Following a solid week of seasonably cold weather, Jay Peak opened for the weekend prior to Thanksgiving with the Jet and Haynes from the Jet Triple. Despite wanting to get an early start to pick up my season pass and still make first chair, I was delayed at home by half an hour. This proved to be a blessing in disguise.

After obtaining my season pass at the Customer Service desk, I made my way over to Stateside and booted up. Soon after grabbing my skis, I discovered the Jet Triple was down and being evacuated. So arriving late may have just saved me from a frosty wait high above the Jet and being evac’d from the chair. Cool.

After a warm up run down the Jet, I began my hunt for natural snow and perhaps some powder. Derick Hot Shot was nearly completely tracked out from the day before and rather thin but still a great natural snow run. It would have been well worth my four hour round trip drive for Derick alone.

But I soon met up with Scott and went exploring. We found boot deep untracked and milked it for all it was worth. Drifts up to the knees and higher were found in wind loaded areas. We took a half dozen runs together before calling it a day.

Today was a great start to the lift serviced season. While not on par with last year’s tremendous November, any time I can ski boot deep untracked in November is certainly better than average and an experience to remember. Game on!

Following the Thanksgiving Day rain event, Jay Peak posted a typical read-between-the-lines styled snow report that suggested skiing conditions would be variable and icy despite the change over that provided four inches of snow. The following day Jay reported in with another four inches of fresh and pictures of white stuff flying through the air. My interest was piqued and my optimism was initialized but I retained realistic sensibilities that skiing this weekend would be in a word, interesting.

My optimism was instantly dashed, much to my chagrin, as I approach the ski racks of Jay Peak’s stateside lodge. The snow was crunchy, without much depth, and of questionable base layers. Dust on crust it was going to be!

With my back still sore from last week’s two day powder romp, I was in no condition for a full out assault on the powder stashes I knew Jay had to offer for those willing to exert themselves. Things off the Jet Triple looked pretty bleak for first chair. Interestingly enough, the groomer tracks on The Jet looked most appetizing of all since I have yet to have a great top to bottom railroad tracks groomer run this season. Or, the natural snow under the chairlift just looked that bad. Perhaps a little of both. Most other skiers and riders on The Jet had the same idea so I pounced on The Jet like it was chock full o’ powder before the hordes turned The Jet into steep frozen cat tracks which happened by around ten that morning.

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Best November Ever. Period.

Sunday continued where we left off on Saturday which was about boot deep in the trees. With only The Jet Triple turning again, the Stateside area was completely tracked out on both the open and closed trails. Conga lines formed to head for whiter pastures. The boot pack and skin track lines heading up Northway looked like a Highway to Heaven. It was no secret where the untracked powder was on the mountain but there was plenty to go around considering the length of time a round trip took.

Much to my chagrin, even Can Am and Upper River Quai had been significantly tracked out by my first run. However, I noticed that Vertigo had not a track. Obviously, the steep drop into the glade needed another foot or two to avoid bottoming out on the rocks and stumps that were hidden beneath the tempting white. Good thing for me that most people care about their ski bases!

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