After what feels like weeks of cloudy darkness, it was wonderful to see the sun today. Despite the general lack of snow, I kinda felt that the sunny day was needed more than a powder day.
Conditions were not bad all around. A bit firm, but not hard pack or scraped. The undercast was beautiful and the weather was pleasant. Given the stillness in the air, I even rode the freezer today! A rare day, indeed.
For the record.
It was quite an unusual morning at Jay. There was no wind and the sun shined brightly. A warm light fell upon the Bonnie and Chair 50, recently painted black and emblazoned with a skull and cross bones plaque, dedicated to the legendary Michael Pfaff.
Pfaff is a reminder that anyone can make a profound difference in the lives of others. No one told him to put in the extra effort, he just did it. It is something that many of us aspire to, but few of us fully realize. It is something that is unique to legends.
Encouraging a legend to, quite literary, let their flag fly is a testament to the community and culture at Jay. The Bonnie was a special place to start a powder day. And due to the culture at Jay, it will continue to be so.
Fair to say that I spent more time hiking than riding a lift today. Northway was the highway to untracked paradise. My touring rig was available if I decided to venture Tramside or to the summit. But with Can Am and River Quai skiing so well, why bother? A backpack and skins would just slow me down. The hikes were short, and the turns were deep.
Work obligations prohibited me from making it to Jay before the warmup. Which is a pity, considering Jay had received over two feet of snow this past week. But in an ominous sign of things to come (three weeks in a row, now), mid-week powder is immediately followed by weekend warmups.
Around 8:00am, while driving north on I-91, I noted that the temperature at Sheffield Heights (similar vertical to Jay Peak’s base) was over 40 degrees. This was not going to be a powder day, warmer temps had arrived much sooner than I expected. True to its nature, an El Niño year means you have to be at the mountain immediately following a storm. Even more so than a normal year.
Those possessed by powder made the foolish decision to attack the natural snow trails, like U.N. Two feet of untracked mank was a poor option. The natural snow would ski better once it was worked over and tracked out. I wisely eyed a well groomed Jet and made laps on the groomer. Later, I would enjoy packed dense natural snow on U.N. and Kitz. Better than normal for this time of year, but a far cry from expected.
