Tremblant Summary

Here's the current plan, which is now booked. This is updated as of Tuesday Jan 9

Dates:
Jan 11 Thursday evening -- flight / drive to Tremblant
Jan 12 Friday -- ski and have fun
Jan 13 Saturday -- ski and have even more fun
Jan 14 Sunday -- lather , rinse , repeat
Jan 15 Monday afternoon -- drive / flight back home after brunch

Most of us will need to schedule Jan 12 as a holiday; but most employers offer Jan 15 off.

Travel:
Jenn and I have booked airline tickets (using FF miles on AA). If you want to convoy with us, drop me a line and we may be able to coordinate on that. For those considering using miles, I suggest you check your carriers web site and put a hold on reward seats. Reward seats are scarce around holiday weekends. SPAM has discovered a company that does bus transfers from Montreal to Tremblant; it takes about 2 hours and costs about 90 USD roundtrip with 3-4 scheduled trips per day. The airport is too far away, and the holiday too short, for casually ferrying people back/forth from the mountain/airport like we have done on some Western trips.

Directions:
Link to the blog post about this Blog link to Directions

Flights:
I am leaving JFK on 1/11 at 7:50 pm arriving at Trudeau at 9:20 pm. I am leaving Trudeau on 1/15 at 2:10 pm arriving at JFK at 3:48 pm. SPAM has also booked his flights; he is arriving at Montreal on 1/11 at 3:45 pm and departing from Montreal on 1/15 at 11:25 am. We three are all on American Airlines. Andy arrives on 1/11 at 3:15 pm and leaves on 1/15 at 6:15 pm via AirCanada. It would look like Sean and Guano can convoy together at least from Montreal to Tremblant, and Andy return with Jennifer and I.

Car Rental: I've booked a rental car at the airport from Jan 11 to Jan 15. We are assuming we are dropping off Andy on the way back.

Lodging:
We have booked a ski in / ski out , fireplace & hot tub equipped condo in the pedestrian village. You can take a look at their virtual tour here : Tremblant Condo
A two bedroom suite will fit our small group well, and that link should have all the amenities the property offers. As of October 10, we have now booked this.

Costs:
Update -- I spoke with Tremblant central reservations last week. They have only 4 of the K+2Q's Condo's left. In awe of Guano's ability to drink/rant, they are offering a "DingDong" promotion for January bookings paid for before November 15. Basically if you book more than 3 nights, you get 20% off the lodging plus 20% off lift tickets if you prebuy 2 of those for 3 days. They quoted me:

Lodging only regular rate (all in but in CAD): 1890 CAD
Lodging plus 3 adult 3 day lift passes: 1516 CAD lodging + 480 for 3 passes = 1996CAD (!) because of discount. Each extra pass is 161 CAD, an ok deal too.

Basically the second deal is a lay up unless you can't book by November 15. The lady stated that Sommnet des Nieges was a little more spacious / modern compared to the Modern la Montaigne we were also considering, but that both were good. If we all got 3 days passes, probably not needed, it would be about $485 USD per person for lodging / passes, assuming we have 4 attendees. That's ok for 4 nights lodging / 3 days skiing.

Important Information for US Travelers
For US guests who will be traveling by air after January 23, 2007, we remind you of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) implemented by the United States Department of Homeland Security and Department of State. The WHTI requires all travelers, including U.S. citizens, to present a valid passport or other document, or a combination of documents that denote identity and citizenship when entering the United States.
TRAVELING BY AIR: Starting January 23, 2007, ALL persons, including U.S. citizens, traveling by air between the United States and Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda will be required to present a valid passport, Air NEXUS card, or U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Document.
TRAVELING BY LAND OR SEA: Good news! If you plan to cross the US border by land or sea, including ferries, you do not require documentation until January 1, 2008.
APPLYING FOR A US PASSPORT: U.S. citizens can visit the State Department's travel website at http://www.travel.state.gov/ or call the National Passport Information Center at 1.877.487.2778; TDD/TTY: 1.888.874.7793 for information about applying for a passport.

Next Steps:
Drop us a line and/or put a hold on some flights. Everyone has paid and I will be issuing partial refunds to Andy and Sean.

Status:
Lodging, Flights, and Lifts are booked. If you are interested let us know feel free to join us by booking a room in an adjoining property. We can advise on that; Tremblant is good value in general.

Links to whet your appetite:
First Tracks on Tremblant
Ski mag on Tremblant
Revisiting Tremblant
Whistler of the East

If you look in your newest SKI magazine, you'll see that Tremblant was voted #1 in the East, which it seems to regular hover around.

I look forward to seeing you, and getting up in the north country.

Arv