Jay, VT - October 25, 2006

Patrick

Active member
First day of the 2006-07 season.
13th month in a row.

Question: Why have my only three days in October lifetime (2 days last year at Wildcat) probably better than a pile of lifetime November days?

Answer: Powder and Fresh Tracks versus white ribbon of hard pack with a few thousand skiers.

The last snow event last weekend wasn't an option for me due to previous engagement in Ottawa. However I was doing to Montreal on Tuesday evening to see Dweezil and hoping [-o< for powderfreak's forecast would come true. It didn't seem like a sure thing, it was fairly warm and rainy.

I was also trying to confirm if Lucky Luke was going to take a day off from work also so that we could take that long planned beer together. This was going to be my best opportunity for October turns without having to come back through Montreal for a possible event next weekend.

Lucky Luke gave me the call at 8am that morning and said that we should go at Jay and bypassing Sutton partially based on the area pics and webcam. After being stuck in traffic in Montreal, I finally arrived in Bromont roughtly one hour later after I left the island.

I quickly transfert my gear into Luc's van. I decided to only take my old Rossi 7SK circa 1993 for the first time in 3 year with my old boots and leaving my B1 and current boots in the car. It was snowing at Lucky's house (higher elevation), but mostly raining at the autoroute level. Flakes were flying once we got out of the autoroute (30 km) further east and started driving south. We were getting ready for the worst once we hit the border with only flakes failling and the ground still green (you have to understand the history behind our ski trips together across the border).

Border guard: "Where are you going?"
Lucky Luke: "Jay"
Bg: "Why?"
LL: "Hiking or/and skiing"

That's it, the van is going to be turned inside out with sniffer dogs and we're going to get tested for drugs and maybe something worst like strip searched with the plastic glove treatment. :?

No, he believed us!!! I guess we do look like two crazed skiers and not two stoners (although the look can sometimes be mistaken by some). How can there be snow only 10 minutes away?

There wasn't really any snow until we reached the Stateside parking lot. We parked near the Ski Patrol building. Luc said; " Hey, this is where they put my foot in a box once."

We were stoke. The runs were white, but not much snow. BUT we were going to ski, that wasn't going to suck. Someone else arrived at the same time as us and didn't need to get changed so after a talk, he started climbing.

SNOW REPORT:

The HIKE:

We were all set to go, Luc with his treekers and skins, me with my hiking boots. :roll:

We started climbing Paradise Meadows (snow level increased from maybe 2 to 8 inches. Once we got at the bottom Northway, we saw the guy we had seen in the parking making some nice tele turns on the pitch. He had cheated, he got a ride up with someone.

Lucky "Super Quad" Luke was climbing much faster than I, so he climb to the top of the pitch and made a few turns while I was still climbing. We also saw two snowboarders make some turns on the same pitch. As I climbing Northway, Luc asked me: "Would you have liked if I would have lent you my snowshoes that are in the van?" :roll: Now he tell me after climbing for maybe 30 minutes.

The Northway pitch had probably 8-10 inches. The climb continued after a small break near the entrance of Hell's Wood. At that point I fetched my googles in my backpack, reorganized my skis and taking a few pictures. The snow and the wind were blowing pretty hard at times and visibilty wasn't great. We could also hear the snowguns blowing in the distance, probably at the Tram Base.

After a short talk, we decided to turn toward Montrealer at the top of Stateside. There were a couple of 2 feet drift here.

Note to Santa: Treekers and Skins would have been very useful on days like today.

At the top of Stateside, we met someone that had already made 4 runs toward the summit and had just moved over to Stateside for a last run. He mentioned that the snow was deep up there (I didn't hear any amount). We had a quick lunch in first class settings (winter...wow :D ). The hike up took me about 90 minutes, the climb would have been much quicker with snowshoes or skins.

The SKIING:

First run (or Luc's second) was down Haynes. The snow was wet (perfect snowman snow), not unlike a certain powder day in Whistler in the first week of April 1996. I had the same old skis and old boots back then.

Oh boy...how do we turn these 201 again in wet powder? I fell a few times in the first hundred feet. I don't recall falling this much in a month for years, let alone a single run. :? However the next few turns, everything came back to me. Retrostyle. 8) Luc was flying with his old Nordica. We skied 300 vertical meters (990 ft) all the way to the bottom of Haynes and before Mont L'Entrepide trail (which is a larger extention and flatter). It also had less snow. We were yelling like a bunch of maniacs.

