Stay Fit With A Ski Trip

Paul Stevens

Carpe Diem (but in a relaxed sort of way)

“SCHUSSING THROUGH THE SNOW”

The annual ski trip is now in the books and a good time was had by all.  As mentioned previously, a week at Quebec’s Mt. Tremblant was planned and without wanting to make this sound like an unpaid advertisement, it is a favoured destination and I have been there several times over the years. With no longer needing to work the travel schedule around school holidays, I am afforded the opportunity to travel when there are no family invasions so the crowds are considerably lighter.

I should mention that the trip ended up being a ‘guys only’ trip as my wife has decided that she doesn’t like being cold so that certainly puts a nail or two in the ski vacation plans for her. At least for now, I am not particularly bothered by the cold (dress warmly!) but that may change down the road so I will enjoy it while I can. 

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On a Saturday from our home in Sarnia, Ontario, I drove to the home of a long-time friend in Mississauga and spent the night there. After a solid breakfast, we headed to Mt. Tremblant on Sunday morning. It is a distance from there that is a comfortable drive which is one of the reasons that it is a preferred destination.  We arrived at our accommodation late Sunday afternoon, got ourselves unpacked and cooked up dinner. 

Mt. Tremblant is a large resort with no shortage of top level accommodations within its boundary.  You of course pay a premium for this privilege so for the first time, I used the services of Airbnb.  I located a modern, clean, and well equipped townhouse about a seven minute drive from the central village in the resort area.  The place came as advertised and I would gladly go back again. 

After breakfast at the townhouse on Monday, we headed to the hills for our first run at about 9:30 a.m.  Since there were no school holidays, the crowds were fairly light and consisted mostly of people like ourselves; no kids in tow and well past their disco years.   On our first lift up the mountain, we were joined by an older woman who I am going to guess was about 70.  She asked if she could join us for the ride up as she was skiing by herself and just likes talking to people.

Well, she did have a lot to say, all of it good, and it made for an enjoyable trip to the top.  As it turns out, she has a season pass and drives up from Montreal (about 90 minutes to the south) once or twice a week during the ski season.  This woman was brimming with the ‘joie de vie’ ( joy of life) that is the hallmark of the Quebec lifestyle. I can only hope to maintain the same enthusiasm that she displayed when I hit the next decade of life.

Related Article: Exercise Now, Stay Fit Later

We parted ways at the top and headed off to do a couple of warm up runs.  With nice long runs, we were able to shake the dust (rust?) from our ski muscles and considered ourselves ready for something a bit more challenging.

Ski runs are coded so that you know the level of difficulty that you can expect.  Green designates ‘Easier’ runs and are generally for beginners; blue runs are for intermediate skiers and those that can ski under control and are often suitable for cruising at a decent clip; black runs are for advanced skiers.  Moreover, black runs are offered as single, double and even triple diamond with the degree of difficulty or challenge increasing with the number of diamonds shown on the trail signs. 

For me, I can handle a single black diamond run as they are generally steeper with a few bumps thrown in for good measure.  Double blacks offer steeps with lots of bumps and or trees while triple blacks look to me like you would have a better chance of survival falling out of an airplane.  I know my limits so single blacks are at the top of my comfort zone.

After lunch at the restaurant at the top of the mountain, we continued to ski until about 3:30 as the resort starts to close the lifts to ensure that everyone gets off the slopes while there is still plenty of light.  Arriving back at the townhouse meant that it was time for a cold beverage (aka beer) and get our dinner started, but first, it was time to kick back and relax a bit.  We brought a number of prepared meals so preparation really meant just heating up something.  No complaints however as the energy level was at a very dull roar.  Have dinner, enjoy another beverage or two and lights out at 10 pm. Party animals or what! 

We repeated the process on Tuesday but noticed that our legs were barking fairly loudly by the end of the day with lactic acid so we decided to try cross country skiing on Wednesday to change it up a bit. Adjacent to the downhill ski area is a large Nordic ski centre that offers a number of trails of varying distance and difficulty. Rental equipment was also available. We chose an intermediate trail that we did twice covering about 18 km in total. A great idea but not with the desired results. 

In addition to giving your legs a workout, cross country skiing is also an excellent cardio exercise so after about four hours on the trails, we were gassed and in a large way.  Nap time at the townhouse beckoned before dinner was even contemplated. Refreshing as that was, bedtime did not get pushed back by any appreciable amount.  Are we getting old? Naw, we just know how to relax!  At least that is what we told ourselves.

Related Article: Exercise Induced Sleep Improvements

On Thursday, we met up with a friend from high school who has lived in Ottawa since finishing university.  He brought a buddy of his along so the four amigos headed out for the day.  The sky was very heavy that day and at the top of the mountain, we were actually in a cloud making visibility very suspect.  You could see about 30- 40 feet ahead and my estimate may be a bit of a stretch.  Maybe it’s just me or the fact that I had that nasty cycling accident late last summer but I found it to be a very uncomfortable feeling going downhill and not really being able to see where you were going with any level of certainty.

After tip-toeing down the mountain for a couple of hundred metres, visibility improved but getting to that point was not what I would call easy.  I fumbled with that until lunch time and with no improvement in conditions, I decided that may time wold be better spent in the village shopping for a souvenir or two for my wife.  I would meet my friends at a pub in the village later in the afternoon. 

Giving myself a break meant that I was fresh for our final ski day on Friday and even though we had to head back home later that day,  we were able to enjoy some really fine runs until the weekenders started to arrive in large numbers shortly after the lunch period.  This made leaving that much easier but I am already looking forward to next year. In the meantime, I may make my way to some ski hills closer to home for a couple of outings.

The unfortunate part of this trip was that in my absence my Thursday night old-timers hockey team won its second game of the year. Will they let join in and interrupt an apparent hot streak?  I’ll find out in the near future!

Your friend, Paul.

And remember – Carpe Diem (but in relaxed sort of way)!

Your intrepid reporter (on the left) enjoying he slopes with an long-time friend – January 2017

Mt. Tremblant, Quebec.

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