Jay Peak opened for the season on Friday November 24th turning The Jet Triple Chair with The Jet as the only open trail. Due to family functions related to Thanksgiving, I could not make Jay’s opening day but was sure to get in on the action Saturday afternoon. After sleeping in and whacking off around the house in the morning, I got a late start and caught my first lift of the season around 10:30a. By then the top of The Jet had been scrapped down to a sheet of frozen snow that only the racers could cut an edge through. Lower Jet was in the sun light and offered decent fast carved turns. But the real action was under the lift on The Jet where I found loose snow, moguls, thin cover, and frozen balls and boulders of snow making sludge. An interesting mix to say the least. I took this option on all of my eight runs much to the dismay of my back and legs. First moguls of the year are always a bitter sweet experience. Even after seven days of earning turns, the first day working a mogul field uses completely different muscles and the earlier turn earning was no assistance in developing those muscle groups. Conditions under the lift were quickly deterorating after noon as most skiers of a proficient level realized that was were the nice soft snow was. By run number eight, the conditions had gone from suck to blow and my body was too sore for further punishment, so I called it a day. Day number eight marks the worst snow conditions I have skied to date this season and hopefully the worst snow conditions for the entire season, with any luck. The last four days have progressively gotten worse and it is no surprised that my first day of lift serviced skiing sucked so bad given the limited terrain and marginal snow making temperatures resulting in low quality faux sneaux. Despite having a pass to Jay Peak and living only one hour away from the mountain, I opted to take a hike in the White Mountains on Sunday. My first day of lift serviced skiing was just that bad.