When you want to experience snow-capped mountains, acres of green forest, and mile after mile of hiking trails, then Canada’s Mont Tremblant is where you want to be. But there’s more than skiing in this resort town. In fact, there are so many activities to do in Mont Tremblant that one vacation isn’t enough to experience them all. Here are just a few of the exciting ways to spend your time in Mont Tremblant when you’ve had your fill of ski slopes for the day. Continue Reading
Do you know your way around the woods? Could you start a fire in inclement weather, navigate without a GPS, or catch and cook dinner on the fly? In this era of temperature-controlled living and app-packed smartphones, such skills may seem obsolete, but all it takes is an automotive breakdown on a remote backroad or an unexpected blizzard on a hiking trail to remind you how valuable they remain.
Fortunately, you’ve got the perfect place to bone up on some backcountry know-how during a visit to Quebec’s beloved Laurentian playground of Mont-Tremblant. The Mont-Tremblant Wilderness Survival Centre is your sylvan classroom–the venue for some lessons in woodcraft that might just save your rear someday! It’s situated on the grounds of a former fish hatchery about two hours from Montreal: a gorgeous property laced with trout streams and ponds and framed by heavily timbered peaks.
Survival Course & Fieldwork
One of the facility’s main offerings is a five-hour “Survival Course” designed by Alexandre Croser, an 11-year veteran of the French Army who studied as a Commando and boasts firsthand experience in jungle-, mountain-, and wetland-warfare training.
The course gives you hands-on instruction in the core essentials of wilderness survival: how to start a fire, how to navigate by traditional means, how to build a makeshift shelter, the ins-and-outs of emergency signaling, and other vital practices. Your guide goes beyond basic techniques to teach the psychological fundamentals of a survival situation: warding off panic, prioritizing your actions, making a plan, etc.
Working this class into your stay in Tremblant, you’ll feel that much more confident venturing out on a day hike or backpacking trip, knowing you’ve got a basic skillset to deal with an unplanned sojourn in the wilderness.
A Day With a Trapper
The Wilderness Survival Centre’s “Day with a Trapper” program provides the chance to step back in time and learn a little of the living-off-the-land wisdom of Quebec’s indigenous peoples and frontier backwoodsmen. Under the expert tutelage of the guide Abigougiche, you’ll learn how to nab a trout with your bare hands and cook it over a campfire; bake traditional bread with a branch; and recognize the tracks and traces of boreal wildlife such as beavers, wolves, and foxes. You’ll also get an up-close look at mighty wood bison–the biggest mammal on the North American continent–and visit an Algonquin sacred site.
Lifelong Lessons
The ski slopes, snowmobile trails, ziplines, downtown shopping, and other standout attractions of the Mont-Tremblant area make for a delightful time and some peerless R&R in one of Quebec’s most accessible outdoor playgrounds. The Mont-Tremblant Wilderness Survival Centre offers plenty of its own fun, but also a truly singular experience.
The methods of making your way safely through the trackless woods that you’ll learn here can serve you for the rest of your life. And even if you’re not much of an outdoorsperson, the Survival Course or Day With a Trapper experiences give you some fascinating insight into the region’s historical lifeways: Here’s how First Nations people, voyageurs, and other backwoods travelers interfaced with the beautiful but demanding environment of Quebec’s Laurentian Mountains.
The Wilderness Survival Centre’s programs are ages 4 and up, the guides tweaking each outing to the special needs of a given group. In other words, this is a one-of-a-kind destination for the whole family. Don’t miss it!
Lynn Bishop combines her work as a travel guide with a personal passion for the great outdoors and enjoying all the wildlife on offer. She loves to share her insights with an online audience and writes for several travel-related websites on a regular basis.
Featured Image by danielthornton under creative common license
Winter in Whistler Blackcomb is every exciting seasonal and alpine stereotype rolled into one. You’ll see fir trees straining under the weight of heavy powder, snowy walkways winding past gabled buildings, and a glowing, fresh blanket of white under a crisp morning sun. It’s not all about communing with nature or enjoying the architecture. There’s plenty of partying going on as well. After you’re done shredding the slopes, enjoy the wide variety of equally exhilarating nightlife.
Staying for Special Events
Fear not if you’ve arrived in the busy winter season. Although staying in Whistler Blackcomb can be expensive, finding out where to stay without blowing your budget is easier than it looks. Packages that include lessons and equipment rentals, along with access to seasonal special events and accommodations, are a convenient and economical option. Plan as far in advance as possible to snag these deals and enjoy the local celebrations along with some stellar skiing and boarding.
Such special events abound in the winter and many are free of charge to anyone and everyone in the Village. The Fire and Ice Show is the most famous of these. Every Sunday evening, between the resort’s official opening day in November and the end of the season in April or May, you can enjoy dancing, music, spinning fire and some of Whistler’s most talented boarders and skiers strutting their stuff.
