I’ll never tire of beach vacations, but it’s always good to shake it up a bit and Mont Tremblant offers a multitude of winter bucket list activities for the entire family. We recently spend four days in Mont Tremblant discovering the best winter activities available and I quickly understood why people choose ski vacations. Mont Tremblant, located in the heart of the Laurentians, Quebec, is a wondrous natural playground.
Since we arrived in Mont Tremblant in the evening and it was bitter cold outside, we started our trip with an escape room experience called Mission Liberté. It was something far more difficult, and entertaining, than I anticipated.
With a choice of six escape games, Mission Liberté provides indoor entertainment that immerses you in a thrilling experience.
We chose the Pirate Ship mission. The scenario created is that we were taken prisoner on the ship and we needed to escape to the nearby island and find what we needed to survive.
It was definitely difficult enough for adults, but safe enough for families. We struggled with the clues but managed to make it to the island. We didn’t complete the mission but we had fun trying and it held our interest the entire time.
After the escape room, we returned to Fairmont Tremblant for an early night. Our next few days were packed with fun activities and we needed plenty of sleep.
Fairmont Tremblant is the closest hotel to the slopes and the only “ski-in/ski-out” hotel in Tremblant with ski valet service, ticket counter, and a ski and snowboard rental shop. They have a spectacular terrace with heated outdoor pools open year-round and a 24-hour fitness center and indoor pool.
We always try to choose a room that has separate living and sleeping areas so Athena can go to bed at her regular time and we can still stay up and play games or watch tv without disrupting her. Fairmont Tremblant was a great room choice and it had the best access to the slopes.
The next morning, Athena had a ski lesson with the Tremblant Snow School.
Her half day lesson gave her the confidence to go down the bunny hill without any help. Every time we had a free half hour or longer, we went back to the slopes.
We’re both addicted and ready to give snowboarding a try.
Once we were too exhausted to ski anymore, we made our way to T Bar, a unique and interactive experience allowing guests of all ages to create and personalize a t-shirt. Located in Mont Tremblant village, it’s the ideal location to get out of the cold and into a customized t shirt.
It ended up being one of our favorite activities in Mont Tremblant. There were a bunch of designs to choose from and the pattern was thick enough that painting inside the lines wasn’t too difficult.
Athena chose to paint a shirt with a unicorn and I painted a pair of headphones. To add more customization, we added our hand prints to the back of the shirks as a signature.
We returned to Fairmont Hotel for an evening soak in the heated outdoor pools before calling it a night. 
On day three, we started early with Mont Tremblant dog sledding. Can you imagine taking the reins of a pack of huskies as they pull you through snowy terrain? This excursion takes you through the Laurentian mountains as well as forest climbs and descents.
We were able to drive our own team of huskies while taking turns being passengers. Athena was too young to drive, but she was happy to be closer to the dogs while enjoys the views from the sled.
We returned to the slopes that afternoon and finished our day with Mont Tremblant night sledding.
Every night during the winter season from 6 to 9 p.m., the Mont Tremblant bunny hill beside the Fairmont hotel is designated sliding space. One side of the hill is devoted to Zipfy sleds while the other side features two tubing runs (down which up to six people can slide together).
Brightly lit with music playing, night sledding was fun for all of us. The tubing section featured two runs – one for singles and one for doubles. The single line was shorter so we decided to give it a try. I worried that Athena would be too nervous to go by herself but she hopped in the tube without hesitating and zipped down the hill. She loved the single tube so much that she wanted to go again and again. We stayed out hours past her bedtime enjoying the mountain.
Our fun didn’t end there. We had one more great adventure ahead.
Does it get any more Canadian than being picked up by helicopter from a frozen lake and flying over the homes of professional hockey players? That’s what we were able to do the next morning with Heli Tremblant.
We saw as much of Mont Tremblant as possible while discovering the region in a unique, panoramic flight. Taking off in the Diable River, we flew over Tremblant village, Lake Tremblant, Mont Tremblant, the race track, and the golf courses. 
