Industry News
The two women’s FIS Alpine Giant Slalom races, scheduled for December 7 and 8 at Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, are potentially at risk. The Canadian ski resort has been experiencing unseasonably warm weather that has given the snow-making team limited opportunities for running the snow cannons and creating a safe race course. Tremblant had to postpone its season opening from November 22 to tomorrow, November 28, due to a lack of snow. The International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) has postponed the snow control scheduled for today, Wednesday, November 27, to Saturday, November 30.
Tremblant has ramped up its snowmaking capabilities to combat this, installing additional snow guns on the lower trails. The Giant Slalom race is scheduled to be held on the Flying Mile run on Tremblant’s South Side. Bruce Caron from Mont-Tremblant’s snow grooming team explains the process of building a FIS race course in a video on the resort’s website: “If the temperatures are favorable, snow production is rapid, and we can build the trail quickly. Otherwise, we proceed layer by layer, waiting for the next snowfall. He explains how the process of building a hard, compacted race course is different from preparing a normal, groomed runs, “It’s very different from a regular slope. You must fill all the compressions, guarantee a meter of snow over the entire length of the slope, and make sure that each side is perfectly prepared, right down to the woods.”
Thankfully, temperatures have dropped in Quebec this week, and snow guns have been firing to get Mont-Tremblant ready for opening day tomorrow. In addition, a recent snowstorm moved across Quebec and has brought natural snowfall. “We continue our consistent efforts to make snow on as much skiable terrain as possible for our opening day,” the resort shared on its Facebook account. “Our snowmaking system has made the most of every cold window in the past few days, allowing us to make great progress in certain areas of the mountain.” The local organization committee (LOC) is confident that it can get the race course prepped in time for Saturday’s snow control.
Most of the international Giant Slalom competitors are already in North America, as the technical specialists will attend the Slalom events at Killington Resort, Vermont, this coming weekend, November 30, and December 1. Meanwhile, the all-rounders who don’t compete in Slalom, like Federica Brignone, Lara Gut-Behrami, and Sofia Goggia, have also arrived, having made their way to Copper Mountain, Colorado, for speed-event training. Copper Mountain boasts a “Speed Center,” which provides training for international FIS ski racers. Beaver Creek, Colorado, will host a Downhill and Super-G race on December 14 and 15 before speed events move back to Europe, with a last race weekend before Christmas with two Super-G races in St. Moritz on December 21 and 22.
Tremblant is an established hub for alpine racing in North America, hosting events that attract top skiers from across the globe. The resort became a venue for sanctioned FIS races in the 1960s and hosted FIS World Cup races as well as Nor-Am races. The resort also served as a training ground for Canadian national team members, contributing to the development of legendary athletes like Nancy Greene and Ken Read. While FIS races at Tremblant became less frequent in the 1990s due to shifts in the international race circuit, the mountain continued to host provincial and national championships, keeping its competitive spirit alive. In 2023, the World Cup circuit returned to Tremblant for the first time in decades.
Mont Tremblant is located approximately 80 miles (130 kilometers) northwest of Montreal. The resort boasts a summit elevation of 2,871 feet (875 meters) and a vertical drop of 2,116 feet (645 meters), making it one of the most substantial ski mountains in eastern Canada. With 102 trails spread across four distinct slopes, the terrain caters to a variety of skill levels, though it is particularly noted for its technical runs and tree skiing.
