For the 4th year in a row, USA and Canadian Estos trekked to Mont Tremblant on Feb 27th for a 3-day weekend of winter sports which included; skiing, snow-boarding, cross-country, tubing and of course apres-ski socializing.
The weekend kicked off with a major snowstorm on Thursday, adding travel time and stress that all seemed to melt away as Estos gathered for their usual Thursday night reunion at one of Tremblant’s cozy village pubs
By Friday, approximately 200 Estos had arrived at Mt Tremblant with the mix of participants being fairly evenly split between our friends from the north and USA Estos.
Esto group activities for the weekend included a Friday apres-ski function hosted by Eesti Spordiliit USA (Estonian American Amateur Athletes). The private Library Room at Sommet Des Neiges hotel overflowed with Estos who had a 3-hour+ opportunity to mingle and make new friends.
The traditional downhill ski race which took place on Saturday morning was sponsored by the Estonian Foundation of Canada (Eesti Sihtkapital Kanadas). There were 50 racers in total, the 2020 medal and trophy winners are noted below. This year, we also had approximately 15 Estos participate in a cross country ski outing which ended up as a friendly short course competition.
The Saturday evening Awards Party was lively and well attended. Once the medals and trophies were awarded, things kicked off with the usual perekonnavalss (led by Helle Hantho) and then launched into a dance party with music by Stefan Skonberg.
The strong turnout over the last 4 years seems to be mainly youth-driven and suggests that the Idaranniku Esto Suusapäevad tradition (58 years) will continue on via the next generation and hopefully beyond.
Along with my co-organizers Aini Maripuu, Mikk Jõgi, Erik Must, Marissa Karuks and Aleks Jõgi, we would like to thank everyone who attended this year’s ESTO Ski event. We’re looking forward to an even larger group next year and will be circulating a survey shortly to help determine where 2021 ski trip planning takes us, who knows, maybe year FIVE at Mont Tremblant?
In the meantime, hope to see you at one of the future Eesti Spordiliidu events on the calendar