Gone are the days of assuming our next trip will be a warm beach destinations. Ski trips like our Mont Tremblant vacation are going to be big contenders for now on.
Bucket List Publications 
Looks like a great trip, Leslie. The photos of Athena are special. Looks like she is growing up. –Curt
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I love that she’s so willing to give everything a try. She really is going up fast. I especially love the photo of her on the dog sled. It shows her true happiness.
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That ‘willing to give everything a try,’ is probably a direct influence of her mother! 🙂
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Thanks Curt! I hope so. We’re gong to try snowboarding next weekend. have you ever tried before?
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It was totally cross country skiing for me Lesley, so I could get into the backcountry. Our son is an avid snowboarder. Loves it. Started as a teenager. –Curt
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What fun!
Ω
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Thank you so much for sharing your holiday experiences – it was a delight to read:)
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Thank you. Do you enjoy skiing?
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I did a bit of ski-ing a very long time ago – and really enjoyed it. But these days, I’m not really fit enough. It was lovely seeing all the things you did as well as ski-ing – what a fabulous holiday!
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I booked a snowboarding lesson for next weekend and asked my spouse if he’d like to join. It will be his and Athena’s first time. He said the same thing about being fit enough to do it but he’s going to give it a try anyway. It can be a very demanding sport but we’re only going on the smaller hills so Athena can join. I want to expose her to as much as possible and let her pick her favorites.
The other activities were equally amazing. I especially loved tubing at night. It was my first time going in the night before.
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It looked like a completely enchanting holiday:). Athena is very lucky to have adventurous parents like you:))
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Another helluva adventure, Lesley!
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I just booked our snowboarding lesson for next weekend. We’re loving it. Do you ski?
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Nope, not since I was a child. Can’t say I enjoyed it.. got close to frostbite too many times. People don’t believe that I’m Canadian because I dread winter and stay away at all costs (which is partly why I still live in Bali 😉 Enjoy the ride!!
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My memories of Tremblant .. I really don’t know how many years ago but I know it was before 1989. anyway Tremblant is the best in Quebec. so it is great that you were there with your daughter to experience that. :-)) hope you don’t feel this winter is way too cold for you who used to lived in Ca. 🙂
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I do find it exceptionally cold here, especially after living in OC, but I grew up in eastern Canada and I’m use to the cold. I thought Athena would have a more difficult time. California weather is all she really knew but she’s loving it too. It’s great for her to have exposure to both worlds and she can choose what she likes best when she gets older.
We’re going to try a few other mountains in the area but I’ve heard from many others that Mont Tremblant really is the best. Next week, we’re going to give snowboarding a try. Have you been before?
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ah! No snowboarding for me. I grew up in QC and only started downhill skiing when I was a bout 20 . I started x-country skiing earlier ( around 13) and I loved it so much. I still ski but less now.
as for the cold, after leaving for almost 30 years in Vancouver I am not thinking of liking much the cold days. I got used to the rain though. tks for your reply. I hope you go to the botanical garden later this year. you have so much to explore now that you live in Montreal.
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I visited the Botanical Garden during the lights festival this year. Here’s a link http://www.bucketlistpublications.com/2017/09/29/gardens-light-festival-montreal/. It was absolutely stunning. I’d like to return again this year with my daughter. She didn’t join us last time.
What are some of your other favorite things to do and see in Montreal?
I’ve only been to Vancouver once before but it’s such a lovely place. We talked about moving there when we made this move but Montreal was closer to family.
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I haven’t been to MTL for a while . Planning on going this June ( and Quebec and other little places to see my siblings). anyway..One thing I did on my last visit in MTL was cycling along the canal Lachine, walking in Old MTL, visiting the a museum, going to the Palais des congres ( for photos).. what else ? hum… Chinatown ( very small), up to the Mont Royal ( for the view)…
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Well that’s a great list! I think we’ll head to Mont Royal for sledding soon. They have a spot there called Beaver Lake (or something like that). I hear it’s great for family sledding.
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enjoy , enjoy , enjoy. you certainly have lots of energy !
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