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Our epic December in New England is drawing to a close. Powder hounds were out in force this past week trouncing the goods following several feet of new snow on an already bomber base. My hope was that intimate knowledge of Jay Peak would allow me to find some untracked left over from Thursday when seven inches of snow fell at Jay Peak. Unfortunately, despite getting to Jay Peak nearly in time for first chair and immediately skiing through three of my favorite go to tree shots, I was not able to find any significant untracked snow.

Exacerbating the lack of untracked was the fact that I was skiing on my touring gear. Having lodged four impressive and deep gouges in my alpine skis last week at Burke, I dropped them off at the shop last Sunday expecting to pick them up by Friday. Unfortunately, I completely forgot to pick up the skis Friday night leaving to choose whether to leave first thing in the morning with touring gear or have a delayed start to pick up my alpine skis. I choose to ski in touring gear and felt very uncomfortable sliding around on my G-Rides which are super for touring and uphill travel but terrible in tight trees on bumps and hard pack. My skiing was absolutely abysmal and I felt like I was skiing my first day of the season all over again.

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With a major snowstorm brewing overnight and concerns about road conditions and drive times, I made the decision to ski Burke today instead of Jay. I was mostly fearful of the dreaded change over to mixed precipitation scheduled for late afternoon when I would most likely be coming home. Having recently driven home in a snow storm from Jay that involved stressful white knuckle driving, I was content to avoid the possibility of a treacherous long drive home and wind holds by opting for Burke Mountain.

When I awoke, three inches of snow had already fallen at my home and it was puking. The drive to Burke would be more eventful and tougher driving than my drive home. Franconia Notch was particularly brutal especially being stuck behind two snow plows, who were doing a damn fine job by taking their time with things. The plows split at the Route 3 exit and I sped up to Burke as fast as conditions would allow with plenty of time for first chair.

Ultimately, Burke turned out to be the best choice, but not because of the weather conditions. The forecasted mixed precipitation never really occurred and a break in the storm coincided with the drive home. Burke was the better choice because Burke and Jay both received the same amount of snow fall at exactly one foot and Burke had very few skiers, low competition, untracked on the trails from open until close, and no wind holds. Whereas at Jay, some lifts were shut down at noon time which would have resulted in crowding at Stateside and untracked would have been a glades only experience only an hour or two after opening.

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A December to remember keeps on cranking out the powder days. Several small storms kept Jay full of powder this past week with yet another six inches falling heading into the weekend. My expectations of a small amount of additional snow were blown away by half a foot on the open trails and much more in the trees. Today was a phenomenal day at Jay.

Normally, I never ski Can Am. But after boarding one of the first chairs on the Bonaventure Quad and seeing a steep powder field begging for tracks, I could not help myself. The lack of wind kept the normally blown off slopes full of powder. I followed that up with a completely untracked run down Vertigo. Since the Tram and Freezer were not running when Jay opened, I headed Tramside on my next run for Northwest Passage to the Expo Glade area and returned for Upper River Quai to more Expo Glade area powder. Trees offered boot to knee deep untracked. When the Flyer and Tram started turning, I went back to Stateside and hit a whole bunch of stuff as the party was up Tramside.

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Thankfully for powder hounds, Burke Mountain stuck to their scheduled first day of operation. Even though two feet of snow was added to Burke’s slopes this past week and skiers have been coming down with that rare illness known as powderitis, Burke held true to their first day. Massive powder reports from the more well known mountains and Burke’s perception as being off the beaten path and not a major mountain combined to make for an amazing powder day without much competition. Powder hounds killed it in Burke’s glades all day while most skiers were bumping elbows in long lines to fight over a few left over well hidden scraps at ski resorts along the spine of the Green Mountains.

Today was simply sensational. Boot deep untracked was found on every single run right through closing time with the first few runs featuring untracked snow almost top to bottom before the main trails and glades started getting chewed up. By noon time, the main routes and trails had a fairly choppy and bumpy packed snow but the glades and trees skied extremely well all day.

