• For more information on how to avoid pop-up ads and still support SkiTalk click HERE.

New England Jay Peak 12/15 - 12/19

MattSmith

Out on the slopes
Skier
Joined
Jul 11, 2017
Posts
320
Location
Minturn, CO
Mid-season (or better) conditions at Jay Peak for the Ski Klub pre-Christmas event. Thursday night through Tuesday. Slope side condo with skiing each day. Yearly event. PM me if interested in this for next year. You'll roll the dice with weather, but the pay-off lasts all season.

A full spectrum of skiing and weather across all 5 days. The air temperature was -3 on Sunday morning but then raining when I left on Tuesday afternoon. The Jay Cloud was in effect all week. It's been a great early season. Travel time on Friday morning from metro Boston to Tramside lot was 3:45. A new record for me. Between traffic and weather, I'm not sure I've ever broken the 4 hr mark.

Friday conditions were cold, dry and sunny. We were poaching left overs from the storm earlier in the week. The snow is SUPER deep in some spots but not quite packed enough to fill the gaps. This made for slightly more hazardous conditions than usual in the woods. Given the additional snow/rain cycle since last week, the woods should be nicely filled and ready to play. The tram had not run for the season so we did a quick (30 minutes) walk from the top of Flyer to the peak looking for some late day stashes. You can see from the pictures clouds started to move in later in the day on Friday.

This image faces SE from Jay Peak to Big Jay. Big Jay is out of bounds but well-know back county. Looking right to left, you can see the skin trail from the gate at Jay Peak to Big Jay.
y4mjUG1566O2L3ow7aP-efU379Axqtluuxbxg1YTnefD8HgbclXM8CBO3ckUAfHst_LZcf2qLWM7tyOgCc3ba_zIFWwxs6dxPCGRRnSUkVcdty6Nl4ypCibl9389VcI-pK2UIyeRiji1uluvKObLzWvvz-3C5lAR_Af_dP_xY73YCfFkWwv8TohuJTO_FoOjWO4jzDDNcTaH2MQ9tZuWyWqmw


Looking in nearly the opposite direction from Big Jay. Skier's right of Face Chutes. An unmarked trail known as Pumphouse. The second photo shows a good view of the top of the Jet lift and the Montrealer trail.
y4mMBNcVG40I247P7RHpsEs86mMdi8F1SL_GZ0qTMb3OafleZ0byBIj1Mw8RjAl8H_63lNDRnqbyrvswVOVYAgB6CEUe0uSVod3tYRpUvyVhfm8kVeAUrCPEcm9ryHF9MzS5GIB24nnB69q6TQZJB3hJYSsg-AaEoqIscKFCHH71EsKwebmUygfFpNgqgTCZJcSRl4JYLlIN5RvtTJ4VRz-mA



-------Saturday
Friday night into Saturday morning brought an unexpected, but lovely 8 fresh inches to most of the mountain. It really freshened up the glads and it was 100% on. We skied / road with a group of 8-12 in various forms and fashion. Hard charging tram laps were the order of the day. Conditions were noticeably better on the skiers left side of the mountain (Flyer side) over the right side (Jet side). We scored a number of 1st tracks opportunities through Valhalla, some folks poached Tuckerman's and the Face Chutes. Excitement level was high. To say "Jay was going off" on Saturday morning is right on. We tore it up from opening tram to last chair. Hell of a day.
y4mq8ezcQ3oFf3bslfkm6kfHGsr2B2nCCTeRZFrclHq6IvDgf3mE7xHVrA1SM7mpJS6EAjD2gcSZSjIUhW1B8cdrRSkiLt2QrP4PA_lGvO6IRS3Sev_zp7aV6ZsjNHxRxk-L54J3-Nylw3dgVZROCPVR3PVgo52F0Egr4-tQgRYRKsz9FxC-nNVVsh5sYbtWHY4BMoyNdk9pD_v2r9xjQVsNg