Snow School
Acclaimed as one of the best ski and snowboard schools on the North American continent, the Snow School at Whistler Blackcomb is worth a visit no matter your skill level. Whether you’re a snowboarder who wants to try some new moves in a terrain park, or a new skier who is interested in practicing their skills along with communing with nature, there’s a snow school lesson here for you.
Take private or group lessons from a trained professional who is also a skilled naturist. You’ll enjoy advance placement on lifts and narrated excursions of scenic trails and terrain parks. Other than the wide variety of lessons on skis or boards offered, you can also take a guided ski tour or learn advanced tips form an Olympic skier. You’ll find few other ski resorts or hills with similar options.
Daily Diversity
Start with long, slow slopes to warm up and enjoy the view before switching over to the more advanced hills and even the challenging black diamonds. There are various peaks with platforms built for sightseeing and refreshments when you want to take a moment to enjoy the view and re-hydrate.
The Peak 2 Peak Gondola holds the record for being the longest and highest chairlift in the world, and it can take you all the way between the peak of Blackcomb to Whistler Mountain in a single trip. This is just one part of a modern and fast transportation network, a sophisticated transportation hub of gondolas and chair lifts. Virtually every single one of the 200 runs on Whistler Blackcomb is open to you, no matter what your departure point.
Emilio Thompson combines his work in tourism with a passion for the mountains. He loves sharing his Whistler insights and experiences online and writes about all aspects of winter fun on several different travel websites.
Featured Image by False Positives under creative common license
When people mention the Winter Olympics, perfect ski getaways, independent film festivals and even challenging mountain biking trails, Park City, Utah, is usually somewhere at the top of the places that come to mind. These activities make this picturesque location (it was named one of the prettiest towns in the country by Forbes Traveler Magazine in 2008) at the base of the Wasatch Range a half-billion-a-year hotspot for tourism.
For a town so attractive to tourists, it’s only natural to see talents develop for all things of interest to them. Not many could have ever expected Park City to do so in one particular area, though — to develop as a mecca for food connoisseurs.
The city has been relentlessly adding to its bag of tricks in this area for years, to the point that now, local chefs and restaurants have turned into attractions in their own right. Perhaps it’s because skiing helps people work up an appetite; it could also be that fine dining goes with fine film festivals. Both activities really do make you want to go out and celebrate with food.
From farmers’ markets to spectacular street food and award-winning health food stores and restaurants, Park City has an unusually vibrant food scene. If you are delight in discriminating dining, this town is an important destination to try.
You should start out with one of the gourmet food tours
The wonderful thing about Park City is that since it’s a very small town, you don’t need to go very far to sample practically everything that’s an offer. All you need is a walk down the beautifully kept Main Street to try out the talents of international-class chefs working on the most unique and distinctive ideas.
Whether you like the huge-and-hearty kind of eating establishment (of which the Bridge Café and Grill are premier examples), or wine and caviar sessions, entertaining guided outings such as Park City Food Tours and Utah Wine Tours are excellent ideas.
Once you’re done with the food tours, it’s time to begin looking around on your own.
Gourmet pizza
Most people wouldn’t expect a small town in Utah to offer authentic, wood-fired Italian pizza, but there it is. The restaurant has beautiful high ceiling and lovingly designed wooden interiors, and unforgettable margarita pizzas and caramelized onion pizzas, and fettuccine, sorbitol and gelato. You’ll probably find yourself hanging out at this restaurant more than you should.
A movie restaurant
It’s obligatory for a town with a film heritage like Park City’s to have a film-themed restaurant. For Park City, it’s Zoom, founded 20 years ago by Robert Redford, who, incidentally, also founded the Sundance Film Festival. While it’s sophisticated food on the menu, it isn’t the French kind. Rather, it’s the hearty kind with wild game, steak and trout and mac & cheese. The restaurant has a fanatical following — as much for the atmosphere as the food.
For buffalo burgers and other such things
If the bar in the sitcom Cheers was a place where “Everyone knows your name,” the No-Name Saloon and Grill runs on the motto of “Helping people forget their names since 1903.” It’s where you simply go to have a good time with drinks and great bar food. If you love favorites such as buffalo burgers, you should try out No-Name and many other great options such as Montage Deer Valley and TNG Grill, all award-winning casual, hearty and filling food.
You could keep exploring
Park City is a wonderful place to head to even if you have no interest in skiing. The entire place is like Wild West movie set, except that it’s a living real, living world. Park City’s museum is a place where you can learn about the town’s mining past, and admire a lot of great history.
While you do it, you can sample some of its history in the culinary department, too, with some of country’s best restaurants. Bistro ay Canyons, Lookout Cabin, High West, Silver, The Farm, and many more offer surprisingly inventive menus, and of course, the perfect atmosphere.
Eva Duran not only works as a travel guide but she also knows where to head in Park City for your eating pleasure. She likes to share her travel tips and suggestions with an online audience and writes for several trave websites on a regular basis.
Featured Image by Base Camp Baker Under Creative Common license