Season Diary - Day 14

Henry

Jan 182 min read

Updated: Jan 20

How do you remember a place you last skied 10 years ago? And not just skied, skied day in day out with some people who were and still are your best friends. How do you recompute a place that's thousands of miles away and you know you'll only get to go back to once or twice in your life?

I'm not sure you do.

That's why I found myself on a plane to Montreal repeatedly asking myself "what the fuck am I doing?!" for seven hours straight. I'm back in Tremblant, the best resort on the East Coast - Canadian and American - and one I spent my season in 11 years ago, from January to March 2014.

Two days later and I've just skied the pants of the best resort east of the Mississippi. Ticking off all the fond memories from all four sides of the glorious mountain, Tremblant has brought back all the memories in a heartbeat.

The best part about coming back a decade later is seeing things as an adult, not the child I swore I wasn't but in reality I definitely was. This was a time to ski, not to make bold assertions about how I was going to hit a 180 of this kicker (yes I said that, and no I didn't hit a 180).

This time I was able to just ... ski. Ski all four sides - Versant Sud, Nord, Soleil and the Edge, enjoying every turn and just exploring, with no agenda, no memories, no preconceptions, just ... ski.

I'm aware this isn't the usual insightful season diary I normally publish. I'm aware this isn't fully of useful tips or gushing praise for the resort currently hosting me on a press trip. This is a resort that I knew so intimately a decade ago and had built up such an idea for the possibilities of how it could have changed that I'm a little dumbstruck at how little it hasn't.

It is the same place I skied ten years ago.

And I think, I know, there is a beauty in that. I loved this place for the people I met and the skiing I skied. And by the sounds of that, that at least remains unchanged.

Maybe tomorrow I'll be able to sit down and write more eloquently about the skiing or the bars at Tremblant. For now, I'm going to enjoy my beer and watch the hockey, and see you on the slopes first thing.

Don't call this a comeback; I've been here for years.