MadMadWorld
Active member
Well it's not really fair to compare on map since Stowe barely marks any. People have been cutting lines through the trees on Mansfield since the 60s.
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Jay Peak and I are not BFFs.
- Thread starter VTKilarney
- Start date
Well it's not really fair to compare on map since Stowe barely marks any. People have been cutting lines through the trees on Mansfield since the 60s.
Sick Bird Rider
Member
Quoted for truth. It is a mountain that grows on you, and what grows on you are the quirks, the weather, the screwy trail map, the community, the passion, the snow, the view, the trees, the wind and where do I stop? It is a mountain that rewards the creative, the resilient and the adventurous and, yes, it does take some getting used to.
steamboat1
New member
I'd add Killington to that mix also. Nobody ever talks about the glades at Killington which are numerous. I'd venture to say they have the most glade skiing in the east & have them for all ability levels.
BenedictGomez
Well-known member
I'm not getting that either.
Only advantage I see is the stuff off Sterling Pond via Stowe or Smuggs is pretty great, but that's slackcountry and not within the borders and I'm not sure we're counting that? Though if we did, then a Jay skier could likely point to the similar run to the road off Timbuckto.
I would say that area is an added bonus along with the hundreds of acres skiers left of Chin Clip.
I think what MMW is referring to is that pretty much the entire Mansfield side of the mountain and much of Spruce has essentially developed glades between every trail that at many ski areas would be on the map. On Upper Mansfield, really the only area that hasn't been cut much is between Liftline and Starr. There are some lines in there, but I've found they don't open up much except for in big snow years. Between every other trail though, it's pretty much wide open. Same thing at MRG with all the glades between their marked trails.
Jay's glades are fantastic, but I'll take Mansfield.
polski
New member
Hear hear. And even for someone who skis groomers not glades, more high-speed lifts would mean a lot traffic on the slopes, not necessarily a more enjoyable experience. I hit Jay after a 2-foot dump in Feb 2013 and had a blast but mid-afternoon the second day there was one run near the top, I forget which, that we were taking to a glades entrance and it was like a six-lane superhighway with a LOT of people bombing very fast and a lot of the surface scraped off despite all the new snow. We got to the near-solitude of the glades and were like, WHOA, what was THAT??? A distinctly sour note on an otherwise great trip. Then again my own bias is towards a place like MRG with one fixed-grip single chair to the top, capacity 500 skiers per hour.
VTKilarney
Well-known member
This is a big myth. The reality is that capacity can be controlled with a high speed lift. Aspen, for example, has some low-capacity high speed lifts. And keep in mind that while the cable is running faster, there are fewer chairs on that cable.
Here is why Jay would benefit from more high speed lifts. Jay is cold and windy. A skier is coldest when riding the lift. Jay would be a much more appealing place to ski if you could minimize the amount of time you are on the lift itself. They could do this while keeping capacity exactly the same. Of course, the downside is that, if capacity is the same but the lift ride itself is shorter, lines would increase somewhat. So I can see both sides of the coin.
fbrissette
Well-known member
The main reason for high-speed chair (which are more expensive) is to increase capacity. While it is true that they could capacity the same it would be en economic non-sense.
SIKSKIER
New member
Please Note: The Tramside Carpet is closed for the season, the Flyer Quad is closed for midweek operations but is slated to spin this coming Friday.
VTKilarney
Well-known member
Since Jay Peak has gone the resort route, there is some economic sense to be had by elevating the customer's experience on the mountain. It helps to sell hotel rooms. On the other hand, it's certainly possible that they don't need help and that the rooms are selling just fine.
Say it isn't so!!
fbrissette
Well-known member
Yep. It was a hard blow. We had to use the carpet on stateside this morning.
dlague
Active member
And it did! Sunday was awesome!
I hope that's the highspeed carpet, at least.
dlague
Active member
To ride the tram for Vermonter or Northway - it is a take it once in a day type of deal. However, Valhalla, Green Beret, Face Chutes and Tuckermans and the various runs that you can make out of those runs are worth the trip. Not heavily traveled, and when there is snow up there it can be very fun! Early and late season the tram is useless otherwise.
As for intermediates, I totally disagree. There are intermediate runs off every chair. In addition, there are intermediate glades all over the place for those starting out in the woods. Even some of the black rated trails are very skiable by intermediates such as The Jet and Derrick Hot Shot.
Groomers, we had to ski them this past Sunday since the glades were firm in the morning and all the intermediates like Angles Wiggle, Hells Crossing, non flat sections of Northway skied really nice, the runs off The Jet chair were awesome JFK skied really well, Goat Run and GMB, Ullrs and Wedelmaster all skied great. If you are skiing a trail and are one and done then maybe there is some credence to your statement otherwise there is plenty to keep most people busy and I did not mention others.
I agree with everything else!
fbrissette
Well-known member
Directly off the Bonnie and Flyer, you have access to a grand total of 4 intermediate runs (Northway, Ulr's, Alligator Alley and Goat run. Four and that's it. All four are extremely traveled and the latter is an ice-fest pretty much year-round. There are some interesting intermediate terrain on the lower mountain (flash, racer, lower goat, but you are pretty much stuck with the above four run to get there ALL the time. These four runs also act as collectors so you get lots of advanced skiers and beginners on them. Other resorts have entire pods totally dedicated to intermediate skiers with lots of options and where no expert will ever show up (Stowe for example has 2 chairs serving pretty much only intermediate terrain with something like 25 runs).
Much of stateside is advanced intermediate (a bit intimidating for the true intermediate skier), and Montrealer takes you straight back to the Northway.
Intermediate skiers can have fun at Jay, but there are much much better resorts for them.
dlague
Active member
I will give you that but we cherry pick our days and have not experience tough conditions three trips there. Before advance terrain was available to my wife she still liked it! Now she definitely has more options so the experience is better for sure!
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BenedictGomez
Well-known member
That was most likely Goat Run, which even this past Saturday, deep into the ski season with low attendance, felt like the Grand Central Parkway. I imagine it would/could be scary for a low-level intermediate or even true intermediate skier.
True, but he's not wrong. Some places use the "over-capacity" issue as an excuse (SEE: Smuggler's Notch) not to have to invest millions in new lift(s).
MadMadWorld
Active member
If we are not talking about slack country then that makes my case against Jay even better. Throw out West Bowl and the stuff in between it and BP. Throw out Big Jay, and everything beyond Timbuktu. What your left with is the ridge....this puts it in the top 5 discussion by itself. The rest of the glades on the map are pretty blah that lack any real character. No super steep gnar chutes with no way out rock bands. The trees are all neatly spaced as if someone measured the space between each one. All the glades allow skiers to easily link turns without any serious challenge. That is why Stowe is better. And the Mansfield backcountry is far superior to BJ and West Bowl.
abc
Well-known member
That's what I was getting at as to the definition of "better"!
Perhaps to you more gnar is "better". But to many others, Jay's marked glades provides better progression without having to commit to unknown rock bands!
