Category: Powder Day

2025-2026 Season, December, Jay Peak, Powder Day

Jay: Saved by the Wind Hold

My inability to take time off from work for powder days continues. A major upslope event hit Jay Thursday into Friday. Friday was a no-go for me. I assumed Saturday would be a packed powder day.

Thankfully, the wind went hard on Friday and the Jet never opened. So, the full untouched and drifted storm total was untracked from the Jet for Saturday. The trails were picked clean by the wind, which meant that the woods were loaded.

Adding to this good fortune was the time of year. The two weeks preceding Christmas are great weeks for powder days. Even die hard powder hounds fail to show up due to family obligations and gift shopping.

The result was boot to knee deep untracked without competition. The Flyer has yet to debut this season. That pushed more traffic to Stateside than usual. But even with the extra skiers, lines were not too bad and untracked off map snow lasted longer than normal.

2025-2026 Season, December, Jay Peak, Powder Day

Jay: Bonus Powder

After going hard on Saturday, I decided to take Sunday off. It was supposed to snow Sunday. But it was not an overnight storm. The new snow would be skied in throughout the day on Sunday without accumulating, so it wasn’t worth going back-to-back.

However, when I checked the Sunday afternoon snow report, I discovered that the Bonnie never ran. Monday would be an unexpected bonus. The grand total was “only” seven inches. But with strong winds, seven inches can feel like double or nothing.

After an extended wait, patrol finally gave the thumbs up. I had the fourth chair. I couldn’t help but take a rare untracked run down Deliverance. The snow was soft, dense, and supportive. A delightful bonus on top of Saturday’s excess.

I rode the Bonnie all morning and, after several runs, I continued to find plenty of untracked. Patrol had Goat roped off (I assume it was a sheet of ice from the wind), so I accessed the goods via a short sidestep up from the Goat/Quai intersection.

The crowd was minimal, a complete non-factor. I rode the Bonnie solo more often than not. Even after a 20-minute delay, there were less than 100 people at line up. It was old-school low-key, (adjective style rather than adverbial).

The untracked would last all day. But my legs were shot from Saturday and I wasn’t going to kill myself for “only” seven inches. I could have put more in the bank (you never know how long the good times will last). But I got my fill and left before noon, more than satisfied.

Even one lap of untracked was more than I had expected today. It was all just bonus.

2025-2026 Season, Jay Peak, November, Powder Day

Jay: A Chaotic Foot

Jay recently passed one hundred inches during November. And the snow continues to fall. Over a foot of powder fell during the past two days, further juicing the already amped up demand. I knew today was going to be a bit wild, so I set an early alarm.

Due to issues with card printers, season pass holders were not able to get their cards until after Thanksgiving. I waited in a considerable line despite arriving at the customer service desk 45 minutes before the lifts opened.

Customer service is located Tramside but only Stateside lifts were running, which added to the chaos. Most people were taking the bus. But I drove back in hopes that the Stateside lot wasn’t full yet.

The race was on and I did okay for parking and lift line up position. But when the Bonnie opened, the lift coral immediately disintegrated without sufficient supervision. Have at it, let’s go.

—

I started on Can Am where I found boot deep untracked with occasional knee deep drifts. Finally, after four ski days and over 100″ for the month, I was getting my first powder day of the season.

I went to the Jet and into the woods like it was mid-season. Absolutely unreal. Most of the Stateside trees had a well-packed base below the powder. The lower mountain is still a bit thin. Unfortunately, due to snowmaking, a rope was up preventing access to Derick, Timbuk, etc.

I took a break and then skied Tramside via the Bonnie. Local knowledge definitely helps during the early season. As long as you don’t drop down onto Ullr’s or below The Snail, you can ski much of Tramside and still get back to the Bonnie without taking a bus back.

Off map woods in the Goat area had not been packed down yet, so caution was required. Despite said caution, a snow covered drainage still ate my skis. There was more than enough untracked on the trails, so I opted to keep it on the trails after eating it in the drainage.

It was a very satisfying day despite the chaotic start. Crowds were extremely busy for opening week. On the plus side, many people burned 4-pack tickets or Indy tickets early. So, maybe that means slightly less crowding later in the season.

2024-2025 Season, Jay Peak, March, Powder Day

Encore

After the least snowiest March that I can remember, we got one final storm before the big meltdown. During the past week, Jay was resurfaced an inch or two at a time. The storm topped things off with a half-foot of fresh, which was more powdery than expected.

Powder starved skiers came out in droves (despite poor driving conditions and “only” six inches). Parking lots filled to capacity for at least the third time this season, which was unexpected during the last week of March.

Perhaps Indy Passholders were running out of options as other ski areas closed. Many people were not regulars nor familiar with the resort. The Singles Line at the Jet backed up to the bottom of The Willard (three trails over from the liftline).

By noontime, the powder was well tracked out and I grew tired of the lines. If that was my fifteenth and final powder day of the season, it was a worthy encore for a season that I will remember quite fondly.

2024-2025 Season, February, Jay Peak, Powder Day

Impact

I have spent a lot of time thinking about this exceptional season. Today was my fourteenth powder day out of fifteen ski days. It is astounding how good the season has been at Jay Peak, and it is only the mid-point.

During many of my chair lift rides this season, I experienced feelings of gratitude and appreciation. How could I not be grateful? Given a warming world and changing climate, I thought winters like this were over.

This season is a massive aberration. A once in a lifetime anomaly. So, I continually attempt to recognize and appreciate how great this season is, as it probably will never happen again.

But I took my appreciation a step to far and begin thinking that “if my season ended today, in the middle of the season, it would still be one of my top three seasons ever, it may even be my best.” Famous last thoughts.

—

While skiing in the Orchard and ducking through some trees, I experienced a side effect of having lots of snow with large base depths and no thaws: low ceiling.

During the past few weeks, vertical space has been shrinking in the off-map woods. Instead of cross blocking branches from the sides, I am using my poles to cross block branches from above at eye level. Visibility has become a problem.

While snaking my way through some trees, I went to block branches away from my face and I didn’t see a small sapling on the other side. Since I was ducking to avoid the branches, I impacted the sapling with my shoulder. I skied right through it, not even falling or losing my balance. But I knew it was a day ending impact.

The Orthopedic reports some ligament damage in the rotor cuff area and recommended a few weeks off from skiing. An MRI would be required for a more specific diagnosis and surgery would be the only fix if there is a problem. So, we are taking a wait-and-see approach and hoping the damage is not severe and heals itself.

My ski injuries never happen on challenging terrain. They always happen on easy low-angle terrain, when my guard is down. In this case, the very thing that made the season so amazing (massive snow totals with no thaw) also caused the low ceiling conditions and visibility issues that led to the injury.

I am still grateful, however. This really is a top three season for me, regardless of what comes next. And after a few weeks rest, I will be back to experience all that this season still has left to offer.