The plan today was to go skiing!

After breakfast in the gold lounge, we got our ski clothes on and headed downstairs to pick up our ski equipment.  The hotel has a full ski rental shop downstairs, right next to the access to the hills.

Since Nadine had never skied before, we felt the best thing to do was for her to take a ski lesson.  So, Nadine was booked in for a lesson in the morning while I would go up the mountain and get some good runs in.  Then around lunchtime, the plan was to meet, grab a quick bite to eat, and try some skiing together.

Visibility was rather poor at the top of the mountain, but the snow conditions were great.  The weather, while a bit cloudy, particularly at the top of the mountain, was much warmer than the day before.  The trees were just covered in snow, indicating that there had been some rather heavy snowfall recently, which was great.

Nadine and I took the gondola up to the top of the mountain to eat lunch at the cafeteria on top.  Then, we would see if she felt she could try skiing slowly down the beginner run.  It was rather scary for her at first, but she did well.  The visibility at the top was rather poor, which only added to the fear factor.  She had the option of getting back on the gondola to ride back down, but she wanted to try it.  So, for the next two hours or so, we slowly made our way down the beginner hill.  There were some falls along the way and a lot of sore legs from snowploughing, but Nadine officially skied down Mont Tremblant from the top!

Here are some photos.

We were slow, but we made it off the mountain.  Actually, by the time we made it to the bottom, I think the lifts had been closed for nearly an hour!  But, it was a successful first day of skiing.

After making it back to the hotel, we got out of our gear and had some dinner before again relaxing in the hot pools to soak some sore muscles.

Although we were going to Mont Tremblant for a “ski trip”, we weren’t planning to ski every day.  This is Nadine’s first time skiing, so we only planned to ski one or two days, and just enjoy relaxing in the setting the rest of the time.

Today, the weather was bright and sunny, but very cold!  We did a lot of walking around the village, exploring the area.  It also was a good test of our new ski clothes against the cold weather!  Here are some photos of Nadine and I exploring the Mont Tremblant village.

The Fairmont Tremblant even has their own dog, Umi, who we took for a walk around the village.

We did a bit of shopping, had some lunch in the village, and then returned to the hotel in the evening.  I didn’t take any other photos today, since it was just so cold.  When you’re bundled up for the weather, it can be rather awkward removing gloves and pulling out your phone to take a picture!

In the evening, we got out our bathing suits and spent some time in the outdoor hot pools.  It’s great soaking in the warm pools under the clear night sky with Christmas lights still hanging everywhere!

After a little time in the pool, we went to bed to get some rest so we could get up early the next day for some skiing!

While Nadine and I have taken a lot of vacations in warm weather, this would be our first trip together to a winter destination.  Nadine had never skied before, and I haven’t skied in several years, so going out west to the Rockies was out of the question!  However, Mont Tremblant seemed like a good choice, offering a nice village setting, with good skiing available, but not too big a mountain that it’s still appropriate for a beginner skier.

We flew out of the Toronto Island airport with Porter airlines, as they are the only airline currently serving Mont Tremblant from Toronto.  I would have preferred to leave from Pearson rather than having to go downtown to YTZ, but it’s still better than driving all the way there (which might have been a nice option in the summer).

Before we get too far into this trip report, please note that I didn’t bring my usual camera gear.  The plan was to take a ski trip, and to do lots of activities in the cold, which meant I didn’t really want to be carrying a camera around.  However, I did manage to take a few pictures during the trip using my Blackberry smartphone—just don’t expect the same photo quality that we have on other trip reports!

We left Toronto which had very little snow, and arrived in Mont Tremblant just over an hour later, which appeared to have several feet of the white stuff!  Pictured below is the Mont Tremblant airport terminal building.

The Mont Tremblant airport is about a 40-minute shuttle ride from the village.  It was an interesting shuttle ride.  We travelled in a large van pulling a trailer that holds the luggage and ski equipment.  Our driver didn’t seem to care about the twisty roads covered in snow and ice, and was apparently more concerned with speed than safety.  Fortunately, we arrived safely, although we did get stuck climbing the last stretch of road up the hill to our hotel.

We arrived at the Fairmont Tremblant and proceeded directly to the Gold floor for our private check-in.  After getting settled in our room, we went to the Gold floor lounge down the hall for a light dinner.  Below is a picture of the lounge.

When staying at the Fairmont Tremblant, I highly recommend staying on the Gold floor.  The incremental cost is not outrageous, and can actually work out cheaper than staying on a regular floor.  Firstly, you have breakfast provided each morning, and you have drinks and snacks provided throughout the day, and appetizers in the evening.  You can save enough money on meals to more than cover the upgrade to the gold floor.  We also save by not having to book a suite.  Normally, Nadine and I like to upgrade to a large suite.  However, with access to the gold lounge, you have lots of space to relax in the evenings, so a standard gold room suits us just fine.  In fact, because we stayed the week after New Year’s the place was not busy.  For half of our time here this week, we were the only guests on the floor, making the place feel like we had our own private lounge and concierge just for the two of us!

Below is a photo of our room.  It’s a nice cozy room, with an updated bathroom.  We have a beautiful view from the top floor, looking out over the village and the ski hills.  The nice thing about the Fairmont Tremblant is that there are no bad views.  In large hotels, or in city hotels, you can end up with views of an interior courtyard or even of the build next door!  Not so here.  The only options here are a view of the villiage, the mountain or the lake—there are no bad options.

After a snack in the lounge, we walked around exploring the hotel.  Below is a photo of the ski hill access past the heated outdoor pools.  The Fairmont is the only property at Mont Tremblant with direct ski-in/ski-out access to the hills.