Cross blocking skills were not optional in the trees at Jay this weekend. All of Jay’s Stateside glades are open excepting Deliverance and Canyonland. But I was more excited about having so much off map tree skiing available. Cautious exuberance, with poles held high, yielded an exceptional amount of tree skiing. There is no doubt about it: stick season is officially open at Jay.
Mad River Glen’s quality control department looked the other way as the lifts finally came alive today for the first day of lift operations. The untracked was sacked yesterday by copious turn earners and mountain operations (first chair looked more like noon chair). But plenty of untracked pockets were available for early risers with an understanding to seek out lesser skied options.
But untracked was besides the point. I was just happy to be skiing top to bottom on natural snow again. Base depths were variable ranging from grass to a foot of fresh depending on where the wind blew. The bottom of the base was wet and pasty creating an excellent protective layer with light and fluffy powder on the surface. Perfect early season (wait, early season?) powder that covers up most of the crap while still being fun to ski.
My recent visit to Killington proved that great days can be built on low expectations. Sometimes high expectations deliver. But not often enough to warrant the build up of excitement. If only I could contain said excitement when 4-6″ is forecast for Cannon on top of 8″ since Friday. But by now I should understand that southerly storm flows do not deliver for Franconia Notch. And yesterday’s snow rarely holds on before being blown across the mountain.
More ski areas need to offer 8:00 A.M. first chairs. Arriving at the summit of Vermont’s second highest peak forty minutes after sunrise was a treat. A warm glow bathed a mountain caked in white, floating over an undercast. I never expected to find beauty at Killington this morning. But low expectations make for delightful surprises.
That is the theme for this season. Delightful surprises happen when you expect the worst. Or when you don’t expect anything at all. Just set the alarm, grab your skis, and go. Because that is what we do. No matter how bad it gets, we are still making turns. And that sure beats the alternative.
Caution and Closed. Just signs of the times. One indicates what you can’t ski. And the other suggests what you can ski won’t be very good. But there is opportunity for some fun despite frozen groomer tracks being evident from the first chair.
Never before have I been so delighted to ski under the guns. Lower Cannon was lit up top to bottom yielding terrain features, somewhat powdery snow, and occasionally fun turns. I found ample opportunity to work on my pathetic early season form and I occasionally enjoyed it.
Unfortunately, getting to that occasional fun required significant misery. Despite almost doubling available terrain, Cannon could only keep me interested for two hours this weekend instead of last weekend’s four.