<I>(Note from the Administrator: This report was originally posted on 4/12/00. Due to our move to new servers, the date and time attributed to this post is incorrect.)</I> <BR> <BR>Think of your dream day at Jay...40" of new snow in 3 days, almost everything open, hardly any crowds, untracked fluff in the glades, lightly falling snow, cool temperatures, and sweet cruising. An epic day for sure during any time of the winter. But how about in the middle of April? <BR> <BR>Thats right...the above description is for today! I had the morning off from college classes so I decided to hit Jay. We got about 4" here at Lyndon State, Lyndonville, VT, but I had heard that Jay had a foot. Plus, they had received 30" over this past weekend and Monday. It sounded amazing, almost unbelievable. All this in the middle of April, after most resorts had shut down. <BR> <BR>The snow depth increased rapidly up the access road until the base of the tram, where the official National Weather Service Spotter had recorded 28" on the ground. I quickly got ready and hit the tram, as nothing else was running (Green Mtn Flyer should have been turning...the only problem with today...this led to a 30 minute lift line for the tram). <BR> <BR>At the top I headed down Ullr's, to Beaver Pond Glade. SWEEETTT! Knee deep powder, and only about 5 or 6 skiers had gone down it all morning. It was incredible! I have never seen so much loose powder in springtime before, and I doubt many others had seen this much either. <BR> <BR>After that hit the T-bar, which was now running, to get over to the triple. At the Stateside area I hit some of the cruising runs and some of the glades near the bonaventure quad. After 4 or five runs I hit the tram again, but had to wait 30 minutes in line. Beaver Pond was in great shape again, and I think that maybe one more person had skied down it. Two more quick runs on the T-bar for skiing the low-intermediate glade Bushwacker, where NOBODY else had gone before. Yeah, its not steep, but the powder was 1-2 feet deep and awesome! <BR> <BR>I had to leave then due to a class at 3 o'clock...but I HIGHLY recommend anybody who wants to get one last powder day to head up tommorow. The weather tommorow looks better, a little more sun. Go on up! <BR> <BR>Jeremy Davis <BR>New England Lost Ski Areas Project <BR>www.nelsap.org
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Jay Peak, VT 4/12/00
- Thread starter nelsap
- Start date
<I>(Note from the Administrator: This report was originally posted on 4/13/00. Due to our move to new servers, the date and time attributed to this post is incorrect.)</I> <BR> <BR>I could not resist missing this day. I have been to Jay plenty of times this year, but the opportunity to hit knee deep fluff in April could not be ignored. The official number was an extra 12 inches Tuesday night. <BR> <BR>The day started out with a downer, as I had a flat tire on the shortcut from Westfield. I put the moped tire on (does anyone not hate those?) and finally got to Jay at 9:30. The new tire could wait. The weather was OK - 25, cloudy, snow, windy, but perfect for hitting powder. Only the Tram, the T-Bar and the Jet were running, so everything was still accessible, but getting there would took a while longer. Visibility at the summit was limited, but since I planned on spending most of my time in the glades, I knew that wouldn't be an issue. I started with Valhalla and was not disappointed. I found my way down to the Jet, since I was not eager to repeat the Tram wait until I had a few runs in. (Editorial note: While I realize there were only about 200 people there today, I would have loved to have at least the Flyer and/or Bonaventure chair open as well. Yeah, I know, economics, but it definitely shaved at least an hour off my ski time today for a ticket which cost the same amount as what people will pay Saturday with all the lifts open. End editorial) Off the Jet, Timbuktu seemed pretty tracked out, but it really didn't matter. I did it again, then UN for a rest and then Kitz Wood. It was already noon - where does the time go on a powder day? <BR> <BR>After a very quick lunch which included ordering a tire from the pay phone, I was itching for Everglade. WOW WOW WOW Everyone I know that skis the glades at Jay raves about the powder, but today was a step above. No scratchiness, very few stumps, just pure knee deep fluff. I repeated Everglade, then took the Tram for what I thought was the last time so I could hit Vertigo. I was falling through the powder at Vertigo, thinking that it couldn't get any better when - the clouds lifted and the