Fringe benefits of working in academia include University shut downs on powder days. With a foot of snow walloping much of New Hampshire, I ventured up to Jay Peak for a mid-week powder day. Thankfully, the new Michelin X-Ice snow tires had been mounted on Friday or else my day would have been substantially different and less powdery due to an unplowed six inches of dense compacted powder at go time. Three hours later, I was clicking in at the Stateside Lodge and skiing towards the Jet at Jay thirty minutes past first chair.

My unexpected tardiness combined with an abundance of College kids (due to the new Triple Major pass) and the lack of uphill capacity (Bonaventure and the Freezer were not spinning) resulted in quickly readjusted plans and expectations. Much to my dismay, almost all of Stateside was completely tracked out by 9:45 A.M. when I plopped my butt onto the Jet Triple Chair. I immediately went for the trees but found lots of tracks.

Adjusting plans accordingly, I began snuffing out powder the hard way. After almost a half dozen frenzied searches, every run thereafter became better and better. Lesser known goodies in the Stateside area surprisingly revealed quality lines an hour after my first tracks. Then I found myself earning boot to occasional knee deep powder shots.

My first venture was just prior to lunch and the thoughts of food around noontime pressed each foot fall slightly faster than the last. The second round was driven by pure powder frenzy as I checked my six and looked ahead suspiciously regarding fellow powder hounds. The final cycle was a pain induced torture fest worth every painful step upon reflection. Whereas the wind was quiet earlier in the morning, by the final run I was practically being blown up the mountain rather than being driven by will and drive. The rewards of such effort in the form of boot to knee deep untracked are beyond measure. Standing before a run that has yet to be tracked and knowing you are the only person to be there on that day is a feeling I will never grow tired of. You get so few completely virgin trails in your lifetime, everyone of them is special.