First trip to Jay Peak

T

terje

New member
Hi everyone,

It's my first post here on the forum - thanks for interesting posts and great pictures to look at while I've been lurking!

As a quick introduction, I'm a norwegian snowboarder living in Montreal, it's my first winter season here and I'm enjoying it a lot!

This weekend I'm taking my first trip to Jay Peak, I've signed up for the SDC bus service here from Montreal. I was just wondering if the more experienced Jay Peak'ers on this forum had any dos and don'ts for a first-timer to have a nice time on the mountain. I'll be going alone so I don't think I'll do that much exploring the woods this time around even though I would like to. I do tend to get a bit bored in the groomed slopes.

Also, has anyone here taken the bus from Montreal to Jay Peak? How long does it normally take to get there?

Thanks!

Terje
 
I'll be going alone so I don't think I'll do that much exploring the woods this time around even though I would like to. I do tend to get a bit bored in the groomed slopes.
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Dude, you will be soooooooooooooo bored on the trails after a few runs if you are advanced rider, though I do recommend JFK, CanAm, or anything on Stateside (Jet triple) if you want on-piste challenge. Jay Peak is all about the woods. But I think you should check out some of the glades as well if you are an advanced rider. If you have no problem with CanAm, UN or Kitsbuhel, ease into the woods this way...

1. Ski half-way down Jet...then turn left onto a small cross-trail. This will lead you to the Stateside Glade. It is very short, low-angle and very easy. It is near the base and you can be seen from the trail.

2. Ride the Bonnaventure lift...take Milk Run to Taxi. Traverse across Taxi (it's long and flat) until you get to the Bonnaventure Glade. This is an easy low-angle glade that gets lots of traffic, so should something happen, you will be seen.

3. If you ride the Green Mtn Flyer (aka the Freezer) you can check out Expo Glade. It is within eye-shot of the lift, so you would not be alone.

4. If you are a total newbie to the woods, there are some very easy gladed trails near the lower mountain that you should explore.
Jay Peak is all about the woods. If you are at least an intermediate rider you should be able to find some trees you'll feel comfortable riding.

5. Find some friends. Just chat with people on the lift and you may find yourself with kind people that would accompany you into the woods.

Good luck and have fun.
 
Sharon,

Thanks for the pointers! That's exactly what I was looking for!

I've ridden some good terrain and powder but not much woods before I came here. So I'd say I have allright control and can handle a challenge. I figured I might meet some people either on the bus or in the lifts, that's a good reminder too.

I'll check out the trail map and check out those places. Thanks again, can't wait till tomorrow!

Terje.
 
terje":1xvpo7c3 said:
Also, has anyone here taken the bus from Montreal to Jay Peak? How long does it normally take to get there?
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I've taken the Jay bus from Montreal very often many many years (25-30 years ago). I think that the Travel time was about (at it should be the same now) from start to Jay parking lot is probably 1.5-2 hours, it all depends how quick it is to cross the border.

Have fun!!!
 
Hope you'll have fun at Jay this weekend... There should be plenty of snow in the woods... Groomers should be good also... but i wouldn't rely just on groomers to enjoy the mountain!

Be sure to check out Expo glade... It's always full of snow even tough it's right next to the freezer... Pretty short but worth it... while you're at it, take a run down the Flash... Very low traffic and always great snow to kick around on the sides.

You could also just go where traffic goes:
- Beaver Pond
- Timbuktu (don't go under the rope... stay to rider's left)
- Kitz' woods
- Show-off glade (next to bonnie quad)

But like mentionned, don't be affraid to chat w/ people on the chair and maybe you'll have riding buddys to enjoy the woods with!

We'll be out there this weekend but away from the resort... Powderhounds will be all over the mountain so we'll stay clear of that!

Enjoy your time at Jay! Bring back pictures and post a TR to let us know how much you liked your experience!
 
Thanks again for very cool advice! I've looked around on the map now for the places and I can't say it calmed my eagerness to go! I'll let you know how it went after.

