Jay Peak, VT: 03/18/07 (Best day of the Season)

riverc0il

riverc0il

New member
Epic. Spectacular. Sensational.

Originally, the plan for the weekend called for two days at Mad River. Yesterday's storm was good but less than I had expected at the Glen. I assumed Jay over reported and considered both areas about even in Saturday snowfall so I decided to make the call this morning when snow totals came in. Jay reported in with about double MRG posted and I was feeling the Jay vibe. Great call on my part as we scored minimum knee deep untracked on almost every run today at Jay.

Halfway through a tree shot that I thought was not worth trying, we were skiing "only" boot to knee deep slightly tracked, and I turned to Nhski and said "this is acceptable." I had to laugh at such a statement considering any other day that shot would have been sublime.

I am going to put the two day total at Jay Peak at three feet even. We skied knee deep powder on almost every run with occasional thigh deep in the less accessible areas. Upper thigh is three feet on me, but it wasn't deeper than that without drift or lee side fill in. Of course, we certainly went waist deep a few times due to such fill in. Quality of the powder was exceptional. While not true blower, it was about as good as you can expect it to get in the East.

I lost count of the face shots, on a single run no less, when they hit double digits. Getting a mouth full of powder is certainly a pleasant experience. Nhski even reported a brief visit to the White Room. The best shots were those that we found completely untouched from the day before which collected the entire three foot ransom. At one point, I pretty much had the perma yell going on, wow. I honestly can not think of a better day of skiing in my lifetime. It was just that damn good. Crowds were very light all things considered though it certainly was not as light as the last big powder day that I reported from Jay.

And I left the camera at home. Not that I would have stopped. And not that the pictures would have came out since it alternated between puking and heavy snowfall all day.

If you can take a vacation tomorrow, everything is going to be nicely refreshed due to continued snow and the wind.
 
I agree.. one of my best Jay days ever.

We did 5 runs this AM then hit Big Jay. I'm not even gonna describe what that was like because to be honest I don't know how. Best run I've ever done in my life. Hands down.

:D
 
Same here. Woke up at 6 looked out the window looked like a few inches figured I would sleep in for a while due to skiing almost a full day yesterday. Checked the Jay website at 7:30 10-12, I should have known, I drove by the MT at 10:30 PM and it was dumping. It snowed all day. I have skied exclusively at Jay for years, of all of the storms for some reason today was unreal. As said face shots were endless. I had to pack in at 1 to make the drive home. Got the best runs of the season in today. If this was my last powder of the season, it was ended on a good note, hopefully not.

I would agree on the 30-36 range. 42 is the usual quest for the most snow in the east. On that note, the season total of 309 is really about 270, they have their 4-6" per storm Jay Inches.

Great weekend of skiing.


riverc0il":blqzsjh4 said:
Epic. Spectacular. Sensational.

Originally, the plan for the weekend called for two days at Mad River. Yesterday's storm was good but less than I had expected at the Glen. I assumed Jay over reported and considered both areas about even in Saturday snowfall so I decided to make the call this morning when snow totals came in. Jay reported in with about double MRG posted and I was feeling the Jay vibe. Great call on my part as we scored minimum knee deep untracked on almost every run today at Jay.

Halfway through a tree shot that I thought was not worth trying, we were skiing "only" boot to knee deep slightly tracked, and I turned to Nhski and said "this is acceptable." I had to laugh at such a statement considering any other day that shot would have been sublime.

I am going to put the two day total at Jay Peak at three feet even. We skied knee deep powder on almost every run with occasional thigh deep in the less accessible areas. Upper thigh is three feet on me, but it wasn't deeper than that without drift or lee side fill in. Of course, we certainly went waist deep a few times due to such fill in. Quality of the powder was exceptional. While not true blower, it was about as good as you can expect it to get in the East.

