I find there’s a similar parallel with bikes; look back 10 years, and no-one wore helmets. Now it’s perfectly acceptable and normal.

But anyway. I just came across a really interesting report from the Canadian Ski Council. In it, the Council reports that helmet usage – especially among youth – is up significantly over the past four years.

According to the report:

“… usage has increased from 67% of all skiers and riders in 2006 to 71% in 2010. This is significantly higher than in the US, where reports found that 57% of skiers and riders wore helmets in 2010.”

The report has a couple of really interesting caveats, though. For example, usage in the 35-44 age bracket did not increase. Moreover, Ontario and British Columbia have the dubious honour of least usage, with 67% and 66% usage respectively. The keener province? New Brunswick, with 95% usage. Wow.

• Fernie
• Nakiska
• Kimberley
• Mont Tremblant
• Mont Sutton
• Whistler Blackcomb

Thursday

We left Toronto in the middle of rush hour, destined for Ottawa. The plan called for us to stay the night in Ottawa courtesy of a friend, then finish the drive to Tremblant Friday morning. Tremblant is a good 7-8 hours from Toronto, so travelling via Ottawa let us get some sleep (we often take an overnight bus, which sucks). We got to Ottawa in about five hour, and hit the hay shortly thereafter.

Friday

We were back on the road for Tremblant around nine, which wasn’t the ideal scenario to me but I didn’t have much of a choice (I am always the early riser in the group, the guy who gets pissy waiting for everyone to hurry up, get their gear on and get on the mountain). After many wrong turns we arrived at the Lodge de la Montagne, a reliable hotel  in the middle of the village (we cover this hotel and others in the Tremblant guide, located here). We were geared up and on the hill by noon.

By the time we got on the mountain, we realized that whether we got up the hill at nine or noon was rather inconsequential; it was going to be impossible to stay outside all day. Any exposed skin froze in a matter of seconds; the windchill hovered around -30c. This marked the first time I had to ride with absolutely every inch of my skin covered, so I took a picture to commemorate the occasion:

It sure was cold.

We generally avoided the south side of the mountain, as it is far and away the most popular and attracts the most learners. Instead we stuck to the north side and rode black diamond runs like Geant. The riding was pretty icy and cold, and so while it was good to get some turns in on a real mountain we only lasted about three hours.

Saturday

Saturday was an amazing day. The temperature rose considerably, the sun was out, and the resort wasn’t too busy at all. Tremblant opened The Edge for Saturday, which excited us a lot; The Edge has several extremely challenging but fun glades. We rode The Edge most of the day, ducking branches, dodging trees and gapping small creeks. Tremblant was also blowing snow into the glades all day, so although it was pretty cut up in many places the conditions still weren’t too bad. It became apparent Saturday that Tremblant wasn’t going to be opening the Soleil side all weekend, which had more glades, so we knew we were lucky to have at least some.

We rode hard pretty much the entire day before taking the last gondola up to the south side to cap it off. A word about the south side: there are many flats along the green runs. So while they may be long and enjoyable, many require you to strap out and some point and skate.

Sunday

Sunday was jackpot day. A huge storm moved into Quebec, dumping loads of snow by the hour on Tremblant. Although the snow didn’t start until 10am, most runs were covered in fresh almost immediately. The Edge turned into a soft powder paradise. We rode it all day, hooting and hollering on every run.

A stupid policy

One thing that drove me nuts about Sunday though was the fact that despite driving snow and limited visibility, Tremblant continued making snow. This made it impossible to see, and created some of the most dangerous skiing conditions I have ever seen in my life. There were many areas near the mountain’s summit that were simply impossible to navigate due to the fact the resort had guns running. While I can appreciate the effort to create the best snowbase possible, do snowguns really need to be running during a snowstorm?

The real fun started on the way home. Once we realized the storm wasn’t going to let up, we packed up and headed for Ottawa. But an hour into the drive, conditions became so treacherous it was apparent we weren’t going to make Ottawa. So we stayed on the major highways, drove into Montreal and spent the night in a Radisson off the highway. Highlight of the night was my exposure to La Cage aux Sports during a Canadiens game… ET LE BUT!

Ahem.

I’ve updated the Tremblant Guide with some more facts and thoughts.

Anyway, it was a great trip all around. Next up: Whistler, January 18. I can’t wait.

The details: buses run until March, picking up both in downtown and uptown New York City. The bus is $25, and lift tickets can be purchased at a discount for $25. So you get a whole road trip for $50. Burton, if you ever want to do this in Ontario, I’d be all over it.

For more info, visit www.urbansherpa.biz.

The reply, published in today’s Burlington Free Press, is titled, “My Turn: Snowboard Protests Do No Credit to Vermont.” In the editorial, Jake points out that the protests and policies emerging from the controversy make the state of Vermont look backwater and ultra-conservative. “It’s interesting to note that in Europe, the only press coverage these graphics have received focuses on the extreme reaction in Vermont to this issue,” Burton writes. “The coverage is not flattering to our state, and includes quotes such as, ‘As the USA tries to make the world believe that they want to turn the page on ultra-conservatism, we’re laughing at the ridiculous attitude in which the country of freedom is still sinking.’”

He also addresses the issue of the boards themselves, stating:

“We also make boards for 18-year-old guys. This age group is the foundation of snowboarding, and we wouldn’t be here today without them. Thirty years ago, they were the ones who were willing to buy our boards out of a box, hike up the mountain and teach themselves how to ride it, and I owe everything to them. A very important factor to this crew is that what they are riding and wearing is something their parents would never be caught dead in. It was like that when I was 18, and it’s like that now. That’s why we turn to our young pro riders and let them drive the product development process at Burton – because they get it.”

The whole column is worth reading. Check it out here. While I personally wouldn’t buy one, I thought Jake’s response was sincere and well-written. Some of the commenters below the piece, though, don’t seem to think so.

You can view the supplement online here.

I haven’t read through the whole thing but at first glance it looks pretty good for a free magazine. Highlights include:

• A look at the highest ski resort in the world (it’s in India) and the influence of Canadians there;
• Profiles of many Canadian olympic hopefuls, including some members of the Canadian snowboard cross team and Canadian para-alpine ski team;
• A really handy guide that provides an overview of all the major ski resorts in each region of Canada, including facts like vertical drop, average snowfall and number of runs.

Even the ads are pretty good. Sporting Life has a pretty extensive catalog of gear in their ads, and Canada Post published a large profile of the story and people behind the Canadian freestyle ski team.

But I would be crazy if I said the exprience was all bad. The weather was great, the prices were low, and c’mon; it’s November. We’d be nuts to expect the whole mountain to be open. Moreover, there’s nothing quite like flying down a hill on your snowboard, moving so fast that you can feel the wind resistance kicking in.

This trip will be for a few days in mid-December.

For more information on Tremblant, check out our Mont Tremblant resort guide.

• There is a ski resort in Ontario that’s taller than Blue Mountain and big enough to host an FIS-sanctioned Giant Slalom Race: The Georgian Peaks Ski Club. With a vertical of 820 feet, Georgian Peaks is Ontario’s highest and longest hill. The catch? Membership is $30k. Looks like I won’t be hitting that hill any time soon.
• According to Wikipedia, Blue Mountain actually owned Georgian Peas for a while in the 1980s.
• Also according to Wikipedia, Blue Mountain is Canada’s third-busiest ski resort after Whistler-Blackcomb and Mont Tremblant. Having spent a fair bit of time there over the past couple of years, I can honestly say I think that hill is at full capacity. They better look at opening The Orchard soon, or re-investigating a deal with Georgian Peaks; otherwise, the hills will soon become impossible to navigate.