When it comes right down to it, a ski resort can be a wonderful escape – even if you’re just in it for the après-ski. Two hours northwest of Montreal, Mont-Tremblant is an outdoor enthusiast’s dream, delivering 305 hectares of great skiing, a quality event calendar, more than 75 restaurants and a casino – all at nature’s doorstep.
Hit the slopes
The first ski lift began ferrying people up Mont-Tremblant in 1939. The resort reached star status in the 1960s, with a spike in the 1980s, before a European-style pedestrian village was added in the 1990s. Now, the region lures two million visitors each year, the ski resort rated one of the best in eastern North America.
One central gondola runs like clockwork, with the support of several high-speed chair lifts leading to 102 ski trails on four different slopes. Most of the single black-diamond and blue runs are groomed, but there is plenty of terrain left over for the off-trail glade skiers, even the amateur ones. The green runs are not overly cluttered with kids taking lessons, and you can ski down both the south and north sides of the mountain. This is great because you can follow the sun: It rises over the north side, moving to the south side after lunch. Beware – the crowd follows suit.
Indulge in après-ski
One of the perks of skiing is celebrating the fact that you’ve taken a little exercise. Mont-Tremblant is well-versed in the après-ski culture, having had years of practice. Most of the restaurants and bars have outdoor patios with overhead heaters if you want to keep the outdoor momentum going.
The Fairmont Tremblant sits at the end of one of the longer green runs, making it an easy final pitstop come early cocktail hour. The après-ski crowd here hunkers down around outdoor firepits with fuzzy blankets and glasses of Champagne. La Diable is a cheap and cheerful microbrewery with excellent beers and delicious homemade sausages. And the P’tit Caribou is a real scene, not just in the afternoon but after dinner, too. Bring your best toque.
Fuel the furnace
This being Quebec, the food is wonderful – and you may very well need your three squares to keep you going. Start the day with a giant crêpe at La Maison de la Crêpe, sweet or savoury, or both – the sausage, cheddar and poached-apple crêpe buried in béchamel covers both bases. Lunch can be a cafeteria affair on the mountain or a village-strip experience. Opt for a bowl of fresh pasta or a handmade pizza at A Mano Trattoria.
Dinner also brings loads of variety, but you’re having raclette at the chalet-styled La Savoie. If you don’t think you can handle half a wheel of cheese, you can order a smaller portion plated as a side dish. Fondue is also on the menu, and you can boil your own meal in a pot of broth. Fine dining awaits at the Choux Gras Brasserie, where you can polish off a dozen oysters before tucking into bison ribs or house-made orecchiette, or perhaps a glazed lamb shoulder to share.
The area’s newest dining experience is Léo Boire + Manger at Le Westin Tremblant, a brasserie created in partnership with the Oliver & Bonacini hospitality group.
Discover the diversion
What to do when you’re not skiing or eating? Mont-Tremblant is big on cross-country skiing, of course, but also fat biking and its lazy cousin e-fat biking. The truly adventurous can go ice climbing, while the more contemplative can ice fish.
If you just want to sit in the sauna, head about five kilometres down the road to Scandinave, an outdoor spa that has doubled in size over the past little while. This strictly no-talking sanctuary follows the traditional Nordic thermal cycle: 15 minutes of hot water, a few seconds of cold and 15 minutes of rest. Cold waterfalls and hot pools are supported by little rest areas, indoor and out.
The breathtaking lookout tower of Le Sentier des Cimes Laurentides is a 40-metre treetop observatory overlooking the Laurentian Mountains. About a 20-minute drive south, it yields a true nature bath along a barrier-free wooden walkway – three kilometres round trip.
Where to stay
Happily, most of the almost 2,000 accommodation units across about a dozen lodges are very close to the gondola lift, so you never have very far to trek in your ski boots. The resort offers a variety of townhouses and condos to rent; log homes and mansions if you’re travelling with a group.
Place St-Bernard and Lodge de la Montagne offer casual ski-lodge accommodation, much of it self-catered, all of it close to the action. The log-built Grand Lodge Mont-Tremblant on the edge of Lac Ouimet is about five kilometres from the ski hill. The Fairmont Tremblant is the grande dame, kitted out with a new lobby and bar. The outdoor pools also underwent a major renovation and expansion – making you the envy of everyone who skis past.
