Category: Jay Peak

2023-2024 Season, Jay Peak, November

Jay: Nonroutine

U.N.

At some point, ski seasons started becoming routine. Early season was commonplace and skiing before Thanksgiving was the expectation. Hike for natural snow turns and then upload on the Locke Triple when Sunday River opened. My posts at the time reflected a melancholy of going through the motions.

October 2018 was the last year I skied during October. Skiing before Thanksgiving has become more rare as climate change delays the first major snow event of the season. The early season players have not been as eager to blow early and have eliminated deals in favor of season pass sales.

It was not just the seasons that were changing, but also how I approached and thought about them. Perhaps I was changing more than the seasons themselves. And more change is coming this season. Even though the early season weather outlook has not improved, my relationship to the season has.

I am back at Jay with a season pass (with reciprocal at Ragged, for a close-to-home option). The mountain is covered in a firm and crusty snow (which will make an exceptional base layer if we can avoid melting).

Jay opened this weekend with the Jet groomed loose-granular and natural on UN, Haynes, and Derick. Haynes was rough, the bumps on UN were firm but appreciated.

Given the forecast, I expect rapid expansion next weekend. Count me in either way. Both for the season and for next weekend.

2022-2023 Season, April, Jay Peak

Jay: Not Like Last Year

The Bonnie

Last year, Jay went deep into the spring, extending closing weekend to mid-May. That is not going to happen this year.

Amazingly, Jay was running almost all of its lifts except the carpets, Village Double, and the Freezer (the Tram was scheduled but on wind hold). That was certainly above and beyond, as I would not expect more than the Jet and the Bonnie at this point (and I would have been fine with only the Jet). Some other Vermont resorts *cough* Sugarbush *cough* close lifts as fast as possible, long before the snow has completely melted (or, just shut down completely despite ample coverage *cough* Stowe *cough*). But Jay does things differently.

From the Bonnie, the Goat was just hanging on and Northway to the usual runouts had ample coverage (but was not skiing very well). Over on the Jet, Haynes was edge to edge but not skiing very well and the Jet was edge to edge with alternating piles of soft between frozen groomer tracks. Thankfully, there was an irregular bump line under half of the lift line. Montrealer provided access to Northway and the run out trails. Turns could still be linked in Kitz Woods, but connections were sometimes challenging.

The snow was melting fast. I assume it will be Jet only next weekend. I am not sure if the machines will be able to push around enough snow for Jay to make it to May (unless they extend the weekend and stay open for Monday May 1, and then call it a season). It has been a strange season, but Jay still hangs tough to the bitter end while others call it quits. They have certainly earned my business for next season.

2022-2023 Season, February, Jay Peak

Double Day, Part One: Jay

U.N.

Today featured an unplanned dual visit to Jay and Cannon.

The ski day got off to an unfavorable start. I bypassed Cannon and drove on to Jay thinking that Northern Vermont would do better than Cannon during the storm. As I continued north, the driving got easier and the snow banks got smaller. Clearly, I made the wrong destination selection, but I was committed.

After booting up, I went outside to start my day when I noticed that the ear pads to my helmet had fallen out. Try as I might to reconnect the pads, I couldn’t figure out how to jam them into the helmet. It was far too cold to go without ear pads, and I certainly wasn’t going to buy a replacement helmet. So, I elected to ski with a hat only.

It has been more than twenty years since I last skied without a helmet. I felt exposed and uncomfortable. Despite the half foot of fresh, I opted to stay on open trails only. No woods for me today.

Well, at least until I met a first timer on the lift. The dude had just come back from skiing The Dip, not realizing he was following tracks to Route 242. He obviously had a sense of adventure, and I appreciated his idiosyncrasies. We hit it off and I wanted to show him the best of Jay, off map in the woods. Just one run. 🙂

We had a good time, but he went back in for lunch. Without a partner and without my helmet, I thought I had pushed my luck far enough. The skiing was fun, but not as fun as it could have and should have been. I decided to call it a day. But little did I know at the time, that my ski day was just beginning…

Part Two

2021-2022 Season, Jay Peak, May

Jay in May

Jay Peak from the Jet

Thanks to late season snowfall, Jay’s coverage going into May was phenomenal. Almost the entire Jet complex was open with exceptional coverage, including almost all natural snow trails and glades. Jay would go on to push back their closing date twice, closing on May 14 (it’s second latest closing date in at least 15 years). Pictures cannot quite do it justice, the skiing and coverage were exceptional… for any spring day at Jay, let alone what was originally scheduled to be a closing day.

U.N.

U.N.

Northway

2021-2022 Season, Jay Peak, March, Powder Day

Jay Peak: Knee Deep

Paydirt.

Two feet. Knee deep untracked. Every single run.

Can one day change the malaise of an entire season? Almost. It cannot change the past, nor the season’s future trajectory. But it still ranks right up there with all of the other knee deep untracked days that I have experienced. They are not a given during any season. Even a powder hound like me can go years between knee deep days. They are always special.

Especially when I found myself dropping the best untracked lines of the day for my last run. What!?!? Nuts.

It all melts down after this, perhaps the season’s best (and only significant) hurrah.