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Fringe benefits of working in academia include University shut downs on powder days. With a foot of snow walloping much of New Hampshire, I ventured up to Jay Peak for a mid-week powder day. Thankfully, the new Michelin X-Ice snow tires had been mounted on Friday or else my day would have been substantially different and less powdery due to an unplowed six inches of dense compacted powder at go time. Three hours later, I was clicking in at the Stateside Lodge and skiing towards the Jet at Jay thirty minutes past first chair.

My unexpected tardiness combined with an abundance of College kids (due to the new Triple Major pass) and the lack of uphill capacity (Bonaventure and the Freezer were not spinning) resulted in quickly readjusted plans and expectations. Much to my dismay, almost all of Stateside was completely tracked out by 9:45 A.M. when I plopped my butt onto the Jet Triple Chair. I immediately went for the trees but found lots of tracks.

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Considering what we were skiing on last year at this time, I really have no right to be anything but thankful and grateful for the tremendous early season bounty of natural snow blanketing Jay. But familiarity, perspective, and relativity often combine to suggest strange things, such as half the mountain being open and three powder days within two weeks of opening day is not enough to satisfy.

Yes, when I arrived at Jay I was disappointed to see “only” a few inches in the parking lot. That disappointment escalated as I made my first run finding the wind had removed most of the powder from Derick, Haynes, and U.N. as I madly cut across the trails on Stateside’s southern flank searching for the goods. As per usual, high winds at Jay indicates the powder will be found in the woods. But I “only” found a few inches in the first few open glades I skied. Perhaps the expectations were a little too high today considering it is “only” December 1st!

The trails at Jay quickly melted away from my mind as I searched for powder in the woods. I was eventually rewarded later in the afternoon with six inches of fluff which I repeated three times before calling it a day. The crowds showed up en masse around ten and proceeded to lay to waste the few precious inches of good snow in the open glades. With lines at The Jet backed up out of the corrals and the groomed trails featuring a despicable mix of hard pack, frozen groomer tracks, rock, and ice, it was definitely a day for trails untouched by the groomers. Lower trails near the Bonaventure Quad were stupendous natural snow romps. However, the trip down Montrealer to Northway to Taxi made those trails almost unworthy of the effort required to reach them.

With a storm rolling in Sunday evening through Tuesday of this coming week, Jay is seriously setup for one of its best December’s ever. Half the mountain is already open and two dozen trails on the other side of the map have enough snow to open once the Green Mountain Freezer fires up next week. For those able to take a vacation day on Tuesday and Wednesday, epic things are awaiting. The rest of us will have to settle for sloppy seconds next weekend. But I am okay with that because it is “only” December.

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Following the Thanksgiving Day rain event, Jay Peak posted a typical read-between-the-lines styled snow report that suggested skiing conditions would be variable and icy despite the change over that provided four inches of snow. The following day Jay reported in with another four inches of fresh and pictures of white stuff flying through the air. My interest was piqued and my optimism was initialized but I retained realistic sensibilities that skiing this weekend would be in a word, interesting.

My optimism was instantly dashed, much to my chagrin, as I approach the ski racks of Jay Peak’s stateside lodge. The snow was crunchy, without much depth, and of questionable base layers. Dust on crust it was going to be!

With my back still sore from last week’s two day powder romp, I was in no condition for a full out assault on the powder stashes I knew Jay had to offer for those willing to exert themselves. Things off the Jet Triple looked pretty bleak for first chair. Interestingly enough, the groomer tracks on The Jet looked most appetizing of all since I have yet to have a great top to bottom railroad tracks groomer run this season. Or, the natural snow under the chairlift just looked that bad. Perhaps a little of both. Most other skiers and riders on The Jet had the same idea so I pounced on The Jet like it was chock full o’ powder before the hordes turned The Jet into steep frozen cat tracks which happened by around ten that morning.

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Best November Ever. Period.

