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Today was my friend's birthday, and what better way to celebrate than riding down the mountain! Bromont opened the Versant du Village on Saturday, and I was excited to try some new terrain after having spent the previous 15 sessions at Saint-Sauveur. As I was having a long day at the office, I didn't arrive until quite late, with everyone else arriving about a half hour before me. I arrived about 8:30pm and headed to the office to activate my Option nord-est pass which is the Bromont add-on to the Sommet Saint-Sauveur Passe Parfait. Each year, the system of delivering these passes seems to generate some confusion and I was initially told I needed to recuperate my pass at Saint-Sauveur, before they figured out I had my Saint-Sauveur pass and was there to activate my Bromont pass (Bromont also offers a reciprocal deal where you pay $70 for an option to ski Saint-Sauveur). Once I had my pass sorted out, I got ready and headed to the lift. The temperature was a bit more moderate than at Saint-Sauveur, and by the time I arrived, much of the wind gusting that we'd seen earlier in the day in the city had subsided. I met up with everyone, and we hopped on the chair of the chondola. We did about four fast runs, opting to take the gondola on the last run. Getting off the chondola at Bromont is a bit weird, because you go around the bullwheel before the door opens, unlike most other gondolas where you get off before going around the bullwheel. To note, the chondola is much quicker than the quad used to be and is a nice, smooth ride. Conditions were a bit icy/crusty in spots but with decent coverage from the snowmaking that has been ongoing. There was practically no one on the mountain at that hour so we had the runs to ourselves! Pretty sure we did Brome, Knowlton, Bedford, and Coupe du Monde. Even having already done 15 days of skiing at Saint-Sauveur, the long runs at Bromont definitely work the legs a bit more! Unfortunately my phone is full so I wasn't able to get any snaps of the mountain. Afterwards however, we went to the West Shefford Brasserie at Edgar Hyperlodge for apres birthday celebrating, the stout is pretty delicious! I did catch this snap of the toasty fire they have out front. I'll post more snaps during my next trip to Bromont!

Bromont has just announced their Altitude investment project, with a video highlighting the new summit lodge, as well as the new lift that will be installed to replace the #4 lift on Versant du Village. After earlier discussions that the lift would be a six-passenger chairlift, it is now announced that it will be a 6-passenger chairlift / 8-passenger gondola Hybrid lift. In total, more than $25 million in improvements. More water slides and zip lines are also shown in the promotional video. Also mentioned are improvements to the main chalet on Versant du Village and to the one on Versant du Lac. The new waterslide will open in June this year. The new lift will be built by Doppelmayr and open in time for the next ski season 2018-19. The summit chalet will start construction this fall to open the following ski season 2019-20. Here is the official press release on the announcement. https://www.slopeedge.net/content/investments-of-more-than-25-million-at-the-ski-resort-bromont-montagne-d-experiences

Chairlift #4 (the main detachable quad on the Versant du Village) has been out of service since Tuesday/Wednesday last week. The cause is vibrations/oscillations and noise from the bull wheel at the summit. Not wanting to take any chances, the lift is being inspected to determine the cause and repaired. Already the bull wheel has been removed and moved to the base of the mountain for repairs. You can see more in this great video Bromont created about what's going on, attached below. Earlier on this winter, the Quebec government announced support and investment into Bromont, which included some funding for a new six-pack chairlift. No doubt, this lift is for the Versant du Village, to replace the #4 lift. While no further details have come out, and due to the fact that they also mention at the time a summit chalet will be constructed in the near future, it is possible that this new lift could be a Hybrid lift like at Orford, consisting of six-pack chairs and gondola cabins. Either way, let's hope this all comes to pass over the summer and fall so that skiers are treated to a more reliable lift. The #4 lift is the primary lift of the mountain and among the absolute first generation of detachable quad chairlifts. It has served it's time and has reached the point of replacement. What are your thoughts? Have you heard any rumors or have any news to share?

Yesterday the Quebec provincial government announced $7.5 million in investments to allow improvement to 4 Quebec ski areas. Orford will receive $3 million, to allow it to improve it's snowmaking system, to have event infrastructure to allow four-season activities, as well as the modernization and expansion of the main chalet, which will have a terrace added. Bromont receives $1.5 million, to allow it to move ahead with its 2017-2023 plan. Improvements to snowmaking, and expansion of the beginner slope. Improvements to other trails and the addition of night skiing to others. There is also mention of plans to replace the main Versant du Village detachable chairlift with something of higher capacity. Sutton receives $1.6 million, which will allow it to improve snowmaking and grooming of trails, as well as adding a loading carpet to the #4 quad chair. They also mention improvements to the four season activity offerings. At Vallée du Parc (in Mauricie) received $1.5 million, which among other things will allow the replacement of the t-bar with a new quad chairlift. Snowmaking, trail, night skiing, and chalet improvements were also announced. Here is a link to some news on what's to come at Bromont. They mention the summit chalet may hover around 200 seats, and also be the home to the ski patrol. Also mentioned is that a new six-passenger detachable lift will replace the existing high-speed quad that dates to 1985, and it will be constructed by Doppelmayr. https://www.lavoixdelest.ca/actualites/deux-projets-majeurs-pour-bromont-montagne-dexperiences-0838189cde21ec7ff87eaec4beef3700