My last visit to Jay was almost two years ago. It was surreal reflecting on that, as I peered at Jay’s cloud enshrouded peak from Kitzbuehel. I missed the place.
I missed its terrain. I missed its trees. I missed its culture.
I missed its powder.
It is good to be back.
It is pretty rare that I can say that my last day of the season was my best day of the season. If I had to end my season early, at least I picked the right day for it.
I do not have a record of the last time my season ended this early. My online reports date back to 1998-1999. The prior two years I took off from skiing to pursue other activities in college. The last time that I did not ski in March or April, I was a teenager.
This was my 22nd day of the season, my highest number of ski days in six years despite missing the ending half of the season. Something profound changed in my life this season. I hope you enjoyed reading about that change. I hope it reflected in my writing. I hope you find the thing that you want to change in your life and begin the process. For me, the journey continues. But my head is so far out of the fog that I can’t even remember what the fog felt like. For which I am thankful.
I have a lot to say about how the season ended. And I don’t mean about how my season ended or this particularly day at Jay. I don’t even mean to specifically write about the end of the ski season. But rather to use the inevitable season ending as a lens to inspect heuristics and cognitive biases on a societal scale.
It is surely beyond me, but I am going to give it a try.
More later. Right now, there is so much to digest, process and synthesize.
The powder deprived masses descended on Jay Peak. Sixteen inches of fresh, pent up demand for powder, the biggest storm of the season (with plenty of advanced publicity), negative temperatures, frigid wind chills, and lift holds: what could possibly go wrong?
The snow was supportive and creamy with just a bit of wind loaded density. The Tram and Freezer were on wind hold, so the powder hounds were all consolidated in the Stateside area. As a result, the Stateside untracked went fast. Sooner than expected, I was cycling the Snail and Bonnie to ski Stateside.
More people than usual were making the Freezer hike from the Bonnie. But what is the point of that when you can just take Wedelmaster? Take it all the way to Beaver Pond if you insist on skiing the most overrated glade in the northeast. But I am dropping into the DP from Wedel for deep untracked after lunch.
Due to the cold, I went inside after every third or fourth run. The Tramside wind holds made for long lines at the Bonnie and the Jet. Normally, I generate enough heat to stay warm in line and on the lift. But the lines were excessive, as was the wind, and I was constantly getting chilled before the next run.
The bitter wind, muscle fatigue, and long Snail to Bonnie cycles all combined to end my day sooner than I would have preferred. It was a great day that had its frustrating moments. It wasn’t epic, but it felt like it should have been. If the weather pattern doesn’t improve, it could end up being the best day of the season.
The previous day’s hardpack at Cannon left me wanting for natural snow, albeit pretty firm and thin natural snow. Mad River Glen had almost all trails open and I had a full Mad Card to burn. I was tired and my skiing was lethargic. The upper mountain coverage was quite impressive, the lower mountain was not so much. While skiing the Creamery woods, I overloaded my skis during a turn which provided an unexpected pop that sent me flying. I landed pretty hard and called it a day after only a few runs. My personal setback was only just beginning. I could only hope that the seasonal setback would rebound with me later this month. One out of two ain’t bad.
“Why do I do this?”
The question was made in jest as I exited my car and felt the zero degree temperature. It was really an affirmation rather than a question. If it were to have been an actual question, then I would have thought the answer was self evident. Last year, that was not always the case.
Every season, I debate whether or not to purchase a season pass. By the time the lifts open, I seem to forget that I invested in a long term season pass worth of gear years ago. The only additional expense is the cost of fuel. I frequently forget to factor in the cost of not using my earned turn season pass more often.
