Sunday March 16th Tremblant Trip Information
Our day trip to Mont Tremblant this Sunday March 16th is on. There is room on the bus and we’ll keep registration open until Friday. All those registered will receive an email on Saturday with details for the trip.
There will be three stops this year, the usual Bells Corners and Isabella stops, and a new stop at the RA Centre. Riders must identify which stop they plan to get picked up at when registering.
Important Notes:
- You are responsible to arrive at the pickup/dropoff locations on time. We will wait for a few minutes, but will leave our stops in the morning if riders fail to show. If you cannot make the trip, or in case of emergencies up at the hill you can contact your trip lead.
- You are responsible for your own ski equipment. If you need rentals please make your own arrangements.
- You are welcome to drink on the bus, but please avoid glass bottles where possible.
- Please make sure you are listed for pickup at the correct location so that we’re not waiting for you at the wrong pickup spot.
- Your trip lead will be Glen. His contact info will be provided in the email you receive. Cellphone service is spotty up at the hill, so send an email if communication is essential.
Schedule
6:00am – Bus arrives at Bells Corners Loblaws (2065A Robertson Rd at the corner of Moodie)
- Parking available at this spot.
6:30am – Bus leaves Bells Corners
- Bus leaves at 6:30am at the latest. Please arrive early.
7:00am – Bus arrives at RA Centre (2451 Riverside Drive)
- Pickup in the large RA Centre parking lot on the western side of the RA Centre. The parking lot is closest to Bronson, and entrance is via Riverside. For those who know the RA Centre, it’s the parking lot with the canoe club shed.
- Parking available at this location.
- Riders should wait in their car, and begin to load their equipment when the bus parks in the parking lot.
- There are bathrooms inside the RA Centre (if the doors are open at that time).
7:15-7:20am – Bus arrives at downtown Loblaws on Isabella (64 Isabella St)
- No parking at this location.
- Bus pulls up directly in front of the Loblaws entrance.
- If the bus is running 5-10 minutes late no need to worry.
9:30am – Bus arrives at Tremblant South Side
- When the bus arrives the trip lead will need to go in and pickup the lift passes. This takes 15 minutes.
- If riders don’t need a lift pass (i.e. they have their own), you can go for your day.
- Everyone who needs a lift pass can either wait on the bus, or go outside and unpack your equipment and start getting ready (your preference). Tickets will be given out on the bus or at the Chalet des Voyageurs. Tremblant tickets now use RFID technology, so it is recommended to place the ticket in a pocket on the left side of your body.
9:45am – Day passes given out.
4:00pm – Bus arrives at same spot at Tremblant South Side
4:30pm – Bus Departs at 4:30 sharp to return back to Ottawa
5:00pm – Bus stops at a depanneur along the way
- Riders can purchase beer or snacks and consume them on the bus. Preferably no glass bottles.
7:00pm – Bus dropoff at Isabella location
7:15pm – Bus dropoff at RA Centre
7:40pm – Bus dropoff at Bells Corners
Cancellation and Refund Policy
- There are no refunds within the last week before a trip.
However, if you can’t make the bus please let the club know by emailing your trip lead so that we are not waiting for you in the morning.
2024-25 Tremblant Day Bus Trips
The Bytown ski club organizes a series of bus trips from Ottawa to Mont Tremblant and back. We rent a coach bus with washrooms, shuttle participants to and from the hill, and arrange discounted lift passes for the day.
In 2025 we will run 5 trips, one every two weeks from mid January to mid March. To purchase tickets login to our powerup page: https://bytownskiclub.powerupsports.com/. Tremblant has increased the price to ski this year by a bit. Again this year the exec made a decision to subsidize our bus trips by offering big discounts to those who register early, and providing snacks on the bus.
We leave early with a first pickup in Bell’s Corners at 6:30am, a second pickup at the RA Centre at 7am, a third pickup at the Loblaws on Isabella at 7:15am. There is parking available at Bell’s Corners and the RA Centre. We arrive at the base of Tremblant village around 9:30am. Skiers enjoy the day and we pick everyone up at the base of the village at 4:30pm. We make one stop at a depanneur on the way back – drinking is permitted on the bus – and arrive back in Ottawa around 7pm for the first stop and 8pm for the last stop. All timings are dependent on weather and traffic.
