All are awesome courses and great family venues. Whistler is the toughest of these courses but hands down the best family venue AND if you travel from Florida you have the added bonus of spending a few days in Vancouver...although spending a few days in MOntreal after Tremblant is awesome too. I have lived in both cities and would vote for Vancouver. I can drive to both LP and Tremblant and just got done in Whistler and my family is already voting Whistler. Also read the Whistler and Tremblant Q+A threads we have going on in the forum.

I'm also a poor-climbing flatlander but have done all 3.. as Dev said, all are great venues. From a family perspective, if you're in the village, I felt like MT was a little more "compact" in terms of family activities, while Whistler was more spread out. Also, IM seemed to be the focus of activities in the MT village, while at Whistler, it felt like the race was just one of a bunch of interesting things going on. Lodging definitely seemed cheaper/easier at Whistler.

In terms of the course, Whistler was the toughest for me by far; I had a PW of about 90 minutes at last year's race. All that being said, I'd choose Whistler over Mont-Tremblant by a hair. It's an absolutely spectacular part of the world, and I'll definitely be back. Hopefully after finding a few more hills to train on first.

whats the downside of LP vs the other 2 mentioned? Was it price, the village or the course?

I would say the only downsides of LP are price of hotels and if you are flying in, LP is harder to get to than Tremblant or Whistler. Other than that, I think LP is a must do race. I have done LP 11x, Tremblant 3x, Whistler 2x. For me, Whistler wins overall.

I did Whistler this year, and did Tremblant as my first in 2013. I've also ridden Placid a number of times, and was there last year when my girlfriend did it. We don't have kids, so I have no idea about family activities, but I found Tremblant to be a much better race experience. The village is much smaller, so it gets taken over by the race, and there is a buzz everywhere. In Whistler we ran in to a lot of locals who weren't thrilled the race was taking over the highway on Sunday. Also Tremblant seems to knock all the little details out of the park. For example at Tremblant I remember there being a huge spread of food, but in Whistler there was only pizza and cookies when I finished, plus none of the volunteers in the finish area, medical, or massage seemed to know where the food was (not that it's their responsibility). Placid is a great experience too, but it can be really expensive to find somewhere to stay. It actually cost less for the two of us to fly to Whistler, rent a car, and stay in the village (the expo was right outside our door), than accommodations in Placid.

You can't lose with any of the 3, but for the best race experience I'd go Tremblant.

I was looking into this recently and came across this post which had some good comparisons (dear slowtwitch, this came up in a google search, im not on this site)

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=476712

LP 11x, wow! Congrats

Between MTB and LP...IMHO MTB blows it away, especially if there is family/kids involved-stay in the village, everything is there, the food crushes LP, $$ I think its a push exchange rate is 1:1.29 now so if you're USD you'll enjoy that 30% of course that can change--my family enjoyed MTB more than LP (wife,16yr old girl and 10yr old boy)--that being said LP doesn't suck, MTB just was "nicer"...

Simple response, Mont Tremblant.

If its a family destination race then you should be deciding between Canada vs MT. Your girls will enjoy these two spots much more than Placid. Also expenses-wise the Canadian dollar is so bloody weak that you are likely getting your accomodations at ~30 % off next year. Dont understand why you would even consider getting gouged in Placid if you could just travel a couple more hours North to Tremblant for the 'discounted' hotel rooms and food



.

have taken my kids to Tremblant 2x...
MT has no minimum night stay requirement, if you stay in the village, it is really ez with kids. there are lots of great activities, climbing courses, mini golf, fun park on the mountain, etc. Plenty of things to keep the kids busy with. The town & the region have really embraced endurance sports and the vibe of the volunteers stores and everyone is positive, and the French flavor is kinda fun also.

the roads are like butter and the course is more rolling than LP..
1.5 hr drive on a highway from Montreal airport makes it ez to get to as well..

I think all three are really worthy, (though i've never been to whistler), Mont Tremblant is a fantastic venue.

winchester wrote:

whats the downside of LP vs the other 2 mentioned? Was it price, the village or the course?

