We skied some serious pea-soup, ducking into the woods whenever possible to find some contrast. The crowds and the traffic were amazing. One local spent a whole Jet Triple ride complaining about what the Powder Magazine piece has done to the Jay glades. In addition, a certain MASH state was coming off winter vacation, feeding busloads of kids onto the Tram. I suppose it's good that Jay will actually be making money from now on, but I miss being able to find untracked ten feet off the main woods shots. We found the <BR>goods, though, once the hordes went in for lunch and we could return to Tramside. BBP, although now on the map for all to see, still requires enough sidestepping to keep the whoses at bay. By following the boundary ropes and staying high, we cleaned up the small amount of powder left. The rest of the run, tracked and packed though it was, was still one of the finest ski experiences out there. <BR> <BR>Things started to firm up by Monday morning, but then the fog and wind gave birth to a Jay Cloud just before lunch. While patches of blue ski still cast sunlight on the base area, a howling blizzard attacked the upper mountain. The brutal ride up the Freezer was a small price to pay for the goodies. The downwind woods filled up as fast as we could ski them, and fresh creamy goodness was found in Beaver Pond, BBP (four more visits), Everglade, and Staircase. The deepest powder, however, drifted in on the right side of (?!?) Goat Run. While dozens of snowplowers and snowboarders scraped and slid down the yellow and blue porcelain on the left, we hugged the rocks and cruised down a narrow strip with 12-14" of windblown fluff. The confused looks were priceless as the snow sprayed off our tails and floated down over the piles of fallen and flailing riders who wouldn't or couldn't leave the center of the trail. We followed the wind and enjoyed the bounty that had been violently stripped off the flat groomers and laid out across more worthy terrain. Halfway down Expo Glade, we noticed a smooth, unbroken sea of white to our left. Exhibition had been reserved by a nice orange rope, but nothing said we couldn't simply jog two trees left from Expo... two pitches of completely untracked powder and an untracked runout under the Tram finished an exceptional afternoon. <BR> <BR>I wonder what Jay is like on a *real* powder day?