I lost count of the face shots, on a single run no less, when they hit double digits. Getting a mouth full of powder is certainly a pleasant experience. Nhski even reported a brief visit to the White Room. The best shots were those that we found completely untouched from the day before which collected the entire three foot ransom. At one point, I pretty much had the perma yell going on, wow. I honestly can not think of a better day of skiing in my lifetime. It was just that damn good. Crowds were very light all things considered though it certainly was not as light as the last big powder day that I reported from Jay.

And I left the camera at home. Not that I would have stopped. And not that the pictures would have came out since it alternated between puking and heavy snowfall all day.

If you can take a vacation tomorrow, everything is going to be nicely refreshed due to continued snow and the wind.
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riverc0il":27tmfxra said:
While not true blower, it was about as good as you can expect it to get in the East.
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I agree with everything else you said except not the above statement about not true blower.

I have skied all over the us, including alaska, and europe and yesterday was some of the best quality snow I have ever experienced. After my first run through beaver pond I had to reassess my strategy of tree skiing. The snow was so light that I could not just point them straight. there was no resistance, no slowing power. I actually had to turn. And the face shots... The only thing that stifled my yipees were face shots of some of the lightest fluffiest powder in memory. Again, this was top quality snow. I have never seen better.

The best was because travelling was horrible the mountain was more empty than expected. There were fresh lines and stashes in the trees all day. I got of the BSSC bus at 9:45 and was on the ttrail within 5 minutes. I skied non-stop until 4:05 pm when I had to race to catch the bus. The downside - In typical Jay fashion it was cold and windy - really windy later in the day. But in the trees it was really protected from the wind and the cold was what the pow so sofft and light.

asland
 
I stand by my assessment, though perhaps I am being a bit too strict with the quality gradient. To me, blower offers no resistance at all. You can swing a pole through two feet of blower pow without any effort. I have skied lighter snow (in the East too boot) and did not feel that this powder was as completely effortless and totally light stuff that is airy (though perhaps that was a volume issue and a perceptive difference?). Extremely light and excellent quality and very light, certainly some of if not the best powder I have ever skied, no doubt! Regardless, it was damn fine snow, and I have yet to read a report that has not called this past Sunday one of the best of a lifetime. Quite frankly, I enjoyed this type of snow much better than completely dry and airy super light fluff. I like just a little resistance and feedback from the snow. Definitely a rare day when everything lined up in Northern Vermont on Sunday. The storm happening in mid-March after a complete melt and drenching of the Metro areas kept crowds to a minimum in addition to the horrendous travel conditions on Saturday.
 
I was going to ask why it wasn't crowded. I have no doubt that the skiing was truly epic, but
the horrendous travel conditions on Saturday
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illustrate the reality that the typical eastern skier based in metro Boston or NYC faces long odds against sharing this type of experience with you Vermont locals.

I do wonder where the Montreal skiers were, though. I forgot. Some Quebec skiers would rather race on their local molehill than get face shots all day on real mountains :P .
 
One skier I spoke with on the lift Saturday said they faced a ten hour drive from the Metro areas (I think they said Boston). This is an extreme example; however, mostly due to the Spring like nature of the storm that dropped Snow, Mixed, and Rain on a rush hour Friday commute and continued throughout the night and into Saturday. While locals are at a distinct advantage for getting days at Jay Peak with easy access, there are closer options that still had really great conditions. Sunday driving should not have been a problem any ways, so no excuse for Sunday which was the better of the two days. I skied with Nhski who drives three hours from the NH Seacoast area almost every weekend to ski Jay and Nhski certainly has no trouble making the regular commute, let alone the powder day commute.

The Backyard Syndrome and the month being March are the two big points I consider as factors that contributed to low crowds. Not sure if the Glades & Chute bash happened or not due to visibility, but if that event occurred, it certainly siphoned off a lot of traffic. Longer slack country runs also contributed to shorted lines as many folks were taking long runs.

