Tremblant

With a one-of-a-kind pedestrian village and multiple mountain faces, Tremblant stands out as a unique alternative to other major East Coast alpine resorts. While it can get really cold at this French-Canadian mountain, the resort has a lot to offer and competes well with the best mountains east of the Rockies.

For the amount of terrain it has, Tremblant is impressively easy to navigate. This is because unlike other similarly-sized resorts that have multiple peaks, Tremblant is essentially one mountain with four faces: the South Side, Soleil Side, North Side, and Edge. The vast majority of terrain is directly accessible from the summit, and nearly every part of the resort has direct lift access there. Intuitive signage makes the mountain face you’re going down prominently clear. Some of the trail names are in French, but most people can’t pronounce regular trail names anyway.

It’s a good thing you can easily get to Tremblant’s summit, as it’s the best place to stop for a break on the mountain. The summit lodge sees a lot of traffic but has always had a reasonably large capacity, and its capacity has recently been increased to seat an additional 400 people. You can also stop at the North and South Side bases. The North Side’s lodge is conveniently accessible from the mountain, but many of the South Side’s facilities require walking into the village to get to. The Soleil Side has a mid-mountain hut but no public base facilities.

Tremblant boasts a unique mountain aesthetic among East Coast resorts. While the heavily developed summit area and relatively short vertical drop keep the mountain from feeling intimidating, the South Side base village and large, nearby Tremblant Lake give the mountain a certain charm. Those who appreciate more isolated terrain will like the less built-up North Side and Edge areas. Most Soleil Side terrain doesn’t feel especially remarkable on the way down, but on the lift ride back up - most of which is out of resort bounds - you’ll pass over breathtaking hills and valleys.

Crowd logistics at Tremblant are a mixed bag. The main North and South Side faces benefit from multiple high-speed routes up the mountain. Each has a direct base-to-summit lift (the Duncan Express high-speed quad on the North Side and the Gondola on the South Side) as well as a set of chairs serving the bottom and top halves of the mountain respectively. Tremblant recently replaced the slow, fixed-grip Lowell Thomas triple lift serving the top half of the North Side with a new high-speed quad, improving the crowd flow in that area of the resort.

But crowding can get bad on both main resort sides. It’s often especially severe at the South Side base, where the village is located and most people stay. Extremely cold weather can make lines for the Gondola especially long, but the chills tend to conveniently clear up traffic on pretty much every other part of the mountain for those who can handle it. The resort recognizes that crowding is a problem, and staffers occasionally try to do their part by offering hot chocolate to those waiting in line. Lines at the typically uncrowded Soleil and Edge areas tend to remain low. 

One nice thing about Tremblant is that it has something for everyone. Every mountain area features at least one green trail; while some of these runs can get crowded, this setup is nice for beginners who want a resort they can explore. For intermediate visitors, the resort offers a range of enjoyable blue cruisers across multiple mountain areas. Tremblant’s advanced and expert terrain isn't the craziest out there, but the resort is home to an assortment of narrow-to-wide mogul runs as well as some really steep bombers. A few runs have cliffs, a rarity among East Coast mountains. 

Tremblant has always offered an abundance of tree terrain, but the resort recently added several new wooded trails and now offers glades for all ability levels. A few of these are really difficult to reach but offer remarkable isolation once you get to them. In addition, Tremblant offers three terrain parks - one of which is new as of last season - that provide a range of beginner to advanced freestyle features.

Mont Tremblant sees less accumulation than many competing East Coast resorts, and temperatures here can get especially frigid. But colder weather leads to less variable conditions and more consistent snow here. The resort employs snowmaking on the majority of its terrain to ensure a resilient season. For those who really want natural snow, less-trafficked glade runs can hold powder for multiple days.

Lodging

Tremblant’s base village is really spectacular, and it’s difficult to overstate its charm. The village holds multiple hotel options and a few condos. Most come reasonably priced and offer pool and hot tub access. Some are ski-in/ski-out while others require a walk through the village. 

The Soleil Side has a few upscale condos as well. For those looking to stay off-site, the nearby St. Jovite area (also known as downtown Mont-Tremblant) offers cheaper lodging near extensive dining and shopping options.

Apres-ski

Tremblant’s village boasts incredible apres-ski and nightlife scenes. Slope-side bars provide extensive afternoon drink options. It’s easy to bar hop any night of the week. The best bars feature live music and DJs every day.

Verdict

It’s unlikely that any one particular part of Tremblant’s mountain experience will set your heart on fire, but the resort does a decently good job at everything for an East Coast ski area. Most competing places can’t beat the combination of well-rounded terrain, modern lift infrastructure, and intuitive navigation here. In addition, the resort’s phenomenal village will appeal to many looking to stay on-site. Lift tickets aren’t cheap, but for a wide variety of people this mountain will be worth it.