiing North America has to offer. This is in part thanks to the resort’s aforementioned snowmaking system—a thousand snow guns working to provide coverage on 465 out of 654 acres—and to the mountain’s great variety of terrain, enough to make novices feel comfortable and experts interested. Mont-Tremblant offers forty-nine miles of trails, spread over four sectors: North Side (Versant Nord), South Side (Versant Sud), Sunny Side (Versant Soleil), and The Edge (Versant Edge). Eric shared a few favorites. “On the North Side, there’s a beginner’s trail called Le Petit Bonheur (The Little Joy), which is named for a famous song by a beloved Quebec artist, Félix LeClerc. It’s a real joy to go down. For the expert skier on the North Side, I like Devil’s River and a little pass off that trail called Boiling Kettle. Devil’s River follows the natural terrain; there’s no snowmaking. Boiling Kettle is a steep pitch with big moguls. You need a lot of snow to go there. On the South Side, there’s some great expert terrain. I’m a former World Cup skier, and I can find good turns and challenges here. Ryan and Lower Ryan—named for Mont-Tremblant’s founder—are not to be missed. Three other famous runs are Zig-Zag, Vertige, and Grand Prix. There’s a little pass off Grand Prix where you get a magnificent view of Mont-Tremblant Lake and the whole region. The Edge has good glade terrain for experts.
“If you find yourself on Versant Soleil around lunchtime, you can’t miss a stop at Le Refuge. It’s a little log cabin set among the trees, about a quarter of the way down. The cabin is very typical of old Quebecois culture. There’s no plumbing, no electricity; if you have to use the bathroom, there’s an outhouse. The people who run the place bring everything in by snowmobile. They serve soups, sandwiches, and little snacks. It’s a very quaint spot and speaks to the Mont-Tremblant experience.”
Having skied at Mont-Tremblant for more than forty years, Eric has many fond memories. Most involve sharing the mountain with friends. “I remember a magical March 23 from a few years back,” he recalled. “It was a big powder day—we had forty to fifty centimeters of fresh snow on the ground. I was approaching the gondola, and I ran into my best friend. It was his birthday, and he’d decided to spend it on the mountain. We hadn’t planned on meeting, we just happened to be heading up at the same time. We spent the whole day riding the powder, tearing ourselves up, burning all the fuel we had.”
ERIC GAGNE has ancestral land near Tremblant, and his grandparents founded the La Conception region. It was no surprise that he came back during winter ski season and never left. Eric has been working for Station Mont-Tremblant for almost twenty years as a sales representative and a volume distributor for ski and golf tickets for a corporations network. A former member of Canada’s national ski team (in telemarking), he participated in two World Cup series in that field in 2005/6 and 2006/7. Eric is part of Tremblant’s new generation, and will definitely be a part of its history.
If You Go
Getting There: Mont-Tremblant is 1.5 hours from Montreal, which is served by most major carriers. Porter Airlines (888-619-8622; www.flyporter.com) offers direct service to Mont-Tremblant from Newark and Toronto.
Season: Mont-Tremblant opens in late November and generally remains open until mid-April, though some seasons extend into May.
Lift Tickets: Adult day passes are $76 (CAD); a variety of packages are outlined at www.tremblant.ca.
Level of Difficulty: Mont-Tremblant’s ninety-four trails are categorized as 17 percent beginner; 33 percent intermediate; 50 percent expert.
Accommodations: Mont-Tremblant offers a host of lodging options. For details, call 888-738-1777 or visit www.tremblant.ca.
