Author: Steve

2007-2008 Season, Burke, December, Powder Day

Boot Deep Untracked All Day at Burke

With a major snowstorm brewing overnight and concerns about road conditions and drive times, I made the decision to ski Burke today instead of Jay. I was mostly fearful of the dreaded change over to mixed precipitation scheduled for late afternoon when I would most likely be coming home. Having recently driven home in a snow storm from Jay that involved stressful white knuckle driving, I was content to avoid the possibility of a treacherous long drive home and wind holds by opting for Burke Mountain.

When I awoke, three inches of snow had already fallen at my home and it was puking. The drive to Burke would be more eventful and tougher driving than my drive home. Franconia Notch was particularly brutal especially being stuck behind two snow plows, who were doing a damn fine job by taking their time with things. The plows split at the Route 3 exit and I sped up to Burke as fast as conditions would allow with plenty of time for first chair.

Ultimately, Burke turned out to be the best choice, but not because of the weather conditions. The forecasted mixed precipitation never really occurred and a break in the storm coincided with the drive home. Burke was the better choice because Burke and Jay both received the same amount of snow fall at exactly one foot and Burke had very few skiers, low competition, untracked on the trails from open until close, and no wind holds. Whereas at Jay, some lifts were shut down at noon time which would have resulted in crowding at Stateside and untracked would have been a glades only experience only an hour or two after opening.

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2007-2008 Season, December, Jay Peak, Powder Day

Untracked All Day at Jay Peak

Face Chutes and Tram at Jay Peak

A December to remember keeps on cranking out the powder days. Several small storms kept Jay full of powder this past week with yet another six inches falling heading into the weekend. My expectations of a small amount of additional snow were blown away by half a foot on the open trails and much more in the trees. Today was a phenomenal day at Jay.

Normally, I never ski Can Am. But after boarding one of the first chairs on the Bonaventure Quad and seeing a steep powder field begging for tracks, I could not help myself. The lack of wind kept the normally blown off slopes full of powder. I followed that up with a completely untracked run down Vertigo. Since the Tram and Freezer were not running when Jay opened, I headed Tramside on my next run for Northwest Passage to the Expo Glade area and returned for Upper River Quai to more Expo Glade area powder. Trees offered boot to knee deep untracked. When the Flyer and Tram started turning, I went back to Stateside and hit a whole bunch of stuff as the party was up Tramside.

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Big Jay Coverage

Meeting to be Held about Big Jay Access Restriction

A meeting to address restricted access of Big Jay has been announced for Saturday December 15th. The meeting will begin at 4:30 P.M. in the Stateside Lodge of Jay Peak Resort. Representatives from Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation, the Green Mountain Cub, and Jay Peak Resort will be on hand to review the access restriction and answer questions. Access will be restricted this season from Jay Peak Resort via the Saddle. Skiers can still earn turns by skiing or hiking up Big Jay from Route 242.

Big Jay Coverage

State To Restrict Skier Access to Big Jay

Press Release from the State of Vermont’s Agency of Natural Resources:

State To Restrict Skier Access to Big Jay

Action comes in response to illegal trail cut; public meeting planned for Saturday

WATERBURY, Vt. – The Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation, in cooperation with The Green Mountain Club, Jay Peak Ski Resort, and the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board will be restricting winter access to Big Jay from the Jay Peak Ski Area for the 2007-2008 ski season. This action comes in response to an illegal ski trail that was cut on Big Jay this summer.

Officials will be holding a public meeting at Jay Peak Resort on Saturday, Dec. 15, at 4:30 p.m., to explain this action and to answer questions from the public. The meeting will be held in the “Stateside Base Lodge” building at Jay Peak Resort.

Big Jay is the highest peak in the Green Mountains without a maintained trail system. This property was acquired in 1993 by the State with the assistance of The Green Mountain Club and the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board to protect the Long Trail and important natural habitat. Big Jay is part of Jay State Forest and is a popular location for backcountry skiing. Though adjacent to the Jay Peak Ski Area, Big Jay is not within and is not serviced by the ski area.

In July of this year, the Green Mountain Club received a call from a tram operator at Jay Peak Ski Area, who reported that a large swath of trees had apparently been cut at Big Jay.

In following up on this report, it was determined the illegal ski trail was more than 2,000 feet long and up to 60 feet wide and that nearly 1,000 trees had been cut. The alleged perpetrators have subsequently been arrested for the trail-cutting and are currently awaiting trial.

“While we have been concerned about some light cutting in the past by backcountry skiers and riders at Big Jay, this new cut goes way beyond that and poses significant environmental and safety concerns,” says Jonathan Wood, Commissioner of the Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation. “We feel it is necessary to keep people off the illegally cut trail, for their own safety as well as to allow for restoration to occur.”

While skiers and riders will not be permitted on the illegal trail and will not be allowed to access Big Jay directly from Jay Peak Resort, backcountry enthusiasts can still skin in or snowshoe up into Big Jay from Route 242 and ski or ride down. However, the cutting of any vegetation in this area whatsoever will not be permitted and will be strictly enforced.

Saturday’s meeting at Jay Peak Resort will provide an opportunity for the public to hear more about this issue. Questions or comments can be directed to State Lands Director Mike Fraysier, VT Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation, 103 South Main St., Waterbury, VT 05671; phone: (802) 241-3682, email: mike.fraysier@state.vt.us.

2007-2008 Season, Cannon Mountain, December, Powder Day

One Powder Run at Cannon

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Wincing in pain, I awoke without an alarm this morning after yesterday’s strenuous powder day at Burke. Everything hurt from my lower back to just behind my knee. Plans were already hatched to combine lift serviced and earned turns at Cannon to maximize powder potential almost a full week after the last storm hit New England. Original plans included the possibility of a full skin of Tuckerbrook but due to my tense and sore muscles I dialed plans back a bit.

Arriving at the Peabody Lodge, Cannon’s excellent staff were working the parking lots to alert potential customers that power was currently out but may be back online later. “No worries” I told a lot attendant. Pointing to my bindings I mentioned that “I have my own power.” Lifts were still running on backup power to get the remaining customers off the chairs before the bull wheels stopped turning. Since the power just went down, I decided to not wait for what could be a few minutes or a few hours.

Not long after I began skinning, I heard the tell tale hum of power being delivered to the lifts. No worries as I was off the grid regardless and heading for whiter pastures. I was baffled by the amount of traffic inflicted upon the mountain in the past few days and felt like a royal Johnny Come Lately as I picked up a well packed down skin track. There was plenty of fresh powder to still be found but I would not enjoy the pleasure of laying down first tracks today.

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