Mitik: a new snow park on Tremblant’s North Side

You don’t usually hear the words “democracy” and “ski resort” in the same statement, but that was precisely the driving idea behind Mitik, a new snow park established this season on Tremblant’s North Side.

“We wanted to democratize the use of a snow park to make it both interesting and accessible for users aged three to 83,” explains its designer Simon Busque, snowboard on his feet, sliding between the Mitik modules.

Mr. Busque directs a team of ten individuals devoted exclusively to the resort’s snow parks, not counting the groomers. They continually maintain the mountain’s three parks and completely remake the modules every four to six weeks.

The new park replaces the former Évolution, which was judged to be too short and poorly located; it could be seen in the Rope Tow run under the Lowell Thomas lift. “We had a slightly too short park with nine small modules intended for learners and families, but which led out onto black or blue runs. It wasn’t ideal,” Simon Busque states.

The Mitik is almost two kilometres long and uses the Sissy Schuss Haut and Bas runs. It is made up of more than 25 small- and medium-sized modules, rolls, jumps, and a banked bordercross/skicross type course.

Close to 1300 users an hour

The Mitik, younger brother of the vertiginous Adrenaline park and more moderate Progression, on the South Side, begins a little below the top end of the Expo chair. It starts with a series of banked turns to get the user in the mood.

Then there are a few rolls, one after another, then some small box-type modules where we met rider Nathan Kidd, a Brit staying at Tremblant for the week.

“I’ve been coming here for a few years and this park is really much better than its predecessor,” he remarks. On a day following rain and refreezing, Nathan intended to spend the entire day in the Mitik.

Clearly, he was clearly not the only one because a large number of fans of all ages were using the Sissy Schuss at the time. “On good days, the park sees an average of 1300 people an hour, which places it at the top of the resort’s most-used sectors,” says Simon.

The Mitik continues with a second section of rolls where the resort has added 20 snow guns. It ends with a succession of boxes and jumps. It then joins Beauchemin Bas, which leads to the Expo and Duncan chairs.

Encountered in the jumps section, Geoffroy Dubreuil was with the freerider skiers he trains, from Mont-Tremblant’s Curé-Mercure high school. “What a great improvement,” he responded when we asked him what he thought of Mitik. “Its length allows the young people to get in a fair amount more mileage than before and to improve much more rapidly. Even the most seasoned riders like coming here to train,” he asserts.