----Sunday
Super cold overnight with no new snow. Most of the crew was out early again despite the hard charging from the previous day. Only a few on the younger side had a little to much fun and didn't answer the bell. Nothing particularly exciting to show. It was a bluebird day, but to damn cold for many photos.
y4mSJzfpd7Q1YV-dxZGN8Wuj-HnNDP3-jSpaAgySkoKmzMuKyXDPZanobnn6ccLsriwULWBTVBXAbq2Rg1T-4DoMi-Z46_AmMNVFCaWxyYYsdzt9zGas7Kmykm0oTrP_SdMgF2TEiyts0OMu82L2KgYnn0jyyrxOa5pmItdvjofGB--ZEjlBebDgLhJGwfZNH0OJEAqmxc8j6n6k8xUszsvpA

I knocked off around 1 on Sunday for some lunch and to try out the new AT gear. I am very excited about going up hill this year. 1st trip out was a success. Uphill pass secured, I swapped out boots and skis and headed up Ulr's Dream. It took some time to adjust bindings and acclimate to the gear. Lesson #1 from this attempt. Lock in that front toe piece. It's a heck of a lot easier if your toe isn't pivoting all over the place.

---Monday
Only a coating of snow and cloudy skies awaited on Monday. Lifts don't spin until 9 on weekdays. I needed that extra 30 minutes to settle my stomach. It was still a bit upset from the Steeler / Patriot debacle from the prior evening. Gosh I despise the Pats. This does not make me especially popular given my geographic location. See you in January Tommy.
We spent the morning on Jet side, since we'd not spent much time there. Pretty decent coverage and a few pockets of wind-blown snow here and there.
Timbuktu to Corona Highway is always a fun run through the woods. Skiing side country to The Dip is not recommended just yet. The top 2/3 is filled in. You'll bushwack your way through the bottom 1/3. Haynes and Hotshot were naturally tracked out, but full of good snow and little ice except for the stream beds still running on the lower part of the mountain.
The Bonaventure Quad had not run yet this year (still not sure if it's running) so we missed Bonnie Glades. Canyonland and Vertigo were all filled in and fun as usual. Again, little pockets of freshies here and there.
Another uphill adventure following a late lunch. I made it all the way to the Beaver Pond entrance and skied down through the trees via headlamp. It started snowing late morning and continued through the day. A very peaceful climb with Nicole Moudaber providing the beats. https://www.mixcloud.com/nicolemoud...rom-playdifferently-printworks-closing-london
Today's uphill lesson? Don't wear your goggles on your head on the way up and expect to use them on the way down. They ice up pretty quickly when removed from your head :doh:

---Tuesday
"Get away day" arrived with a creamy 4-6 inches overnight. Fantastic conditions as you can see. Rebates on Tuckerman's and Pumphouse from earlier in the week provided the goods. A few bad little kiddies may have ducked the ropes on Green Beret and Upper Milk for fresh tracks. Oh so much fun to end the week. Snow started changing to rain around 11/11:30. I was pretty soaked, spent, and facing a 4 hr drive back to Boston so I called it a trip at 12:30.

y4m_w_qQCjh_8WdbHic5m3XH7Y4LhNtgiciAxoKABrvMNfyS1SAhCWOI9zHdIBegMpqK4T8_hTZMG3hO5loT_ENa8sbisR1WNshVdlPsDbw9GeCMljqpzyau7kZXiH_PTaO1p3iRdT9fzaDlelUFkco6LDUJYZgW0H82C67D_-9X1gLAzDFc13NR2VEK2-c6aSpmFcL8Ql6TUnf5vHmgJYsMg

Happy skiing! If you've enjoyed this report and want to make turns, I hope to be doing this a lot. I'm at Sugarbush in the Mad River Valley most of the week. I'll drive north to Jay most weekends. ...and I'm usually looking for somewhere to sleep.
#senditwithme
 

dbostedo

Asst. Gathermeister
Moderator
Contributor
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Feb 9, 2016
Posts
18,094
Location
75% Virginia, 25% Colorado
Nice report Matt. I've got my Sugarbush pass (courtesy of my MCP) sitting in my living room. Just have to figure out when I can use it...
 

Fuller

Semi Local
Skier
Joined
Feb 18, 2016
Posts
1,522
Location
Whitefish or Florida
Great report! Even though my attention is focused to the west these days I really want to go back to Jay.
 

Sponsor

Top