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Mountain makeover
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 [Photo: Heiko Wittenborn] Cross-country skiers head out from the base village at Mont Tremblant. The resort’s ski season runs from mid November through April. |
By YVETTE CARDOZO and BILL HIRSCH
© St. Petersburg Times,
published November 25, 2001
Thanks to its current owner, the Tremblant ski resort in Quebec has 10 upscale condo hotels, 45 shops and 35 places to eat. |
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The skiing? Well, it was cold; and the clothing was not that good; and we were lucky to survive one, maybe two runs before we had to come in for hot chocolate.
That was then. . . .
On our trip last February, we recognized absolutely nothing at Tremblant.
The resort is crammed with new hotels and boutiques. It is bright and full of color.
The credit goes to Intrawest, the huge entity that has remade half a dozen major resorts across North America.
During our trip on the President's Week holiday, the snow was good, the temperatures reasonable. And though there were nearly 11,000 people on the mountain that Monday, we were able to get away from the crush.
When Intrawest bought Tremblant in 1991 from the resort's fifth owner, the place was in trouble, with dated lodging buildings, dated lifts, dated mountain maintenance. But Bryce Fraser, director of ski area operations, saw possibilities. The land included in the purchase provided space to build new hotels and to cut new ski runs. The elevation (at 3,000 feet, the tallest mountain in the Laurentians) gives it good snow.
A decade later, Intrawest has sunk nearly $1-billion in U.S. funds into the makeover.
Where there was once a single hotel and a bunch of crumbling cabins, there are now 10 upscale condo hotels with more than 2,000 beds. There are 45 shops and 35 places to eat in a cobblestone-paved, pedestrian-only village.
The old lodge is now a restaurant, the cabins moved downslope and turned into cafes.
There is a definite French-European feel to the place, with its street lamps, wrought-iron balconies and mansard roofs painted in bright reds, blues and greens. Tremblant today is Disney-does-Old Quebec.
But why stay in the east to ski? And why come here?
It is a chance to try something different without sacrificing quality. The amenities are wonderful, the snow is good, and the food is unmistakably French. There's Creperie Catherine's outlay of breakfast, dinner and, of course, dessert crepes. There's La Forge's marrow simmered in merlot and an assortment of game meats with rich wine sauces.
 [Photo: Yvette Cardozo] Guests stroll the European-flavored village at the base of Mont Tremblant. |
Beyond the slopes
There also is an array of nonski activities beyond sleigh rides and the ice rink: You can go dogsledding, ice climbing, snowmobiling, ice fishing or snowshoeing through the nearby provincial park to see herds of deer.Visitors can go to nearby Le Scandinave to relax in a steam bath, a sauna or a hot tub, and then plunge into a series of ice pools or even the frozen river.
The other thing Tremblant (and a nearby resort named Gray Rocks) can do is put visitors in ski school for a week. Once upon a time, everyone had ski weeks, in which participants stay with the same skiers and instructor, have parties, a special race and a farewell dinner.
As for us, we wanted to get a better feel for the mountain, so we showed up one afternoon for the free guided tour.
Mont Tremblant, which got its first lift in 1939, today has three bases. The original south side has a heated gondola from the village base to the top of the mountain. This is where the crowds go because of the convenience. (And it is where people in fancy duds ski "to be seen.")
The north side is where skiers go to avoid the crowds. It has good intermediate cruising runs, wonderful expert runs and a terrain park for snowboarders. The north side also has the Edge, a separate area with the best tree skiing on the mountain.
There's also Versant Soleil, 100 acres of skiing that opened in 1999. It has a completely different feel. The runs are narrower, more winding, more varied in pitch.
"So start on the north side until the crowds thin," advised guide Andre Courey. "Then work your way to the south in late morning, hit the restaurant up top, and then do your afternoon on Versant Soleil."
So on our skis we wandered in and out of the trees, bouncing like pinballs from hump to hump and sliding through gullies. Then we relaxed on a long, mellow cruising run that went forever and reminded us of Sun Valley.
Later, we found the sugar shack at the bottom of the village and had the shopkeeper dribble hot maple syrup on the snow so we could eat it like candy.
- Freelance writers Yvette Cardozo and Bill Hirsch live in Issaquah, Wash.
If you go
GETTING THERE: Mont Tremblant is 75 miles north of Montreal, in Quebec Province. There is regular air service from the Tampa Bay area to Montreal, where rental cars are available. There also is a shuttle from the Montreal airport. Call Skyport Shuttle Service toll-free 1-800-471-1155. Round trip on scheduled shuttle runs about $65.
THE RESORT: Tremblant has 600 skiable acres and a 2,131-foot vertical drop. There are 14 lifts and 92 trails, the longest of which is 3.75 miles.
Though the mountain's top is a relatively low 3,001 feet, it's the tallest thing in the Laurentian chain, which means it catches whatever snow is in the neighborhood. The season runs mid November to the end of April.
Thanks to the excellent exchange rate between the Canadian and American dollar, you can get some incredible deals. Low season (late November to before Christmas and early April until the end of the season), there is a two-day, two-night package in a condo including two days' lift tickets, for $150 U.S. per person.
Midseason, a family of four can get a five-night, five-lift-ticket package starting at $1,200.
FOR INFORMATION: For lodging information, contact Tremblant Resort, 3005 Chemin Principal, Mont Tremblant, Quebec J0T 1Z0; call toll-free 1-800-461-8711. The Web site is www.tremblant.com.
For information on activities, call toll-free 1-888-736-2526.
Nearby Gray Rocks is a good alternative to the intensity and size of Tremblant: A single lodge serves a single small mountain. Everyone here is in ski school, which gives the place the definite air of a summer camp.
For information, contact Gray Rocks, 525 Chemin Principal, Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, J0T 1Z0; call toll-free 1-800-567-6767; www.grayrocks.com.
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111
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