The difference between this storm and the Valentine's Day weekend storm is striking though in terms of crowds. This was a better storm, better snow (though not quite as much), better base depth, etc. but certainly not crowded. Some folks might have already had their fill. One thing I have noticed over the years is folks always come out for the first "Big One" when they are powder starved. But when things are good for a few weeks, folks are not jonesing as much, even when a big one comes barreling in. This storm crept up on us also. It was late Thursday before I was giving serious consideration to weekend big powder days and I didn't imagine it would be this big even Saturday morning. There is a weird psychology that occurs in New England in regards to when the crowds show up. Certainly it has more to do with the average skier than the dedicated skier, such as those that post to FTO. Unfortunately, skier visits drop significantly in March despite it often being the best month of the year.
 
Tony was right about one thing - it was "EPIC" coming up from NJ Friday afternoon and evening. A normally 5 hour ride took almost 9 hours and I must have seen 40 accidents. Didn't look like anyone was hurt - just cars stuck in the snow - many with no apparent damage. I was SURE they were going to close 87 and leave me miles from the first, second and tenth tracks that I got Saturday and Sunday. Lucky for me they never closed the road.

I'm wondering - how many thought Sunday was even better than Saturday? (I did!)

M
 
Tony Crocker":1bzdd7ok said:
I do wonder where the Montreal skiers were, though.
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I noticed that there was a low number of skiers that day also. Looks like the non-diehard have just died until next season. :roll:

Tony Crocker":1bzdd7ok said:
I forgot. Some Quebec skiers would rather race on their local molehill than get face shots all day on real mountains :P .
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](*,) ](*,) ](*,)

Are you talking about me?

Ah commitments. :roll:

I wasn't going to miss the finals of a season where I didn't miss one race (first time in 6 years) plus we left for Montreal the next morning for Sunday's 183rd Annual St.Patrick's Day Parade with the family (World's Longest running St.Patrick Parade).

BTW, I've lived in Ontario for the last 12 years. :wink:
 
We all know that the season total figure doesn't tell the whole story in the northeast, but Jay Peak's 322 inches right now (after a no-show December and January) is pretty impressive.
 
The mountain is such a different place from mid-January. The snow that fell really seemed to stay in place.
 
Harvey44":rx1prl0i said:
Tony was right about one thing - it was "EPIC" coming up from NJ Friday afternoon and evening. A normally 5 hour ride took almost 9 hours and I must have seen 40 accidents. Didn't look like anyone was hurt - just cars stuck in the snow - many with no apparent damage. I was SURE they were going to close 87 and leave me miles from the first, second and tenth tracks that I got Saturday and Sunday. Lucky for me they never closed the road.

I'm wondering - how many thought Sunday was even better than Saturday? (I did!)

M
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I was on the NYS thruway coming home from Gore at the height of the storm...I have to give the NYS thruway authority tremendous credit for keeping it open. Yes, traffic was bad and there were more cars off in ditches than I have ever seen before, but I believe that is more a function of poor driving skills than bad roads.

True, a 3 hour drive took 4 1/2 on the way back, but that was pretty good compared to some of the horror stories I heard when I got up to Hunter early Saturday. By very early Saturday, the roads were in great shape and it was a normal drive to Hunter. But the night before 2 hour drives took from 5-7 hours.

All worth it for the epic skiing.
 
I had to host my father for the weekend of the St. Paddy's storm. He came up from Boston to visit. If I had the weekend free I would have definately hit Jay with my buddy Dave or Saddleback with Sledhaulingmedic.

Props to all who made it out for the storm of the season!

((*
*))NHPH
 
At snowmaking dependent resorts conditions are more driven by temperature than snowfall. Thus sometime in December to President's weekend is probably viewed as "ski season" by casual skiers in the eastern metro areas.

In the West most people know that the snowpack peaks in March, and some may even notice than new snowfall continues at a similar pace to January and February. Thus Sierra, Wasatch and Colorado resorts are plenty busy in March. Note that Park City blacks out its boarding pass voucher promotion starting President's weekend and going through March. Western late season promotions tend to start right at the end of March.

