2010-2011 Season, Jay Peak, May

Last Lift Service of the Season at Jay

Jet

More than half of Jay Peak’s guests last week were from Quebec. Whereas this weekend, more than half of Jay Peak’s guests were Killington Refuges. While not crowded, an empty chair was hard to find despite the Jet Triple running nearly ski on all day. For the second time this season, I saw a family without valid passes trying to sneak onto the lift only to be caught by RFID. And I thought it would have been the college kids getting called out.

Based on what I observed, it seems likely that Jay was operating profitably this weekend. But that is a somewhat dubious argument against Killington. As more ski areas close, it makes it easier for the limited few to make a profit due to attrition from other areas. As opposed to more competition for fewer guests spread around to more areas. But Killington could just as easily have been taking Jay’s customers rather than vice versa. Superstar is a superior late season trail and I would have been at Killington instead of Jay had the so called “Beast” ran their lifts. All that said, I was glad to be skiing lift serviced in May and glad to be doing it at Jay Peak.

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2010-2011 Season, April, Gore

Dacks Day 2: Gore Mountain

Harvey on Topridge

Climbing into the loft Saturday night was excruciating. My fall in the Slides Saturday nearly ended my season prematurely. Despite skiing out and finishing the day, I was in pain.

Shuffling to the out house on uneven snow filled me with doubt about my first visit to Gore. My limp was pronounced as I dragged myself into the lodge and slowly got changed. To say I was not “feeling it” would be an understatement.

We boarded the Northwoods Gondola at opening bell and Harvey led the charge down Foxlair to Sunway. I was grimacing the entire way. The pain varied from throbbing to excruciating on a groomed green circle. I tried to hide my frown as we reboarded the gondola. I couldn’t bare to share with Harvey what I was thinking–this next run is going to be it. I can’t go on. Worse than the pain was the thought that I could wreck the post-lift season in a needless masochistic effort.

I thought I could handle a groomers only day. As disappointing as that would be, it was better than the alternative of driving home having only skied two runs at Gore. So we took Uncas and Topridge which further tested my resolve and pain tolerance. With each turn the pain subsided slightly; but I never completely felt in control. I was sliding along desperately trying to get the edges to bite without pressuring my right ankle. It was absurd–but I couldn’t yet push past the pain. We headed for the summit so I could at least see the rest of the mountain before crying mercy.

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2010-2011 Season, April, Whiteface

Dacks Day 1: Whiteface & The Slides

Harv in Slide 1

More than just another area to cross off The List, Whiteface is a “must do” for any serious northeast skier. Many sources designate Lake Placid as a premier northeast skiing destination. Ski Magazine ranked Whiteface number one in the eastern United States (and Whiteface won’t let you forget it). Two-time site of the Winter Olympics, Whiteface boasts the biggest vertical drop east of the Rockies and is host to the only on map slide skiing in the east. It looks great as marketing fluff. But how does Whiteface actually stack up?

Quite well, actually. Despite premonitions of disappointment, I tremendously enjoyed all that Whiteface has to offer. The mountain continually surprised me throughout the day. It is more than just a steep groomer paradise and is well billed as a premier destination in the northeast. The vertical drop is truly impressive even accounting for the long run out serviced by the aptly but unfortunately named “Face Lift”.

While top to bottom leg burners can be skied via the two quads, the best policy seems to be lapping the three fixed grip upper mountain lifts and reserving the detachables for moving out of the base area. During our visit, the Little Whiteface Double was off line. But with our attention was focused on the Slides, we primarily skied off the Summit Quad most of the day with occasional excursions on the Cloudsplitter.

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2010-2011 Season, April, Mad River Glen

Mad River Glen: All Options on the Table

Tree Skiing at Mad River Glen

Today featured a little bit of everything from powder to packed powder, scraped bumps to corn bumps, variable snow to mank. Things got started in incredible fashion with untracked powder in the trees–almost deep enough for Powder Day status. After my first run, I changed skis to my powder boards. Trees were excellent with great coverage and occasional untracked lines yielding four inches or more of somewhat fluffy snow up high. The trails were well covered with many liftline cliffs (including Birdcage) open; amazing coverage for April 2nd.

Tree Skiing at Mad River Glen

As the morning progressed, the air got warmer down low and stayed cooler up high. The mank level slowly worked its way up the mountain. By late day, trees off the Sunnyside were too manky for my tastes. So I abandoned the woods for a top to bottom down Chute to Liftline. After hitting Cannon on Friday, my legs were failing to deliver a back-to-back bell-to-bell performance. I bailed to the ladies tee on the Liftline cliffs and opted to call it a day before I hurt myself.