Here is my background with the three venues:

IMLP 11x racing, 30x or more training
Tremblant 8x racing, 7x training
Whistler 2x racing, 3x holiday/training

Lake Placid

• Best course of the three in my view that balances difficulty/easiness/lack of drafting
• Pavement quality is good again aside from a few sections
• Worst price gouging for hotels
• Hardest to get to if you fly, easy to get to if you drive from North East cities
• IM takes over the town but there are distractions other than IM like hiking, bobled run, Whiteface mountain, fishing, hiking
• Most hotels in walking distance to race venue
• Perhaps the BEST finish line in triathlon. Better than Kona coming into the oval
• LP sells out early....it is within 50M people who can drive
• LP is the most crowded course
• After the race in LP you can extend vacation in the Adirondacks, Lake Champlain area or Vermont within a short drive

Tremblant

• Best race organization of the three
• Smoothest pavement, hard riding at the end of each loop
• You can't beat Quebec culture when it comes to events....they just know how to do events. Quebec just knows how to run a party. This is probably the best IM "party" in North America.
• Most drafting of the three. On the highway 117 on loop 1, the Tour de France/IM Florida affect is in full view. Loop 2 is much better on drafting, but still annoying.
• Best family venue for kids under 10
• IM takes over the town, but there is some other stuff to do hiking and mountain biking on the mountain
• Hotels are fair priced, accomodations are easy access to race venue. Many places with no minimum stay
• Tremblant has no grocery store on the mountain. It does not have Starbucks, it does not have Subway, it does not have McDonalds....I know some of you won't care, but for others, easy food options
• Tremblant does not even have a Tim Hortons on the mountain....WTF this is Canada (OK, it's Quebec, but get real....)
• Tremblant does sell out, but a bit later than LP. It is in driving distance from around 25M so does eventually sell out so don't wait forever
• Tremblant is moderately crowded relative to LP
• You can vacation in Montreal or Ottawa after the race. Both great places to visit. I grew up in Montreal....can't beat partying there.

Whistler

• hardest race course with close to zero drafting. Pavement quality is good. Scenery is beyond stunning on a sunny day.
• Race organization is good, but with a two transition set up, more painful for families with young kids
• Resort is like Tremblant but on Steroids+EPO+HGH. Whistler is a world class mountain resort in the same group as Vail, Chamonix, St. Anton etc....everything else is wannabee. You gotta take the Peak to Peak Gondola between Whistler and Blackcomb
• There are a zillion things to do in Whistler outside of IM. I find I like that, and my family certainly does....hikes, rides up the mountain, tubing on the river
• Lots of real restaurants and a real grocery store on the mountain. Every chain fast food place is there
• You have the Sea to Sky Highway in and out of Vancouver....that alone is beyond awesome and many people fly from Japan, China and Europe, just to see some of that
• Weather like all three resorts can range from crazy heat wave to insane cold. Whistler will never get too humid like LP and Tremblant. But Whistler can get insanely cold like we had this year. That was 3 days of freak weather in an otherwise all sunny summer
• Whistler does not sell out generally. It is just too far from 50M who can drive over quickly. You could register until Sunday 7 days before this year's race
• Whistler is least crowded on course
• Vancouver itself is a reason to come over to Canada. There is a ton of stuff to do there post race.

In the following categories all three are a wash:

• Run courses are all pretty hard overall compared to flat IMs
• Volunteers are all three are beyond awesome
• All over 1900m or more of climbing on the bike
• All have really awesome lake swims with crystal clear water
• All have tough competition but which IM does not

I know I am missing a lot on each, but that's about as much as I am willing to type right now.

Thanks for all the intel on the courses. I think we've settled on Whistler, though after the race this past weekend I'm thinking us Floridians have no business going up there ;-) Since I'm not one to shy away from pain and suffering, bring it on, I guess! We're going to research a little more as far as accommodations and travel before committing to anything, but I think the family will be visiting Whistler next summer.

Thanks again for all the info, Dev. Congrats on gutting out #30 this past weekend!

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"It's too dangerous and expensive to ride with d*ckheads" -tridork

Very thourough & very helpful. Thank you!

Awesome if you are going to Whistler. Lots of good accomodations for families. We stayed at the Delta Whistler Suites. Not cheap, but worth it and with the 30 percent discount on the $$$ CDN it won't be that bad. The front desk also gave me a coupon code for IM week reservations for 25% off that I can post on here later when I get home. As a bare minimum this will be a way cheaper trip than Zurich. Make sure you plan to spend some time in Vancouver on the way back home.

