Author: Steve

Gear

Quality of Spyder Products

Spyder has been a ski clothing gear provider for almost thirty years specializing in racing gear such as GS suits. My first Spyder clothing item was purchased about ten years ago in the form of a ski jacket as part of a pro form deal on a racing team. I was quite taken by the design, especially practical aspects such as pockets in practical areas and appropriate give in the sleeves for elbow and shoulder motion. When my first Spyder jacket wore out through regular usage with only very minor defective issues, I decided to stay with the brand.

Purchases to replace my ski jacket, pants, and gloves were all covered under the Spyder brand. I was distraught to find my new jacket had a rip on the inside under arm after only a few days on the slopes. Other such poor quality and defect issues soon appeared such as Velcro becoming unstitched, fraying, stitching coming undone, and general garment stress. The ski pants experienced a few product failures on functional but not essential aspects. And I found my gloves to be rather lacking in the wicking aspect which resulted in soaked gloves from excessive sweating. I have since replaced my gloves after only two seasons of use but am keeping the jacket and pants as still functionally sound despite serious quality issues.

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

Major Dust on Crust at Jay Peak

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Following the Thanksgiving Day rain event, Jay Peak posted a typical read-between-the-lines styled snow report that suggested skiing conditions would be variable and icy despite the change over that provided four inches of snow. The following day Jay reported in with another four inches of fresh and pictures of white stuff flying through the air. My interest was piqued and my optimism was initialized but I retained realistic sensibilities that skiing this weekend would be in a word, interesting.

My optimism was instantly dashed, much to my chagrin, as I approach the ski racks of Jay Peak’s stateside lodge. The snow was crunchy, without much depth, and of questionable base layers. Dust on crust it was going to be!

With my back still sore from last week’s two day powder romp, I was in no condition for a full out assault on the powder stashes I knew Jay had to offer for those willing to exert themselves. Things off the Jet Triple looked pretty bleak for first chair. Interestingly enough, the groomer tracks on The Jet looked most appetizing of all since I have yet to have a great top to bottom railroad tracks groomer run this season. Or, the natural snow under the chairlift just looked that bad. Perhaps a little of both. Most other skiers and riders on The Jet had the same idea so I pounced on The Jet like it was chock full o’ powder before the hordes turned The Jet into steep frozen cat tracks which happened by around ten that morning.

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Book Reviews

Instant Karma by Wayne Sheldrake

Instant KarmaWayne Sheldrake’s new memoir is less a story about his skiing exploits than a soulful and humorous adventure about discovering what is most important in our lives and about life itself. In Instant Karma: The Heart and Soul of a Ski Bum, Sheldrake draws upon his life lessons and journeys which are tied to the mountains, landscape, and people he treasures most. This extremely well written title has passages that read like poetry while conveying both a gripping life story and its resulting soulful philosophy.

The narration begins with a history of key moments in Sheldrake’s early life and his immersion into the ski bum lifestyle. This introduction, interspersed with key skiing recollections generally involving bone breaking accidents (Sheldrake manages to break his legs three times and his pelvis once), serves as the main memoir aspect of the book as we learn about the author’s situational hardships including excessive family dysfunction. Most notable amongst Sheldrake’s hardships is a defective heart valve that sidelines him from his most treasured passion of skiing. The heart valve issue puts him in a heart surgery ward alongside people twice his age.
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2007-2008 Season, Jay Peak, November, Powder Day

Day Two of Amazing November Powder at Jay

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Best November Ever. Period.

Sunday continued where we left off on Saturday which was about boot deep in the trees. With only The Jet Triple turning again, the Stateside area was completely tracked out on both the open and closed trails. Conga lines formed to head for whiter pastures. The boot pack and skin track lines heading up Northway looked like a Highway to Heaven. It was no secret where the untracked powder was on the mountain but there was plenty to go around considering the length of time a round trip took.

Much to my chagrin, even Can Am and Upper River Quai had been significantly tracked out by my first run. However, I noticed that Vertigo had not a track. Obviously, the steep drop into the glade needed another foot or two to avoid bottoming out on the rocks and stumps that were hidden beneath the tempting white. Good thing for me that most people care about their ski bases!

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2007-2008 Season, Jay Peak, November, Powder Day, Video

Amazing Powder Day on Jay’s Opening Day of the Season

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It was not supposed to happen like this. Jay was supposed to open next week. If we were lucky, Jay would have had The Jet and Haynes covered with man made snow and groomed to less than desirable so called perfection. Instead, Jay got two feet of snow during the week before Thanksgiving and decided to open a week early. Thanks Jay!

The surreal feeling experienced while skiing through the trees during mid-November in what looks like and feels like mid-January conditions is not something I could ever get used to. Though I would certainly love to have enough such experiences that mid-November days become just as routine as the bi-weekly six inch refreshes that Jay usually receives during the winter.

Last week I ascended Jay Peak to the summit via earned turns on approximately 2-8″ of consolidated base depth. What remained of that initial shot of natural snow after the rains preceding this most recent storm is any ones guess. At the time of this writing, Jay has either under reported snow totals or have yet to find the magical “Jay Inch” measuring location. Sinking my pole more than halfway into the snow, many places in the trees were easily two or more feet deep. But the trees always receive blow in so that is not an accurate measurement. A more accurate measurement would be the minimum boot deep untracked found on the trails as the area opened for the first time this season.

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