What is a Jay Day? It is one of those days when everything goes right. When you change your plans after assessing the situation and score some great turns. It doesn’t have to be the deepest day. It doesn’t have to be a foot of blower. It is one of those days at Jay that you don’t easily forget.

I left home this morning looking for more than a ski day. I was looking for perspective and I wasn’t expecting to find it. Halfway through a stay-cation intended to refresh and rejuvenate, I was feeling deep ennui. Something wasn’t right, my mind was out of sorts. Given that the previous two ski days didn’t help, I assumed this trip to Jay was just going through the motions. What else would I do all day?

The difference between Jay today and Mansfield on Sunday could not have been more stark. The natural snow at Jay was more abundant and skiable coverage was top to bottom. I didn’t encounter another person all day at Jay, quite unlike the roll call happening at Mansfield earlier this week. And most importantly, the snow at Jay was deeper and fluffier making for more enjoyable skiing.

The Jet was covered with massive whales under the Jet Triple, freshly repainted ectoplasm green. Not a snowmaking gun could be heard any where across the resort. The Jet was massively blown out, Haynes had respectable coverage but smaller whales.

I soon found myself at the top of the Jet with great views east to Burke and the Northern Presidentials caked in white. I selected my favorite trail from that trail pod; my skiing failed to live up to the trail’s namesake. The snow was packed powder with occasional untracked pockets; geological and floral treats abound. Good, but I knew I could do better.

I exited the Jet area stage right and followed a nicely set skin track in a northerly direction. Given the packed natural of the previous run, I was expecting more of the same. But I was surprised to find ample untracked lines and six inches of fresh creamy snow. That is better! But I thought I could best it.

This is normally an agonizing decision. When you find something good, it is often best to lap it. If you go in search of something better, you may or may not find it. And if you don’t find it, you lost that choice line that you could have hammered. But I didn’t agonize this decision, I had a good feeling based on past experience.

Things started off well enough but some tricky skiing ensued. It wasn’t quite what I was looking for but the challenge made up for the choppy conditions. But I wasn’t quite there yet and the preliminaries would be worth the effort. Cresting the ridge, I saw exactly what I came for. It wasn’t first tracks, but it was the perfect pitch for a nearly untracked six inches of pure bliss.

Did I find perspective? No. But I did find my pulse. And perhaps that was more important to find and a kind of perspective of its own.