Author: Steve

2025-2026 Season, December, Jay Peak, Powder Day

Jay: Unexpected

While at work yesterday, I received a notification that the the building would be closed today due to construction. Employees were not allowed to report to work for safety reasons. Okay then, I guess I’ll go ski some more powder.

I was not expecting much. Jay reported 2-4″ overnight and 4-6″ during the past 48 hours. I figured I might be able to find the full half-foot Tramside since no upper-mountain Tramside lifts spun the day before.

Ironically, I found the deepest snow in off-map woods that were accessible from the Bonnie. A small patch yielded the full bounty, not just from the past 48 hours, but from the past 5 days! A short but sweet 200′ vertical of very unexpected knee deep.

Traffic was very light, mostly tourists and non-regulars. So I skied Staircase for the first time in years. It is a glade that I rarely ski as it gets side-slip scraped due to its pitch. It was well covered (except its steepest pitch), but yielded only a few inches of untracked.

After going back to the Tramside trees for a few runs, I figured I might as well check out the OOB from the Jet. Surely, the two feet from last week’s storm has been chewed up by now, right?

Wrong. Boot to knee deep. What? Fresh lines were limited, but they were available. It wasn’t just knocking down a few random piles, but rather legit lines of untracked lasting a dozen turns at a time. This season just keeps on delivering.

2025-2026 Season, December, Jay Peak, Powder Day

Jay: Saved by the Wind Hold

My inability to take time off from work for powder days continues. A major upslope event hit Jay Thursday into Friday. Friday was a no-go for me. I assumed Saturday would be a packed powder day.

Thankfully, the wind went hard on Friday and the Jet never opened. So, the full untouched and drifted storm total was untracked from the Jet for Saturday. The trails were picked clean by the wind, which meant that the woods were loaded.

Adding to this good fortune was the time of year. The two weeks preceding Christmas are great weeks for powder days. Even die hard powder hounds fail to show up due to family obligations and gift shopping.

The result was boot to knee deep untracked without competition. The Flyer has yet to debut this season. That pushed more traffic to Stateside than usual. But even with the extra skiers, lines were not too bad and untracked off map snow lasted longer than normal.

2025-2026 Season, December, Jay Peak, Powder Day

Jay: Bonus Powder

After going hard on Saturday, I decided to take Sunday off. It was supposed to snow Sunday. But it was not an overnight storm. The new snow would be skied in throughout the day on Sunday without accumulating, so it wasn’t worth going back-to-back.

However, when I checked the Sunday afternoon snow report, I discovered that the Bonnie never ran. Monday would be an unexpected bonus. The grand total was “only” seven inches. But with strong winds, seven inches can feel like double or nothing.

After an extended wait, patrol finally gave the thumbs up. I had the fourth chair. I couldn’t help but take a rare untracked run down Deliverance. The snow was soft, dense, and supportive. A delightful bonus on top of Saturday’s excess.

I rode the Bonnie all morning and, after several runs, I continued to find plenty of untracked. Patrol had Goat roped off (I assume it was a sheet of ice from the wind), so I accessed the goods via a short sidestep up from the Goat/Quai intersection.

The crowd was minimal, a complete non-factor. I rode the Bonnie solo more often than not. Even after a 20-minute delay, there were less than 100 people at line up. It was old-school low-key, (adjective style rather than adverbial).

The untracked would last all day. But my legs were shot from Saturday and I wasn’t going to kill myself for “only” seven inches. I could have put more in the bank (you never know how long the good times will last). But I got my fill and left before noon, more than satisfied.

Even one lap of untracked was more than I had expected today. It was all just bonus.

2025-2026 Season, Jay Peak, November, Powder Day

Jay: A Chaotic Foot

Jay recently passed one hundred inches during November. And the snow continues to fall. Over a foot of powder fell during the past two days, further juicing the already amped up demand. I knew today was going to be a bit wild, so I set an early alarm.

Due to issues with card printers, season pass holders were not able to get their cards until after Thanksgiving. I waited in a considerable line despite arriving at the customer service desk 45 minutes before the lifts opened.

Customer service is located Tramside but only Stateside lifts were running, which added to the chaos. Most people were taking the bus. But I drove back in hopes that the Stateside lot wasn’t full yet.

The race was on and I did okay for parking and lift line up position. But when the Bonnie opened, the lift coral immediately disintegrated without sufficient supervision. Have at it, let’s go.

—

I started on Can Am where I found boot deep untracked with occasional knee deep drifts. Finally, after four ski days and over 100″ for the month, I was getting my first powder day of the season.

I went to the Jet and into the woods like it was mid-season. Absolutely unreal. Most of the Stateside trees had a well-packed base below the powder. The lower mountain is still a bit thin. Unfortunately, due to snowmaking, a rope was up preventing access to Derick, Timbuk, etc.

I took a break and then skied Tramside via the Bonnie. Local knowledge definitely helps during the early season. As long as you don’t drop down onto Ullr’s or below The Snail, you can ski much of Tramside and still get back to the Bonnie without taking a bus back.

Off map woods in the Goat area had not been packed down yet, so caution was required. Despite said caution, a snow covered drainage still ate my skis. There was more than enough untracked on the trails, so I opted to keep it on the trails after eating it in the drainage.

It was a very satisfying day despite the chaotic start. Crowds were extremely busy for opening week. On the plus side, many people burned 4-pack tickets or Indy tickets early. So, maybe that means slightly less crowding later in the season.

2025-2026 Season, Earned Turns, Jay Peak, November

Jay: Mid-Winter in November

After 99″ of snow in less than a month, I’ve still yet to have a powder day at Jay this season. But today certainly got me closer to that designation.

A few inches fell overnight on top of the frozen crusty layer from Friday’s minor rain/freeze event. It was less than hoped for, but it still made for my best turns of the season. Uphill traffic was considerably less my last tour. I started Tramside and skinned up Ullr’s.

Turns were variable but mostly soft, with a bit of powder on top of a crusty base layer with weird undulations. The base depth was sufficient for glades. So, after JFK, I decided to try Everglade.

I rarely ski Everglade during the season. Much like Beaver Pond, Everglade is very well known and gets traffic that outshines its better qualities. It is grossly overrated.

But when conditions are good and not scrapped with massive bumps, it really is a nice line. Unfortunately, it dumps out into a flat out that parallels Kokomo. Some water bars were still open in the flats, but solid navigation had me out of the woods without any incidents.

Overall, it was a fine tour. The upper mountain is in mid-winter form despite the calendar date. That may change due to a Thanksgiving warm-up. But a foot or two of snow may follow for next weekend. Perhaps my first powder day of the season is just around the corner.