Alpine Canada hoping Tremblant World Cup becomes fixture after successful weekend

Alpine Canada president and chief executive officer Therese Brisson gives Mont-Tremblant's first World Cup event in 40 years a "10-on-10" rating — and hopes it's here to stay.

Fans surrounded the finish line and filled the streets at the centre village this weekend, cheering for all 61 racers during two giant slalom races at the Laurentians ski resort.

Over 15,000 total spectators attended the races on Saturday and Sunday, making it the second most-attended women's World Cup event after Killington, Vt., according to Brisson.

"Who wouldn't be happy about this?" said Brisson from the hill Sunday. "Yeah, we'd love to make this a permanent venue for years and years to come."

WATCH | Canada's Grenier finishes 6th at Mont-Tremblant:

Tremblant, which hosted its first alpine World Cup race in 1983, replaced the traditional downhills at Lake Louise, Alta., as the only women's stop in Canada on the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) calendar this year.

By all accounts, the new location made a strong first impression.

"The athletes are thrilled, the coaches are super happy," said Brisson. "What they really appreciate is the fans understand ski racing, they're cheering every racer right down to the 61st racer. That's unique.

"They're thrilled by being able to take 10 steps to the lift, it's great for the athletes. So I think the FIS is pretty excited about the potential of this."

Alpine Canada announced two more giant slalom races are scheduled next year from Dec. 6-8. Although Tremblant also features on the FIS long-term calendar for the 2025-26 season, that won't be confirmed until next year.

Valerie Grenier, a past World Cup giant slalom gold medallist and Canada's top skier on the weekend, is from St. Isidore,