2024-2025 Season, January, Jay Peak, Powder Day

Chaotic Rebound

If weather was sentient, it would always manifest its malevolence during the Christmas holiday week. New England could not escape the holiday week without rain. It is simply not permitted.

Jay Peak rebounded nicely with a well-forecasted, multi-day weather event. By the day after New Year’s, Jay was engulfed in a full-on-blizzard. Vehicles that couldn’t make it up the access road clogged 242. And all for not, as the upper mountain lifts never spun.

By Friday morning, more than two feet of snow had fallen, and the snow and wind continued. Fortunately, the Jet and Bonnie were spinning. Unfortunately, everyone seemed to know that JPR was the place to be.

Between vacationers and powder hounds, the lots quickly filled to capacity and the resort started turning would-be-guests away. Given two major lifts were on wind hold, the resulting liftline situation was dreadful.

Many holiday skiers seemed to be taking their first turns of the season. Or perhaps, the first turns of their lives. All lifts experienced incessant slow-downs and stoppages due to loading and unloading issues.

This made two-lift-laps for Tramside runs unbearable, despite exquisite knee deep untracked in the woods. Despite the exquisite snow, I could only stomach the Bonnie/Taxi cycle twice.

The boot to knee deep untracked was exceptional. But caution was warranted. The recent meltdown eliminated much of the base, so hidden snowsnakes and rocks were both a factor. By the end of this storm cycle, and with more skier traffic, the snowpack will almost reset to pre-holiday depths.

2024-2025 Season, December, Jay Peak, Powder Day

Focus

Down the Haynes I went, first tracks on a clean canvas. Eight inches felt like eighty centimeters. My favorite snow condition, even harder to get than knee deep untracked in the woods.

Almost a foot of supportive, springy powder on top of groomed. Just enough to not bottom out, but not too much that you can’t rip huge, high-speed arcs. Effortless and amazing.

The energy transfers automatically from turn to turn. I don’t yell nor cry out in joy. I am speechless. It has been years since I’ve felt this perfect layering of powder over groomed.

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2024-2025 Season, December, Jay Peak

Oscillate

Any other mountain would gladly have the conditions that Jay experienced today. But, for this season, at this mountain, the conditions were merely adequate.

My fifth day of the season was my first non-powder day. Back to reality. But it is an exceedingly excellent reality for December. I’ve skied Jay many times in December when it was hardpack-groomers-only.

An inch or two dusted over packed powder with occasional scratch. Everything is still skiable, but traffic since Thursday has taken a toll. I still managed a few turns of boot deep untracked, but not much was left.

The tram opened today, including (surprisingly) the Ullr’s drainage. Though, The Goat was closed for snowmaking. Most people went hunting for powder via the Tram. But I couldn’t stomach a three car wait, so I stayed Stateside.

Once snowmaking is done on Goat, they will move to Ullr’s. And, assuming there is no thaw, Jay could be 100% open by the new year. Snowmaking is the only thing holding up the ropes…

2024-2025 Season, December, Jay Peak, Powder Day

Reframe

Vertigo

Possibilities are paralyzing. How best should I spend my time? What interests me the most? I shall never “be telling this with a sigh“. But the decision making process is still fraught with uncertainty.

Not so much for selecting between choices, but rather in identifying my wants and desires. What are my motivations? What are my goals? Will I see them through? Seems pretty heavy, huh? In truth, my writings so far this season have something in common:

I spent the past year following in love with a country and learning its language. But I fear that the honeymoon may be over. Was I flailing due to the challenge? Was I waffling for lack of will power? Or, did I simply want to learn about another culture and its language?

I think it is the latter. Better to learn a little about a lot of things than to devote years to one thing, at the exclusion of all others. But reframing a perceived failure into a decision to learn something new has been an emotional roller-coaster.

Last week’s rain/freeze cycle locked up a solid base. On top of that, six inches of dense and supportive snow fell overnight, and more snow fell throughout the day. The mountain was deserted, untracked was abundant, and conditions exceeded expectations.

All on map and off map glades were good to go, but off map woods and lower elevation glades warrant careful and alert skiing. So far, I am four for four on powder days this season. Not bad.

2024-2025 Season, Cannon Mountain, December, Earned Turns, Powder Day

Discretion

Coverage was excellent for early December (better than last year around the same time). Skinning and skiing the 13-turns was probably ill-advised, given the lack of base consolidation. But I knew what I was in for by continuing up the troll bridge.

I almost made it to the Taft Trail. But I decided to turn around near the top of the 13-turns when spruce trap risk became apparent. Risk of a catastrophic trap was low. But when skiing solo, discretion is often the better part of adventure.