3 Days in Mont-Tremblant

The village is why Tremblant feels different from most ski towns in eastern Canada: no through traffic, a clock tower, cobbled lanes and the lifts a few steps from the shops. Intrawest built it after buying the resort in 1991, and it looks like what it is, a well-planned resort village with a Quebec accent, honest about being a resort.

Spend your first 45 minutes here before the lifts get busy. Find the rental shop, the ticket windows and the gondola, and walk Place Saint-Bernard once to see where the restaurants are. The Cabriolet, an open-air gondola from 1994, links the lower village with the foot of the slopes and the resort's blog calls it free; check its hours.

The Télécabine Express, a gondola built in 1998, runs from the village to the top of the South side. Warm up on Roy Scott, a green run, then spend the morning on the blues: Johannsen, named for the Norwegian-born ski pioneer who blazed Nansen, comes down toward the village with a view over Lac Tremblant. Kandahar and Taschereau are the blacks, and Ryan, named for the founder, is the double black. Check the daily trail report for what is open.

Don't try to ski everything on day one; the North side and the Edge are tomorrow. If it's very cold, take shorter laps and stop at a warming hut instead of pushing on.

Le Grand Manitou is the big self-service summit chalet. Go before noon or after 1:30pm to avoid the line, and expect resort prices for a hot lunch. To eat cheaply, bring a sandwich and buy a hot chocolate; plenty of Montreal skiers do exactly that.

Nansen is the longest run in the resort, 6 km from the summit to the village with the full 645 m of vertical, and it is rated green. It is named for the Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen, and Jackrabbit Johannsen blazed it, which makes it the easy way to ski the whole mountain in one go. Do it in the last hour of daylight, when the crowds are heading for the bars, and take it slowly if the snow has gone icy.

The village's brewpub (microbrasserie in French), on Chemin de Kandahar, brews its own beer and is a good first drink after the lifts close. Add a plate of poutine and let the room warm up.

The Lowell Thomas Express, a high-speed quad built in 2018, is one of the lifts on the North side, a different part of the mountain from yesterday. The Lowell Thomas run is a blue named for the broadcaster who climbed the mountain with the founder in 1938. Beauchemin Haut is another blue, Jasey-Jay Anderson is a black, Expo and Dynamite are the expert runs, and La Griffe is often left ungroomed, the one for a powder morning. Start early while the lifts are quiet. La Fourchette du Diable, a cafeteria at the base of this side, is a warm stop before the Edge if it is open.

The Edge sits about 1 km north of the main ski area and is the glade-skiing area of the resort. It has its own lift, Edge, with Émotion and Sensation as the glade runs on either side of Haute Tension, a steep double black. Action is a groomed black with a good view of the main summit.

The resort has about twenty official glades, including Tunnel on the North side and Les Bouleaux on the Soleil side, the gentler place to try one. Ask which lines are open and how they are rated, and stay out of anything you can't see the bottom of.

Le Refuge du Trappeur is a log cabin about halfway down the Soleil side, with a wood stove and a terrace over the Laurentians. You reach it on skis by the Laurentienne, Tiguidou or Toboggan runs, and signs point to it about a third of the way down. The menu is simple: homemade stew, hot chocolate, mulled wine and local beer. Go early or late to miss the rush.

Soleil means sun in French, and this is the side to ski after lunch. Le Soleil, a high-speed quad built in 1988, serves it, and the Casino sits at its base. Toboggan is a hilly blue with views toward the old Gray Rocks resort, Tiguidou and Laurentienne are the other runs down from the top, and Algonquin is nearly as long as Nansen. A 1.1-acre beginner area with a covered magic carpet opens at the base in December 2026.

Ski a few laps, then head back toward the village before the light fades.

The Casino Express, a gondola opened in 2009, links the village with the Casino at the foot of the Soleil trails. It is the easy way back with tired legs, and the way to cross between the two parts of the resort without skiing.

La Savoie serves Swiss-style fondue and raclette, a fitting end to a cold ski day. It's pricey, but melted cheese is the point; order a salad to cut it.

The operator is a short drive from the resort, and its excursions run daily. The Diable Adventure lasts about an hour on the trail, includes a hot chocolate and cookies, and the price covers a helmet and winter clothing. A Nordic Adventure and a snowshoe joring session (13 and over, 1 hour) are also on offer, and the Diable tour can include transport from the resort.

It's not cheap, but it is the most northern thing you can do here. You sit still on the sled, so dress warmer than you would for skiing.

Vieux-Tremblant, the Old Village, is where the town began. Lac Mercier and its station grew up around the railway that reached it in 1904, and the old buildings still sit around the lake, which freezes over in winter. It's quiet, with a few small shops and cafés: the Mont-Tremblant that existed before the ski resort.

Walk the main road and look at the lake. Ocafé, at 1908 Chemin du Village, is the coffee stop to try, though its listings are a few years old.

The Saint-Jovite area was settled in 1872 by the parish priest Antoine Labelle, and the railway from Montreal reached it in 1892. It merged into the city of Mont-Tremblant in 2002, but it's still the real town, with a main street, cafés, a smoked meat counter and a lot of locals.

Lunch here usually costs less than in the village. Try the smoked meat sandwich or a poutine at a casual counter on rue de Saint-Jovite, and a slice of tarte au sucre (sugar pie) if you find a bakery. For a quiet hour afterwards, the P'tit Train du Nord runs through town: a 200 km trail on a former Canadian Pacific railway line between Saint-Jérôme and Mont-Laurier, used in winter for cross-country skiing and walking. Check that your section is groomed first.

The Scandinave Spa, at 4280 Montée Ryan, is the best thing you can do on a day when you can't ski. It runs a thermal journey: hot, cold and rest, repeated, with outdoor baths in the cold air. The rule is silence, and phones stay in the lockers, which is what makes it work. Plan on 3 to 5 hours; admission includes robe, towels and a locker, and hours are 9am to 10pm daily.

After the spa, eat where the locals eat: Italian places, bistros and casual counters within a few blocks of each other. Le Vieux Four, at 973 rue de Saint-Jovite, is known for its wood-fired pizza. La Roulotte Smoked Meat, at 795, is the smoked meat counter, but its listed hours conflict, so treat it as a lunch bet. Small-town kitchens close earlier than in Montreal, so be at a table by 8pm.