"Super Quad" Luke started skinning straight up on Haynes while I started making a bootpack. Snowdepths on the upper third of Stateside probably varied around 1-2 feet. Let's just say that it's not easy climbing when suddenly your leg sinks down to your knee. This time Luc skied down Derrick Hot Shot while I was climbing. Only to stop before Willard (bottom half) and started joining me in my hike for a last run. The waterbars we're somewhat filled in at the top, but you still had to be careful.

The last run was Derrick to Willard. Like for Haynes, conditions were amazing for October on the upper part, I only felt my skis touch the rocks once or twice. Conditions were definitely more marginal once you reached the Willard level with much less snow. Willard had a better coverage due to its sheltered twisting aspect compare to the larger Entrepide trail. I managed to make it back to the van with my skis (didn't do much damage) while Luc removed his at the bottom of the run.

We had that long promised beer together while the Red Hot Chili Peppers were blasting through the speakers (what is it with our trip and the Peppers?). To celebrate a wonderful day and a great friendship. Cheers.

The music continued all the way back to Bromont. Once back in my car, it's was time to listen to some Zappa again after the previous night 3 hour show and think that this was a great 24 hours.
 
Awesome, that you made some October turns again. I'm jealous of your 12 month streak... I was aiming for it and missed september...

Good for you!!!
 
Patrick":tylwb562 said:
We parked near the Ski Patrol building. Luc said; " Hey, this is where they put my foot in a box once."

I wonder if I was in on that one?

Patrick":tylwb562 said:
Note to Santa: Treekers and Skins would have been very useful on days like today.

Why go halfway? Ditch the heavy Trekkers and go AT.

Great report, Patrick!
 
Admin":2uhhjwl3 said:
Patrick":2uhhjwl3 said:
We parked near the Ski Patrol building. Luc said; " Hey, this is where they put my foot in a box once."

I wonder if I was in on that one?

Where were you in march 1996? Why do I remember the year? Luc was the only at my wedding in a cast.


Admin":2uhhjwl3 said:
Great report, Patrick!

Thanks. Can't wait to see the pics. :shock: Mine are on films, but Luc has a digital kodak. :lol:
 
salida":1hc8euqj said:
Awesome, that you made some October turns again. I'm jealous of your 12 month streak... I was aiming for it and missed september...

Thanks, I'm not sure if this streak will last much more than 20 months. You should have seen my wife when I said I could maybe keep it alive again next summer. :oops:

Salida, I think you have a few more years before you reach my age, so if you want to do it one day, I'm sure you could, especially after seeing that Mount Washington/Cannon report. :wink:
 
All the talking as been done. Now here's the pics.
 

Attachments

  • DSCF0034.JPG
    DSCF0034.JPG
    51 KB · Views: 9,886
  • DSCF0010.JPG
    DSCF0010.JPG
    49.4 KB · Views: 9,881
  • DSCF0012.JPG
    DSCF0012.JPG
    52.1 KB · Views: 9,898
  • DSCF0021.JPG
    DSCF0021.JPG
    48.3 KB · Views: 9,884
  • DSCF0024.JPG
    DSCF0024.JPG
    48.1 KB · Views: 9,900
  • DSCF0030.JPG
    DSCF0030.JPG
    81.4 KB · Views: 9,891
  • DSCF0032.JPG
    DSCF0032.JPG
    63.9 KB · Views: 9,892
  • DSCF0033.JPG
    DSCF0033.JPG
    94.5 KB · Views: 9,895
I've only done it once, but admin is correct that AT is the way to go if you're going to make a habit of this. But given Patrick's location and budget, Luke's snowshoes are probably his best bet.

We've finally found an example where Patrick needed some fat skis. His technique is good enough that he doesn't need them in Rocky Mountain snow. Fats are useful to keep you up on the fresh snow and off the subsurface, especially useful if that subsurface is not a form of H2O.

I believe that 26K + 6K powder on Oct. 30, 2004 was better than any of my lifetime November days. But I only have 2 in October and 13 in November
 
Alright!

I was aiming at a second day of skiing and Jay is the place to go tomorrow... we might get soaked... but "earning" turns two w-e in a row in October is totally worth it!

Look on Jay's website, you'll see skiers down the Jet!

