Jay Peak 1/5/08 - 1/11/08

[JPTracker]

Date(s) Skied: Saturday 1/5

Resort or Ski Area: Jay Peak

Conditions: Packed Powder

Trip Report: Temps were in the low 30's and conditions were great. All the glades and trails had good coverage. Lift lines got a little long at times.



Date(s) Skied: Sunday 1/6

Conditions: Soft Packed Powder

Trip Report: Temps were in the mid 30's. Top of the mountain was in a dense fog with 20 - 30 foot visibility. This made skiing difficult up top but was still good especially below the fog line.


Date(s) Skied: Monday 1/7

Conditions: Wet Snow

Trip Report: Temps were 45 at base and 40 at the summit. Upper Mountain was again in a dense fog. The morning started dry at the base with the Tram running but not the Flyer. At the summit it was rainy and very windy. Heavy rain at times but mostly light rain and mist.


Date(s) Skied: Tuesday 1/8

Conditions: Ice

Trip Report: Temps were 50 at the base and 45 at the summit. The dense fog finally lifted but the Tram did not run all day. The trails were very hard, icy and rough making the skiing difficult. Snow melt is evident every where. A few trails were closed and others should have been closed. CanAm was still open but walking was required at the top and a lot of bare spots on the trail. Streams were flowing every where, in the woods, on the side of trails and down the center of some trails. Trails which received snow making are still in good shape but have lost a lot of snow, Holes and cracks were appearing in the snow pack on some trails. Some of the trails without snow making, such as Kitzbuel and Upper Milk Run, were still in good shape with a few bare spots. Snow in the glades was still pretty deep but very soft. Skis would sink into the snow making turning difficult.


Date(s) Skied: 1/9 - 1/11

Later

 

[riverc0il]

Pretty grim report. Unfortunately, despite Jay's big annual snow totals, the mountain does very poorly at retaining snow when things warm up unlike Stowe which holds well. Though everyone is going to take a huge hit with these record setting highs, Jay will probably be hit particularly hard.

 

[JPTracker]

Date(s) Skied: 1/9/08

Resort or Ski Area: Jay Peak

Conditions: wg, fg, ice

Trip Report: Got out at 9:00 to get some runs in before the rain to find the Flyer, Tram & Bonnie closed. Skied over to the Jet to find the chair running but they were not letting anyone on yet. It turns out they did not groom last night to preserve the snow and all the trails were too icy to ski. Ski patrol was roping off trails and they were grooming some and expected to open the Jet in a hour or two. Went back to our condo to wait out the rain. The rain never really came, only a few showers, and by 1:00 the sun was coming out. Went back out and over to the triple to find they had just closed it due to winds.

Temperature has already started to drop and is expected to hit the mid 20's tonight. Talked to ski patrol. They will probably not groom tonight allowing the water to drain from the snow pack as it freezes. Then they will start grooming in the morning. If they groom too soon the groomers force the water to the surface which will then freeze into ice. Expect tomorrow will be slow start as they open terrain after the grooming. Woods will not be skiable until they receive more snow.

 

[JPTracker]

Date(s) Skied: 1/10/08

Resort or Ski Area: Jay peak

Conditions: fg

Weather: Temps dropped below freezing about midnight. Temps were 30 at the base and 20 at the summit.

Trip Report: The melt down has stopped. The water which was flowing every where yesterday was gone today.

Jay got the groomers out and did an excellent job of getting rid of all the ice. All the groomers were open with full coverage and the conditions were excellent. Even some of the non snow making trails such as Hells Crossing still have excellent coverage. The exposed trails without snow making such as Can Am and Power Line took a beating and anything that was not groomed was not open due the freeze up and ice, including all of the glades. There is still plenty of snow pack in the glades but need some new snow on top to cover up the ice before they will be opened.

I have attached the following pictures:

1) View from the Bonnie looking at stateside.You can see Jet and Haynes have full coverage and Kitzbuehel has some bare spots. Kitzbuehel was closed due to the freeze up not because of its coverage.

2) View from the Bonnie looking at Can Am and Power Line. These trails took the worst of it due to their exposure and were both closed. Snow making is expected to begin on Can Am on Saturday.

3) Snow stake located off the Montrealer showing a two foot base.

4 & 5) Signs at the entrance to Big Jay.

The storm coming tonight is expected to drop 3 - 4 inches of snow followed by rain followed by flurries. Hoping for powder tomorrow morning for my last day.

 

[from_the_NEK]

Would have been interesting to see that stake before the meltdown.

 

[JPTracker]

Would have been interesting to see that stake before the meltdown.

Today was the first day I ever noticed this stake. Its on skiers left on Montrealer in the section you are normally skiing fast to get back to Northway. Does anyone know if there are any other stakes around?

 

[JPTracker]

Date(s) Skied: 1/11/08

Resort or Ski Area: Jay Peak

Conditions: Powder with crust / Groomed wet powder

Weather: Rain

Trip Report: Jay got 2" of snow overnight but by 9:00 it had already turned to rain. Headed out at 9:00 to find the Tram and Flyer down due to wind so we headed over to Stateside. The Bonnie was also closed so we ended over to the Jet Triple which opened at 9:15. Got first tracks down Jet which had just been groomed and was in great condition. Headed back up and got almost first tracks on Haynes which had not been groomed. It had 2" of snow with a light crust which actually skied very nicely. Took a second run down Jet and a second run down Haynes. Haynes was already getting scraped down to ice since it had not been groomed. At this point we decided we had enough rain headed back to our condo and packed up and headed home.

Overall not one of my better weeks skiing but any week of skiing is better than work.

 

[billski]

Date(s) Skied: 1/10/08

Resort or Ski Area: Jay peak

Conditions: fg.

those signs are depressing. thanks, I guess...

all your gear must be water-logged by now..

 

[ccskier]

glad I have work to do around here and saving the gas money driving back up there. Keep the fact going in my head that my pass has almost paid for itself. Still early but those pics are aweful. Will hopefully be back on the full weekend trip schedule the weekend of the 26th. Still will get in plenty of good days. THOSE PICTURES ARE KILLERS>

 

[Method9455]

Pretty grim report. Unfortunately, despite Jay's big annual snow totals, the mountain does very poorly at retaining snow when things warm up unlike Stowe which holds well. Though everyone is going to take a huge hit with these record setting highs, Jay will probably be hit particularly hard.

Why is that? Sun exposure?

 

[kingdom-tele]

not so much sun exposure as it is usually thin base on trails, heavy wind depositing into the woods and a lot of exposed trails means they lose the ability to connect patches leading to closure of trails, not to mention the run outs to the lifts are the first to melt out every year making for plenty of snow at mid and upper elevation but to way to get back to the lift