<I>(Note from the Administrator: This report was originally posted on 3/1/00. Due to our move to new servers, the date and time attributed to this post is incorrect.)</I> <BR> <BR>I had all sorts of skiing plans for the post-vacation week. The rain put a damper on all that. So, in hope of seeing Jay Peak again before that "350+ inches" melted completely away, we set out for the long drive from Boston. <BR> <BR>Saturday morning dawned cold and blustery in Boston, with a cold fog and drizzle blowing in from the harbor. Things cleared out north of Franconia Notch, however, and we arrived to a sunny Tram parking lot. The sun disappeared once we boarded the new G.M. Freezer, however, as a dark mass of cloud clung tightly to the Jay summit. Brutal winds screamed along the liftline, and I wondered how they could ever open this thing during actual COLD weather. We spent the day touring the mountain looking for spring conditions. Ullr's and Exhibition gave us refrozen machine-groomed in the clouds, with warm, soggy runouts. Moving east, we found massive granular bumps on a sunlit Can Am, refrozen ice-bumps on Liftline, scratchy granular and heavy traffic on the middle-mountain cruiser trails, and a solid base and fine McGrooming on Stateside. The woods were filled with frozen ruts and nasty crust, so we stayed out. Still, it was a fine day of balmy-weather skiing--for early April. <BR> <BR>Saturday night was spent at the amazing North Troy Inn (thanks to the recommendation from Mr. Guido), with a drive to Magog for a fine bargain dinner at the Grosse Pomme (love that exchange rate!). <BR> <BR>Sunday dawned warm, sunny, and windier. We arrived at 8:30am to find the Tram and Freezer on indefinate wind hold. After a Metro T-bar ride, we hit the Red chair for a morning assault on a sunlit Can Am. The mountain had NOT refrozen, and the massive bumps were pure slush. We bounded and flailed through the irregular lines and 2' deep troughs, and I realized that a month of perfectly-aligned MRG moguls had killed our routefinding abilities! Ski tips disappeared into slush piles, bumps collapsed on impact, and all the while temperatures climbed through the 40s into the low 50s. Wind closed the Red chair, and we spent the middle of the day looping crowded and slushy trails on Stateside. Kitzbuhel and U.N. were the runs of the day--less crowded, with soft, well formed bumps that beat us up but kept us coming back for more. Inspired by the descriptions of high-speed adventure skiing, I went big--driving forward and not stopping until the skis came off my feet. They came off quite a bit, as I ran each bump line up to and beyond its reasonable limit (and well beyond my own skills). <BR> <BR>We stayed at Stateside until closing, then traversed back to the Tram via Taxi. Meltoff poured out of the hillside and flooded the long traverse, leaving muddy channels and numerous bare patches. Each McCruiser we passed had a line of brown spots down the middle. Standing still on an empty lower Can Am, the air was filled with the sound of trickling water. On the drive out, we noticed that the fields along route 14 had lost most of their snowcover, and that the snow berms on I-91 had completely disappeared. Is this it for the season? <BR> <BR>But still, a fine weekend. I'll be waiting patiently for the NAO to reverse and snow to return. It will return, right?
Jay Peak 2/26-27/00
- Thread starter Matt
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