Jay Peak, VT 3/31/01

[Anonymous]

Considering how much snow has fallen in the last week, Jay was something of a let down yesterday. It seemed mobbed with people and thoroughly skied out. What's with it with these late season crowds? Mad River was mobbed last week, too. People should be turning to bikes and kayaks and leaving this tired old ski gig behind. <BR> <BR>So yeah, Jay was a little disappointing. <BR> <BR>But consider this, too: I am a junkie. A sorry, despicable junk addict. <BR> <BR>I have skied seven out of the last ten days, and each has included at least 20 turns of untracked. I am addicted to white powder. Each dose makes me crave more. But the junkie knows no limits. The junkie will leave his wife, his family, his job for another fix. Tolerance has developed -- I used to get off on one powder day a month. Then it was one a week. <BR> <BR>Now I need 3, 4 powder days a week for the same high. And yesterday wasn't a full fledged powder day. Lots of soft snow, big pillowy bumps of fluff, but little in the way of untouched untracked freshies. Cheap junk, back alley variety -- not the fine high grade stash I scored just days ago. Enough to combat the nausea of withdrawl, but not enough to get me loopy. <BR> <BR>I need a couple days to dry out, get this monkey off my back for a while.

 

[joegm]

the problem with the " la cosa nostra " ( this thing of our's!!!!! ) late season attitude is that it just gives the resorts a reason to shut the lift access down...as far as the traffic on the slides, i feel your pain brother ... believe me. thank god i'm lucky enough to be able to ski mid week ( 5 straight coming up at stowe this week will report from the top o quad ) but the sad ( absurd is more like it!!!! ) fact is there are places that are closing today with over a foot of fresh having fallen in the last 48 hours and being 100% open...it just kills me that these places all clamor about and waste money blowing fake in nov to get a few trails open in minus 4 f, when they are seemingly itching to shut it down in march and april with 75 inch bases and at the least, soft corn and sometimes fresh powder... it's just unbelievable... i'll tell you this much, i don't have kids yet, but when i do , you will not see me at a major resort during the insanity of the christmas vaca week... you'll see us there during april school vaca week in windshirts and no goggles...even if i have to go to killington... why don't people get this... i just don't get it!!!!!!!

 

[Tony Crocker]

Hear! Hear! This editorial comment is even more true in the West. I just got back from skiing Wolf Creek, Monarch and Crested Butte, all of which are closing April 8. Aspen Highlands closed April 1. <BR> <BR>I've done one week destination trips in late March/early April 10 times since 1983, all with full coverage of expert terrain, most with short liftlines and all the vertical I could handle, and several with some decent powder as well. <BR> <BR>Christmas week? Twice. In 1986-87 Alta had decent snow. Unfortunately no one else did so the liftlines averaged 45 minutes and peaked at 1 hr 15 min. In 1992-93 we were buried in a North Tahoe blizzard and skied one day out of six. I had to hitch 3 rides to get to Squaw because the only lodging available and affordable was not exactly conveniently located, and thus undrivable in the weather.