riverc0il
New member
This report is terribly late, but I thought it might be useful for folks looking for late season turns outside of Tuckerman Ravine and Great Gulf. In brief, you would likely be better off heading to Killington if you are looking for patches left over at ski areas. The snow at Jay this past weekend was acceptable for a one hour drive, but definitely was lacking and less than I had hoped for.
With threats of precipitation, I made the early morning hour drive to Jay Peak (if 9AM can be considered early morning!). The sites from 100 South and 242 West were not impressive, turns were definitely to be had but in not so much abundance as expected. I pulled almost everything outta my pack at the parking lot as the temperature was quite warm.
The Jet featured several broken patches, the largest one just above the mid-point of the trail. Above this large patch, the snow pinched to climbers left, then broke before pinching climbers right and pinching again climbers left. Essentially, two really small patches up top, a decent middle patch, and a nice bottom patch. With exception of the bottom patch, most of the Jet was too broken up to get a good rhythm going. I did manage to only click out of my skis once on the descent from the top.
I headed over to Haynes which did not have as much vertical but had much better continuous snow which allowed for much more fun turns and interesting skiing. It was quite humerous climbing up Haynes and the Jet after my last few climbs over on Washington. It is amazing how much steeper even the most mellow slopes of GoS and Tux are in comparison to a typical black diamond pitch at a ski area. Any ways, turns down Haynes were fun but I didn't have the heart for a third run. I clicked out for a short hike and then skied over snow and grass until the snow ran out near the bottom. Desperation perhaps or just plain laziness. Or both.
With threats of precipitation, I made the early morning hour drive to Jay Peak (if 9AM can be considered early morning!). The sites from 100 South and 242 West were not impressive, turns were definitely to be had but in not so much abundance as expected. I pulled almost everything outta my pack at the parking lot as the temperature was quite warm.
The Jet featured several broken patches, the largest one just above the mid-point of the trail. Above this large patch, the snow pinched to climbers left, then broke before pinching climbers right and pinching again climbers left. Essentially, two really small patches up top, a decent middle patch, and a nice bottom patch. With exception of the bottom patch, most of the Jet was too broken up to get a good rhythm going. I did manage to only click out of my skis once on the descent from the top.
I headed over to Haynes which did not have as much vertical but had much better continuous snow which allowed for much more fun turns and interesting skiing. It was quite humerous climbing up Haynes and the Jet after my last few climbs over on Washington. It is amazing how much steeper even the most mellow slopes of GoS and Tux are in comparison to a typical black diamond pitch at a ski area. Any ways, turns down Haynes were fun but I didn't have the heart for a third run. I clicked out for a short hike and then skied over snow and grass until the snow ran out near the bottom. Desperation perhaps or just plain laziness. Or both.
