Hiking For Turns

I woke up Friday morning at 6:00am with two things on my mind. One was I better study for the four midterms I have next week. The other was I want to snowshoe up Mt. Tremblant and ride my snowboard down. I hit the books for a couple of hours before I could wake up my brother and his friend with the sounds of Junior Senior's Move Your Feet blasting from my I-Phone hidden in their dark bedroom. We set course for the base of Mt. Tremblant my brother and his friend armed with lift tickets and myself armed with snowshoes and climbing poles. I was happy with my decision when I spotted the infamous 10:00 am gondola line.


The first half of the climb was really enjoyable. I hiked the side of a relatively untraveled blue run. I had a few people stop mid-run and ask me some questions that I tried my best to answer as I attempted to catch my breath. The temperature was mild and I was climbing with a long-sleeve t-shirt on with no toque or gloves. I reached the halfway point and spotted Gray Rocks looking lonely.


I was unsure about what route I would take for the second half of climb. I needed to balance distance, pitch, snow conditions, and popularity. I was looking for something fairly direct and deserted. I found exactly what I was looking for in the form of a narrow run that happened to be closed. I am pretty sure it was closed so that the tourists would not be able to track out the fresh snow. This run also had the benefit of being so narrow it kept me protected from the wind which howled as I continued up the hill.


The last part of the climb became so steep the snowshoes were actually hindering progress. I will have to get a pair of crampons next year. I used my resilient and durable climbing poles to maintain a positive rate of climb. I finally got to the top, quickly strapped on my snowboard, and had a blast on the way down. I stopped halfway and did another little hike to get to the top of Flying Mile. This is great run that allows you to pick up as much speed as you can handle. It is only accessible by its own chairlift or in my case the HeelToe Express. A quick ride to the bottom and it was time for a salmon burger and a pint of microbrew from Le Diable.