Stowe or Jay

[SnowRider]

I was walking in the hall today in school and noticed a kids shirt. It said Jay Peak Vermont. Right away I aproached the kid and started talking to him about Jay. Turns out he had a place up at Stowe. He told me he like Stowe better. When I asked why he said terrain. I got to thinking about this and would like to know your opinion. Jay Peak's terrain or Stowe's.

 

[thetrailboss]

Jay has the better glades and snow...generally.....but I must say that I liked Stowe. Don't like their pricetag.

 

[riverc0il]

overall, i think stowe has more to offer. i do not have as extensive knowledge of stowe as i would like (due to the afore mentioned price tag), but i know enough to suggest that mansfield as some excellent back country offerings that i suspect top jay. stowe also offers more to the non-tree skier with better steeps and bumps than jay. in bounds glades and unmarked in boundary glades and total powder, hard to beat jay. really depends what type of "terrain" you are interested in, but overall, stowe has more to offer. jay is all about powder and trees.

 

[meat]

I think stowe has a few more hairball B/C options than Jay, skied stowe probably 15 days in my life and haven't been in 5 years, all lift accessed. never been up to the chin still, tried to get a one way gondi ride last year but they don't offer them anymore, have to hike the whole thing or fork the big $.
I really dislike stowe for the crowds and I don't really like the scene there, but their is defiantly good turns to be had, fun place to explore.

Jay has great trees and gets more snow, but also has more of a run-out at the bottom.

 

[JD]

Jay is the best. Go there for off piste fun. Plus they get all the snow.

 

[meat]

Jay is the best. Go there for off piste fun. Plus they get all the snow.

yeah, but stowe has more hard-core challenge (you just have to look at the chin and notch), and gets almost as much snow as jay. Jay's crowds are getting worse and worse all the time, seems more are showing up for weekdays every year. there is a reason why they are building a new lodge before they expand west.

If I could afford Manny I would be there a lot more, I might just have to skin the whole damn thing this year.

 

[andyzee]

For BC snow, I'd say Stowe, Jay may get more, but it also seems to get skied off quicker. But because of price, I'd say Jay.

 

[awf170]

For BC snow, I'd say Stowe, Jay may get more, but it also seems to get skied off quicker. But because of price, I'd say Jay.

Are you just repeating what others said, or do you actually know this from experiance?

 

[riverc0il]

yeah, but stowe has more hard-core challenge (you just have to look at the chin and notch), and gets almost as much snow as jay. Jay's crowds are getting worse and worse all the time, seems more are showing up for weekdays every year. there is a reason why they are building a new lodge before they expand west.

If I could afford Manny I would be there a lot more, I might just have to skin the whole damn thing this year.

i think JD was trying to be funny! :smile:

 

[andyzee]

Are you just repeating what others said, or do you actually know this from experiance?

I'm going to beat you're scrawny little butt if I ever see you! Yes Austin it is from experience, although I will admit it may be limited with regard to those two areas, it is most definetely experience. Jay is more known for it's snow fall and glade skiing and as a result the few times I have been up there, the snow seemed to get skied off quicker. I only skied trees in Stowe once, but damn, the snow was deep!

 

[awf170]

I'm going to beat you're scrawny little butt if I ever see you! Yes Austin it is from experience, although I will admit it may be limited with regard to those two areas, it is most definetely experience. Jay is more known for it's snow fall and glade skiing and as a result the few times I have been up there, the snow seemed to get skied off quicker. I only skied trees in Stowe once, but damn, the snow was deep!

I knew you skied Jay, but I never knew about Stowe. Personally I would pick Jay because I just hate the rich snob attitude at Stowe and the price is better. IMO, if you want good trails too Sugarbush would be better than both.

 

[andyzee]

I knew you skied Jay, but I never knew about Stowe. Personally I would pick Jay because I just hate the rich snob attitude at Stowe and the price is better. IMO, if you want good trails too Sugarbush would be better than both.

Skied Sugarbush plenty of times. Before ASC came out with the All for One, I used to split my time between the Bush and Killington. Yeah, I have the same issue with Stowe.

 

[DHskier]

Jay is known for it's glade skiing? That's a new one on me. From what I've experienced, Jay receives more snow than Stowe. There's not much of a town there, though, so if you are into shopping or other non-skiing activities, you're better off at Stowe.

 

[bvibert]

i think JD was trying to be funny! :smile:

I think JD was trying to keep folks out of his back-yard...

 

[Birdman829]

Jay is known for it's glade skiing? That's a new one on me.

Yeah, Jay is definitely known for their glade skiing. The following passage was taken from the section on "The Glades" on Jay's website.

