Tremblant is an IntraWest instant resort-in-a-can, with the standard pedestrian village ,  hot spring spa, tubing, skating and over-priced food stuffs.  

Snow conditions were very good, although some of the terrain became very slick in the late afternoon.  I’m told that Tremblant is usually like that.  Hard ice (not surprisingly) is quite difficult to cut across and I definitely felt my Western weakness and instability when navigating through some blue ice patches.  

Tremblant has the largest number of good skiers I’ve ever seen on a mountain.  All hills have their share of good skiers, and in the case of Western hills, they usually cluster around the alpine bowl and other steep areas.  In the case of Tremblant, they are all over the mountain, 80% know how to carve an arc and hold a bump…and there are lots of them.  I credit the strong racing program at Tremblant, the multi-generational nature of skiing culture in the area, and the hard snow conditions.  I also could argue that the limited terrain options on the mountain has everyone slicing corduroy at a young age.  Boarders, however, are a minority

Despite terrain limitations, it’s a good hill and left me with a fairly decent  impression of Eastern skiing, but I think that two days is enough on the trail system.  Run design is really good where a combination of long verticals and wide cuts creates excellent cruising trails.  The hill could use about an extra foot of snow to cover up the numerous rocks, roots and stumps that are very common throughout moguled and gladed areas.  My skis sure were not happy about those.   

I had a fairly close encounter with a tree somewhere in the glades.  Actually, close encounter is kind of an understatement.  I bear-hugged this tree, bounced off it like a rubber ball hitting a wall and slid a good 15 metres down the hill before realizing what happened.  In my whole life of skiing, I’ve  been sucked into tree-wells , smacked branches, face-planted , yard-saled , landed in open creeks and fallen down rock faces…but I’ve never hit a tree.

I’m quite confident in the trees and know how to move through them, yet snow-snakes attack the best of us and that was what sent into a juvenile maple tree.  I wasn’t moving fast at at all.   My up-hill ski hit a hidden root, knocking it off and causing me to pivot sharply on  my downhill ski.  With one ski off and no balance, the pivot acted somewhat like a sling shot and blasted me counter-clockwise directly into the tree below, which promptly threw me back  down the hill like a rag doll.  I consider myself very lucky.  My upper body took most of the hit, avoiding my face but the shock vibrated up through my helmet and into my head where I probably suffered a mild concussion. 

I now fully appreciate the danger of trees.  I didn’t hit the tree that hard, the force being nothing more than the momentum from the pivot, but it totally knocked the wind right out of me.  If someone hits a tree at even at moderate speed…it’s death.   

I took a 40 minute break after that, but was back at the moguls a run or two later.  Battered ego more than anything, especially after I just said to my friend “just follow me” :-p

Technorati Tags: canada, laurentians, mont tremblant, mountains, quebec, skiing, travel

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1. Romaine Hydroelectric Complex Project $6.5 Billion
   • Hydro Quebec’s monster generating project in North-eastern Quebec.  1550 MW with a completion date of 2020.
2. Bruce A Nuclear Generating Station Restart $5.25 Billion
   • Refurbishing of two CANDU reactors 250km north of Toronto on Lake Huron and construction of two additional reactors to be completed by 2013.  It will increase nuclear powers share of Ontario’s power to 25%.
3. Eastmain-1-A/Sarcelle/Rupert Project $5 Billion
   • Yet another Hydro-Quebec mega project!  918MW of hydro-electric goodness built on the Rupert River.
4. Spadina Subway Extension $ 2.63 Billion
   • Toronto’s first extension of their subway network outside city limits into the York Region.
5. Albert Clipper Project $2 Billion
   • Big ass Enbrdige crude oil pipeline to from Alberta to the United States.  Slated to be competed in 2010, it is expected to transport approximately 800,000 barrels a day.
6. Canada Line $2 Billion
   • Probably the best thing about the 2010 Olympics.  A underground/at grade rail-transport system will connect downtown Vancouver with Richmond and the Vancouver International Airport.
7. Port Mann/Highway 1 Project $1.6 Billion
   • The Canada line may be a great step forward in terms of sustainable transportation, but that is probably going to be erased by the lane expansion of the Port Mann bridge.  Nothing like four more open lanes to get one into their car!
8. Keephills 3 Generating Plant $1.6 Billion
   • Tasty coal fired power!  In Alberta, of course.  Apparently clean, due to be online in 2011.
9. Autoroute 30 $1.5 Billion
   • Quebec is home to 30% of the top projects in Canada.  Private-Public highway project in the Montreal area.
10. Edmonton Ring Road $1.42 Billion
    • Roads make people happy!  27 bridge structures, 2 rail crossings, five fly-overs, and eight interchange.

Kingston, clocking in at a mere 152,000 souls managed to make the top 100 three times!  First at #37, the Wolfe Island Wind Project with a price tag of $450 million.  I’m watching this baby go up across from my basement suite. Second is the the renovation and expansion of Kingston General Hospital ($142 million) and at #85 Queen’s own Queen’s Center Phase One at $115 million – which apparently is now up to $250 million, but that could include phase 2….I am not entirely sure.

Technorati Tags: canada, Kingston, nuclear, oil, olympics, Ontario, pipeline, pla, quebec, rail, toronto, transportation, wolfe island

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Unbeknown to many, Canada still retains a rather large ammunition industry (and a slightly smaller small-arms manufacturing sector… Diemaco of Kitchener and their flagship C7 rifle come to mind).  General Dynamics purchased SNC-TEC , the main Canadian munitions player several years ago and now churns out all kinds of explosive gadgets ranging from 5.56mm NATO standards all the way up to 155mm howitzer shells.  Apparently they are a major supplier to the US military, and the supplier for Canadian bullet needs.

I fired up Google Earth.

Load, Assemble and Pack Plant – Le Gardeur, Quebec (Northeast of Montreal)

The plant is in the center, surrounded by agricultrual lands and buffered to the east by a major highway.  There does appear to be significant residential (that’s fancy land-use talk for houses!)  and some of it is built immediately adjacent to the site (especially the northeastern line).   You could probably hold some rather explosive parties if you lived in that neighborhood.

It’s a crappy image, and looks much better on Google Earth (I can’t seem to increase the resolution very well when I insert images directly into a post).

Energetic Materials Plant – Valleyfield (60km Southwest of the Le Gardeur facility)

Home of the propellents.  If one wants their shell to go anywhere, this is the place for them. Definitely a good site selection as it is buffered nicely by water bodies on three sides, and the surrounding built area doesn’t abut as closely to the property as they do near the Assembly plant.

It doesn’t appear that a 5 km radius is presently required.

Technorati Tags: ammunition factories, canada, land-use, military, quebec

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