POWDER DAY AT JAY PEAK
For the fourth time in nine days, I was treated to a powder day. You could say life is pretty dang good. It wasn’t an epic powder day per se, but it was still a lot of fun. With natural terrain dwindling over the last few weeks across most of the East, the decision on where to spend today’s powder day was an easy one. Jay Peak gets more snow than anyone, and as such, their natural terrain tends to stick around longer. If you’re looking to ski trees right now, this is one of the few places you can do it, and ski trees we did.
Pro Skier Darren White shreds through Timbuktu.
Canyonland.
You may have noticed I said “we” in that last sentence, and that’s because I was joined by none other than the internationally renowned Pro Skier Darren White. It’s always an honor to ski with Pro Skier Darren White, and he put on a clinic out there, as usual. There’s a reason they call him the “Glade Master” and today was a good example of that. It was like he was effortlessly dancing through the trees with powder skis attached to his feet.
Riding the Jet Triple.
Show-Off Glade.
The Tram and The Flyer started the day on wind hold, and they never opened. As a result, the lines at the other lifts were long. I’d say we were waiting 15-20 minutes at each lift. I’m not big on standing in line. I think life is too short to stand in line and I will avoid doing so at all costs, if I’m able. For instance, if I’m at a ski resort and it’s busy, but one lift isn’t, I’m prone to hang around the lift that isn’t busy so long as it accesses intermediate and expert terrain. That said, fortunately, the skiing made up for the lines. It was quite good.
Though The Flyer and the Tram were on wind hold all day, the mountain was 99% open, with the exception of one run, as those who were willing to put in the work could access all of the terrain. We weren’t willing to put in the work, so we missed out on favorite’s like Andre’s Paradise.
Timbuktu.
Timbuktu.
Jay picked up several inches of snow overnight, and it was actively snowing during the day. Later in the day, the precipitation was a bit more mixed. Regardless, conditions were great on the groomers and in the trees, though some of the glades did ski better than others. The worst glade we skied today, surprisingly, was Timbuktu. It wasn’t terrible, but it was a little more firm in there than everywhere else. Was there fresh snow? Yes. Was it tracked out? Also, yes.
Kitz Woods.
Kitz Woods.
Kitz Woods.
One of the surprising glades we skied today was Kitz Woods. Kitz is fairly tight at the top, and it’s one that I’m not chomping at the bit to ski regularly, but today it was a lot of fun. Aside from the top part, the snow in here was really nice, especially about halfway down until the end of the glade.
Hell’s Woods.
Vertigo.
Vertigo.
Unmarked trees.
My favorite glade of the day was probably the very bottom part of Vertigo. We were getting in there from the Buckaroo Bonzai area, and there was powder to play in each time we passed through. It was great. We also dipped in to some unmarked trees in various spots around the mountain, that I won’t give up the locations to, and they were amazing. Let’s just leave it at that.
With Jay in such great shape right now, and the trees fully in play, I’m headed back there tomorrow for second helpings. It’ll be my 100th ski day of the season.
Never Quit Skiing,
Lincoln