Great report!
:lol:
 
Tony Crocker":jncnlsev said:
We've finally found an example where Patrick needed some fat skis. His technique is good enough that he doesn't need them in Rocky Mountain snow. Fats are useful to keep you up on the fresh snow and off the subsurface, especially useful if that subsurface is not a form of H2O.

However I wasn't going to use any new skis (Fat or not) without making sure that the conditions weren't going to be marginal. It's easier when you can bring 2 pairs and changed them at the car. My ski bases didn't suffer no where as bad as those two runs on the ridge on Lone Peak (pre-NSF and Big Couloir). But I wouldn't have known that when I started hiking up.

Yes, fat skis would have been helpful, but I would have been fine even with my B1s. The adjustment issue was more related to ski with straight 201 skis for the first time in years as the technic is somewhat different. Here is one of my first turns on that first run.

Lucky Luke was skiing perfectly and flying until his 3rd runs when the snow grabed him and flip him over (his only fall I believe - I don't think I fell expect from exhaustion after the first few turns). Unfortunately they is delay with his camera, so you only got the smile at the end of it (posted pic).

Big Jay":jncnlsev said:
I was aiming at a second day of skiing and Jay is the place to go tomorrow... we might get soaked... but "earning" turns to w-e in a row in October is totally worth it!

We thought the same thing, but were relatively dry (except our shirts).

Have fun!!! :p
 

Attachments

  • untitled3.jpg
    untitled3.jpg
    67 KB · Views: 9,759
Hey Congrats Patrick and Luke !!!

Lucky guys... I hope that on next storm, I have a chance to leave the house and make my way on some white slopes..... hmmm
 
Admin":ys8hvz1a said:
Patrick":ys8hvz1a said:
Where were you in march 1996?

There's a good chance that I was there, for that was my last winter patrolling at Jay.

I broke a leg in the old Can-Am trail. We've been skiing pow all day and at the end of the afternoon, I was pretty toasted. I was skiing on the left side of Can-am and I brake too lazy and skided on the side until the front of my skis hit a tree. I heard a big crack and felt like it was hot like a day in Mexico. I had broke my leg in my boot just a couple inches up from the foot. 3 patrollers got me down the mogulled trail (head down in the sleigh with my leg attached and my whole body triing to go down the sleig; that really hurts!). The patrollers put my leg and foot in a box with some tape and said: probably not broken, go home now! Back home, I went to the hospital and they had to operate for it was broken really bad. I had that damned cast for 3 months. After that my leg looked like Celine Dion's leg but purple(not beautiful, nor chubby). I skied a week after at Killington on the 1st of june race(again in big pain) but ended up in the thirtys on 200 anyway.
 
Lucky Luke":1e7br5hb said:
I broke a leg in the old Can-Am trail.

Hard to remember one accident from another, admittedly, but I don't particularly recall being involved on one on CanAm my last spring.

Lucky Luke":1e7br5hb said:
3 patrollers got me down the mogulled trail (head down in the sleigh with my leg attached and my whole body triing to go down the sleig; that really hurts!).

Injury uphill would've been the way to go. You really wouldn't want it the other way, trust me.

Lucky Luke":1e7br5hb said:
I skied a week after at Killington on the 1st of june race(again in big pain) but ended up in the thirtys on 200 anyway.

You animal! :shock:
 
Admin":2piox4v1 said:
Lucky Luke":2piox4v1 said:
I skied a week after at Killington on the 1st of june race(again in big pain) but ended up in the thirtys on 200 anyway.

You animal! :shock:

I guess that was one of the years I beat you at the June 1st Slalom. :wink:

Animal? You didn't hear the story about the broken hand(?) at Smuggs. He doesn't work for x amount of weeks, but he sure could ski with a cast and only one pole. The wife hasn't to impress when this didn't slow him down or stop him in skiing solo in the woods.

I guess that why he's called Lucky Luke... :D
 
Animal? You didn't hear the story about the broken hand(?) at Smuggs. He doesn't work for x amount of weeks, but he sure could ski with a cast and only one pole.

I also rode my mountain bike with my hand in a cast in the spring. I rode my bike 2 days after they removed the leg cast. I puked on my way to the top of Rougemont , wiped it off, turn to my friend and said: ''Top shape!" I climbed back on my bike and got to the top and into the trails. :wink:
 
Back
Top