Jay Peak, VT: 02/06/10

[jamesdeluxe]

“Should have been here yesterday… or the day before.”

Heard that from a lot of people today. Jay, like pretty much every other ski area in the northeast, is still recovering from the two to three inches of liquid precip that brutalized us 12 days ago. Luckily, since Monday, it gradually picked up about 20 inches –- snow that apparently didn’t register on any weather tracking maps, leading the Famous Internet Skiers website to call it “magic snow.”

Anywhere in the woods where it hadn’t been skied extensively was incredibly soft and light: pure pixie dust. I never hit bottom once in those areas:

Unfortunately, since I didn't have any real knowledge of where everything was, I had to use the cut trails to get from one place to the next, and the often scratchy subsurface there, both on groomers and moguls, was a partial buzzkill. Still, I found a bunch of really smooth shots and milked them as much as possible.

When I got to the base area this morning, it was about 0 degrees, but the bluebird skies warmed things into the low 20s. Noteworthy was that the Freezer lift –- famed of song and story as being the coldest 10 minutes on earth –- was pleasant today: no wind and lots of sun. Oh well, a nice warm-up day for this trip. Tomorrow, I’ll be going to another VT mountain that I’ve never skied before then, it’s up to the Eastern Townships for several days.

Had interesting conversations with several locals while on the chairs. One gave me an earful about his love for the mountain itself and his disdain for the resort. According to him, the resort is all about the real estate and hasn't cut new trails, put in a new lift, or upgraded the facilities in years. When I asked about the West Bowl area, one of them guffawed "that's been on the drawing board since before the birth of Christ!!"

 

[Patrick]

“Should have been here yesterday… or the day before.”
(...)
Tomorrow, I’ll be going to another VT mountain that I’ve never skied before. Then, it’s up to the Eastern Townships for several days.

You should be prepared to stay longer if "it" happens...(anti-jinx) [-o<

Had interesting conversations with several locals while on the chairs. One gave me an earful about his love for the mountain itself and his disdain for the resort.

Agree, that is why I'm questioning Jay direction. Indoor Wave Pool, new Hotel, etc. Isn't there few to many "big" resorts in the East right now?

Your destination tomorrow is another old gem classic that slightly been messed around in the past. Trails set up on Sterling for example, fortunately Madonna trails still have the same feel to them. Have fun!!!

 

[icelanticskier]

well played james! snow this light is not so usual and i'm hoping that the wed/thurs possible dump will be of the more normal variety.

headed to mt washington for tomorrow/monday then hopefully ditching work to hit the storm on thurs. i MAY even go to vermont. MRG me thinks if they are in line to get hit. i can now legally go back to vermont now that the friggin feds are off of my back. 8-[

fahkers! :lol:

have fun james!

rog

 

[Patrick]

i'm hoping that the wed/thurs possible dump will be of the more normal variety.
(...)then hopefully ditching work to hit the storm on thurs. (...)i MAY even go to vermont.

Great minds think alike. :lol: However never went out with a girl that ran for Lange Girl. How did that turn out? I've been out of the loop.

i can now legally go back to vermont now that the friggin feds are off of my back. 8-[

After Tiger last week, you too have people after you??? :lol:

 

[Admin]

Which patrol shack is that? :shock: Top of the Blue? If so, it's undergone a major upgrade since I was there.

 

[Patrick]

Which patrol shack is that? :shock: Top of the Blue? If so, it's undergone a major upgrade since I was there.

Not sure which one it is, but the one on top of Stateside has been totally redone.

 

[Admin]

Not sure which one it is, but the one on top of Stateside has been totally redone.

That's Top of the Blue. I recognized the location but not the building. Here's hoping that they upgraded the dump in Mixing Bowl, too. Have they finally spruced up the Sky Haus interior? That was embarrassing.

And FWIW the "West Bowl" expansion was on the drawing board well before I started working there over 20 years ago, so I empathize with the local James spoke with.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

That shack is at the top of the Jet lift.

Sorry if I don't know all the correct names/subnames.

 

[Admin]

That shack is at the top of the Jet lift.

Sorry if I don't know all the correct names/subnames.

That's the one. FYI the Jet triple is the "blue chair," and the Bonaventure quad is the "red chair." Now don't go telling me that they changed the color of the seat covers, too!

 

[jamesdeluxe]

Agree, that is why I'm questioning Jay direction. Indoor Wave Pool, new Hotel, etc.

You didn't mention the brand new golf course:

With stunning, views of Jay Peak and the Green Mountains, majestic, mature trees, lush, bent-grass fairways and mildly undulating greens, this Graham Cooke-designed golf course will thrill beginners and seasoned players alike.

To be fair, I hadn't seen their P&L statements back when they decided on this strategy and have no idea if they were making any money purely as a ski area (I'm guessing not), and saw the "total resort" gambit as the only way to be cash positive.

Where's Steve from JP when you need him? 8-[

 

[riverc0il]

That's the one. FYI the Jet triple is the "blue chair," and the Bonaventure quad is the "red chair." Now don't go telling me that they changed the color of the seat covers, too!

The seats still have the blue/red colors but both have black pads over the seats so I don't think many people notice the colors. Pretty rare to hear them called blue/red but I think any one that has been there at least a few times could likely pick up on it.

