Date(s) Skied: 12/23/05 (full day) -12/24/05 (until 1pm)
Resort or Ski Area: Jay Peak, VT
Conditions:
12/23 - Powder, packed powder; hard packed on manmade/windblown trails
12/24 - Crust on top, powder underneath, packed powder; hard packed on mandmade/windblown trails
Weather - overcast and foggy with very poor visibility on the trails, especially higher up, both days. On 12/23 it wasn't quite precipitating, but my goggles would ice up all the time. That didn't happen on 12/24. Temperatures were comfortable, but there was no sun, making it feel cooler.
Trip Report:
Only my second trip to Jay and the other was in March, so i can't compare it to what Jay might normally be like at this time, but there was a lot of snow. I skied almost every open glade (sorry ahead of time for any spelling errors) including Vahalla, BP, BBP, Deliverance, Everglade, Timbucktu, Vertigo, Buckaroo Bonzai, Stateside Glade, North Glade, Hells Woods, Kitz woods, and probably a couple I'm missing. Staircase was closed. The glades were all generally well-covered, though I did hit some rocks or stumps at some point in most of them. The ones that were particularly rocky were Deliverance and the upper portions of Everglade. The others were in better shape. All had lots of snow though. The glades were pretty skied out, but for someone who isn't great in deep snow, that was fine. There was plenty of fairly soft snow, though certainly not light powder. The second day (12/24) had a crust over the snow, but that crust was probably less noticeable in the glades, and became less of an issue as the day progressed (and I stopped at 1pm because of the long drive home).
The conditions on the trails were pretty similar, except the crust on 12/24 was more noticeable on the trails than in the glades. All were open except the Face Chutes and Tuckermans. The cover on the trails was generally very good (and as good as I could have hoped at this time of year), though there were very rocky areas on some of the natural snow trails like the tops of Green Beret and Upper River Quai, and scattered rocks on some of the others trails.
If people have specific questions about specific trails I can do my best to answer, but it's all starting to blur together.
As normal I didn't have a camera with me, so sorry for the lack of pics.
Resort or Ski Area: Jay Peak, VT
Conditions:
12/23 - Powder, packed powder; hard packed on manmade/windblown trails
12/24 - Crust on top, powder underneath, packed powder; hard packed on mandmade/windblown trails
Weather - overcast and foggy with very poor visibility on the trails, especially higher up, both days. On 12/23 it wasn't quite precipitating, but my goggles would ice up all the time. That didn't happen on 12/24. Temperatures were comfortable, but there was no sun, making it feel cooler.
Trip Report:
Only my second trip to Jay and the other was in March, so i can't compare it to what Jay might normally be like at this time, but there was a lot of snow. I skied almost every open glade (sorry ahead of time for any spelling errors) including Vahalla, BP, BBP, Deliverance, Everglade, Timbucktu, Vertigo, Buckaroo Bonzai, Stateside Glade, North Glade, Hells Woods, Kitz woods, and probably a couple I'm missing. Staircase was closed. The glades were all generally well-covered, though I did hit some rocks or stumps at some point in most of them. The ones that were particularly rocky were Deliverance and the upper portions of Everglade. The others were in better shape. All had lots of snow though. The glades were pretty skied out, but for someone who isn't great in deep snow, that was fine. There was plenty of fairly soft snow, though certainly not light powder. The second day (12/24) had a crust over the snow, but that crust was probably less noticeable in the glades, and became less of an issue as the day progressed (and I stopped at 1pm because of the long drive home).
The conditions on the trails were pretty similar, except the crust on 12/24 was more noticeable on the trails than in the glades. All were open except the Face Chutes and Tuckermans. The cover on the trails was generally very good (and as good as I could have hoped at this time of year), though there were very rocky areas on some of the natural snow trails like the tops of Green Beret and Upper River Quai, and scattered rocks on some of the others trails.
If people have specific questions about specific trails I can do my best to answer, but it's all starting to blur together.
As normal I didn't have a camera with me, so sorry for the lack of pics.
) did affect the conditions. I kind of expected Saturday would be crusty based on what was happening Friday, but the glades survived very well, and the trails did improve throughout the day, and as I said, I left early. Like you said, though, while not a huge deal, the report could be misleading. Tthey are in fact now saying on their sight that the rain they just got didn't effect the surfaces--likely an exaggeration, but I'm not there. Good customer service to give the refunds though.