DAY 100 OF MY SKI SEASON
And just like that, I’ve reached the century mark in days skied this season. Where has the time gone? It feels like just yesterday it was November 15, and I was making my first turns of the winter. I’ve not only skied a lot of days since November 15, but I’ve also skied at a lot of ski areas. 23 to be exact, so far. Some of those have been large resorts like Killington, Sugarloaf, and Loon, while others have been smaller like Dynamite Hill Recreation Area, and Northeast Slopes.
For day 100, I took part of the day off from work, and met up with none other than Pro Skier Darren White, Bryan from New Hampshire, and his daughter, at Jay Peak. This was my first time skiing with Bryan from New Hampshire since he gave me the grand tour of Cannon Mountain, which some say is the greatest mountain this side of the Mississippi, back in February. Through we weren’t skiing at Cannon today, it’s worth noting that Bryan from New Hampshire is a legend in his own right, just like Pro Skier Darren White, and is known as the ‘Cannon Whisperer.’
Bushwacker.
Poma Line.
Anyways, I skied at Jay Peak with Pro Skier Darren White yesterday. Aside from Whiteface, which is my home mountain, it’s rare for me to double dip on a mountain like this, but yesterday was a powder day at Jay, and then today was set up to be amazing as a result (and it was), so it made sense to go back for a second day in a row. All of the lifts were spinning, unlike yesterday, which saw the Tram and Flyer on wind hold all day, and 80 of 83 runs and glades were open. The mountain wasn’t very busy either. Lines were short or non existent.
Andre’s Paradise.
Buck Woods.
Weather wise, temperatures were in the 20s and there was some form of frozen precipitation in the air most of the day. It did get a little windy in the afternoon, but other than that, it was pretty comfortable. Jay Peak has received nearly two feet of snow in the last four days so conditions were fantastic. The base there is still in great shape, too, even in the trees and on natural terrain.
As I've said before, when I ski Jay Peak I’m basically in the glades all day, unless it’s early or late season. I only ski groomers to get to the trees and then the base, and that’s what we did today. It was a glade day. For what it’s worth, the groomers that we did ski were in amazing shape.
Bonaventure Glade.
Kitz Woods.
Timbuktu.
We were all over the mountain, so I won’t give you a breakdown of each glade, but I will highlight some. Interestingly, yesterday, Kitz Woods skied really well, while Timbuktu was one of the worst runs of the day. Both of these glades are off the Jet Triple. Today, that was reversed. Timbuktu had the better snow, and it was even a little deep in some spots. Meanwhile, while Kitz Woods still had some powder, it was a bit more firm in there.
Unmarked trees.
Beaver Pond.
Andre’s Paradise.
Lower part of Vertigo.
With the Tram and the Flyer closed yesterday, we never made it over to Beaver Pond or Andre’s Paradise, so those were high priority today. Both were awesome with plenty of powder to play in. I could’ve spent all day lapping these two if there wasn’t so much great terrain elsewhere to ski. Just like yesterday, my favorite glade of the day was the lower part of Vertigo, accessed from Buckaroo Bonzai. We were still finding untracked powder in there today and it was amazing. This is another one I could’ve lapped all day.
If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you know I publish a write-up about every single ski day on the same day. Since today is day 100 of my ski season, that means this is also my 100th write-up of the season. As such, I want to wrap up today’s post by highlighting some of my most memorable days of the season so far. I know I’ll do a recap of the season when it’s all said and done, but I feel like day 100 is a good time to reflect nonetheless. Below are links to some of my favorites. If you haven’t read them yet, I’d love it if you checked them out.
Skiing with Beetlejuice at America’s oldest rope tow
Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!
Oak Mountain delivers on charm and great skiing
Oak Mountain is located in the Adirondacks, in Speculator, New York.
Is this the most underrated ski area in Vermont?
This is a true underrated gem!
Legendary November ski day at Jay Peak
I think it’s safe to say this was the greatest November ski day I’ve ever had.
The smallest vertical ski area I’ve ever skied
With a vertical of about 65 ft., this is one of the smallest vertical ski areas you’ll find.
Never Quit Skiing,
Lincoln