Awesome! The discount code would be great. Anything will be cheaper than Zurich! It was beautiful, but crazy expensive. I know you don't have the fondest memories of Zurich, and though I don't know you personally, I definitely thought of you when I was descending on the bike course. Thanks again!

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"It's too dangerous and expensive to ride with d*ckheads" -tridork

I've done Lake Placid, and I'm thinking of doing Tremblant next year, and have a couple of questions:

What are the downhills like in MT compared to Lake Placid? I don't mind climbing, but I really hate that descent to Keene in LP!

I don't speak any French and my experiences with tourists from Quebec here in the States is that they generally seem to speak little to no English. How is the language issue, both during the race with the volunteers and in the town before/after the race?

take into account the 20% discount when buying Canadian Race entry due to Canadian dollar! IMMT is also slightly cheaper at a 1:1 ratio for its race entry. so you're saving some $150 to $170 registering for IMMT. And accomodation is way cheaper than LP.

I love LP. Its stunning. so if price is not option and you're an American to begin with go for it.

PS: remember, to come to Canada all family members need a passport.

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@rhyspencer

I have done both Placid and Tremblant. I am an average descender. The first descent at AmZof scares the heck out of me. Not a technical downhill at Tremblant, but that does not mean that you shouldn't pre ride the last out and back. Short, steep uphills followed by short down into another steep but short uphill. I wish I pre rode that part of the course just to get my shifting down. Also a net uphill on that short section with a net down hill on the return so you naturally carry some speed into those uphills coming back to the village. At least as I remember it.

I could be wrong, but I feel that Placid is a course you need to be familiar with prior to the race. Saw so many people coasting down some hills on the back side when they had enough gears left to peddle and keep momentum for the next uphill.

Language isn't an issue at all. Been there twice, my wife doesn't speak French at all and the only time she had an issue was with one lady in a liquor store. Everyone else spoke English.

For some reason the discount code did not work on line. I called the Delta Suites Whistler directly (look them up on Google) and tell the reception that you want to reserve for the Ironman. I got a check in Thu, check out Mon for a King bedroom suite with Kitchenette for $255,285, 285, 255 for the 4 nites. You don't have to pay anything until 48 hours before arrival. This place is around 100m for the IM village and finish line and 200m from T2. At least we have the place that my family likes and now I have to get over the trauma of a frozen race (which is much better than the trauma of smashing your head into a brick wall in Switzerland). They can't have two freezing rain years in a row can they?

Until you get sent to the emergency room at the hospital in Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts for a bleeding head wound at 11pm on a Friday night and the language barrier was sort of a problem. The receptionist spoke about five words of English.... notably "hello" and "I don't speak English." My French was about as good as her English. Not one sign was in English. The nurse spoke English at a level to which we could at least communicate and the doctor spoke English at a level only slightly above the receptionist.

They treated me well though. They were slow as shit like any ER in the States. I left basically having no idea what that was going to cost me. I just handed them my AMEX card and waited for the bill. The free Canadian healthcare system is apparently not free to Americans. :-)

Around the village area at MT and even for the week after in Montreal we had very little communication issues. We stopped at some restaurant on the drive between Montreal and MT and not one person in there spoke English. It made ordering quite an ordeal with my picky eating 9 year old kid, and my vegetarian wife.

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

Well now I'm curious as a Canadian: What did it cost? If you don't want to say, did it cost more/less than a comparable visit in the states? Was the billing process satisfactory?

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STAC Zero Trainer - Zero noise, zero tire contact, zero moving parts. Suffer in Silence starting fall 2016

They charged my credit card some absurd amount up front. I think it was $2000 or $2500. Kind of like a retainer. They refunded me the difference for what they didn't charge. I think I got about half of it back. This was August 2014 when the USD and CAD were closer in value. The process went more smooth than I thought it would. I think I received the refund about two or three weeks later.

As for cost... not sure if it was more or less than similar service in the US because I've never paid cash for a medical visit in the US as everything has always gone through my medical insurance provider.

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One