J.Spin
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A link with pictures from the day can be found at the bottom of the message.
One of the nice things about heading back to New England for the holidays was that Ty would (hopefully) get a chance to play in the snow. Although we do get valley snow in the Bitterroot of Montana, it pales in comparison to what we get in Vermont. So far this season the Bitterroot had only had a couple of 1 inch snowfalls before we left for the holiday break. We arrived in the Boston area on Dec 22nd to only a few patches of snow, which were quickly washed away by the deluge received on the evening of the 23rd. Fortunately, winter returned on the 26th as an ocean effect snow event began blasting the Massachusetts coast. By mid morning, 2-3 inches had accumulated at Erica?s house south of Boston, and we were able to go out in the yard and have a snowball fight. The snow was quite dry however, so making snowballs took a bit of work. This event was only supposed to drop a dusting of snow on the areas up north, but the steady, light snow continued all the way on our drive up to Burlington. At my parent?s place in Shelburne, we received about 3-4 inches of the same dry snow. I checked the hydrology readings to get a little better estimate of the snow density, and found that the Smuggler?s Notch, Jay Peak, and Mt. Mansfield weather stations gave values of 5.8, 8.0, and 9.0% H2O respectively.
I got in touch with Chris, who was staying at the Sugarbush ski house that evening, and he said the ?bush was expecting as much as 5-10 inches of accumulation. We also got in touch with Dave, and set a tentative plan of skiing Sugarbush the next day (depending on how the snow actually fell). Early the next morning, Dave called from Boston to let me know that he wasn?t going to be able to make it. The Boston area had been slammed with snow (I heard reports of 12-20 inches) and he said it was going to take him so long to drive in the snow, that it just wasn?t going to be worth it. I contacted Chris a little later, and he updated me on the ski area snowfall totals. He said Sugarbush was only reporting 3-5 inches of new snow, but Jay Peak was reporting 12-14 inches. Sugarbush was our preference, but it was hard to argue with a foot of new snow, so Chris picked me up and we headed north to Jay Peak.
The temperature was 8 F when Chris picked me up, and dropped down to 2 F by the time we reached the base area of Jay Peak. We knew it was going to be a pretty cold day, although I took comfort in knowing that it was at least 20 degrees warmer than a day I?d spent there once with James (-20 F with a wind chill of -80 F). I was happy to find out that I could use my Vermont driver?s license to get a $37 lift ticket (don?t lose your Vermont license when you move out of state if you can help it). We arrived at nearly lunchtime, so I knew fresh tracks were going to be a challenge to find. I wanted to go for quality over quantity anyway, and explore the area beyond Beaver Pond Glade. We rode the ?Green Mountain Freezer? Quad which clearly lived up to its nickname. We got off the lift and found that the unloading zone was a horrible surface of ice, since the fierce wind had blown away much of the new powder. Fortunately, once we got onto Ullr?s, we found a nice packed powder surface. The final steeper pitch leading down to Beaver Pond Glade had seen its powder blown away by the stiff winds however, and the surface was composed of refrozen boiler plate. We found that if we cut left onto Poma Line, we could ski some bumps that were holding onto a bit more snow.
We passed by the signs marking the ski area boundary, and side-stepped up a bit until we found an offshoot from the main hiking trail. Not knowing the area, we wanted to take it conservatively at first. We poked around in the terrain below and found plenty of steep tree lines, which were cut, but far less extensively than many of the typical Jay Peak glades. Unfortunately, this terrain was really too steep for the density of snow we?d received. We found ourselves quickly cutting down to, and skiing on, the crusty base of old snow. Coverage was good in general, partly due to the impenetrable base, but areas of rock and sticks were evident in the steep ledgy areas. It was tough to get a really good gauge of the snowfall in the area since it seemed that some wind had penetrated the trees, but a few checks revealed anywhere from 6-12 inches of new snow where we were. The main lines were certainly tracked, but we found some untracked lines as we explored. The powder skiing was actually better as we got into the mellower terrain further down, where you could avoid touching down as hard while turning. Eventually the glades ended, and we merged into the trails for a gentle glide back to the base. The traverse was relaxing (and a bit slow due to all the new snow) on skis, but I was cringing at the though of riding it on my snowboard. I have to think some snowboarders stay away from this area due to the traverse, but maybe they don?t mind it as much as I do.
We braved another windy ride on the high-speed quad and headed back to the same area for our next run. This time, we took the hike all the way to the top of the local ridge, and continued a little further as the hiking trail began to lose elevation. We even passed another ski area boundary marker, giving us the impression that the resort was telling us, ?You may have been outside the boundary before, but now you are REALLY out of bounds?. I was hoping to find an area with a mellower pitch at the top as we got further along the traverse, but things still stayed really steep. There is a lot of great expert terrain back there that will be a blast with a bigger dump. We played it conservatively once again, making sure we didn?t head off the far side of the rise, so we were still in the presence of tracks made by others. But, we did find a lot more untracked snow now that we were further out. Even though the temperature was around 0 F, it was pretty comfortable out of the wind in the trees. We were even able to set up for some still photos, which was a good temperature test for my digital camera (Olympus C-750). This was probably the lowest temperature at which I?d used it, and it seemed to perform fine. I didn?t even store it in my jacket to keep it warm. The electronic screen in the viewfinder was a little slow in refreshing, but everything else seemed normal.
