The slopesyle series is based on performance, style and skill. Athletes as young as 12 years old all the way to amateurs and pro’s are in this event competing for cash and the overall chance at the tour prize of a 7 day surf trip to Eldorado Surf Resort in El Salvador if you accumulate the most points throughout the four-stop tour.

Here are some pics I took and some video footage of the event, also a preview to the coarse in detail by the Director of the event, enjoy.

View from the Flying Mile

The Lounge

www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQyqGcR2wOw

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_T7b8gpkq5I

Here are the results and standings of the event.

http://www.thecanadianshield.ca/standings-results/

On the bike path headed towards the Diable River

View from the bike path

Here is my video:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXKYVVQGjt8

I live in the Pinoteau village, so for me its become a weekly habit to get a few things for the week.  The crab cakes are great as well as the lasagne, they also have great caesar salad.  The chocolate croissants are the real deal as well as their pizzas.  They carry nice tea’s as well as Illys coffee, fine crackers, great gluten free salad dressings, shrimp, scallops and that’s what I have tried so far.  If you are coming up for the week-end and you don’t feel like going out or cooking, try it, it’s good stuff.

The lasagne is awesome with the ceasar

I need to venture into the cupcakes next time, I haven't yet

I've had all 3 of these and I love them all!

Nice gifts too

For me personally, I have been to every 24h event so far and if I am not working during the event or just there for support, I love being part of it.   This year the media coverage was impressive, I was surprised how beefed up it was in comparison to the previous years.   For the first time they decided to stream the event live which I happen to watch at my condo when I had enough of the cold. Friday night I watched the live shows and was impressed with the quality of the stream.  They happen to show Sean Hummel (real estate agent for Playground) race down with his head cam live which was interesting for those people who couldn’t be part of the actual race.

If I were to say anything about the event is it seemed to have less people than the previous years.  Aside from the start of the race at noon on Saturday where everyone seemed to be there, throughout the week-end I kept asking myself where is everyone.  Don’t get me wrong, the resort had lots of stuff going on but it seemed to be lacking with the crowds.  My assumption would be that people might not have come up thinking we didn’t have any snow, which wasn’t the case.  Tremblant really exceeded peoples expectation on the snow making front.

I was also quite disappointed with the music this year.  They had decent bands but for such a big event, they should bring in bigger names or at least bands that can bring a crowd.  I was quite happy that Too Many Cooks made an appearance as I used to see them when I was younger.   Having the radio announcers from NRJ hop on stage and sing their version of an Elton John song was a bit amateur and a bit karaoke like.  I”m sure they had a blast singing with their friends but for me to stand outside in the cold you better make me dance to keep warm.  The dj at the Plaza had more people in front of him as his music was much more lively.  I am not sure who they are trying to cater too musically but I thought it was a definite miss on their part and it seemed I was not the only one sharing this opinion.

The event this year seemed more corproate and media driven than usual which is a good think but it would have been nice to have more of a  community feel which its had in the past years.  Maybe it was just the turnout but I hope the grass roots nature of having this in Tremblant is not lost.

Another success for the 24h and for a wonderful cause.  See you at the 24h of Cycling in the summer.

What a gorgeous week-end for trick or treating, the weather was perfect and the resort was packed with tons of families for Halloween.  The merchants on the resort open their doors every year for trick or treaters,  mostly locals but there are some families that will come up for the week-end especially this year as it fell on a Sunday.  I would say that the numbers doubled in comparison to last year and I am assuming that the sunny weather had a lot to do with it.  I am not sure if last year they had the 50% sale on at the same time but that was a bonus for sure.  I ended up mixing a shopping day with walking around with my nephew, Mr.Pumpkin for some free candy.

On Monday which was the actual day for Halloween the trick or treaters end up doing the rounds in the town of St. Jovite where the same concept applies, merchants open their doors and hand out candy to everyone.  I took a few pictures of my week-end, some are random shots of the resort as well, enjoy.

The resort was packed with people

Trick or treating in St.Jovite

Marina Mont Tremblant in front of Pinoteau

Windy day for Toots on the dock

Tootie in the sun on our porch at the Pinoteau

Enjoying the lake on a sunny day.