Like most western areas, Vermont's natural snowfall continues in March at a similar pace to January and February. So it's no surprise to see the powder days, and they are probably a bit more reliable than January due to a greater chance of adequate base coverage in the woods.

I guess if NYC metro and MASH skiing is collapsing in late March, most of those people hang 'em up. But here in SoCal, few people think the deterioration in local conditions has much relevance to the quality of skiing or length of season at Mammoth.
 
"...the reality that the typical eastern skier based in metro Boston or NYC faces long odds against sharing this type of experience with you Vermont locals."

While that may be true, where ISN'T it true? I haven't skied out West much. Tahoe twice, Summit County Colorado twice - that was it - four weeks total. But my guess is that the typical western skier probably doesn't get to the goods any faster than the typical eastern skier.

Do people in SF with jobs ever have trouble traveling to Tahoe? Do people in Denver have trouble getting to Summit County? They must. The road from Denver is the ONLY way into the mountains.

What is MASH skiing?

M
 
Harvey44":1f116810 said:
"...the reality that the typical eastern skier based in metro Boston or NYC faces long odds against sharing this type of experience with you Vermont locals."

While that may be true, where ISN'T it true?
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Yours is not to wonder why.

We all love the statmaster here, but his job is to posit a theory early on, handpick whichever data happens to support that hypothesis, then remind you repeatedly of his original supposition's truthfulness.

The above is especially prevalent concerning EC-related matters.
:lol:
 
sunday 3/18 was epic in the purest sense of the word.

MRG on saturday was really good- 20th hole and all were fun. a foot of snow fell friday night, and it was good. light winds with light snow/flurries falling.

watched the flagpole at the base all day. was waiting to see if the winds were gonna wrap around, and let the upslope machine kick in.

my buddy, the diehard pesimist, said "upslope never happens" that afternoon. we go home, after a great day. that night, back in fairlee (near hanover, NH) we are joined by the two younger brothers (his and mine) we discuss where to go- i demand smuggs. watching the weather channel radar (via satelite, and no local forecast- it showed snow showers on the spine- yessss)

pessimist boy said "i don't think it's gonna snow that much"

still, i get the group behind me- and we head to smuggs at 7am next morn.

best day, possibly, i have ever skied. smuggs easily had 2ft- maybe 30" when the snow stopped. superlight champlain fluff pow.

smuggs- backbowls, backcountry shots, and local stashses all day. we came to the conclusion riding sterling lift: TRAILS SUCK. they're only good for connecting woods/chutes. and named glades suck much of the time, too. skied the woods faster, harder, with deep face shots all day. had a couple mini-avalanches over the weekend- firm base with blower on top with reaaally steep chute angles made for a couple slides. no injuries- though blood was pumping hard.

amazing day.

hung the skis up for the season- spring break over, back south at school now. best way to end on a high note.
 
Tony Crocker":uwg0qehd said:
At snowmaking dependent resorts conditions are more driven by temperature than snowfall. Thus sometime in December to President's weekend is probably viewed as "ski season" by casual skiers in the eastern metro areas.
(...)
I guess if NYC metro and MASH skiing is collapsing in late March, most of those people hang 'em up. But here in SoCal, few people think the deterioration in local conditions has much relevance to the quality of skiing or length of season at Mammoth.
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Although I never actually looked at numbers of skiers per day/week. As I mentioned in another discussion, I believe that the Eastern Canadian skiers season would be from December to School Break. After speaking to a few people, I heard that Tremblant was relatively quiet plus my weekend experience at Edelweiss, it seems that we've would closer to hard-core skier season. :roll: Skied last night at Fortune, pretty busy, but a few people told me that this was probably their last outing. Someone at work asked me today if my season was over. :o There is still snow on my lawn!!! (not for long if the next days forecast is correct).
 
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