Friday presented the excellent opportunity to do some great skiing with some great people. NHpowderhound, Sledhaulingmedic, and I converged on Jay Peak on Friday for an exciting afternoon of skiing. We essentially witnessed the official start to the Spring Skiing season as the snow consistency was mainly wet consolidated snow. Temperatures are not yet warm enough for the upcoming slush fest, but loose powder was no where to be found as the thermometer was definitely way above the freezing mark.

After introductions at the Stateside lodge, we boarded the Bonaventure Quad and took a warm up run down to the Jet Triple. We probably could have used another warm up run to get the legs pumping, but adventure awaited and we would not be deterred by slowly moving limbs. We entered the trees and ate up some delicious open lines with very nice but soft snow. With legs burning and hearts pumping, we fired off a quick groomer run down The Jet before hitting Kitzbeuhel and woods en route to the lodge to strip off some layers.

Back on the Bonaventure Quad, we skied Goat down to Buck Woods which skied delightfully though was thin in places. A quick trip up the Flyer (with low winds!) yielded impressive and delightful soft snow and ample coverage in Beaver Pond Glade. Another trip up the Freezer had us heading back to the lodge for a quick refuel and clothing adjustment via a few hairy woods trails.

Back over on the Jet, we had several excellent runs including a top to bottom bumper on U.N. which was a little sketch up top, but soon developed nearly hero snow soft bumps with excellent lines. I worked on some rapid fire piston pumping turns down skier’s left. Two more trips into Timbuktu revealed awesome lines that we were loving every minute of but drained us to the point of exhaustion. I announced just after 3 P.M. that I felt my turns were getting sloppy due to my fatigue and wanted to call it quits. The guys decided they would also call it a day. We finished out on Kitzbuehel through the woods then through more woods before returning to the Stateside Lodge.

The turns were excellent and so was the company. I always enjoy meeting other passionate skiers who are skilled and enjoy the terrain that I do. I had skied with Sledhaulingmedic before but this was my first time skiing with NHpowderhound. Hopefully we will all be seeing each other again as the ski areas wind down while the Backcountry Scene starts gearing up. Or if not this season, I am sure I will be seeing these guys again next season. Great turns, great terrain, great company… you can’t ask for anything more. Okay, I lied. I could always ask for a Foot of Fresh.