After a dismal meltdown that included a few rain/freeze cycles, most New England ski areas were below fifty percent open and skiing groomed runs only. My solution to the problem was to take last weekend off from skiing and put in some extra hours at work over the weekend. Contrary to popular belief, a bad day of skiing is not better than a good day at the office. This past week brought winter back with a shot of cold and two small snow storms. Jay was a beneficiary of that snow to the tune of about eight to twelve inches total.
Today was my first day skiing Jay in three weeks. Jay weathers thaws better than most New England mountains due to its deep base and comparative best chances at regaining snow back. Glade skiing in all but Northern Vermont are probably done for a while. But I was able to pick up right where I left off three weeks ago. Granted the base depth was slight lower and featured a firm crust under the dust.
Groomers were absolutely phenomenal in the morning. Very atypical for Jay to have such wonderful groomed conditions but the wind was calm, the weather cold, and the snow fresh. I couldn’t help but rip a full half run down Haynes before ducking into the woods. Too good to pass up, but not good enough to do more than half a run, if you get my “drift.”
Woods skiing Started out rather tentative where I found a minimum of six inches and perhaps as much as eight inches consistently with occasional drifts up to boot deep. The powder was light and the crust layer underneath was fast. Tentative speed checking turns in the steeper glades were par for course. Steeper trees were quickly abandoned in favor of low angle delights which rocked it all morning long.
The holiday weekend crowd was in full effect at Jay, much the same as my last visit on December 29th. The singles line for the Jet was wrapping uphill towards the intersection of U.N.and The Jet by 10:30. I knew the line would reduce in length by noon time, but it was enough to sour my interest on staying past lunch. Untracked was still easily found on my last run just before noon, but it was not worth the effort of the hike. Untracked lines on the more well known stuff were quickly being reduced leaving slim pickings for afternoon skiing.
Overall, better than expected but not quite as good as I had hoped. That will learn me for getting hopes up more than acceptable expectations, which were met and exceeded. No wind meant the cold temperatures were not a factor. Good start to the weekend, but I figured I would save up some juice for the next two days.