Laurentian ( Tremblant ) Snow Report

Friday night our family ski team had tough choices to make as a few in the clan didn't have to teach so the decision was where to go . Over a foot of snow fell to the south but only a few inches in the Laurentians . Do we go for it , break out of our zone for the first time this season and face Saturday traffic and huge lift lines or stay home and ski the good base with a few inches on top . Decided to stay home as couldn't face the long drive. After reading about the lines at Orford ( our choice ) due to broken lifts and post storm crowds glad we stayed home . Checked out some unused side country today in the mid Laurentians where the snow is prime . The kid in the family spends most of his weekends teaching on the magic carpet so today he let it rip.

Note : Alta , after the fire , scheduled to reopen next weekend =D> , Keep the faith .
 

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Heavy torrential rain fell on Friday ( Feb 21) for the third major setback ( rain event ) of the season . Natural snow trails took a good soaking followed by a gradual freeze up on Saturday morning as temps dropped below freezing and continue to drop. We had just recovered from the last rain event ( Jan 11 ) and now we have another one . The mid January thaw melted almost 2 feet of snow . This one lasted one day so no significant snow loss but the snow has transformed into frozen granular and ice . Current snow conditions have made natural snow trails hazardous to put it mildly .

Condition State
Snow latest 24h 2 cm
Snow latest 48h 2 cm
Snow on the ground 116 cm
 
The Laurentian snow belt delivered today as in the zone about 4 to 5 inches of new snow and more snow falling when we left at 3.30 today . We skied in the Val Morin hills where the steep drops had good snow coverage covering up the ice from the rain last week . Natural snow depth on the trails well over 4 feet . Should be a good one tomorrow .
 

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Excellent surprise little light pow day at Edelweiss today. It was so good that an 80-yr old ex-Prime Minister even showed up.

BTW, did you know that Mont Sauvage lift was spinning today for the first time in maybe 20 years? Apparently they are honouring the Alta passes?
 
I skimmed through the history of Mont Sauvage on this really interesting site called Ski Mad World. :-D

Is this plan still moving ahead: a version of Mont Glen (failed)/Haystack?
The former Mont Sauvage ski resort will gradually be restored for the exclusive use of Via Sauvagia residents.

Amazing how many ski hills there were in the Laurentians.
 
Yeah, we were at Sauvage yesterday,took me a few minutes to find the place. 1 T bar all powder runs. Heading back out now for another shot at it.
 
It has been 7 days since the last measurable snowfall so conditions out on the natural un groomed trails were hard packed and choppy today due to fluctuating temperatures . Has not been warm enough to transform any of the snow but warm enough to allow a thin crust to form on untracked snow and freeze up the tracked snow after the temperature drop last night. Snow pack at a elevation under 2000 feet still at 5 feet ( average ) . Signs of spring are only noticeable along the snowbanks on the southern side of roads. Away from the roads , little change.
 
The Laurentians were just out of range on the last storm that passed just to the south last Wednesday and Thursday. Nevertheless ,since last Sunday passing snow showers during the week dropped off almost a foot of snow. Yesterday, had our doubts as light rain was falling in the lower Laurentians with temps above the freezing mark. We decided to go over to the snow belt and check out Sauvage since it was open for us Alta pass holders. Pulled into the village of Val Morin to find snow covered roads and fresh snow,the snow belt delivered again. Out in the surrounding hills ,made first tracks thru dry snow on top and damp snow at the base.The steep drops in the woods were prime . Snow depth reported from Tremblant park listed below. Consider this a average as would say depths are higher in the snow belt due to overall elevation.

Snow latest 48h 2.5 cm
Snow on the ground 149.5 cm
Type of surface Packed powder

For those of you into stats, have listed the snow depths for the same time period last year.

Snow latest 48h 0 cm
Snow on the ground 195 cm
Type of surface groomed
 

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Tony , Good question as don't believe the commercial ski areas keep any stats. They just like to count on machine snow. I take my stats from the Tremblant Cross country ski area at a elevation of just under 800' . The area where we do most of our skiing is in the so called Laurentian snow belt which has a base elevation of 1056 feet . This slight elevation and cluster of condensed numerous 500 vertical steep hills intensifies the snowfalls and helps out when temperatures are just at the freezing mark . 1 degree can make the difference between rain and snow. If you cross reference the weekly stats (snow on ground ) you can see that the mid Laurentian snow pack at 1600' keeps pace with the Mount Mansfield vt stake at 3900 ' in elevation . Classic case of latitude over altitude. We spend all of our time searching for powder in a region where snow falls just a few inches at a time so you have to know which lifts don't run during the week and which lifts you can use to access side country , then there are the hills with no lifts. If it snows any time during the week we can count on a powder day on Saturday morning and it will not be at the commercial centres .
 