Regular Pricing
| Bus trip Date | Adult | Senior | Youth/Student | Bus Only |
| Friday January 17th | $145 | $140 | $120 | $55 |
| Friday January 31st | $145 | $140 | $120 | $55 |
| Friday February 14th | $145 | $140 | $120 | $55 |
| Sunday March 2nd | $145 | $140 | $120 | $55 |
| Sunday March 16th | $145 | $140 | $120 | $55 |
Prices above are all-in (i.e. after all tax). Discounts above are applied to the prices in the table. Purchase price in powerup will reflect the discounts available at the time of purchase.
Cancellation and Refund Policy
- There are no refunds within the last week before a trip.
- 50% refund up to one month before the trip. 25% refund up to one week before the trip.
- However, if you can’t make the bus please let the club know by emailing info@bytownskiclub.ca so that we are not waiting for you in the morning.
- If you cannot attend but would like to transfer your bus trip/ticket to another club member, email the club before Thursday at 10am and we can transfer the ticket
Self-drive trips/Meet and Ski events
We typically hold 3-4 meet and ski events where we meet at a local ski hill, and buy nachos at the pub at 4pm for any ski club members who care to join. They are a social and informal activity.
Bytown Ski Weeks 2025
Dolomites Italy and Portes du Soleil France
Don Singer led two week long ski trips to Europe this winter. Registration for this season is now closed, but if you have any questions you can reach out to Don Singer or Touringhouse at 613-741-2942. Wish them a good trip!
Morzine France Portes du Soleil Trip Report
Our second Bytown Week-long ski trip of winter 2025 to Morzine France and the huge Portes du Soleil ski region was a smashing success during the March 2025 school break. Our private coach transfers between Ottawa VIA Rail Station-Montreal Dorval Airport and between Geneva Airport-Morzine France’s Club Hotel Le Cret were efficient and without incident. Upon arrival in Morzine, our hotel rooms were available to freshen up and we were then treated to two welcome orientations to climatize ourselves to the plentiful hotel amenities, the free ski and shuttle transportation routes and the vast ski area. The first presentation took place by Alex in the hotel lounge with a welcome drink of kir. We then made the 15-minute walk to the quaint town centre under warm sunshine where Elana at the Tourist Office hosted us in their meeting and provided us with a plethora of information and recommendations.
Returning in small groups from the beautiful centre village to the hotel, our thirty-one Bytown people sat down to our first of seven nights amazing buffet dinners, including wine, beer and tap water, and a gargantuous dessert bar! During dinner and then the next morning starting at 7:00 breakfast, again feasting on our splendid buffets each morning, we organized ourselves in small ski groups and congregated in the ski room for 8:15 and onward for departures via the “Didier” hotel shuttle or the P/U free ski bus a short distance to the two main gondolas (Pleney and Super Morzine). Some days groups took the connecting “A ski bus” to a 3rd gondola that connected directly to Avoriaz.
During the week we were blessed by great spring ski weather conditions but winter snow, for five days of six, with the sixth day being a mixture of constantly changing conditions of sun, snow and fog. Even on the “changing conditions day” we did enjoy the fresh cover of overnight snow. However, that day also brought our trip tragedy as one member of our group suffered a leg injury that required off mountain transportation the Morzine Medical Clinic and then transport to the regional hotel for surgery. Fortunately for her, she was provided exemplary medical care on this journey, and was supported by caring family and friends.
The various sub-ski groups of our overall Bytown group found different areas to ski the vast region each day, rarely covering the same slopes or lifts. The region itself offers over two hundred lifts and more than 500 kilometers of marked pistes over 1200 kilometers of ski-snowboard terrain connected to eleven communities other than Morzine. These endless ski and boarding possibilities provided a daily treat of skiing back and forth to Swiss communities from our base in Morzine France. While, to the best of my knowledge nobody conquered visiting all 12 interconnected ski regions, the names of Les Gets, Avoriaz, Les Crosets, Champery Morgine, Champoussin and Chatel are etched in all of our minds.