sun came out. I had guessed that the glades in the middle of the mountain - Vertigo, Canyonlands, etc. wouldn't be as tracked in the afternoon, primarily because Bonaventure was closed. I guessed right. I went back to the Tram so that I could go up again and hit Canyonlands. While I bitched about the Flyer not being open, I did luck out 3 times getting on the Tram. Twice the door was about to close on us when the operator said "space for one more" HELLLOOOO! Another time they did close the door on us and then came back and said "room for three more". <BR> <BR>After Tuckermans (the only ice I saw), I made my way down to <BR>Canyonlands. Both Canyonlands and Bonaventure had barely been touched and it was pushing 3 PM by this time. They finished me off for the woods. I had time for a few more off the Jet and chose Haynes and Kitzbuhel. I got to the top of Kitzbuhel and it was roped. Powder was just sitting there, right in front of my face. I couldn't resist. I assumed they had started sweeps early because of limited manpower. While I almost never duck ropes, this one was pretty much an involuntary response. Philosophical Question: are ropes really guidelines at a mountain that has an all-mountain skiing policy? Kitzbuhel's usually huge moguls were slightly smaller and pure powder. I made the Jet chair at 3:55 for one more ride up to begin the long <BR>traverse to the base area. <BR> <BR>In summary, probably the best snow conditions I have skied in New England, on par with days I have had in Utah. Hardly any crowds, and those that were there were mostly experts. I still didn't get to some of the trails I would have liked to hit - North Glade, Beaver Pond Glades, Upper River Quai, Can Am - the list goes on. Jay Peak on a powder day would be a bargain at $100 (I hope Bill Stenger is not reading this!)
<I>(Note from the Administrator: This report was originally posted on 4/13/00. Due to our move to new servers, the date and time attributed to this post is incorrect.)</I> <BR> <BR>I had my most satisfying day of skiing at Jay since skiing Alta a couple years ago during four straight days of snow. <BR> <BR>Early Wednesday morning I logged on to the Sugarbush and Jay Web sites to decide were to enjoy this recent new snow. Sugarbush 16-20 new, 26 trails, bottom temp 34F, Jay 40+, 60 trails, bottom temp 26F. No brainer, off to Jay. After a very satisfying day skiing Jay on March 31 on fairly heavy powder and looking out over a brown landscape below, I figured it was downhill from there for the season. WRONG. <BR> <BR>The temperature and snow driving up to Jay made it feel like February. The top half of the Mtn was in a very dense cloud. The temps at the bottom was 22F and 12F on top. My first run off the tram was Canyon Land. I had first tracks with a couple other people. Knee deep powder, we all were laughing and yelling (and occasionally rolling) our way down through the trees. Next run I worked my way through the fog to the new top of Everglade. All this beautiful new snow and no one in sight or earshot. I kept thinking the alarm is going to go off and I am going to end this dream. Next run off the tram was down Valhalla. I then headed over to the Jet chair. Timbuktu was real nice, but was getting tracked up. <BR> <BR>On the second trip up the Jet chair the one to the two guys in the chair in front of me decided he wanted to get off the chair between towers 9 and 8. Unbelieveably he swung off the chair held on by one hand for a second and let go. He hit the snow popped up and skied off, with an instructor in the chair behind me yelling at him. The drop had to be 20 to 25 feet. While it doesn't say much about the jumper it does say something about how much new cushioning snow there is. <BR> <BR>I then started down Kitzbuehel on some untracked sections and then headed off through the woods to Kitz Woods and onto Hell's Woods. After two more trips down Kitz Woods and Hell's Woods I headed back to the Tram for a quick lunch. I then discovered Vertigo, which few people had been down. Snow there was from knee to thigh deep (helps if you're a telemarker). I kept doing runs down Vertigo until closing. By 3:00 PM the weather cleared and the sun light in the glades made the experience even better. I was sure hoping they would run the tram past 4:00. Vertigo was so fabulous I would of kept going until dark or exhaustion. It was a good thing that the climbing skins were home, I probably would I climbed back up for one more run. These conditions were thoroughly intoxicating. <BR> <BR>Thursday and Friday should still have some great skiing. Get there if you can.