Although it might have been fun to take another run and explore more of the area, we decided to give ourselves a rest from the extreme wind chill on the high speed quad and rode the low speed Metro Quad to the left. We used it to get us over for a run on the Village Chair lift line, where we enjoyed cruising through the powder on the left side of the trail near the vacation homes. I?ve always found it neat to be able to cruise the powder right along the edge of these houses, while dodging furniture, toys, and whatever else comes your way. It is quite the mellow pitch, but I knew this powder would be light enough that it would barely slow us down. We rode the Village Chair and skied back to the car, as we were pretty chilled after a few hours out in such temperatures. Overall, the new foot of snow made for a good, although not really spectacular day due to how dry the powder was (the NWS Jay Peak station reported 10 inches of 8% H2O powder). But it sure beat what conditions would have been like without any new snow. It had remained snowy and windy throughout the day, and it really felt like we were sitting under the Jay Peak cloud. If we looked up, we could see blue sky at times, which suggested the sun was out somewhere, but not at Jay Peak. You could even see the snow streaking across the sky against the sunny backlit background, and it felt like you were surrounded by your own miniature snowstorm.
Once we drove to the west away from Jay Peak, the sky became almost clear, but we could look back and see the huge bank of cloud shrouding the mountain. It was quite a weather contrast. The worst part about the drive home was some jerk in front of us (driving an SUV from Massachusetts) that threw his Gatorade bottle right out the window onto the side of the road. It was obviously in clear view of all the other cars on the road, especially ours, which was right behind him. I?ve often wondered where all that crap comes from along the sides of the roads; well, here?s an example. We took several photos of his license plate (it looks like MA tag 1759 MC), although I?m not sure how much can really be done if we report it to the state police. At least it?s reported here.
Upon returning to the Boston area on Dec 30th, we found that Erica?s house had received 12 inches of snow from the storm. So overall, Ty was able to get quite a good snow fix from the trip, and even got in a couple days of back yard slide time on his skis in Vermont. Dad was just happy to get in his annual day of Vermont skiing, but he had a lot of fun playing around too.
We got back to Montana yesterday to find two inches of snow at our house (our biggest accumulation of the season) and cold enough temperatures to keep it around for a bit. I?m sure we?ll let Ty get out and play in it as much as possible while it lasts.
A few pictures from our Jay Peak day are available at:
http://www.JandEproductions.com/2004/27DEC04.html
J.Spin
One of the nice things about heading back to New England for the holidays was that Ty would (hopefully) get a chance to play in the snow. Although we do get valley snow in the Bitterroot of Montana, it pales in comparison to what we get in Vermont. So far this season the Bitterroot had only had a couple of 1 inch snowfalls before we left for the holiday break. We arrived in the Boston area on Dec 22nd to only a few patches of snow, which were quickly washed away by the deluge received on the evening of the 23rd. Fortunately, winter returned on the 26th as an ocean effect snow event began blasting the Massachusetts coast. By mid morning, 2-3 inches had accumulated at Erica?s house south of Boston, and we were able to go out in the yard and have a snowball fight. The snow was quite dry however, so making snowballs took a bit of work. This event was only supposed to drop a dusting of snow on the areas up north, but the steady, light snow continued all the way on our drive up to Burlington. At my parent?s place in Shelburne, we received about 3-4 inches of the same dry snow. I checked the hydrology readings to get a little better estimate of the snow density, and found that the Smuggler?s Notch, Jay Peak, and Mt. Mansfield weather stations gave values of 5.8, 8.0, and 9.0% H2O respectively.
I got in touch with Chris, who was staying at the Sugarbush ski house that evening, and he said the ?bush was expecting as much as 5-10 inches of accumulation. We also got in touch with Dave, and set a tentative plan of skiing Sugarbush the next day (depending on how the snow actually fell). Early the next morning, Dave called from Boston to let me know that he wasn?t going to be able to make it. The Boston area had been slammed with snow (I heard reports of 12-20 inches) and he said it was going to take him so long to drive in the snow, that it just wasn?t going to be worth it. I contacted Chris a little later, and he updated me on the ski area snowfall totals. He said Sugarbush was only reporting 3-5 inches of new snow, but Jay Peak was reporting 12-14 inches. Sugarbush was our preference, but it was hard to argue with a foot of new snow, so Chris picked me up and we headed north to Jay Peak.
The temperature was 8 F when Chris picked me up, and dropped down to 2 F by the time we reached the base area of Jay Peak. We knew it was going to be a pretty cold day, although I took comfort in knowing that it was at least 20 degrees warmer than a day I?d spent there once with James (-20 F with a wind chill of -80 F). I was happy to find out that I could use my Vermont driver?s license to get a $37 lift ticket (don?t lose your Vermont license when you move out of state if you can help it). We arrived at nearly lunchtime, so I knew fresh tracks were going to be a challenge to find. I wanted to go for quality over quantity anyway, and explore the area beyond Beaver Pond Glade. We rode the ?Green Mountain Freezer? Quad which clearly lived up to its nickname. We got off the lift and found that the unloading zone was a horrible surface of ice, since the fierce wind had blown away much of the new powder. Fortunately, once we got onto Ullr?s, we found a nice packed powder surface. The final steeper pitch leading down to Beaver Pond Glade had seen its powder blown away by the stiff winds however, and the surface was composed of refrozen boiler plate. We found that if we cut left onto Poma Line, we could ski some bumps that were holding onto a bit more snow.
