GrizzlyFD
New member
Date(s) Skied: 12/27 - 12/28
Resort or Ski Area: Jay Peak
Conditions: VARIABLE
Trip Report:
The wife and I went out for the first time this year. We had heard that Jay was going to get pounded post-christmas so instead of skiing thursday/friday, we skiied tuesday/wednesday. Now that I see all the rain VT is getting I'm glad we moved our schedule up.
We left northern NJ around 8:00pm (big mistake). We spent about 7.5 hours on the road because once we hit VT, the snow started coming down, the interstate was not plowed yet and pretty icy in spots. The trip usually takes about 5.5hours.
We got to the Snowshoe lodge around 3:30 and went straight to our room which was supposed to be unlocked because of our late check in, but it wasn't. We cursed and called the lodge # but nothing :angry: ...we went up to the hotel jay to see if they had anything but they didn't. So we slept in the car...
We got up early, probably b/c we couldn't sleep, and went to the cafeteria for some coffee. We got our passes and headed to the lifts. Everything was on wind delay, but the flyer was running so we decided very foolishly to ride it up. I guess no sleep and decision making do not go together. It was one of the coldest/windiest lift rides I've ever been on.
We took a couple of warm up runs down from the bonaventure and jet, the conditions were ok considering the "one to two feet of snow" turned out to be 1-2" of rain with a dusting of snow on top. JFK was nice, and suprisingly most of the woods softened up nicely as the day went on. Don't get me wrong though, VARIABLE was the word of the day. I hit buck's woods and after the top crusty section, skiied through knee deep powder with a thin ice crust that was softening as the day went on.
We called it a day around 2, because conditions were hardening fast, and we needed some sleep. We went back to the snowshoe and talked to the owner/manager and he felt bad because someone probably locked the door thinking they were doing a good deed or something so he gave us a nice discount for that night.
The next day started out the same as the first, except there was very little wind (except on the freezer). Conditions were nice and soft on most runs with some sketchy parts in the shadows. Suprisingly the woods were soft again...untill about 2:00 when I ventured into Kitz woods. Pretty nice entry, but then things changed, it was about 6-12" of powder with an ice crust about 1-2" thick. Impossible to ski, and one of the only times in my life that I considered walking down a trail, but we made it out quickly.
All in all, not too bad considering the really awful conditions. We were pretty upset that the snow never came, as that was the reason we initially moved up our trip and the fact that Jay was getting incredible snowfall up until xmas when things changed fast.
No pictures because...well...it really wasn't worth it. I did take one of the "Jay cloud" which was really cool...it was on the first day when the winds were whipping down from the north. The snow was actually being picked up off of the north facing slopes and forming "snow clouds" over the mountain. The only problem being the snow never fell back to the ground... Jay has a snowfall counter...they should probably count how much snow they lost to the clouds as a negative number :lol:
Resort or Ski Area: Jay Peak
Conditions: VARIABLE
Trip Report:
The wife and I went out for the first time this year. We had heard that Jay was going to get pounded post-christmas so instead of skiing thursday/friday, we skiied tuesday/wednesday. Now that I see all the rain VT is getting I'm glad we moved our schedule up.
We left northern NJ around 8:00pm (big mistake). We spent about 7.5 hours on the road because once we hit VT, the snow started coming down, the interstate was not plowed yet and pretty icy in spots. The trip usually takes about 5.5hours.
We got to the Snowshoe lodge around 3:30 and went straight to our room which was supposed to be unlocked because of our late check in, but it wasn't. We cursed and called the lodge # but nothing :angry: ...we went up to the hotel jay to see if they had anything but they didn't. So we slept in the car...
We got up early, probably b/c we couldn't sleep, and went to the cafeteria for some coffee. We got our passes and headed to the lifts. Everything was on wind delay, but the flyer was running so we decided very foolishly to ride it up. I guess no sleep and decision making do not go together. It was one of the coldest/windiest lift rides I've ever been on.
We took a couple of warm up runs down from the bonaventure and jet, the conditions were ok considering the "one to two feet of snow" turned out to be 1-2" of rain with a dusting of snow on top. JFK was nice, and suprisingly most of the woods softened up nicely as the day went on. Don't get me wrong though, VARIABLE was the word of the day. I hit buck's woods and after the top crusty section, skiied through knee deep powder with a thin ice crust that was softening as the day went on.
We called it a day around 2, because conditions were hardening fast, and we needed some sleep. We went back to the snowshoe and talked to the owner/manager and he felt bad because someone probably locked the door thinking they were doing a good deed or something so he gave us a nice discount for that night.
The next day started out the same as the first, except there was very little wind (except on the freezer). Conditions were nice and soft on most runs with some sketchy parts in the shadows. Suprisingly the woods were soft again...untill about 2:00 when I ventured into Kitz woods. Pretty nice entry, but then things changed, it was about 6-12" of powder with an ice crust about 1-2" thick. Impossible to ski, and one of the only times in my life that I considered walking down a trail, but we made it out quickly.
All in all, not too bad considering the really awful conditions. We were pretty upset that the snow never came, as that was the reason we initially moved up our trip and the fact that Jay was getting incredible snowfall up until xmas when things changed fast.
No pictures because...well...it really wasn't worth it. I did take one of the "Jay cloud" which was really cool...it was on the first day when the winds were whipping down from the north. The snow was actually being picked up off of the north facing slopes and forming "snow clouds" over the mountain. The only problem being the snow never fell back to the ground...
Jay has a snowfall counter...they should probably count how much snow they lost to the clouds as a negative number :lol: 