Since the biggest area in the region, Mt. Tremblant, only claims 156 inches, that is below the threshold for which collecting snow data interests me. In general at ski areas that get 150 or less the quality of skiing depends far more upon temperatures/snowmaking than upon snowfall. If there is a microclimate in the area that gets 200+ I would be interested in data supporting that. Thus my interest in Quebec snow data has been mostly for the Quebec City environs and secondarily the Townships.
 
Close to a foot of snow fell over the Laurentian region over the past 7 days including 4 inches that fell yesterday morning . Yesterday's snow was perfect timing as the accumulated snow provided boot deep turns in the Laurentian hills. Doesn't get any better . Snow on a Saturday morning with no competition . Skiing is prime these days , even Tremblant's web page photo's are showing powder images . Dry snow into late March is perfect, no rush for corn .
 
Anthony":39vyivdf said:
Close to a foot of snow fell over the Laurentian region over the past 7 days including 4 inches that fell yesterday morning . Yesterday's snow was perfect timing as the accumulated snow provided boot deep turns in the Laurentian hills. Doesn't get any better . Snow on a Saturday morning with no competition . Skiing is prime these days , even Tremblant's web page photo's are showing powder images . Dry snow into late March is perfect, no rush for corn .
Click to expand...

Awesome skiing. Skied the last 3 days at MSSI ski areas in the Laurentians (Gabriel on Friday) and Outaouais (Edelweiss this weekend). Friday was a powdery Spring Day and it was back to full Winter this weather with -15c morning starts. :-D No time to write TRs. From memory, this has been the best March skiing in the East since 2008. I'm looking to head towards Vermont for a few days this week then back local for next weekend.
 
Yeah , can't believe how much Laurentian powder we skied this year for next to nothing in cost . My only regret is not having enough time to ski it all . Sure there is more powder in northern vt but when you have powder outside your door on the weekend with no else around can't complain . Guys were telling me powder at Tremblant , Garceau etc just endless . Imagine if Alta was open !
 
Snow coverage is deep,however snow then rain fell on Friday (March 28 ) followed by below average temps on Saturday under overcast and a few inches of snow today . Tremblant is reporting that they need some sun to soften up the natural stuff . I would agree with this . Headed out on the snow shoes to find a deep snow pack south of the Laurentian hills .
 

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Often find it hard to get a good corn day in as you need the sun and temps to soften up the snow without a north wind . With rain in the forecast decided to take a vacation day today to take advantage of the sun and above freezing temps . Picked up the oldest kid on campus and headed out to a south facing mole hill for some turns. Arrived just before noon to find the snow just starting to soften in areas exposed to direct sunlight . Areas in the shade stayed frozen all day . Tremblant probably had limited softening up today as temps high 30's low 40's . Across the region great snow coverage as spring skiing has just started with softening of the snow only taking place in the afternoon provided it is not overcast. This will probably be the last weekend for most areas even though coverage is complete . Lack of skiers like every year.
 
MSS closed this past weekend wrapping up another Laurentian season. So with this season now history can say it was better than average with lots of new snow days and powder days. Only had one boring day back in November skiing the WROD just for the November record. The only downer was the fire at Alta in late January that knocked out the lift for the balance of the season. However, the plan is to open next season so staying positive. Had the benefit of skiing the newly re-opened Sauvage in Val Morin (close to Alta in the same cluster of Laurentian hills). Skiing at Sauvage reminded me that this section of the Laurentians (Alta, Sauvage ,Plante ) offers up some great terrain,if it only had a little more vertical.
 
jamesdeluxe":1ihgm1qv said:
Did they ever determine what caused the Mont Alta fire?
Click to expand...

I think someone told me, but it wasn't the ski area fault. Electrical? From what I remember, I think the electrical had been recently changed. The problem about re-opening, was to get back on the grid.

As for the Laurentian Report, last Saturday still had 2 runs with 5-8' depth on snow on almost all of Hill 70. They were supposed to call it a season last week, but decided to re-open for this long weekend.

Hang On, I’m not done yet !!! Eastern Closing Thread 2013-14 – Part 7 1/2
http://madpatski.wordpress.com/2014/05/ ... part-7-12/
 
Can confirm Patrick has it right , fire nothing to do with Alta as a source . Just hope everyone comes back in the fall to keep it going.
 
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