Judging by the trail map and the descriptions I've gotten from you and from the Jay Peak site it seems to be a resort interested in keeping some natural feel to their slopes and that's something I'm looking forward to. The slopes north of Montreal here are - at least compared to my previous experience - very well groomed, and Avila has an amazing snow park, so in that sense they're great, but I haven't found many very good possibilities of going outside the beaten track a bit. There's a fine line between putting up red bands everywhere it gets a bit 'interesting' and risking too much injuries I suppose.
I'm sure - and I kind of hope - someone from here will chime in and prove me utterly wrong!

sszycher - not fun to sit and wait on the border when you know snow is getting tracked by someone else just a bit south. If we all listened to Lennon we'd have an easier time getting to the hills.
 
What's annoying about border crossing is that even though your plate is registered to have cross at that same exact border every freakin' weekend, they still have to ask all the same questions... Even the custom agents you've known for years have to ask all the questions... Some however still find a way to make it more "relaxed and friendly" then others...

What's funny now is that Canadian customs now ask for ID... It's funny entering Quebec because when you come in and talk in "Quebec"-french, where do they think you're coming from? Peru?

Anyways... The US governement is killing slowly their buisness and are slowly putting themselves toward a recession! Ah well!
 
By mid-afternoon some on piste trails that were decent in the morning may be sheets of ice, or ice bumps with ice between them, or just be really chopped to hell, regardless of how much snow dumped the night before. That can be said for any hill, but with Jay's wind potential it tends to be more true than a lot of places. I would eat a big breakfast, pack some snacks and ride right through lunchtime to enjoy the best on piste conditions. A lot of the hordes tend to go in at a regular lunch time, so the lines shorten too. Have to say though that I never had a big problem with lines at Jay.
 
Spensar,

I was thinking about lift lines when I looked at the trail map just now actually, it looks like relatively few lifts for a big area! But it's hard to tell from just the map, so thanks for the insight, I'll have a big breakfast on the bus ;)

Terje
 
Speaking of lifts, the Jay regulars can confirm, but you only need to use the Tram for the Vermonter and Green Beret (on piste), otherwise the Flyer provides the same access.
 
Spensar":1hne594n said:
Speaking of lifts, the Jay regulars can confirm, but you only need to use the Tram for the Vermonter and Green Beret (on piste), otherwise the Flyer provides the same access.
Click to expand...

Bonnie and Jet is really all you need! Freezer (Flyer) can be pretty cold... Bonnie is more protected and offer pretty much the same trail access... But i guess you'll find out on your own!

Again, have fun out there!
 
Good point Big Jay - if you're taking the flyer (freezer) make sure you'd dressed warm, if the cold gets intense at the top of the rise; twist on the chair and turn your back towards the wind.

Well worth the "pain" though.

Have fun! Stop and look around at how beautiful the MTN is.
 
Other posts have covered it well but here are a few additional tips...

Watch out for the run out on Tram Side. Everything that dumps into the Tram Basin gets flat towards the end. Particularly, you will want to take note of the run out from Ullr's Dream on Kokamo. Is the run out worth it for the trails over there? You be the judge, but I never head that way except on rare occasion.

If you do Derick or Timbuktu, especially on a snowboard, use the cut over to Lower Haynes to avoid a flat run out on The Willard.

Tram is a tourist trap during the weekend. Wait in line at risk of many lost runs. Since it is your first time, maybe queue up early for one run just to do it once if your bus gets to the slopes early enough.

Don't worry about skiing the marked glades by yourself. Marked glades are pretty busy places. You would be hard pressed to spend more than a few minutes alone in a marked glade. Off piste you should avoid if you are concerned about safety riding by yourself.

For challenge outside of the glades, the top part of Lifeline under the Bonnie has some rough edges and some drops. Upper River Quai if open under the tram is pretty sweet too. Also if open and you ride the tram, Green Beret has a nice pitch and a nice drop or three. Avoid the Goat at all costs after 10am or so as it is an ice rink though Alligator Alley would not be fun on a snowboard either. No easy way to get to the mid-mountain stuff under the freezer which is why, as BigJay points out, you can often find good snow down there.

