SKIERS AND SNOWBOARDERS WHO WANT TO SKI TREMBLANT CAN NOW SKI FOR FREE. TremblantInsider.com is offering free lift tickets to skiers and snowboarders of all ability levels who are willing to report on the ski conditions. For 5 years, TremblantInsider.com has provided daily video snow reports without any hype or exaggeration.  TremblantInsider.com has established itself as the leading source for unbiased information on all things Tremblant. New for the 2010/11 ski season, TremblantInsider.com wants day skiers to report on the conditions.  In exchange for providing a 90 second video report, skiers can ride free all day long. In order to get your free lift ticket, simply visit TremblantInsider.com and click and follow the instructions in the News section. Preference will be given to those who include week day dates as part of their availability.  A maximum of 7 free consecutive ski days will be given to any one applicant. Tickets will be distributed on a first come basis, and only 1 free ticket will be issued per day. As of the time of this press release, a free ski ticket is still available for opening day, scheduled for Thursday, November 25th.     Applicants must have a video camera or phone capable of filming and emailing the video snowreport.   INSTRUCTIONS:  Click on Forum at the top right of the screen.  If not already registered, register with the forum, and then send a Private Message to Skiracer specifying the days you would like to ski.

  Whistler Blackcomb Holdings, owner of the Whistler ski resort that hosted the the 2010 Winter Olympics, has raised 300 million Canadian dollars ($298 million) in an initial public offering. The 25 million shares sold on Tuesday by the company priced at 12 Canadian dollars each, below the original estimated range of 14 to 15 dollars. Intrawest Holdings, which owns the Whistler Blackcomb resorts in Canada, Squaw Valley in California, and Steamboat and Winter Park in Colorado, will be left with a 34 percent stake in the new company after the offering. Intrawest was bought by the Fortress Investment Group, the hedge fund and private equity firm, for $2.8 billion in 2006. But the leveraged buyout left the company with a $1.7 billion debt load and creditors threatened to foreclose on the company earlier this year after Intrawest missed a final payment on a $1.4 billion loan. Fortress reportedly tried to drum up interest in a private sale of the resort earlier this year, but was unsuccessful.

Sunday River opened for a couple of days before Halloween. Now they've reopened and so has Killington.  Mont Saint Sauveur is blowing snow and might be the next hill to open on the east coast.   Tremblant isn't scheduled to open until American Thanksgiving, but for those of us that can't wait, we're starting to get options within driving distance...

It is still October, but snow is on the slopes.  By mid day today, the snow still hadn't melted.  There's only about 1 inch on the ground, but it was enough to get visitors to Tremblant thinking about skiing.  Opening day isn't forecast for three and a half weeks, but let's hope mother nature cooperates and Tremblant can get a jump on things.