January 28, 2010 E-MAIL PRINT

'Disney on skis'

by Heather Burke/

It's a scenic descent to Tremblant's ski village. (photo: Greg Burke)

It's a scenic descent to Tremblant's ski village. (photo: Greg Burke)

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Tremblant is like Euro-Disney on snow, we decided on a recent family ski trip. The resort village in Quebec brims with candy-colored condos, animated architecture and themed restaurants all nestled at the base of a family-sized ski mountain.

Sounds cutesy and quaint, and it is — like Europe, only closer and cozier. Young families will find a magic kingdom on snow at first glance.

Tremblant also is big business — with skier visits hovering around 2 million per season. This Intrawest (now Fortress) real estate development ripples out from the original skier village and around Lake Tremblant. It’s well-planned with underground parking and a pedestrian village the likes of Vail with the ambiance of the Alps right down to the French cuisine, language and joie de vivre.

The skiing encompasses four unique faces on Mont Tremblant which peaks at 2,871 feet, with 95 trails and a total vertical of 2,116 feet served with 14 modern lifts (the centerpiece is a base-to-summit eight-passenger gondola). On a clear day, Tremblant is incredibly scenic as you descend toward the pretty village and frozen Lake below.

On a weekend, Tremblant is tres popular, too, with a traffic light at the summit (where many lifts converge) indicating lift line wait times. Tremblant’s 654 acres spread from the South Side facing the village to the North and Versant Soleil (the sunny side). Tremblant has serious snowmaking on the majority of its trail system, plus a secret stash of natural glades (sous bois in French) in The Edge area. There is certainly skiing for every level — and nothing terribly challenging. Tremblant’s expansive “ecole de neige” (snow school) is well known for its exceptional kids camp taught in French and English.

Although Quebec is a French-speaking province, we felt comfortable in this touristy resort (everyone speaks English, too) and our U.S. money was accepted en par. But we immersed ourselves in the Quebecois culture with croissants, fondue and après ski. With 40 restaurants and bars, Tremblant rocks after the lifts stop.

Tremblant is historical, too, started in 1939 by an eccentric Philadelphia millionaire as the first ski resort in the East (second only to Sun Valley in Idaho). If you can’t swing a family ski trip to Europe, drive (6½ hours from Boston) to Tremblant for a Euro-style vacation. While not as authentic as 400-year-old Quebec City, Tremblant is fun, French, and offers the full resort experience with ice skating on the lake, an amusement park swim club called La Source, a movie theatre, even a pottery studio.

Try to visit Tremblant midweek, when it’s not as busy (and not such a party scene). For families, it’s like Disney on skis and Europe without the airfare, passports are required at the Border. For couples, Tremblant is extremely romantic and entertaining, skiing is a mere amenity. There is even a casino on mountain reached by gondola, which seems incongruous for a ski resort, but that’s Quebec for you.

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