While most of the groups were seeking sightseeing adventure and kinship on our leisurely ski days following the leadership of volunteer map readers such as Alex and Chris, a few others like Michael, Jim and Liam reached for the ultimate challenge of conquering the famous Swiss Wall ski run. Kudos to each of them for not only surviving this scary run, but succeeding!
Like all of the other ski weeks to Europe, our week ended with worn out bodies, fond memories and new or renewed friendship among our travelling group that is so rewarding as a positive life experience. Au revoir jusqu’à la prochaine fois! Thank you for joining our happy group of boarders and skiers and I hope to reconnect soon.
Dolomites Italy Trip Report
Forty-five happy participants returned home to Canada after a marvellous sun filled ski week in the Italian Dolomites and an afternoon/evening outing in Munich Germany. Each day in the vast mountain ranges of Val Gardena and points beyond, we were treated to blue-bird skies and temperatures between two and eight degrees Celsius.
After flawless flights and private coach connection from Munich airport to Ortisei Italy, we arrived at our Hotel Dolomiti Madonna, located in central area the quaint ski village amidst shops, museums and pubs. Our jet lagged bodies were rejuvenated with a rousing welcome reception at the hotel featuring a delightful fast talking Italian representative Christina Demetz who on her own personal time Saturday afternoon, introduced us to the massive ski terrain and lift system (1200 kilometers of slopes serviced by 488 lifts!) as well as things to do in the Val Gardena region off the hills if we had any energy remaining at the end of each day. Chris Goltz, an annual winter transplant to Ortisei with his Ottawa family, also joined the welcome session and shared his wealth of knowledge of the region. Chris met his ten group members who would ski with him the next day and our ski guided group were treated to a lasting ski memory.
Our first dinner was an introduction to the art of fine ski club dining for the week, with multi course dinners of exceptional quality and service by a plethora of servers. Early to bed for most, a huge buffet breakfast awaited each morning at a special starting time adjusted earlier for our group to 7:00 am so we Canadians could get an early start to the fantastic ski terrain.
Each morning at breakfast, groups formed to head out to multiple ski day area options. For the first few days, many of the groups planned their day to do the ten-kilometer piste 7 red run to the town with an après ski pub stop en route at the Val d’Anna. The staff and owner appreciated our Canadian après ski spirit that culminated on Wednesday afternoon by him having a disc-jockey play many of our favourite tunes and he provided us with a complimentary rack of schnaps After starting the early week après ski at Val d’Anna we migrated to the Snowbar in St. Christina at the base of the men’s Olympic downhill race course. One evening a dozen of us attended the nearby 90th anniversary of the Val Gardena Ski School where we witnessed an amazing performance by ski instructors including skiing downhill in ski boots but no skis, and culminating in a great torchlight parade of skiers.
While our Bytowners found the celebrated Sella Ronda networks somewhat crowded, we were all treated to near empty adjacent pistes accented by amazing mountain peaks and panoramic views, throughout the week.
It was tough to leave such a beautiful mountain town and hotel that treated us so well in Ortisei, but onward we went to Munich on Saturday morning for an afternoon of personal sightseeing and then most of the group walked to the nearby Augustiner-Keller Beer Hall to celebrate our final night together in a German traditional way.
I believe all of the early registrants to this Dolomiti ski week were treated to an amazing vacation together. We had eight of our forty-five who were new comers to a Bytown European ski week, plus four other loyal patrons that have attended each of the Bytown modern day ski weeks; all succeeded in registering to this sell out event that was fully subscribed within ten minutes of the registrations being open last August. I expect that there will be many returning to future Bytown European ski trips to reshare this wonderful experience with new and previous friends. Thanks to everyone for participating in one of my, and likely many others’ too, privileged life treasured experiences!
Don Singer, Bytown Ski Club Ski Week Leader
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