We passed by the signs marking the ski area boundary, and side-stepped up a bit until we found an offshoot from the main hiking trail. Not knowing the area, we wanted to take it conservatively at first. We poked around in the terrain below and found plenty of steep tree lines, which were cut, but far less extensively than many of the typical Jay Peak glades. Unfortunately, this terrain was really too steep for the density of snow we?d received. We found ourselves quickly cutting down to, and skiing on, the crusty base of old snow. Coverage was good in general, partly due to the impenetrable base, but areas of rock and sticks were evident in the steep ledgy areas. It was tough to get a really good gauge of the snowfall in the area since it seemed that some wind had penetrated the trees, but a few checks revealed anywhere from 6-12 inches of new snow where we were. The main lines were certainly tracked, but we found some untracked lines as we explored. The powder skiing was actually better as we got into the mellower terrain further down, where you could avoid touching down as hard while turning. Eventually the glades ended, and we merged into the trails for a gentle glide back to the base. The traverse was relaxing (and a bit slow due to all the new snow) on skis, but I was cringing at the though of riding it on my snowboard. I have to think some snowboarders stay away from this area due to the traverse, but maybe they don?t mind it as much as I do.
We braved another windy ride on the high-speed quad and headed back to the same area for our next run. This time, we took the hike all the way to the top of the local ridge, and continued a little further as the hiking trail began to lose elevation. We even passed another ski area boundary marker, giving us the impression that the resort was telling us, ?You may have been outside the boundary before, but now you are REALLY out of bounds?. I was hoping to find an area with a mellower pitch at the top as we got further along the traverse, but things still stayed really steep. There is a lot of great expert terrain back there that will be a blast with a bigger dump. We played it conservatively once again, making sure we didn?t head off the far side of the rise, so we were still in the presence of tracks made by others. But, we did find a lot more untracked snow now that we were further out. Even though the temperature was around 0 F, it was pretty comfortable out of the wind in the trees. We were even able to set up for some still photos, which was a good temperature test for my digital camera (Olympus C-750). This was probably the lowest temperature at which I?d used it, and it seemed to perform fine. I didn?t even store it in my jacket to keep it warm. The electronic screen in the viewfinder was a little slow in refreshing, but everything else seemed normal.
Although it might have been fun to take another run and explore more of the area, we decided to give ourselves a rest from the extreme wind chill on the high speed quad and rode the low speed Metro Quad to the left. We used it to get us over for a run on the Village Chair lift line, where we enjoyed cruising through the powder on the left side of the trail near the vacation homes. I?ve always found it neat to be able to cruise the powder right along the edge of these houses, while dodging furniture, toys, and whatever else comes your way. It is quite the mellow pitch, but I knew this powder would be light enough that it would barely slow us down. We rode the Village Chair and skied back to the car, as we were pretty chilled after a few hours out in such temperatures. Overall, the new foot of snow made for a good, although not really spectacular day due to how dry the powder was (the NWS Jay Peak station reported 10 inches of 8% H2O powder). But it sure beat what conditions would have been like without any new snow. It had remained snowy and windy throughout the day, and it really felt like we were sitting under the Jay Peak cloud. If we looked up, we could see blue sky at times, which suggested the sun was out somewhere, but not at Jay Peak. You could even see the snow streaking across the sky against the sunny backlit background, and it felt like you were surrounded by your own miniature snowstorm.
Once we drove to the west away from Jay Peak, the sky became almost clear, but we could look back and see the huge bank of cloud shrouding the mountain. It was quite a weather contrast. The worst part about the drive home was some jerk in front of us (driving an SUV from Massachusetts) that threw his Gatorade bottle right out the window onto the side of the road. It was obviously in clear view of all the other cars on the road, especially ours, which was right behind him. I?ve often wondered where all that crap comes from along the sides of the roads; well, here?s an example. We took several photos of his license plate (it looks like MA tag 1759 MC), although I?m not sure how much can really be done if we report it to the state police. At least it?s reported here.
Upon returning to the Boston area on Dec 30th, we found that Erica?s house had received 12 inches of snow from the storm. So overall, Ty was able to get quite a good snow fix from the trip, and even got in a couple days of back yard slide time on his skis in Vermont. Dad was just happy to get in his annual day of Vermont skiing, but he had a lot of fun playing around too.
We got back to Montana yesterday to find two inches of snow at our house (our biggest accumulation of the season) and cold enough temperatures to keep it around for a bit. I?m sure we?ll let Ty get out and play in it as much as possible while it lasts.A few pictures from our Jay Peak day are available at:
http://www.JandEproductions.com/2004/27DEC04.html
J.Spin