Regarding the patrol shack at the top of the triple, that just went in this season. Sky Haus is still an embarrassment. I haven't been inside the Haus this season but last season they had only one toilet working in the men's room (out of two toilets and two pissahs, as I recall). Last weekend, they had a sign saying bathrooms not available in the Sky Haus. Maybe cold related, who knows. Last time I stopped in there, it was plastic lawn furniture and what looks like the original rug. From what I gather, it is definitely on the to do list.

Regarding the West Bowl expansion versus all the current expansion, I think JPR knows what is more important for the financial viability of the resort by continuing to delay West Bowl until it has built up its four season infrastructure. West Bowl will be costly and I can not imagine it will draw in enough extra revenue to pay for itself. The golf course was a no brainer as was what they did with Hotel One and integrating all of the services into one building. The ice rink? Well, I am sure it will pay for itself and then some but I could understand why skiers and riders would be disappointed that an ice rink takes priority over West Bowl. More terrain would be great but I just can't see it paying for itself with increased revenue.

 

[icelanticskier]

Great minds think alike. :lol: However never went out with a girl that ran for Lange Girl. How did that turn out? I've been out of the loop.

i can now legally go back to vermont now that the friggin feds are off of my back. 8-[

After Tiger last week, you too have people after you??? :lol:

emily was one of 4 winners out of over 100 contestants. she now is representing the east coast as our lange girl. pretty cool. she gets new lange boots, dynastar skis and bindings of her choosing, plus a bunch of swag. she really needed new boots! she was in lincoln nh trying on boots at a couple of shops and got recognized 3 times for being in the lange girl contest. i got a call from her today after i got down off of mt washington (excellent skiing btw and not another soul up there.....on a weekend!) and she was so excited. fun :mrgreen:

i always have people after me. the women scare me most \/

back to washington tomorrow.

rog

 

[baldyskier]

“Should have been here yesterday… or the day before.”
Noteworthy was that the Freezer lift –- famous of song and story as being the coldest 10 minutes on earth

I skied Jay one day back in 1980, and I can attest to the Freezer lift. It was about 10 degrees with strong winds, and they were blowing snow partway up; had to get off at the midstation to avoid frostbite. Just a distant memory now that I've lived in the West for almost 30 years... Glad you got some good snow, at Jay, though.

 

[Admin]

I skied Jay one day back in 1980, and I can attest to the Freezer lift. It was about 10 degrees with strong winds, and they were blowing snow partway up; had to get off at the midstation to avoid frostbite. Just a distant memory now that I've lived in the West for almost 30 years... Glad you got some good snow, at Jay, though.

The Freezer, aka the Green Mountain Flyer didn't go in until the late 1990s. You're referring to the Green Mountain Double, which was the only chair as of 1980 that had a midstation. The Freezer covers approximately the same liftline as the Double, but instead of stopping on Goat Run at the top of Green Mountain Boys the Freezer continues to just below the summit at the intersection of Northway and Ullr's Dream.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

Not sure I have a better solution after only one day there, but what's up with Jay's lift arrangement? Is a tram really necessary or is the idea to limit the number of people skiing off the summit? Or is it a wind-related issue?

On a weekend day, no one wants to wait in line for three or four boxes, so of course the Freezer is always going to be mobbed -- not as bad as, say, the lifts in LCC, but still. :-k

 

[Admin]

Not sure I have a better solution after only one day there, but what's up with Jay's lift arrangement? Is a tram really necessary or is the idea to limit the number of people skiing off the summit? Or is it a wind-related issue?

On a weekend day, no one wants to wait in line for three or four boxes, so of course the Freezer is always going to be mobbed -- not as bad as, say, the lifts in LCC, but still. :-k

Nice .

The tram was built by Wayerhauser as a "hey, look at me!" lift. However, replacing it with something else doesn't make much sense because the true summit can't handle any more uphill traffic anyway.

 

[Patrick]

Not sure which one it is, but the one on top of Stateside has been totally redone.

That's Top of the Blue.

We used to call it, at the top of the T-Bar. :mrgreen: Now I'm showing my age.

 

[Admin]

We used to call it, at the top of the T-Bar. :mrgreen: Now I'm showing my age.

Oh, I remember the Montreal Jet T-Bar quite well -- I still have nightmares about it. :lol: The bumps in the T-bar line were bigger than those on U.N., and as a kid it was darned near impossible to ride with my father -- the bar behind his knees, and the bar behind my back. I also remember as a kid the liftline being on a steep sidehill when it got long, and losing my balance on it and taking out a few others in a domino effect.

 

[Patrick]

We used to call it, at the top of the T-Bar. :mrgreen: Now I'm showing my age.

Oh, I remember the Montreal Jet T-Bar quite well -- I still have nightmares about it. :lol: The bumps in the T-bar line were bigger than those on U.N., and as a kid it was darned near impossible to ride with my father -- the bar behind his knees, and the bar behind my back.

That why in TR posted last night (Gatineau/Vorlage), I mentioned the respect I had with my mom ridding T-bars with me. Did it twice with Tara on Vorlage's old and steep T-bar. My nightmare t-bar were those at the Upper North side at Tremblant. In those days, you had to take them to get back to the South Side and the road around was a old gravel road so the drive was pretty long.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Is a tram really necessary

Some eclipse chasers may be grateful to have that tram to haul all their fancy equipment on April 8, 2024. As will those of us in Jackson Hole for its tram on August 21, 2017.