Mont-Tremblant

The Algonquins lived in these hills before European settlement and gave the mountain its name: they described it as rumbling and swaying underfoot, and the French called it mont Tremblant, the trembling mountain. Colonisation began in 1872 under the parish priest Antoine Labelle, who promoted settlement of the Laurentians, and the parish was formally established in 1879. Farming and logging were the main livelihoods. A railway line from Montreal reached the village of Saint-Jovite in 1892 and was extended to Lac Mercier in 1904, and Mont-Tremblant grew around the new station; a hydroelectric dam built in 1905 brought electricity, first to Saint-Jovite.

Skiing changed the town. In 1938 Joseph Bondurant Ryan, a wealthy American from Philadelphia prospecting for gold, climbed the mountain on skis with the journalist Lowell Thomas and resolved to build an alpine village. His ski lodge opened on 12 February 1939 with the resort's first chairlift, and he built the Saint-Bernard chapel at the foot of the slopes in 1940–41. After his death in 1950 his widow ran the resort until 1965, when it was sold to Quebec entrepreneurs. Intrawest bought it in 1991 and rebuilt the pedestrian village in a style recalling traditional Quebec, with new lifts and a gondola, and Alterra Mountain Company has owned it since 2018.

The present municipality took shape through mergers: in 2002 Saint-Jovite town and parish, Mont-Tremblant and Lac-Tremblant-Nord combined, and Lac-Tremblant-Nord separated again in 2006.

Mont-Tremblant is a French-speaking town whose life revolves around a resort that draws visitors in every season, so French and English are both heard in the village. Skiing is the local culture as much as an industry: Ryan's son Peter, named to the Canadian Olympic ski team before switching to motor racing, is buried beside the chapel his father built.

Motor sport is the town's other tradition. Circuit Mont-Tremblant, originally known as Circuit Mont-Tremblant–St-Jovite, is the second-oldest racing circuit in Canada, has hosted Formula One, Can-Am and Champ Car races, and is set in the hills near the ski area. The town has also hosted Ironman triathlon races, and the Tremblant International Blues Festival is one of the larger blues festivals in Canada.

Outdoor life sets the rhythm in every season: skiing, snowshoeing and dog sledding in winter, and in summer cycling on the old railway line, canoeing and swimming in the lakes, golf and hiking in the national park, which in 2023 was designated a dark-sky preserve.

Mont-Tremblant had about 11,000 residents at the 2021 census, up 14 per cent from 2016. Of its 8,783 private dwellings, 5,408 were occupied by usual residents, a sign of how many chalets and condos serve visitors and part-time owners.

Tourism is the economy. The ski resort, its hotels and condos, restaurants, shops, golf courses, the racing circuit and outdoor outfitters employ much of the population, and the work follows the seasons, with peaks in winter and summer and quieter months between. Agriculture and logging, the old livelihoods, now play a small part.

Residents live mainly in Saint-Jovite, the town's commercial centre, and around the old village and the many lakes, while the resort village is dominated by visitors. The town has French-language elementary schools, a high school, a vocational training centre and a college campus, and English-language schools are in neighbouring towns. A local bus service links Saint-Jovite, the town's downtown, with the resort.

The town eats in the Québécois tradition, with resort cooking on top. Poutine, fries with cheese curds and gravy, is a staple of snack bars, and tourtière, the spiced meat pie, and split-pea soup belong to the older Quebec kitchen. Maple appears everywhere, from syrup sold in the village shops to sugar-shack treats such as tire d'érable, hot syrup set on snow, in early spring.

In the pedestrian village, restaurants cater to skiers and holidaymakers: Savoyard fondue and raclette for cold evenings, crêperies, pizza, grills and pubs, and cafeterias and a summit lodge on the mountain itself. The town's Microbrasserie La Diable brews its own beers and serves hearty food, and after a day on the slopes the après-ski bars at the foot of the lifts fill up.

Away from the resort, Saint-Jovite has supermarkets, bakeries and everyday restaurants used by residents, and many visitors staying in condos and chalets cook for themselves with produce bought there. Quebec cheeses, local beers and ice cider made from frozen apples are sold in the shops.