Cross blocking skills were not optional in the trees at Jay this weekend. All of Jay’s Stateside glades are open excepting Deliverance and Canyonland. But I was more excited about having so much off map tree skiing available. Cautious exuberance, with poles held high, yielded an exceptional amount of tree skiing. There is no doubt about it: stick season is officially open at Jay.

Three first chair line ups were available for powder hounds with the Jet and Freezer delayed. I Milked It twice off the Bonnie before grabbing fourth chair up the Jet. Milk Run had surfy wind blow on skier’s right (very strange) whereas Haynes had surfy wind blow on Skier’s left (other side?). If you weren’t skiing the favored edge, you weren’t having a very good ski at all.

I dropped into many of my favorites and my excitement was checked by reality: tree twacking makes it difficult to fully enjoy the untracked. But beggers can’t be choosers so I went bushwhacking with full abandon. While skiing a particular tree shot, I imagined it being a wide open intermediate groomer. I shudder to think that Jay would be so changeable despite the signs suggesting otherwise.

It was cold. Damn cold. I bailed out on the powder freenzy after two hours due to cold toes. After a warm up, I got back at it. But by noon, it was mostly sloppy seconds and my toes were cold again. While packing up, I noticed that the increased parking spaces Stateside had an adverse effect: the already packed building felt more like a tram car than a lodge. With standing room only and elbows bumping, I was forced to change under the stairs outside the gift shop without a chair. Growing pains for sure.