<I>(Note from the Administrator: This report was originally posted on 10/5/99. Due to our move to new servers, the date and time attributed to this post is incorrect.)</I> <BR> <BR>John Crowley and I met at 6:30 and headed off to Jay Peak for <BR>our first turns of the season. First noticed snow on a few lawns <BR>near St. Albans, and some shady hillsides along Rt. 105. As we <BR>started up Rt. 242 the dream began to become a reality. Ground coverage <BR>began just after the First Trax ski and bike shop and snow depths <BR>increased until we reached the Stateside lodge. About 4"-6" left <BR>there, after some melt and consolidation yesterday. <BR>Gazing up at the reds, yellows and browns, accented by copious <BR>amounts of white was awe inspiring. The morning fog had yet to <BR>lift and, as it often is, the summit was in and out of the clouds <BR>as we ascended. <BR>Not having a trail map in front of me I can't give all the proper <BR>names, but we ascended under the quad and up Can Am, stopping <BR>briefly to chat with four gents who were mowing (with handheld <BR>sickles) some stubborn saplings on one of the major trails. They <BR>said they'd been at it since June. We all agreed conditions were <BR>ideal: about 45-50 degrees, very light breeze, intermittent sunshine, <BR>and lots of snow. <BR>We reached the top of the new quad in just under two hours (nice, <BR>easy pace) and spoke to two fellows working on the impressive <BR>return station. One had gotten first tracks on his snowboard <BR>on the Triple side of the mtn., and John and I would later agree <BR>this probably should have been our choice. <BR>We headed on up, climbing up Northway for another ten minutes <BR>towards the top of Poma Line, and decided the extra time to get <BR>to the summit probably wasn't worth it. At the higher elevations <BR>the winds were still light but the sweat I'd broken into was <BR>starting to create quite a chill. The snow had gotten much <BR>lighter, though cream cheese was still an accurate description. <BR>About 10"-12" a couple hundred feet shy of the summit. <BR>We perched atop one of the many lengths of snowmaking pipe and <BR>changed into our alpine gear. The process felt incredibly familiar <BR>and just plain right. After snapping a couple photos (who knows <BR>when we'll get to ski with the foliage again?) our first turns <BR>commenced. <BR>John made graceful quick arcs in the edgeable snow as I struggled <BR>to make my old straight sticks work right. It was a struggle all <BR>the way down, but the snow did its part. The consistency allowed <BR>a little playing around, but certainly demanded respect. The water <BR>bars, brush poking through, and a few ;-) rocks made it a <BR>decidely non-McSki experience. <BR>John continued to handle the tough conditions with grace as I <BR>continued to struggle, but both of us could not keep the grins <BR>off our face. <BR>A snowboard track came out of Kitz Woods, proving that yes, trees <BR>are there if you want them. We stayed in the increasingly heavy <BR>snow of the trail as we descended Northway towards the base of <BR>the quad. It was over all too soon and we both wished we'd had <BR>the time to ascend Haynes, which seemed from a distance to be the <BR>choice slope of the day. Fat snowboard arcs could be seen from a <BR>distance and the cover looked to be quite consistent. <BR>We saw two alpiners in the parking lot heading up. Cofirmed <BR>snowboarder count was about 6. <BR>We skiied on October 5th. Not the most glorious ski run ever, <BR>but a glorious start to the season. Waiting for more white stuff <BR>is going to be even harder now.