Category: Vermont

2006-2007 Season, January, Jay Peak

Broken Ski at Jay

0607season/20070121jay/

As I predicted in my report yesterday, powder was long gone by Sunday and replaced with packed powder and frozen granular. What I had not predicted was the wind buff both in and out of the trees would be so substantial. The poor setup likely had many folks who did not ski Saturday wondering if there was any powder this weekend. Open slopes and groomers were a crappy hard packed loose granular which left much to be desired whereas wind protected trees sported decent packed powder.

On our first run, I actually made a few nice turns down The Goat before running into scraped and icy conditions at the S turn under the Freezer which is always a suspect spot on the mountain. We continued down Green Mountain Boys which also had nasty loose granular surfaces and skied into North Glade. With the Freezer and Tram off line for half the day yesterday, I was hoping that the Tram Side glades would have conditions than Stateside which took the full brunt of eight hours of traffic. Unfortunately, the wind buff even terrorized the woods and North Glade was no exception with variable wind buffed snow and general thin cover. A work out for the first run of the morning to say the least (especially considering I was already hurting from Saturday). The snow was better lower in North Glade but not worth a repeat.

(more…)

2006-2007 Season, January, Jay Peak, Powder Day

Best Lift Serviced Powder Day of the Season to Date

0607season/20070120jay/

Wish I could say that we left some freshies for those not willing to brave the cold and wind on Saturday. Unfortunately for the fair weather skiers, you snooze you loose. Jay is officially tracked out. After a horrendous beginning of the season, it is officially on at Jay Peak with 70 out of 76 trails open following a one foot dump of blower powder. The best snow conditions of the season to date was quickly ravished by the hungry powder hounds leaving nothing but tracks in their wake.

Dan and Austin joined me for First Chair on The Jet Triple Chairlift. Dan made the brilliant suggestion to delay the glades a run and sample the powder on the open slopes. We enjoyed a crazy cool run down Haynes featuring about six inches of blower powder over a groomer surface. The skiing felt REALLY nice. I was carving turns slightly on the groomed hard pack in between floating mid-turn on the powder. White Gold was bellowing up from my tips and floating over my knee caps in a rush on white. It was a really sweet run and great start to the day.

(more…)

2006-2007 Season, Burke, Dawn Patrol, Earned Turns, January

Dawn Patrol at Burke

With the second busiest week of the year under way at work and a sizable snow storm barreling into Vermont, I had few options for mid-week powder pursuit. A day off from work was strictly off the table and post work festivities could not begin until well past dark. My desire for turn earning and adventure dictated drastic action in the form of my first ever Dawn Patrol. Unfortunately, there was no powder to be found due to mixed precip and a poor setup the day before. But turn earning is more about the adventure than finding perfect snow and my first ever skin into the darkness was a reward in and of itself.

My position requires strict timeliness to open my place of employment at exactly 7:45 A.M. This sad fact combined with a need for a shower and complete change of clothes made logistics rather difficult. Fortunately, I work at a College where access to a shower at the Gym is available at seven in the morning. I set my alarm for 3:30 A.M. to be safe but later learned the hard way that 4:00 A.M. not only would have been fine, but would have been better. After gathering my gear and getting the wheels rolling, I stopped by the local Cumbies for a quick breakfast snack. The employee ringing the register inquired “What are we up to this morning?” To which I replied that I was heading up to Burke to earn a ski run before work. I got a rather blank and dumb founded look in response.

(more…)

2006-2007 Season, January, Jay Peak

Horrid Conditions at Jay

Thank goodness we are going to get some more snow soon. As far as snow conditions go, this was the second worst snow conditions I have skied this year (which includes those infamous December days in which only The Jet and Haynes were open). Absolutely horrid. I took four runs and went home, completely baffled by the small line of people queuing up to actually pay for lift tickets outside the Stateside Lodge. I have skied some questionable days this season, but ultimately I have generally decided it was worth the time and gas money to get at least a few runs and dial in the legs a bit more. Not today, it was a complete waste of my morning.

Something wet but not of the frozen variety caked Jay’s snow base and froze over slightly. The result was that the groomers were only skiing well for those with well tuned race skis (I would have been a lot more happy today had I a pair of Volkl 6 Stars). Trails on the Stateside of the Bonaventure Quad were essentially scraped up frozen groomer tracks with a deceptive dusting of loose snow. Natural snow trails faired slightly better in most spots, a lot worse in others.

(more…)

2006-2007 Season, December, Jay Peak, Powder Day

Sloppy Seconds Powder Day at Jay

0607season/20061231jay/

After yesterday’s romp (which was my first open to close day of the year), I was rather tired and a wee bit sore. I opted for a late start and desired to leave early when my legs inevitably gave out. I ended up skiing from approximately 9a-1p which was about what I had expected.

What I had not expected was how bad the conditions would setup over night on the mountain. Temps dropped and the snow froze up a bit and got some wind buff. I skied a few open trails before ducking back into the woods and did not like what I saw. Northway and trails in that drainage were total skating rinks and the upper section of The Jet and Haynes did not look so good (I didn’t ski either, but after seeing a few slides for life from the lift, you kinda get the feel for how things are skiing). Natural trails were obliterated. They opened up Kitzbeuhel today but it was just nasty.

Out of a dozen runs I think I ended up in the woods about 10 times picking out trusty powder shots where I suspected base levels would be adequate and dangerous hazards would be minimal (relatively). I found way more pow than I had expected. Each run featured about 25% untracked or barely tracked in places I suspected had been trounced yesterday. It was slim pickings though… pick a line, get six turns, stop, reassess, likely traverse, repeat. By noon time the fresh lines were gone but sloppy seconds were still available. After a few more desperation runs for safe shots, my legs had enough and I called it a day. Pictures will be posted later.

Photo Gallery