Jay Peak skiers have enjoyed the adventure of skiing “off trail” for decades because natural snow overwhelms this special corner of Vermont, gracing the forests of Jay Peak with all the snow a woodskier could want.

In 1985, during Bill Stenger’s first season at Jay Peak, he noticed that the widest smiles of all the lift riders were those who were also covered with snow from head to toe. Inquiring further of these skiers, he learned that the snow was residue from the “secret stash” tree skiing experience enjoyed between the regular trail system at the mountain. If these skiers were so excited by this, he thought, “What if we made the tree skiing experience safer and cleaner, providing better access and creating a limited glade system?”

So in 1987, the first of Jay Peak’s 24 glades was created. Sel Hannah, one of Eastern skiing’s legendary mountain designers, was advising Stenger and Jay Peak on some trail and lift design when the subject of glade design and creation was raised.

Stenger’s goal was to maintain the natural intimacy of the woodskiing experience and to provide a rhythmic experience that would link the mountain and provide a total glade network tree skiers could enjoy throughout their day at Jay.

Sel Hannah advised Stenger and Lawrence Carnahan of a cutting strategy that would give skiers a great woods experience but not clear the forest more than needed. The Hannah design called for a trim radius to be 6 to 8 feet only, no healthy trees were to be taken and regeneration was to be a focal point of the plan.

With those marching orders in hand, Bill Stenger with Jay's team of cutters, the “Gladiators,” began a decade-long glade system creation that knitted the mountain woods system together.

Each year over the past four years, an additional glade has been added, the most recent being “Beyond Beaver Pond,” a multi-acre stash of woods, steeps, cliffs and snow ecstasy.

Whenever we start a new glade, we always ask if it will improve the network, excite our guests and honor the memory of Sel Hannah, our glade mentor here at Jay Peak.

In the future, there are numerous additional areas where the glade system can be advanced and improved. We all look forward to enhancing Jay Peak’s designation as the best glade skiing experience in North America.

So yeah I'd say Jay is known for their glades and want to be known for their glades.

 

[deadheadskier]

Personally I would pick Jay because I just hate the rich snob attitude at Stowe and the price is better.

You can't be an experienced Stowe skier if this is your thought. Though its your opinion and your are entitled to it, its a very ignorant comment.

On the weekends? Yes, there are more rich Montreal and New York snobs there than you can imagine. Then again, this will be the case at 90% of ski areas in the north east and plenty of ski areas are far worse - Kmart, Okemo, Stratton etc

mid-week when locals rule - your statements couldn't be further from the truth. Go ride there on a Tuesday during ski bum race day when the locals are out. You'll find some of the chillest people around. Mid-week non-holiday Stowe and weekend Stowe are two COMPLETELY different experiences

As for comparing the two - I think rivercoil summed it up best regarding the terrain, so I won't elaborate further.

 

[DHskier]

>>So yeah I'd say Jay is known for their glades and want to be known for their glades.<< It seems to me that every ski area tries to advertise their >>woods<<, >>tree<< or >>glades<< skiing and boarding these days. As to the snob discussion regarding snow, I wonder what kind of snobs they are referring to. Ski snobs? Although Stowe seems to attract the fashionable croud, and they may be the kind that find riding a lift with a bearded, duct-taped bark-cruncher a bit awkward, it doesn't seem fair to call them snobs.

 

[saus]

I'm going to beat you're scrawny little butt if I ever see you! Yes Austin it is from experience, although I will admit it may be limited with regard to those two areas, it is most definetely experience. Jay is more known for it's snow fall and glade skiing and as a result the few times I have been up there, the snow seemed to get skied off quicker. I only skied trees in Stowe once, but damn, the snow was deep!

. . . and you know from personal experience that AW170's butt is scrawny and little?

 

[Birdman829]

>>So yeah I'd say Jay is known for their glades and want to be known for their glades.<< It seems to me that every ski area tries to advertise their >>woods<<, >>tree<< or >>glades<< skiing and boarding these days. As to the snob discussion regarding snow, I wonder what kind of snobs they are referring to. Ski snobs? Although Stowe seems to attract the fashionable croud, and they may be the kind that find riding a lift with a bearded, duct-taped bark-cruncher a bit awkward, it doesn't seem fair to call them snobs.

A pretty thorough check of Killington, Stowe, Smuggs, and Sugarbush's sites tells me otherwise. The Bush's site said "11 wooded areas". Not quite the same as Jay's pitch. Only Smuggs advertises their woods extensively.

 

[saus]

Only Smuggs advertises their woods extensively.

Smuggsunderstandably extensively advertises itself as Amercia' Family Resort, although we do have glades accessable to intermediate, expert and really really expert skiers, and there's considerable out of bounds skiing as well.