Just returned from Mont Tremblant, and it was fabulous. Ironically, we are not downhill skiers, but went in search of snow for cross-country skiing. Domaine St. Bernard was beautiful for this, great trails, very accommodating staff, and convenient, about 10 minutes from the Tremblant resort. (We actuallty ended up trying downhill too and really enjoyed it.) The Fairmont is wonderful - great lobby, great service, great spa, great Fri. night seafood buffet, rooms are nothing special but certainly accommodating enough. The Westin has nicer rooms, but the hotel as a whole has fewer activities, and a cold and impersonal lobby. Soto is a delicious Japanese restaurant. If you're going to be there at a crowded time, e.g. President's Week, make reservations for everything - restaurants, ski lessons, spa treatments, dogsledding (missed out here because tried to reserve too late). Try to see entertainment in the square at ~4:00.

Thanks for the report. We will be there for the Presidents Week and have all ski lessons, lift tickets etc. prebooked (staying at Hotel Club Tremblant across the lake from the mountain and their package includes it all). I am curious how crowded it was and whether there were long lines for the lifts? <BR>How far in advance do you think we should reserve dog sledding?

Sounds like you've worked everything out well! Tremblant was not too crowded until the day after Christmas, when it got extremely busy - people said 1/2 hour wait in lift line and the same at the cafeteria on top of mountain. I think 2-3 days should be enough lead time for dogsledding reservation; the afternoons seem to be taken first. It probably won't be quite as crowded when you are there because I don't think Canada has the same week off from school. Have fun!

Just a correction to the previous post. Canada as a nation does not dictate school vacations. The provinces do and usually more locally, the individual schools.

I was in Mt. Tremblant about 8 years ago in Jan. It was 0C (32F) the wek before and everything melted, then it was -20C (0F) and the black diamonds were sheet ice and unskiable. The rest was pretty good, but be prepared for the weather. So, the weather can be unpredictable; but it is still a huge and varied ski resort with lots of good accomodation.<BR><BR>Different provinces have different School and University breaks. Any time between the 3rd week in Feb. and the last week in March can be somewhat busy. The same applies to Banff and Whistler.

Thanks for the comments and suggestions. I guess I am mentally prepared for crowds (when we did our booking a couple of months ago most hotels seemed to be full for that week). I was just wondering how good Tremblant is about handling the crowds (some resorts seem to be doing a much better job than others). <BR>As to weather, we have been warned about the possibility of really cold weather. As to skiing on ice, we are somewhat used to it being that we are from New England ;-)

We found the secret to skiing Tremblant during busy weekend and holidays...Head over to the North base and enjoy a much shorter lift line at the base and close, free parking (the closest lot to the south base is a pay lot). Although it is not as nice and redeveloped as the south base, the stress and time saved make it worth skiing from and then heading to the village for dinner. From the North base you can go to the summit and ski the trails on the south side as well. We were just there for New Year's and the lift line as well as the ticket booth were horrendous at the south side (not to mention the parking situation). <BR><BR>Also, we spend New Year's Eve (dinner and dancing) at the Hotel Club Tremblant and it seemed very pleasantly decorated and comfortable.<BR><BR>Have a great visit!

Re: the provinces vs. Canada setting school breaks. It's that way in the US too. States, local school districts, set the breaks. My comment with respect to Canada not having the same week off from school was based on the fact that, as far as I know, &quot;Presidents Week&quot; is not a specially designated vacation time in either the nation or provinces of Canada!<BR>We did luck out with the weather, in the 20s mostly. For cross-country we were sweating!

Again, thanks for the comments, especially to Lindybeth for tips about the North lifts and reassurance about Hotel Club Tremblant. We are really excited about this trip.<BR><BR>As to President's Week winter break for schools, I realize that school breaks are set locally and not country-wide. However, even on the official website of Tremblant, that week is designated as a holiday week since most of US schools happen to have their winter break then and I expect the resort will be full since it is such a good value for anyone travelling from the US.