Jay Blacks & Blues

[MICO]

Howdy,

In first year of Downhill and gettin' comfy on the blues.......starting to mess with the blacks at small, local mountains. What are the 3 easiest diamond runs at Jay? The 3 toughest blue runs?

 

[ckofer]

I was there yesterday for my second time ever. Here's my take on this: if you're going, go ski most/all of the blues so you get a feel for the mountain. If a black trail is marked with warning signs stay off. If you're considering a trip soon, you may have the advantage of soft, slow spring conditions. On black diamond runs this usually means bumps too. Though Jay boasts of its woods, they were not great yesterday and not a place for a first-year skier.

I found that the part of the mountain to the left as you look up (serviced by small lodge/a few lifts) warmed up faster than the main mountain. Since the surfaces were icy initially, this was important.

Bottom line, work your way up to the black diamonds. Bragging rights are less important than steeze.

 

[MICO]

Thanks for advice, but don't want any misconceptions. Wifey and I hit the big five-0 this year.......started d'hillin' at 49. Not about steeze (yeah, I had to look it up), it's about getting better. We hope to develop the necessary skill set to allow us to be skiing post retirement. Kinda trying to make-up for lost time I suppose. Skiing is fun.......for thrills we go whitewater kayakin'.......that's scary fun.

 

[thetrailboss]

I think that being a low/medium intermediate, you will find much of Jay's trails not much fun. Jay is a mountain that is known best for its trees. The trails are not too good IMHO...usually crowded, icy, and either slabbing across the fall line or going straight down it.

Perhaps you should consider something nearby...like Burke or Bolton...

Just my take. And remember that Jay, like Burke and other Northern Areas, marks their trails differently than places in the south. i.e. runs that would be a black at Okemo are blues at Burke or Jay. So Jay's diamonds are really tough in general....

 

[KingM]

I don't know anything about Jay, but TTB is right about Bolton. It's a great place for a beginner moving into intermediate.

 

[riverc0il]

The biggest factor with Jay is trails ability levels are relative to the conditions. The Goat is marked a Blue Square but when that trail is icy even I quiver a little bit in my boots before starting down the trail. The Jet is a black, but when conditions are in spring corn, the upper section is not so tough. Vermonter is a blue but can get scraped down horrifically despite a modest pitch. Northway can be a delight or an ice skating rink. Most of the run outs are marked as blues in the Stateside Basin but you need to get down potentially icy groomers to get to the easier pitches down low on the run outs. Not a great mountain for intermediate cruising, IMO.

 

[ccskier]

As everyone else has mentioned. The trails difficulty all depends on the conditions. They change all the time so it is hard to tell. Just go and be careful where you ski.

 

[snoseek]

I Really only like Jay for tree-skiing. Without the trees it would really be nothing too special as the trails are nothing too special. Yeah they get lots of snow, but when it's not happening there are many other places I'd rather be.

 

[Brettski]

I Really only like Jay for tree-skiing. Without the trees it would really be nothing too special as the trails are nothing too special. Yeah they get lots of snow, but when it's not happening there are many other places I'd rather be.

pffft

Jay's still a great place

Where are you staying? The hotel?

I hear the food package is good.

Always drove up from smuggs or Stowe

Would have been nice to stay slopeside

 

[thetrailboss]

I don't think that Jay is a good mountain for cruising at all...now there are some exceptions (Ullr's Dream, some of State Side, Northway, etc) but overall it is not a place to go ski "trails."

 

[jesski]

Oh please there are plenty of fun trails to ski at Jay. For black I would reccomend 56 Upper Exhibition, 22 Upper Milk Run, 67 JFK and 69 Everglade. I may have some wrong, it's been a while since I have been. Look for a black that starts or ends blue.
Some great blues are any of the ones off of 32 Northway. Also you must fo Ullr's Dream and dont forget Kokomo which goes through trees but is not a glad per se.
The other great thing about Jay are the green circle glades; Moon walk and Bushwhacker. Moon walk is easier and longer and has 2 entrances with groomed swaths leading you through so you can check it out, then go again and venture off the swath to ski between some trees. Just take it slow and focus on the space between the tree and not the trees themselves,
Have fun! I love Jay and I am not "hard core"

 

[riverc0il]

Oh please there are plenty of fun trails to ski at Jay. For black I would reccomend 56 Upper Exhibition, 22 Upper Milk Run, 67 JFK and 69 Everglade. I may have some wrong, it's been a while since I have been. Look for a black that starts or ends blue.

Upper Milk Run and Everglade are not trails that should be recommended to skiers that are "In first year of Downhill and gettin' comfy on the blues.......starting to mess with the blacks at small, local mountains." Upper Milk Run is a bump run and Everglade is a tree run, the upper part being pretty steep and tight. I would hesitate to recommend any black run to these folks at Jay unless it is a really soft snow day as the blacks at Jay tend to get pretty scraped off. No one said there are not great trails at Jay... but there are better mountains that are better suited to what these skiers are looking for. Other posters were only comparing Jay to other mountains given the desires of the OP.

 

[snoseek]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

+1

 

[jesski]

Message well-taken rivercoil, I would hate to lead someone astray. You are right about Milk Run getting bumped but I recall it being short and not too steep. Even so, it may be a bit much for a new skier. I didn't mean to come off as a know-it-all, I have a little chip on my shoulder with hard core skiers, I think!

 

[jesski]

Well this will teach me not to write posts in the middle of the night:-?
Upper Milk Run and Everglade are NOT good black to start out on.
I confused Upper Milk Run with 49 Upper River Quai. That is not as steep as some blacks at Jay, usually not moguled (at least when I have been) and short enough that you can see the bottom of the run from the top, and the run below it is blue... Just an idea!

 

[kcyanks1]

Well this will teach me not to write posts in the middle of the night:-?
Upper Milk Run and Everglade are NOT good black to start out on.
I confused Upper Milk Run with 49 Upper River Quai. That is not as steep as some blacks at Jay, usually not moguled (at least when I have been) and short enough that you can see the bottom of the run from the top, and the run below it is blue... Just an idea!

From my recollections of it, no way I'd recommend Upper River Quai. That's an above-average difficulty black from Jay's trails, IIRC. The Jet or Derrick Hot Shot would probably be a couple of the easier blacks, and they are often groomed.

 

[riverc0il]

Well this will teach me not to write posts in the middle of the night:-?
Upper Milk Run and Everglade are NOT good black to start out on.
I confused Upper Milk Run with 49 Upper River Quai. That is not as steep as some blacks at Jay, usually not moguled (at least when I have been) and short enough that you can see the bottom of the run from the top, and the run below it is blue... Just an idea!

No worries jesski. Though Upper River Quai is probably the most difficult black at Jay not counting glades or trails from the summit such as Green Beret and The Face. Lower River Quai is a gentle Blue Square though you need to ski down Goat to get there if not dropping in from Upper. The Jet, Haynes, Exhibition, JFK, and Green Mountain Boys are the groomed black diamond options at Jay, though I might have missed one or two?