Trip to Jay in mid April?

I know it is a WAYS out and weather is always a big variable this time of year (especially this year).  BUT what would you expect conditions to be like on average that time of year and what do the lift operations usually look like?

Planning a trip with the wife and kids for a 4 day weekend.  I have to admit, the pumphouse and ice rink certainly got them excited.  I am hoping for decent spring conditions.  Never been to Jay so excited to make the trip.  Pretty good deal that time of year.  $299 a night for a 1BR in the new hotel includes lift tix, water park tix, ice skating tix and daycare for the 3 year old.  That pretty much makes the room free.

Thanks for any input from the Jay regulars.

D

As spring progresses, Jay begins shutting down certain parts of the mountain. What will still be open depends entirely on the weather. Jay tries to keep lower mountain lifts open as long as possible for the slopeside crowd. Though as long as the Bonnie and Tram are going, you can still move around the mountain on both sides.

They just got a ton of new snow but the fact is we are heading into an abnormally warm week, way warmer than thaws normally are this time of year. On the flip side, we have gotten many freak April snow storms that could change things.

Basically, you can count on the Jet spinning with the main snow making routes off the Jet being skiable. Walking from the lodge to the chair may be needed as snow melts out fastest on the flats. It is very likely other lifts will be spinning but that is what you can count on as a worst case scenario. Tram/Bonnie will run if there is top to bottom skiing Tramside. They'll shut the Tram down only once it is no longer possible to ski top to bottom and then they'll focus on Stateside.

What will be open and what will conditions be? Every year is different, only time will tell. I've skied Big Jay with everything open in mid-April and I've seen things go south very quickly in other years.

^^ Like he said.

I have had awesome skiing at Jay even in late April. Then again, it could all disappear. The waterpark makes that scenario a little less distressing. If the snow disappear completely, there is some great mountain biking and hiking in the area. There sure is a lot of snow at Jay now!

Thanks fellas.  I enjoyed your posts from the summit this year.  Combed through both of your posts from the summit at Jay last year while I was "working" this week (among other Jay posts, videos etc).  Thanks for all the beta.  The waterpark and ice rink do make it a little more palatable with the chillins.  Those two things certainly made the sell to the wife a little easier since it is her birthday weekend:)  I would much rather be hanging at the water park or ice rink around 5 or 6pm tho after a full day on the mountain.  Thinking I will hold off another couple weeks and see what March brings.