I would offer to give you a tour on Saturday... but I only have four hours to ski and will probably only be getting one or two runs the hard way so I won't really be available. Hope you enjoy!
 
Wooohoo! :D :D :D

What a forum this is!! I'm overwhelmed, thanks again to all who answered! And thanks to you too Steve, I appreciate that you would consider giving me a tour - with all these good tips I should be all set for a fun day tomorrow. It's so great to have gotten 'shown around' the night before going! I hope I'll be able to remember it all when I'm out there tomorrow. I also appreciate the ice warnings.

Have fun the rest of you out there skiing tomorrow too, I know I will!

Will be back soon with pictures and a report.
 
Hope you had a great trip, let us know how the bus trip was as noticed that it makes 3 stops in the Montreal area so curious to find out at what time you arrived at Jay.
 
Wowowowow!


That is one cool mountain! I absolutely had the right impression in advance - plenty of areas that felt very natural while still having amazing flow. I ended up riding the glades A LOT and by the end I had found a technique that worked. It was slow to start with but once I got that flow going and got a feel for it, what a feeling!

I didn't find as much untracked snow as I think Steve did judging from the pictures in his other thread, but there were no big mogul lumps anywhere either, great loose powder still. I think I must have picked the perfect day this year to go.

Anothony, you bring up pretty much the only negative side of the trip (and even that can't take away from a fantastic day yessterday) - I wish the bus had left Montreal earlier. We were in Longeuil at around a quarter to eight, and with a pretty long stop on the border (everyone off into the waiting room in line) we weren't at Jay until half past ten or so. That was also partly due to the bus driver going off one exit too early - can you imagine how we all felt when we saw the peak on our left as we continued past it? He finally turned around - I think we lost about 20 minutes there too. And due to the insane lift lines - the flyer was broken - I didn't have my first run until 11:30.

I went over to the Bonaventure lift after that and then to the jet, the lines were better there but still a lot of waiting. So I rode the hills in order over there, the first really good feeling I had was on Can Am, as I passed the top curve into the slope and rode that beautiful steep before continuing into the show-off glade. fantastic! Once I got over to the jet though, it got even better, the Derrick hot shot and part of timbuktu, beautiful hills and with a great flow. I think I got to try most of the slopes you guys told me about, it was fun to go down and notice the names, 'ok, now I'm on Taxi - oh, there's the Bonnaventure! - sharp turn right!' :D It was a great help, I'm not super good at picking the best slopes so I think it gave my day a little extra.

I had to try the tram, so I lined up for my last ride there. Gorgeous view on top, everything frozen white and glittering in the sun. I was a bit disappointed that Green Beret was closed, I had gotten that recommended too so I was looking forward to it. I wouldn't take the gondola up another time if Green Beret wasn't open I think, the hills up there weren't worth the wait as it was. The view was though, so I'm glad I took it once!


Thanks again to all, I had a great great time! Lots of snow, super wood rides. Shame about the lift lines, but it didn't really detract.

Just to finish up on the bus thing - It's an allright deal, definitely a good price ($65). If the bus driver knows his way next time it would be good - maybe even better if it left Montreal half an hour to an hour earlier.
 
The shame about the lift lines is that they need not have occurred. This is the second weekend in a row, if I recall correctly from last week, that the flyer sent a third or more of the resorts guests stateside in search of vertical propulsion. Not sure what is going wrong with that lift, but it sure was not the wind these past two occurrences.

Glad you had a good first go at Jay! You will never get good untracked with that bus showing up after ten. Probably a good value but be sure to provide your own transport next time if you want lots of untracked. People that know the mountain line up for first chair and hit everything on the map first before venturing to lesser known areas. Folks without Jay experience showing up after 10am really don't even have a chance.

Regardless of untracked, the snow was skiing beautifully into the early afternoon. Surely about as good of a first Jay experience as can possibly be hoped for. Though there are certainly better days to be had, this one was a solid 9+ from my perspective.
 
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