Category: February

2025-2026 Season, February, Jay Peak, Powder Day

Jay: The Chaotic Holiday Crowd

Four to six inches of fresh was more than enough to add to the already chaotic vacation week. It barely counted as a powder day. But it was enough to get the ski-once-a-year crowd rubbing ski jackets with the powder day crowd.

The new snow landed on top of hard pack, as I found out while making untracked turns during my first run. Underneath the new snow, the base was unpleasant. After three runs, the groomers were became sheets of scraped hard pack alternating with piles of pushed around snow.

The lineup crowd was large and only grew after every run. The fresh snow was not going to last long and I didn’t care to wait over ten minutes in the singles line. So, I split after half-a-dozen runs. The new snow was nice, but it was merely a band-aid, and it wasn’t worth dealing with the vacation crowd and their antics.

2025-2026 Season, February, Jay Peak

Jay: Holiday Weekend

The plan was to ride the lifts until the crowds showed up and then hit the local BC. I got up early like it was a powder day. A car was in a snowbank on 242 despite bare pavement. The Stateside lot would be full before the lifts opened. It was one of those types of days.

The majority of the people were self-evidently vacation skiers. You can easily tell by the way people move, and struggle, when walking with their gear. For some, it might have been their first big resort experience. Good luck.

I was hopeful that some specific off-map trees would still have loose, or perhaps even untracked, snow from two days ago. I found a bit, but it was more tease than enticing.

I would try to make the best of it and hope the BC remained fresh. But I was struggling to make routine, easy turns. Work had sapped my energy and I didn’t sleep well the night before. My skiing was sloppy and lethargic.

After two runs, I called it a day. My skiing was an accident waiting to happen. And skiing at such a low level was hardly fun. At least I wasn’t missing much by leaving early. It would only get busier and the off map woods had already been pulverized.

2024-2025 Season, February, Jay Peak, Powder Day

Impact

I have spent a lot of time thinking about this exceptional season. Today was my fourteenth powder day out of fifteen ski days. It is astounding how good the season has been at Jay Peak, and it is only the mid-point.

During many of my chair lift rides this season, I experienced feelings of gratitude and appreciation. How could I not be grateful? Given a warming world and changing climate, I thought winters like this were over.

This season is a massive aberration. A once in a lifetime anomaly. So, I continually attempt to recognize and appreciate how great this season is, as it probably will never happen again.

But I took my appreciation a step to far and begin thinking that “if my season ended today, in the middle of the season, it would still be one of my top three seasons ever, it may even be my best.” Famous last thoughts.

—

While skiing in the Orchard and ducking through some trees, I experienced a side effect of having lots of snow with large base depths and no thaws: low ceiling.

During the past few weeks, vertical space has been shrinking in the off-map woods. Instead of cross blocking branches from the sides, I am using my poles to cross block branches from above at eye level. Visibility has become a problem.

While snaking my way through some trees, I went to block branches away from my face and I didn’t see a small sapling on the other side. Since I was ducking to avoid the branches, I impacted the sapling with my shoulder. I skied right through it, not even falling or losing my balance. But I knew it was a day ending impact.

The Orthopedic reports some ligament damage in the rotor cuff area and recommended a few weeks off from skiing. An MRI would be required for a more specific diagnosis and surgery would be the only fix if there is a problem. So, we are taking a wait-and-see approach and hoping the damage is not severe and heals itself.

My ski injuries never happen on challenging terrain. They always happen on easy low-angle terrain, when my guard is down. In this case, the very thing that made the season so amazing (massive snow totals with no thaw) also caused the low ceiling conditions and visibility issues that led to the injury.

I am still grateful, however. This really is a top three season for me, regardless of what comes next. And after a few weeks rest, I will be back to experience all that this season still has left to offer.

2024-2025 Season, February, Jay Peak, Powder Day

Convergence

The good times cannot last forever, can they? The walls on Jay Peak’s exceptional winter are finally starting to close in. But this weekend was not the end of Jay’s winter weather streak, the good times continue.

