Words & photos :: Colin Field.
You want proof there’s a new normal? I saw it. I saw the post-pandemic world. It was at Tremblant. I wasn’t expecting it, but there it was. At the top of the Telecabine Express, as the gondola doors opened everything was different. Instead of -25 degrees C and howling winds that felt like -48, it was pleasant. A balmy -3. And it wasn’t even windy. This was mid-February! This wasn’t the coldest place on earth; it was paradise.
The skiing itself was a hoot. While we could always have more powder, conditions were close to perfect; very little ice and lots of snow you could dig your edges into confidently. For the first 45 minutes we did laps all together; ducking into tree runs (sous bois en francais!), bouncing over mogul fields and tucking down freshly groomed corduroy. Then the kids would take off for lap after lap on the Sissy Schuss terrain park, while the dads were off in the woods chasing powder and actually finding it. Then we’d all group together for a bumpy lap under the Duncan Express chair where kids left the ground as often as they turned on it.
Tremblant is the kind of place that always delivers good times. At 2100 feet of vertical terrain, for us southern Ontario skiers, it feels huge. For four full days we’d get up early, eat a quick breakfast and put our First Tracks lift passes to good use. And day after day the weather co-operated; a smattering of snow overnight covered the groomers and each day we emerged from the gondola to a glorious sunrise. An incredible scene. We’re coming back next year for sure. If this is the ‘new-normal,’ I’ll take it.
