Jay Peak & Stowe 2/16 to 2/18

[Tonyr]

Resort or Ski Area

Jay Peak

Date

Feb 16, 2026

Snow Conditions

1. Packed Powder
2. Moguls

We drove down from Montreal this morning to Jay Peak. Got out on the mountain around 10.30 and skied until 2.30. Looking back through my old photos I noticed we haven't skied Jay in 6 years and I don't know why it's been that long, this place was fantastic today!

Other then the tram, which we didn't ride, the lines here were 5 minutes or less each trip, a huge difference from our Tremblant visit yesterday which was a zoo.

We skied the Staircase Glade, Everglade, Vertigo, Deliverance, Beaver Pond Glades, Timbuktu, Kitz Woods, and all the random mellow tree runs towards the bottom of the mountain. Here are some photos from the day...



The snow up here is Colorado quality right now. It was packed powder conditions and we ran into very little ice patches in the trees today. It's supposed to snow a little bit overnight which should soften things up for tomorrow. I'll add a few photos of the tram that I got today, hopefully we get a few rides on it tomorrow...

 

[Tonyr]

I also wanted to add a separate post on the Staircase Glade. I don't think it's gets talked about enough, maybe because it's marked as a single black like every run at Jay, I don't know but this is truly a legit expert run and one of the toughest trails to ski or ride in the Northeast.

We made it the first run of the day when our legs were still fresh...

The drop-in was nastier then it looks here, lots of people skied up to the trail then skied away. We didn't notice anyone on the run while we were skiing it...

I skied the Staircase Glade once before and didn't remember the top part being as tight as it was. You spend the first 5 minutes or so picking your way through super tight trees at a 35 degree-ish pitch.
We entered this run on the left side of the trail sign, I'm going to try it on the right side of the sign tomorrow as I really didn't remember the trees being so tight when I first skied this run years ago. It went on and on until the trees finally opened up.

In any event, from where we dropped in on the left side of the trail sign, Staircase Glade has to be a top 3 marked trail difficulty wise in the Northeast. Its more challenging then any marked trail at Jay, Stowe, Sugarbush, or Killington.

Maybe Paradise at MRG is at this level, I haven't skied that one in 5 years or so but I don't remember it as challenging as this one today.

I'd say the Black Hole at Smuggs from the top section of that run is worse then the Staircase Glade so I guess I'd give it the number 2 spot as far as what I've been on here in the Northeast.

 

[eatskisleep]

Staircase!! So good! Thanks for sharing the pics! Yes that is a nice steep one, Kitz woods too but that’s a lot more open in comparison.

 

[Tonyr]

I also wanted to add a separate post on the Staircase Glade. I don't think it's gets talked about enough, maybe because it's marked as a single black like every run at Jay, I don't know but this is truly a legit expert run and one of the toughest trails to ski or ride in the Northeast.

We made it the first run of the day when our legs were still fresh...
View attachment 67923
The drop-in was nastier then it looks here, lots of people skied up to the trail then skied away. We didn't notice anyone on the run while we were skiing it...
View attachment 67924
I skied the Staircase Glade once before and didn't remember the top part being as tight as it was. You spend the first 5 minutes or so picking your way through super tight trees at a 35 degree-ish pitch.
View attachment 67925View attachment 67926View attachment 67927We entered this run on the left side of the trail sign, I'm going to try it on the right side of the sign tomorrow as I really didn't remember the trees being so tight when I first skied this run years ago. It went on and on until the trees finally opened up.
View attachment 67928
In any event, from where we dropped in on the left side of the trail sign, Staircase Glade has to be a top 3 marked trail difficulty wise in the Northeast. Its more challenging then any marked trail at Jay, Stowe, Sugarbush, or Killington.

Maybe Paradise at MRG is at this level, I haven't skied that one in 5 years or so but I don't remember it as challenging as this one today.

I'd say the Black Hole at Smuggs from the top section of that run is worse then the Staircase Glade so I guess I'd give it the number 2 spot as far as what I've been on here in the Northeast.

Well we skied to the right side of the Staircase trail sign today and the trees in there are definitely wider spaced then the left side drop-in. This side skis more like the Everglade trail and is not nearly as challenging as dropping in on the left side of the trail sign for anyone interested...

 

[Tonyr]

Skied our final day at Jay this morning. An inch came down overnight and we were out in the tram line by 8.25 am. Waited under 20 minutes for our one and only tram run.

We tried to walk up to the ridge to ski a line up there but it was ropped off due to the low visibility this morning I'd guess...

So we instead skied my favorite run off the tram...

Last time I skied Tuckerman's was 6 years ago during our last visit. The views that day looked like this...

Today was a totally different feeling skiing it through the Jay Cloud...


It's a great trail except for the fact that's it too short. Tuckerman's does flow right out to the Staircase glade though which is a nice way to pair the run.

Other then one unmarked trail we skied today, my son and I spent from 9 am until noon lapping this section, circled in red, of the mountain which is the best area of Jay to ski in our opinion...

It's doesn't look like much from the trail map but there are tons of unmarked spots to jump into between the Everglade and Staircase glades all of which have world class tree skiing.

We hit 5 or 6 untouched lines in that area then we called it a day. We are off to Stowe now to finish up the trip with a day or two at our favorite Northeast resort.

Here are few more photos from the day. I don't want to wait so long to come back here the next time!...

 

[Tonyr]

Staircase!! So good! Thanks for sharing the pics! Yes that is a nice steep one, Kitz woods too but that’s a lot more open in comparison.

Love Kitz Woods as well!