Jay Peak, VT, 3/13 -3/15, 2014: Vulcanized.

Here are a few belated pics from a recent trip to Jay Peak, exploring the fruits of Winter Storm Vulcan:

A familiar scene to traveling skiers:


An on-map moderate glade, late Thursday morning. The powder frenzy had not reached here yet. Well, except for me.


There were a few people around:


The weekend ended badly for one of my companions.


Full report here.

well done, sir!

Sick Bird Rider wrote

There were a few people around:

Next time I can make it out for a powder day, sign me up for a trip to Gore.  The trees are almost as good and it takes half as long to get there.  Once you are away from the gondola there are far less crowds too, even the gondola usually doesn't have a line like this.

snoloco wrote

Next time I can make it out for a powder day, sign me up for a trip to Gore.  The trees are almost as good and it takes half as long to get there.  Once you are away from the gondola there are far less crowds too, even the gondola usually doesn't have a line like this.

Don't forget to put this in context: taken on one of the busiest days of the season, during the late morning rush on Saturday at the end of Canadian school holiday week. Even though it looks long, this was maybe a 15 minute wait. If you played the singles line, five minutes. Most non-holiday days the Flyer is ski-on or a very short wait.

snoloco wrote

it takes half as long to get there.  

Less than half as much snow as Jay too.

Gore's bumps are good though.

Sick Bird Rider wrote

snoloco wrote

Next time I can make it out for a powder day, sign me up for a trip to Gore.  The trees are almost as good and it takes half as long to get there.  Once you are away from the gondola there are far less crowds too, even the gondola usually doesn't have a line like this.

Don't forget to put this in context: taken on one of the busiest days of the season, during the late morning rush on Saturday at the end of Canadian school holiday week. Even though it looks long, this was maybe a 15 minute wait. If you played the singles line, five minutes. Most non-holiday days the Flyer is ski-on or a very short wait.

I forgot that it is 3 miles from the Canadian border as well.  I don't know what the Canadian holidays are, so I didn't know that it was the busiest time of the year.  At the mountains I go to, March 15th is usually not crowded.

snoloco wrote

Next time I can make it out for a powder day, sign me up for a trip to Gore.  The trees are almost as good and it takes half as long to get there.  Once you are away from the gondola there are far less crowds too, even the gondola usually doesn't have a line like this.

You, sir, are full of winners! Hit up a Jay regular up next time you are up there to get the full tour. I got a pretty good tour of Gore and I think saying the Gore trees are almost as good as Jay trees is a bit of an over estimation of Gore. No knock against Gore, I was really surprised in a big way how good Gore's trees are. That said... Jay's trees are expansive with longer lines and a bit more variation and of course more powder.

As for that line, I've never seen anything like that at Jay before. Blame it on that storm (I refuse to use the name the Weather Channel calls it, NOAA or bust on storm names). That type of non-sense happened everywhere in Vermont that weekend, big time powder frenzy combined with vacation week north of the boarder. I've occasionally had long lines at Jay but they are generally the exception. Perhaps that was one of the days that the Triple and/or Tram were down? That would certainly be a contributing factor towards a long line at Jay.

riverc0il wrote

As for that line, I've never seen anything like that at Jay before. Blame it on that storm (I refuse to use the name the Weather Channel calls it, NOAA or bust on storm names). That type of non-sense happened everywhere in Vermont that weekend, big time powder frenzy combined with vacation week north of the boarder. I've occasionally had long lines at Jay but they are generally the exception. Perhaps that was one of the days that the Triple and/or Tram were down? That would certainly be a contributing factor towards a long line at Jay.

That picture was taken at about 10:45 on Saturday morning. All the late arrivers just got in line. All lifts were running. I agree, storm hype, school holidayss, etc. The only other time I have seen a line like this was during Christmas week with the Tram on windhold.

I am not a big fan of the storm naming but think that is fairly harmless and lends itself well to plays on words.

bumps wrote

snoloco wrote

it takes half as long to get there.  

Less than half as much snow as Jay too.

Gore's bumps are good though.

You are correct, Sir!  After a couple decent dumpers, Gore was full-on Bump Season, on the third day they mowed 'em down.  So, the moguls available are mostly found off-piste, on some interesting terrain.  Given our eight week January conditions this go-round they are over the top.

Staircase, The Chutes, Green Beret, etc..@ Jay need that extra snow, the pitch demands it. They don't mow'em, they grow'em on Jet for your sliding enjoyment.  Always an adventure.

All the best this Spring at your Home Hill.

 

riverc0il wrote

snoloco wrote

Next time I can make it out for a powder day, sign me up for a trip to Gore.  The trees are almost as good and it takes half as long to get there.  Once you are away from the gondola there are far less crowds too, even the gondola usually doesn't have a line like this.

You, sir, are full of winners! Hit up a Jay regular up next time you are up there to get the full tour. I got a pretty good tour of Gore and I think saying the Gore trees are almost as good as Jay trees is a bit of an over estimation of Gore. No knock against Gore, I was really surprised in a big way how good Gore's trees are. That said... Jay's trees are expansive with longer lines and a bit more variation and of course more powder.

Have to agree with you River. Jay to me felt like one giant glade with enough natural snow to cover most hazards. I'm a gore homer and love it on a pow day but there is no comparison when you factor in the number of pow days at jay and the amount of gladed terrain. The extra drive is the killer. We were there at the end of president's week with the entire resort sold out and never encountered more than a 5 minute line (other than the tram).

Sorry to hear about your companion SBR. That is a really sucky way to end a powder trip. I guess the only thing you can say is glad it wasn't worse.

I agree that Gore doesn't have as much powder or vert as Jay. I wanted to get up to Jay this weekend but the costs and time it takes made it difficult for my traveling companions. So 2 of us went to Snow Ridge and Gore and we had plenty of powder. We had to work for the best snow at Gore, but it was worth it, and the camaraderie of a good posse of locals made for a really fun weekend.

The cost of going to SR and Gore was a fraction of the cost of a Jay trip. I think run for run, we got our money's worth staying in NY.

Half the cost in gas and a huge savings on lodging (stayed w friends near Gore). We already had pre-paid discounted lift tix at Gore anyway. SR tix were only $33. Oh, and only about 100 people at Snow Ridge Saturday. Didn't wait in any lines all weekend, and had an entire tbar to oursevles at SR.

At Gore, we were the crowd with 8 people in our posse...didn't see anyone else where we skied.

Powderqueen wrote

We had to work for the best snow at Gore, but it was worth it, and the camaraderie of a good posse of locals made for a really fun weekend.

At Gore, we were the crowd with 8 people in our posse...didn't see anyone else where we skied.

Haha, it's funny that my posse of 8 didn't intersect with yours.  Bet we skied a lot of the same stuff.  I didn't think it was much work at all to find the best snow - you know, you just ski where others don't.