Mt. Tremblant Ski Trip

long time no blog...so a long one to make up for it!! There's pictures at the end!

Anyways, during the reading week (feb 23-26), Dave, Curtis, Ka Shek, Michelle and I had a road trip down to Quebec's Mount Tremblant (Canada's 2nd best ski resort, after Whistler/Blackhomb of course) for ski/snowboard. We rented a car, bought LOTS of food (thanks to the $1 sale at No Frills) and drove down to Montreal and then Mt. Tremblant. That's about 6 hours drive....thank gooodness I got my trusty no-carsick wrist band! We had an awesome time.

Thursday was basically a day full of driving....though it was prettty eventful. Let's see.....oh yea! We..correction, Curtis, got a speeding ticket for driving 120 on a freeway....now, NORMALLY police would let you go...BUT, the idiot that Curtis is (:P), did not decide to slow down...Cause at first, the police just sort of followed us...he didn't put on the siren or turn on the light...so we figured it was okay to drive at 120...so for about 5 to 10 minutes, the police was behind us the entire time, while we drove at 120. Dave thought it was funny and he pulled out the camcorder and started to film the police, but just then, the police turned on the light and pulled us over and gave us a ticket.....basically, the police said that because we were still driving at 120 even with the police right behind us, he just HAD to give us a ticket...or else he would have let us go if we had slowed down.....so yea...SLOW DOWN IF YOU SEE A POLICE!

We first stopped at downtown Montreal....semi-check out McGill campus...and just walked around...guess what! There's an Eaton's Centre in Montreal too! Anyways, after a short stop, we head to Mount Tremblant, which was suppose to be about one hour drive....except we got super lost and didn't get there until almost three hours later.....we blamed Map Quest for that.....we also spent a good half hour trying to find our lodge...the first one we stopped at..was apparently the wrong one...Cause when we asked the front desk, they were like "oh, your lodge is only 4 star....our lodge is 4 ++++++ stars"...o..kayy...

All of us stayed in one suite in Lodge de la Montagne...with fireplace, kitchen, couches and everything. AND its like one minute walk from the gondola! woot! After having lasagna and salad, we just checked out the village (even though its closed) and watched some movie.

The next day is ski/snowboard day!!! Now...I havn't really ski or snowboard since first year when I skied and snowboard for the first time at Blue Mountain (i know, so sad eh? Being from Vancouver and all)...ANYWAYS, I didn't want to embarass myself on this ski trip, so just a few days before, I went to Centennial PARK with James and Connie to practice skiing....holy freak...the first time going down that hill was heck scary! Though I did not fall at all!..Actually, that's not true...I fell on that stupid T-bar thingy that suppose to take us up the hill....got mud all over my jacket and I can't wash it off :cry:!!!! Anyways, back to Tremblant...after I got my skis...we took the 9minute gondola up to the very top.....and because I forgot my wrist band..i got gondola sick @_@!--!..Anyways, when we were on the very top...it was super duper cold and windy...holy freakin....did not help when I didn't have any goggles.....anyways, because its the first run..my friends were nice enough to accompany me (the lone beginner...oh why did I get myself into this the first place) down the green run.....HOLY FREAKING IT WAS FREAKIN SCARY!!! GREEN RUN MY ARSE! Not only could I not stop, but there are sooo many people...and since I havn't mastered turns...I just snowplow straight down......yelling and shouting "GET OUT OF MY WAY!!!" (almost bumped into a little girl too)......yea.......I think throughout that...my friends tried to stay far away from me....hahahaha.....and every once a while, when I finally stopped because the hill levelled off...takes me about 5 mins to mentally prepare myself before I start up again....But, I made it down safely.......but took us a good 45 mins....my favourite part of the track was....the flat part where u have to do the cross contry ski style...(sorry to my snowboarding friends..haha).....Anyways, I felt better after two or three more runs......but at least I didn't wipe out!! woot!! Go me!...well I DID fell....twice...but once was cause I got stuck in the snow (it was too fluffy and the snow got to deep), and then 2nd time was I tripped over my poles while standing.......other than that...I survived!! But, that day..I only went down the same green track five times...and I did not dare to try other green tracks...but hey, at least I improved from 45mins to only needing 15mins!

That night, me, Curtis and Ka Shek checked out the N'Ice Club...which is a club/bar entirely made out of ice! Even the shot glasses!! From our admission, we get a drink...I got some lychee vodka stuff..it was good! When we went at 12am..there was a DJ there...and quite a few ppl were dancing...it was pretty cool, and it wasn't that cold inside too!

The next day, I opt out ski/snowboard...I figured one day of putting my life on the line was enough.......so while the rest went to ski/snowboard their double black diamond runs...I walked around the village and shopped....(when I was up at whistler, I LOVED the village)....too bad Mt. Tremblant does not compare.......with about an hour left before I meet up with the rest of the group...I watched the olympics in the 4 +++ hotel's library...on a leather couch next to a big fireplace....Got to watch Apollo Anton Ohno win gold for USA in short track!! Woot! *heart*

That night, we drove back down to Montreal to stay one night...we checked into the Hilton...they had a really cool outdoor pool! We walked around...had a nice dinner.....while Curtis and Ka Shek checked out strip clubs..the rest of us went back to the hotel and slept...sooo tired.!! OH!! the hotel room was cool! There's a speaker on the ceiling of the washroom that's connected to the TV outside!! So you can listen to TV while you are in the washroom!! how cool is that!

On sunday, after a long walk to find a place to eat breakfast...we drove around Montreal, stopped by Eaton's again to shop..and ate "world famous poutin" at Ben's...apparently that place is super famous and they even deliver to celebrities via airplanes!! When we got there, it looked kinda shady and very old school diner like...with the old waiters dressed in tux...we ordered their poutine with bits of Montreal smoke meat on top...it was alllrriiighttt.....but I was never a poutin fan anyways.....after that...we drove back to Toronto.......had all you can eat hotpot....and sadly ended our trip :(

I had tons of fun tho~! And the entire trip didn't cost a lot either! Since all of us stayed in the same suite, we were able to afford more expensive and luxurious suites at Tremblant and in Montreal....we got discount for Hilton and for lift tickets...and we got food at the $1 sale in No Frills...we had tons of free mcflurry coupons...and we had walky talkies..so don't even need to spend long distance! so in the end, we spent less than some of the organized skip trips to Tremblant by all sorts of student societies..AND, we were there more days than they were...muahahahaha sucker!

wow..super long post..sorry...but now, picture time!

A View From The Top














At The Base Of The Runs














The N'Ice Club




























Ka Shek, Dave and Michelle














The Upper Village














Dave & Maple Candy On Snow



















Paranoma View From The Top (Photo Stitched)








Paranoma View From The Bottom (Photo Stitched)



Sorry about the size..you can click for a larger size..but all photos has been reduced to ease the upload...photo credit goes to Cutis and Me

Good Times, Thanks!