Jay Peak Conditions

Sick Bird Rider wrote

Agreed. Jonny Jay did report that Queen's Highway was pretty sweet.

lolol

Hoping these proposed winter storms kick in! I'll be here next week from the 8th to the 12th!

Snow was extremely excellent all of Friday to Sunday and as it rained Sunday it slowly got worse, today was mainly ice and not quite as fun. There were a bunch of exposed trees and rocks on the far skiers right in Timbuktu and those runs but everything else was quite solid. I’d say a solid snow will do it proper as the base keeps getting better!

We skied Jay on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  Friday was amazing, roaming off the beaten path was easy and every single run we were in fresh deep powder, fluffy and clean, perfect in the woods and glades.  We had some really great runs in Everglade.  It was cold, and as we came off the hill my son snapped a pic of my frosty ski smile, what a day.



Paolo Cruising Everglade


Saturday we awoke to more fresh snow and we went straight into Timbucktu.  I stopped at the boundary line as I watched my 18 and 24 year old sons blow past the boundary into the woods dropping down through fresh knee deep powder.  I was so jealous of them and their energy and willingness to cast aside the possibility of out of bounds walk out or a hitchhike back from the road.  When we reconnected, their smiles were ear to ear.....my oldest claiming it was the best run of his life.  This after reading the Jay report and adding up about 4' of snow in the last 7 days.  Saturday night I fell asleep around midnight as I watched yet another night of snowfall diminish.  



Monosking Timbuktu


Sunday morning we woke early and were on second Tram.  I had my Monoski and as my sons dove into fresh snow on Tuckermans, I took the straight and narrow to find fresh wind blown powder, which my Monoski just loves.  Then off to Timbucktu, Jet and run after run, as the cloud cover slowly dropped and closed in around us.  We landed back in my Jeep at 1:00 with freezing rain starting to fall.



Milo blasting though Tuckermans Glade


On the 3 1/2 hour drive back to Johnsburg, we were encapsulated by ice, my Jeep coated a good 1/4" thick in some spots.  The entire drive back, we just kept questioning, why, how, what is happening to our climate that brings on such destructive winter weather, with these cycles of freeze and thaw, over and over.  As we drove out of North Creek, I looked up at the North Creek Ski Bowl and the 46er and was saddened by the sight of the static Hudson Chair climbing into the rain filled sky.  

I firmly believe in global warming and I am frightened as to what it will bring to our future and the future of this sport that I am absolutely obsessed with.



Frosty Jay Peak powder day smile

After setting us up for the frozen mustache pic, I'm glad you closed your trip report with it. Looks like you and the boys may have had one of the best weekends of the season! Great report...Mine are still in middle and hugh school, but I can already say that your own kids make some of the best ski buddies!!

MikePom wrote

 I firmly believe in global warming and I am frightened as to what it will bring to our future and the future of this sport that I am absolutely obsessed with.

Me too.

Nice post - I have plans to head up to Jay in a few weeks, hopefully I can get a cycle like this.

Agree great report. (Should be a TR IMO, LMK if I can break it out.)

I thought the MONO was a groomer thing. In the trees is sick!

These guys win for best pix:
https://zone.ski/tempete-surprise-dans-les-montagnes-vertes/

Steve Wright as boosted from Alpine Zone with his permission:

"Wish it were simply a de-icing issue. We recorded gusts between 112-116mph at Tram Tower 2 at about 2:30a Tuesday a track cable came off the bronze profile (they're still in place on the cable catcher where they should be, but still). Relatively easy fix (all things being equal) but until it is, we aren't comfortable running any lifts that cross underneath (Bonnie, TS Carpet, Metro) nor any lifts that deposit folks through the trail network underneath (Flyer). Disappointing for many reasons-most of which is that were were literally 5 hours away from going out with communications talking about our decision to run daily until May (making us the only resort not named Killington doing it in the eastern US), with all of our lifts and 95% of our trails. Went so far as to secure year round staff to run lifts, baselodges and cut our operating costs drastically to get us comfortable with it. Had packages online ready to go, discounted tickets ready to go, the whole deal. Tried to triage this ourselves and realized by noon that we needed to bring folks in. They'll be here the end of next week. End story."

Not following this thread closely....want to thank you for the compliments on my last post.....Jay is an amazing mountain....we are still trying to manage one more trek to the north country to get in some last licks......that weekend was by far the best ski event I had this season...epic really.

I have since then compiled my GoPro footage from those 3 days into one of my goofy videos....

Just got in the door after the long drive home from Jay Peak and three days of skiing. Tramside is offline for the season but the Jet, Taxi and Bonaventure chairs ran all weekend, which gave plenty of options. If you are looking for snow, there is plenty of it at Jay and there still should be next weekend. Given the mild weather, the snow-blown groomer runs are the best choice but Jonny Jay and I were pleasantly surprised to find full coverage on natural snow runs like Kitzbuhel and Derrick Hot-Shot. There was even a line on Power Line but we didn't take it. We did venture into Timbuktu and found lots of coverage but VERY heavy snow. Brush up on your jump turns for glade skiing. More to follow at the RJPSR in a day or two.

The classic view of the summit ridge on Saturday, currently only accessible by hiking. Jonny Jay is indicating that we shall ski the Kitz:



There was some rain today. Snow conditions were excellent. JJ ready to rock in his JPR raincoat:

Skiing the Kitz in late April.....man, that's pretty good!

Sick Bird Rider wrote

JJ ready to rock in his JPR raincoat

They give those out on rainy days? Nice, better than a garbage bag.

Jamesdeluxe wrote

Sick Bird Rider wrote

JJ ready to rock in his JPR raincoat

They give those out on rainy days? Nice, better than a garbage bag.

They USED to give them out on rainy days. JJ saves his for special occasions, it is a collectable now.

D.B. Cooper wrote

Skiing the Kitz in late April.....man, that's pretty good!

Yes, we were amazed. Only one rock showing. If you know the run it is the big one at the top. There was a lot of skiable terrain that was not lift-served. The Vermonter looked awesome but hiking was required. The Bonnie gave access to some runs heading to Tramside (eg. Goat, GMB) but you had to take the long runout back to Stateside or get the shuttle bus. We opted for the runout. Goat and GMB were primo. Expo Glade was FAT.

Sick Bird Rider wrote

The Bonnie gave access to some runs heading to Tramside (eg. Goat, GMB) but you had to take the long runout back to Stateside or get the shuttle bus. We opted for the runout. Goat and GMB were primo. Expo Glade was FAT.

Well played, sir. GMB runs from the Bonnie can be a bit of a PITA. But when conditions are good, that is an often overlooked option.

riverc0il wrote

Well played, sir. GMB runs from the Bonnie can be a bit of a PITA. But when conditions are good, that is an often overlooked option.

Thanks, rivercOil. Conditions were good and speed is your friend. Lower Quai was really nice as well. Nobody else had figured it out, as far as I could tell. Stopping wherever you felt like it on the Goat is a rare privilege.

Steve W gets a shout-out in Powder Mag. Good for him, not an easy road he's been on:

https://www.powder.com/salt/salt-steve-wright/

That's exactly how you'd expect a SteveW interview to be. Very cool thanks for posting.

Still lots of pow at Jay, waterbars are present in a lit of spots. No ice! Lots of snow in the glades