
Mont Blanc
62 hectares, 43 runs near Saint-Faustin. Three connected summits, family-owned, quiet Laurentians skiing.
Mont Blanc's summit reaches 580 metres, dropping 210 vertical metres to a base at 370 metres across 43 runs spread over roughly 62 hectares near Saint-Faustin, Quebec. Terrain splits 42 per cent advanced, 26 per cent intermediate, 19 per cent beginner and 13 per cent expert, with average annual snowfall of roughly 3.5 metres. Seven lifts, including three quad chairs and two double chairs, serve the mountain alongside two surface lifts.
Mont Blanc holds a genuinely distinctive place among Laurentians resorts as a family-owned mountain spread across three connected summits, offering considerable terrain variety just south of the much larger Mont Tremblant. Its heavily advanced-weighted terrain and comparatively quiet slopes have built the resort's reputation as something of an overlooked option among Laurentians skiers.
The Dufour family of Saint-Faustin had previously operated a cable lift at the site for years, serving guests of the Hôtel Le Montagnard, before Gustave-Maurice Paquin purchased the property in 1957. Paquin, a keen skier who had given lessons to wealthy American visitors to Quebec City as a Laval University law student in the early 1940s and had built ski lifts in Utah, Colorado and California, founded the modern resort.
American lawyer Phillip Robinson and a group of investors purchased the mountain in 1976, a transaction widely regarded as the resort's real beginning. The Robinson family annexed the adjacent Mont-Faustin in 1981 and added a third summit, Mont-Blanc Nord, with ten new trails in 1991. Robinson's sons, William and Michael, continue to run the resort today. Adult daily tickets run at a flat 72 Canadian dollars.
Mont Blanc spreads 43 runs across 153 acres skiable of terrain. It leans advanced at 42%, with 8 beginner runs to find your feet and 24 advanced or expert runs when you want to push.
The 2025-26 season at Mont Blanc ran from 4 December 2025 to 12 April 2026, a roughly nineteen-week season supported by average annual snowfall of around 3.5 metres. Season dates can shift depending on early and late-season weather in the Laurentians.
Midwinter, from December through February, typically brings the most consistent conditions to Mont Blanc's advanced-weighted terrain across three summits. As a family-owned resort, Mont Blanc draws considerable value-focused visitation given its comparatively quiet slopes relative to nearby Mont Tremblant.
Mont Blanc's extensive snowmaking coverage continues to support consistent conditions throughout the season across all three connected peaks. School holiday periods bring family visitation given the resort's varied terrain mix and comparatively approachable pricing.
Specific event programming beyond standard operations is not confirmed in available resort information. Since Phillip Robinson's family took ownership in 1976, Mont Blanc has continued building on nearly seven decades of history since Gustave-Maurice Paquin's 1957 founding. The resort's family ownership and three-summit terrain remain central to its enduring, if understated, appeal in the Laurentians.
Mont Blanc sits near Saint-Faustin, Quebec, in the Laurentians, with a base elevation of 370 metres and a summit at 580 metres across a 210-metre vertical drop over roughly 62 hectares spread across three connected summits. This setting places the resort just south of the considerably larger Mont Tremblant.
The municipality of Mont-Blanc and the nearby town of Saint-Faustin-Lac-Carré offer lodging and dining within a short drive of the resort.
Route 117 provides direct access to the resort from Montreal, the same corridor used to reach Mont Tremblant further north. Winter driving conditions on this route can include snow and ice, though the well-travelled road is regularly maintained given its status as the primary Laurentians corridor.
Montreal-Trudeau International Airport, roughly a 90-minute drive away, is the primary gateway for visitors flying into the region, with Mont Blanc's position along the same corridor as Mont Tremblant supporting straightforward access for Laurentians-bound travellers.
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We knew when the Bird Bath Pond Skim showed up on Hotham's Instagram that the season was on its way out. It's been a rough one - I only managed two days on snow all year, at Falls Creek - and now Baw Baw, Selwyn and Hotham have all called it, possibly the worst Australian season I've seen in a decade. Hotham's last day of lift operations is Sunday, 6 September, with a Retro Day, Father's Day après and closing sales before the lifts stop turning for good.

Thredbo Alpine Resort has confirmed plans to replace its 37-year-old Gunbarrel quad chairlift with a new six-seat Doppelmayr D-Line, targeting winter 2028. The AUD 35 million project will keep travel time roughly the same but lift capacity from 2,800 to 3,000 skiers per hour. It's part of a broader investment push that also includes doubled snowmaking capacity at Friday Flat for 2027, with the ageing Kosciuszko Express now flagged as the resort's next major lift replacement after Gunbarrel.

An aerial tram carrying around fifty passengers struck the boom of a construction crane on the route to Pic Blanc at Alpe d'Huez on Wednesday morning, injuring 23 people, three seriously. The cabin tipped on impact before the operator reversed it to right the car. Most of the injured were treated on site, with five taken to hospital in Grenoble, including a pregnant woman assessed as a precaution.

A deadly flood on the Nepal-China border, a decade-old tragedy on Italy's Marmolada, and an unstable glacier right now above a village near Zermatt - three very different mountain ranges, the same underlying story. Warming ice is destabilising terrain that was considered settled for generations, and the results range from catastrophic floods to slow-motion monitoring situations that could go either way.

Tyrol's highest ski area is gearing up to open a full month ahead of most of the Alps. The Pitztal Glacier is scheduled to start its 2026/27 season on Saturday 26 September, running through to 2 May 2027, with the lower-altitude Rifflsee area following in December. High-altitude terrain up to 3,440 metres gives the glacier a head start on snow, though as always, the actual opening extent will depend on how September's weather plays out. Early online ski pass bookings can save up to 30%.

A hanging glacier above the Swiss village of Randa, just south of Zermatt, has been shedding large chunks of ice for weeks, with authorities warning more break-offs are likely. A danger zone has been closed off since June, though officials say the village's 479 residents aren't at risk. It's a familiar pattern for this glacier - it's done this before, in 1819, 1972 and 1973 - but a reminder of how closely Alpine authorities now watch terrain once considered stable.

Thredbo is officially 'on the table.' EVT Limited, owner of Australia's most decorated ski resort, has hired Rothschild & Co to review its entire corporate structure - and confirmed Thredbo isn't off limits, even as it books a stronger year of earnings. The resort's own valuation has nearly halved after a brutal 2026 season, and speculation is already running toward Vail Resorts, Alterra, or a New Zealand operator picking it up. Here's what EVT actually said, and who could buy it.
Mont Blanc runs seven lifts: two double chairs and three quad chairs, serving 43 runs across roughly 62 hectares spread across three connected summits, alongside two surface lifts. This network has developed considerably since Phillip Robinson's family took ownership in 1976.
The lift network expanded following the 1981 annexation of the adjacent Mont-Faustin and again after the 1991 addition of a third summit, Mont-Blanc Nord, which brought ten new trails into the resort's terrain.
The quad chairs now distribute skiers efficiently across Mont Blanc's heavily advanced-weighted terrain, spread across the resort's three connected peaks, while the double chairs and surface lifts serve more moderate sections.
Under the Robinson family's ongoing operation since 1976, continued investment has supported this seven-lift network according to the family's own priorities. Specific recent individual lift replacement projects are not confirmed in available resort information. Mont Blanc's three-summit lift network remains well suited to its considerable terrain variety for a comparatively compact resort.
More Mont Blanc intelligence: trail map, snow report, webcams, resort overview.