Originally, the forecast suggested a mixture of snow, sleet, and perhaps even rain on Thursday, all combined with high winds. I assumed the weather would be poor and lifts would not run.

But Thursday turned out to be the pick of the weekend. Only the Jet ran. But precipitation stayed frozen all day. People that skied on Thursday boasted of an excellent powder day.

Unfortunately, the precipitation turned heavier late Thursday. And the dense snow was further compacted by the wind. Friday was still a powder day. But the untracked was challenging to ski: very dense and hooky.

I spent a rare day Tramside, peeling back the layers on old favorites that I rarely ski and even exploring a region that I had not yet completely explored. The snow was hooky and grabby, resulting in cautious turns.

The wind was raging, but the Bonnie ran all day. Tramside laps required riding the Metro and dealing with its frequent stops. It was worth a vacation day, but it was not worth more than a half dozen Metro/Bonnie laps.

2024-2025 Season, February, Northeast Slopes, Powder Day

Backup Plan: Northeast Slopes

A wacky morning worked out for the best. A much publicized storm tracked further north than expected, which made my drive to Mad River Glen worse than usual. Despite the slow drive, I neared MRG before first chair.

However, Route 17 was backed up and the parking lot was already full. I’ve never experienced a full lot at Mad River before. I did not know that was possible before first chair. I made a U-turn and created a backup plan.

After driving back down Route 17, I stopped and browsed the web site for Northeast Slopes. Tickets are cash only and cost just $15.00. I had exactly one twenty dollar bill on me, so it was meant to be.

I drive to Mad River Glen from New Hampshire via Route 25. During the past 18 years, I drove past Northeast Slopes at least 50 times. “One of these days…” I always said to myself. It was finally that day!

Northeast Slopes is open from 12:00pm-4:00pm. Despite arriving late morning, I was still on time for “first chair”. After an hour and a half wait, I was riding a telescoping T-bar for the first time in eight years.

The T at Northeast Slopes was relocated from Ski Bradford. I grew up skiing Bradford and I never saw it run. Northeast Slopes puts the T to great use as riding the former rope tow must have been a strenuous effort.

The old rope tow parallels the T most of the way up the 350 vertical foot face. The open slope has a fairly consistent grade and is moderately pitched. It would be rated a blue square at most major resorts.

The main slope is split in half by the T and old rope tow (SBNO). A variety of options finger out to the sides of the main slope. The variations are quite extensive, it took me an hour to ski every possible combination.

A groomer made six passes on the main face, leaving most of the main slope and all other trails untracked. Some natural undulations are present as the trails are not graded and naturally follow the varying contours.

Despite the fact that singles were not doubling up, the T generally never a line. Only fifty cars were in the lot. Given the ample acreage and limited number of skiers, I was skiing untracked snow all day (almost every turn).

The blower powder was generally boot deep, though I went knee deep in a few areas that did not get skied during the past two days. The knee deep untracked turns were in a few short-but-sweet mini glades.

I skied for two hours straight. It was a riot getting more untracked turns in two hours than I would have gotten all day at Mad River Glen. I was not counting laps, but I probably skied about 10k vert of untracked blower pow.

Northeast Slopes is a neat area that offers more than one might expect when you see it from the road. The area is completely volunteer operated and offers an amazing experience on a shoe string budget. They may have the least expensive ticket in the country.

The vibe is decidedly small town, family oriented, and friendly. Yet the skiing is not small town. NE Slopes skis bigger than a local learning area. Nothing is too challenging, but the terrain is not boring either.

Northeast Slopes would be a nice stop on Friday afternoon if you are heading to Northern Vermont for a weekend trip. Or perhaps a Sunday afternoon stop after leaving a resort early. For locals, it is a no brainer.

It is a bit over half an hour from Dartmouth, which would make a good morning-afternoon combo. Especially since Northeast Slopes is only open from 12:00pm-4:00pm (with all possible options skiable in an hour).