2008-2009 Season, December, Jay Peak

Jay Opens Tramside with the Tram and Freezer

Expo Glade at Jay

After only two weeks of operation, Jay has all of its lifts online with exception of the Bonaventure Quad. This weekend marked the first day of operations for the Freezer and the Tram. And it showed! Operations for the Freezer were suspended mid-day due to mechanical problems and unloading from the tram required a monstrous hurdle of nearly two feet to reach the unload platform from the tram car. Operations for all lifts were delayed by 45 minutes while two groomers worked out the handle tow area in front of the lodge. To say full operations got off to a shaky start would be an understatement.

Once things were under way, it did not take me long to identify the best snow. The Kokamo/Ull’rs run out was horrendous and not worth the effort to ski any trails that dumped down into that run out. The best snow fell under and to skier’s right of the Freezer. Most notably Expo Glade which had received significantly more snow than any where else on the mountain. Occasional boot deep with deeper drifts were found though the entire mountain averaged closer to two to three inches. My run of the day was Upper River Quai to Expo Glade to The Flash.

Else where on the mountain, Stateside was fully tracked out with hard pack bumps in the glades. Off map tree shots were definitely not ready for prime time and difficult to navigate safely. Any run out trail that had not yet received snow making featured waterbars, ice, groomer chunks, and worse but did allow generally safe passage despite the leg burning. Jay officially opened almost 50 trails. However, all but perhaps a dozen of their steepest and rockiest selections could be safely skied which is tremendous for the first week in December.

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2008-2009 Season, Jay Peak, November, Powder Day

Milking it at Jay Peak

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!

2008-2009 Season, Earned Turns, October, Powder Day, Stowe

Sensational Earned Turn Powder Day to Start the Season

Looking Down National at Stowe

Game on! Last week’s two inches was just a teaser of better things to come. A massive storm system drew moisture out of the tropics and sent cold air racing the Appalachian chain into Florida. Combined with upslope snow fall on the backside of the storm, this is the trifecta of perfection for early season powder dumps in New England. Amazingly, the Catskills in New York received the highest snowfall totals at nearly double Mount Mansfield’s reported 12″ at The Stake. But when all was said and done, Mansfield definitely received more than a foot of fresh and was the best place to ski following the storm.

Austin and I hooked up in West Lebanon and carpooled up to Stowe. Originally, we had been considering Jay which was forecasted to receive more than Mount Mansfield. But the initial snow totals suggested that the upslope did not kick in for Jay like it did for Mansfield. We met up with Greg in the parking lot and skinned up Nose Dive. After an ill advised dabble in Nosedive Glades, we skinned up to the Octagon and prepared for a descent down National.

National usually is a horrible trail to descend featuring irregular spacious mounds of snow with scraped snow in the valleys. National is one of Stowe’s well known “front four” trails but hardly merits its reputation as an expert level trail. The steep drop scares many skiers into throwing the skis sideways and scraping off the snow which then slides into unorganized mounds. Suffice to say, National hardly skis well except immediately following a fresh dump.

Seeing an beautifully untracked line down skiers right, I picked my way through some thin coverage and rocks (which had kept most skiers away) and slid into a slot of bliss. With quads burning and begging for mercy, I skied down National’s powdery bliss spraying powder clouds left and right. Happy Birthday to me one day early. At the intersection of National and Liftline, tracks went everywhere but untracked was still to be found. The tracks a testament to well over a hundred skiers and riders hiking for turns. I finished my first run of the year down Lower National making somewhat aesthetic lines where once there was untracked snow. This is the way to begin a season.

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Big Jay Coverage

Deal Off In Big Jay Clear-Cut Cases

The Caledonian Record is reporting that plea deals have been scraped for the two men accused of clear cutting the trail on Big Jay. Days after firing his attorney, Paul Poulin appeared in court to represent himself and argue a motion to dismiss the case. However, the judge ordered Poulin to complete a psyciatric evaluation to verify Poulin was mentally sound enough to stand trial. Alan Ritter has skipped the plea bargain process opting to fight the charges out right.

Big Jay Coverage

Big Jay Trial News

The Newport Daily Express has reported on pre-trial happenings concerning the accused Big Jay cutters. In a surprising turn of events, Paul Poulin fired lawyer David Sleigh during a closed door hearing recess. According to the article, Poulin was specifically concerned about Sleigh’s inability to answer what happened to a motion to dismiss the charges.

The article details issues concerning how valuation of the forestry damage is being measured.  While estimates for replacing the cut trees at nearly $48,000 seems unreasonably high, the damage is almost without a doubt measured above the $1,000 felony charge level. A plea could be dependent upon how the damaged is valuated.

Pre-trial hearings continue later this week and the prospect of a jury trial is not out of the question with a jury potentially determining the issue of damage valuation.