Jiminy Peak - 1/19/04

[Greg]

Date(s) Skied: 1/19/04, 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM

Resort or Ski Area: Jiminy Peak, Hancock, MA

Conditions: Packed Powder, Hard Pack, WINDY!

Trip Report: Woke up to clear skies and calm winds. This wouldn't be the case at Jiminy today. Had a few things in the AM to take care of so I didn't leave the house until almost 8:00 AM. Got on skis by 10:00 AM and was surprised to see basically no lift line at the Berkshire Express 6 passenger lift. Took a right off the lift and headed for one of my favorites, the Foxes. It's always windy coming around West Way near the cliff and today more so than normal. It was even tough to keep speed up around the bend. Took Azalea's Path and hooked up again with West Way to head towards Upper Fox. Conditions were good. Very firm packed powder/hard pack. This proved to be the conditions on the entire mountain. Foxes were totally groomed. The best parts of the Foxes and North Glade are the bumps on skier's right. Neither trail had any today.

After the wind exposure on West Way, I was happy to stay on the steeps to the left of the 6 pack. Next run was down Whitetail which was firm and fast. The conditions lead me to change my skiing style a bit. I'm normally a treehugger and like to make quick, snappy turns in any loose stuff I can find. Today was a groomer day with fast skiing so I skied fast and concentrated on linking wider turns. Conditions were similar to the Foxes and it turned out the entire mountain was in good shape with fast and firm, yet edgeable snow.

Took the Q1 Quad back to the summit. There was never a wait for this chair all day and I took it many times. Next run was Jericho with similar conditions to Whitetail. My run got interrupted as I picked up a kid's ski which was at the top of the steep section near the bottom of the run. The kid and his father were at the bottom. I happily grabbed and brought it to them. His father was very appreciative. I said, "Man, he made some distance on that crash". We all laughed. Back to the Q1 for another run down Jericho...

On the ride up the Q1 I noticed two guys speeding down a run that I never noticed before. Turns out there are a number of traverses between Whitetail and Jericho (Lower Whirlaway and Linda's Elbow). I never noticed these before. Next run started on Whitetail again and then these traverses back and forth. They are narrow and a lot of fun. I did this run again later in the day.

Off the Q1 I headed over to Wild Turkey and then up the Widow White's Quad for a couple of rides up that lift (no lines). I did Nor'easter and then Easy Does It/Cutter. Then back to the 6. Still no line for Singles. It was around this time the wind started to really pick up. Upper Whirlaway was very windy at the top. Made quick work of that run. I took a few pics throughout the day and my hands froze each time.

Finished up with a few more runs including North Glade and another down Whitetail. All in all a great day, but after 3 hours of constant skiing in some pretty brutal wind, I had enough. The mountain is in good shape but would benefit nicely from a few good snowfalls.

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