Mont-Tremblant ready to host World Cup giant slaloms after last year’s cancellation

Gates are set on the upper part the women's World Cup giant slalom ski race on a slope called the Flying Mile in Mont Tremblant, Que., Friday, Dec. 1, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Valérie Grenier won’t take her home race for granted this weekend, not after what happened a year ago.

The Canadian alpine skier — a four-time World Cup medallist — broke down in tears when the Mont-Tremblant, Que., event was cancelled last December because of unseasonably warm weather.

This time, it’s a go. The Laurentians resort is set to host the world’s best in women’s giant slalom Saturday and Sunday.

“At first I was a little worried that it was going to get cancelled again, but then recently I heard that it was really cold and starting to snow,” said Grenier, a local favourite who grew up in St. Isidore, Ont., but learned to ski at Tremblant. “People were sending me pictures of a big snow dump, so I was like, ‘OK, it’s looking good.’

“Last year when I found out it was cancelled, I was devastated. I could not believe it, honestly. I was so extremely sad, I was crying when I heard.”

Grenier carved down the hill to a hero’s welcome when the event debuted in 2023, finishing eighth and sixth on a rare home World Cup course on a mostly European circuit.

Organizers say they began planning for the 2025 races the day the ‘24 edition was called off.

“Hosting a World Cup race this time of year, right at the beginning of the ski season, is a challenge anywhere,” said technical director Doug Campbell, who worked in ski race snow preparation for 20 years in Lake Louise, Alta.

“Last year, unfortunately at Tremblant, we had some particularly difficult weather. It was a bit of a weather anomaly for it to be so warm so late. This year we were a little more fortunate, but it wasn’t all luck.”

Improvements included new snow-making equipment and regrading the base of the mountain, which didn’t have enough snow for a safe race 12 months ago. Organizers also reinforced the finish area with 700 cubic metres of fill.

“Otherwise we would have been required to produce at least an additional 700 cubic metres of snow, which is an awful lot,” said event director Nicholas Cogger.

Looking ahead, Alpine Canada president and chief executive officer Thérèse Brisson said her organization and the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) plan to host more Tremblant races in 2026. She has previously stated she hopes the World Cup becomes a fixture on the FIS calendar.

The weather will always be unpredictable — especially with rising global temperatures — but Cogger said organizers reviewed the previous 10 years of conditions around the same weekend before approaching FIS about hosting an event, and everything points to last year “being an anomaly.”

The timing of the World Cup isn’t likely to shift later in the season, since it falls a week after slalom and GS races in Killington, Vt., making travel easier for athletes.

“We don’t have a lot of choice of the weekend or the time of year when this race occurs,” Cogger said. “The World Cup hits 14 stops in a very short season, and we catch that swing as they come through North America at the beginning.

“This is our window, and we’re going to make the most of it.”

The weather forecast this weekend calls for a high of -1 C Saturday afternoon, and a high -10 C on Sunday.

Canadian Super-G?

Tremblant, which replaced the traditional downhills in Lake Louise, is currently the only Canadian alpine event on the FIS calendar — but Brisson says a super-G at Mont-Sainte-Anne could be possible in the future.

A speed venue is being built at the ski resort outside Quebec City for the 2027 Canada Winter Games.

“We’re going to be able to train super-G at Mont-Sainte-Anne,” Brisson said. “I’m really excited to have that in the East as a legacy of the Canada Games. It’s really important for the community, and could we host a women’s super-G there? Yeah, we probably could.

“That’s going to be great for out East, and we need something in the West as well, so we can get into training a little bit earlier in the season, and we can do that in a way that creates competitive advantage, is safe, and we could host Nor Ams and World Cups at those venues as well.”

— With files from Donna Spencer.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 5, 2025.

Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press