If you are interested in seeing last years Halloween story, here it is.  http://www.blogtremblant.com/2010/trick-or-treat-in-tremblant/

I decided to take my lunch break at the top of the Sommet, which  never happens but it made all the difference.  I hadn’t been up there since the ski season and I forgot  how gorgeous it was.

Here are a few pictures I took heading up to the top…

View of the North side from the top

Boogie Wonder Band was in Tremblant this past Saturday night and my girlfriends had the night scheduled for some dancing, so it was obvious where we were headed. I’ve heard of Boogie Wonder Band because they’ve been to Tremblant before but I hadn’t seen them yet, so we started the night with dinner and drinks at La Diable before we made it up to the Plaza.

The show started at nine and I had no idea what to expect, but when we got to the show it was jammed packed and the party was already in full swing. I tried to squeeze my way in through the crowd and everyone was so happy, dancing and totally loving the music. The resort did a great job bringing these guys in because they really catered to a lot of people. Even if you aren’t a fan of disco, so many people know the words and were singing out load, granny’s, little kids, you couldn’t help but shake it to the classic hits.

People were having tons of fun and the band put on a seriously entertaining show with all the bells and whistles. I headed home after about an hour and as I started to write this post in my bed and I could hear the party on the resort still going.

Here are a few pics

Isaac "The Jam" Washington

Stardust

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8l_ux8A6FWw

I finally found the time to take a half day off work to enjoy the summer.  Nothing better than a day on Lake Tremblant,  in the sun with friends hanging out surfing and just soaking it all in.

 There isn’t much to say except that this day was overdue in my case and well deserved.  Here are a few pics.

As you can see Nat is really happy to not be working

cliff jumping anyone?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jzv9zaK6VIo

Today while eating at my favorite casse-croute in Mont Tremblant,  I noticed a unique individual pull up on his tricycle to buy a hot dog.
He soon come over to ask directions due to his bad eye site, and to our surprise he was asking how to get to Halifax!

We inquired as to where he came from and he said Clearwater B.C., what!?

I was in compete shock as were a few of us, and he just turned and said “Well, believe it, I’m here”.

A small crowd started to gather in somewhat astonishment as they overheard his story.  His name is Cecil MacDonald, he is 69 year years old and he is biking all the way to Halifax to meet his ailing sister, Catherine.  Besides visiting his sister, his inspiration for the trip was listening to the Maritime broadcasts on CBC radio, he felt it was a good idea to visit his old stomping grounds. Cecil has not been back East in over 40 years, and has not seen his sister since 1980.  His sister is having health issues, “I wanted to go visit my sister before one of us dies”, he said with a smile.

Cecil is no ordinary cyclist crossing Canada, he is a true ironman cut from Scottish/Irish blood, something that he proudly mentioned as he flexed his arms when asked how on earth he is accomplishing such a long journey.

Not shaving till he gets to Halifax

The three wheel Tryke with all the fix-ins'

What makes Cecil unique is not only his age (69) but his gear and resolve, his eyesight is not what it used to be and he has trouble reading his map. One of the first things I noticed is that he is wearing cowboy boots. Yes, this man just cycled approximately 4200km wearing cowboy boots and jeans held up with a bungee cord!

across Canada in cowboy boots, pure style

Cecil left Clearwater B.C. April 28th and is just over 2 months into his trip and is making much better time then he anticipated, so far he has been sleeping in his tent on the side of the road and stopping off at grocery stores to buy his food along the way.  He averages about 100 km a day and though he expected to arrive at his sisters August 15th, he is way ahead of schedule.  I asked him if he took donations and he said he didn’t need any money because he was using his pension to make this trip possible.

One other thing that needs mentioning, he smokes a pack of cigarettes a day, often while riding his bike.  He also said he had a few beers along the way but to make sure his sister didn’t find out.  I hung out with Cecil for almost 2 hours and was just amazed at his outlook on life and his positive attitude.  He is a true inspiration.

When asked about his safety, he just shrugged it off.  He seemed more concerned about bears than the highway, even after mentioning an 18 wheeler swiped him and took off his handlebar mounted rear view mirror.  I left him a keepsake as a good luck charm and a reminder that we were wishing him well.

Good old Barbie will lead him home

Cecil is currently somewhere on route between Montreal and Quebec City so if you see him on his Tryke make sure to say hello.

Here is a little video as he biked by me on the highway.  Good Luck Cecil, you’re AWESOME!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUdTytr3msY