Inside Spring Grooming: How Tremblant Prepares Its Slopes Until the End of the Season

Spring Skiing at Tremblant is its own unique season. Temperatures rise, the sun shines longer, and the snow… well, it completely changes texture! But have you ever considered the effort required to maintain the slopes during this crucial period? Here’s an insider’s look at the challenges and strategies of the grooming teams to provide the best possible conditions until the last run. Until then, enjoy exceptional spring skiing conditions at Tremblant!

Spring Snow: A Technical Challenge

With the thaw, snow undergoes a transformation: filled with water during the day, heavy snow presents more challenges, leading the mountain maintenance team to liken it to glue. As water circulates beneath the ski surfaces, traction on the slopes becomes difficult for the machinery. In some cases, grooming machines can sink up to 10 cm deep into the slush, making it harder to climb back up the slope. With slippery spring conditions, we sometimes need to use a Winch Cat on less steep slopes where a conventional groomer typically operates, such as on the Nansen pitch. This delicate operation requires precise expertise to maintain safe and skiable conditions.

Why Do Some Trails Remain Closed?

It sometimes happens that a trail remains closed in the morning. When there is a significant drop in temperature following heavy rain or wet snow, groomed trails from the evening may become impassable due to freezing. There are two shifts for grooming: from 4 p.m. to midnight, and then from midnight to 8 a.m. Due to the amount of work, it is impossible to reopen all these trails at the end of the night when such variations occur. The maintenance team works in collaboration with the patrol to decide on openings. The rule is simple: if patrollers cannot descend a trail in a sled to evacuate an injured person, it remains closed until the snow becomes more skiable.

Spring conditions often manifest in a typical daily cycle. During the day, when temperatures are above freezing, the snow softens and absorbs water. At sunset, the snow becomes very firm. A trail closed in the morning can usually reopen during the day once the surface has softened enough. Check the mountain report regularly to stay updated on openings in real time.

Extending the Season: Slope Remodeling

With spring temperatures, the mountain operations team takes a proactive approach to extend the lifespan of the slopes. By redistributing snow from the bases to the summit and from the sides to the center, they maximize snow coverage. Thanks to snowmaking guns used as early as October, a compact and durable base remains on the slopes until the end of the season in April.

Did deeper: Spring Skiing at Tremblant in March and April Offers Sun, Snow, and Fun