Sunday continued where we left off on Saturday which was about boot deep in the trees. With only The Jet Triple turning again, the Stateside area was completely tracked out on both the open and closed trails. Conga lines formed to head for whiter pastures. The boot pack and skin track lines heading up Northway looked like a Highway to Heaven. It was no secret where the untracked powder was on the mountain but there was plenty to go around considering the length of time a round trip took.

Much to my chagrin, even Can Am and Upper River Quai had been significantly tracked out by my first run. However, I noticed that Vertigo had not a track. Obviously, the steep drop into the glade needed another foot or two to avoid bottoming out on the rocks and stumps that were hidden beneath the tempting white. Good thing for me that most people care about their ski bases!

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It was not supposed to happen like this. Jay was supposed to open next week. If we were lucky, Jay would have had The Jet and Haynes covered with man made snow and groomed to less than desirable so called perfection. Instead, Jay got two feet of snow during the week before Thanksgiving and decided to open a week early. Thanks Jay!

The surreal feeling experienced while skiing through the trees during mid-November in what looks like and feels like mid-January conditions is not something I could ever get used to. Though I would certainly love to have enough such experiences that mid-November days become just as routine as the bi-weekly six inch refreshes that Jay usually receives during the winter.

Last week I ascended Jay Peak to the summit via earned turns on approximately 2-8″ of consolidated base depth. What remained of that initial shot of natural snow after the rains preceding this most recent storm is any ones guess. At the time of this writing, Jay has either under reported snow totals or have yet to find the magical “Jay Inch” measuring location. Sinking my pole more than halfway into the snow, many places in the trees were easily two or more feet deep. But the trees always receive blow in so that is not an accurate measurement. A more accurate measurement would be the minimum boot deep untracked found on the trails as the area opened for the first time this season.

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Today was a sensational afternoon of turn earning at Jay Peak. Days such as today remind me that it often is all about “the tour, not the turns.” While the skiing was less than stellar, it was well worth the effort for the turns. But it was the other aspects of the tour that made the afternoon truly memorable. Having an overcast morning turn nearly bluebird, pushing past early season pains thereby miraculously inducing mid-season stamina, the crisp and cool air with just a hint of head wind, believing I had the summit all to myself only to be surprised to share the experience with a furry four legged creature. It was uplifting for both the emotions and the spirit.

When I arrived, snow guns were blasting up and down The Jet and Haynes. ample base had already been laid down around the Jet Triple Chair and Jay Peak looked nearly in opening day condition. A snow machine worked over the snow on lower Jet. I skinned directly from my car to Derrick Hot Shot which sported a few inches of natural covered by blown over man made from Haynes. Lots of tracks covered Derrick as it seemed to be a popular route of both ascent and descent. Base depths improved to well over half a foot by the mid-point and one foot deep near the top due to blow over. The whales on both Haynes and The Jet were substantial and should make for great wall to wall coverage for opening date which has been pushed up to next weekend!

After dropping down Montrealer, I skinned up Vermonter as the clouds blue over to nearly blue bird conditions. Views from the summit were spectacular. I chowed down as an envious four legged furry creature coveted my meal. The only thing we would share; however, was an amazing view from the summit. A glorious afternoon for a summit.

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April in New England: In like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb

Out like freaking Bambi is more like it. Woke up this morning and moped around the house knowing that my original plans for either Hillman’s or Gulf of Slides were devoid of value with the current weather. I finally decided that I could either putz around the house all day or I could make a go at a final day of lift serviced skiing for the season. Since it would cost me nothing but gas and time at the worst, I figured why not?

Definitely one of the worst days of the season as far as conditions go. Probably worse than most of the Frozen McSludge Groomer Track skiing I did at Jay in December. Upon arriving at Jay, a faint mist opened up to full on light showers. Oh boy! I had anticipated rain but not quite this much. No worries, the conditions will be soft and Spring like and make fighting the rain worth it! Not.

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After four previous days at Sugarbush in my skiing career, I was happy to finally give all the marked terrain at Sugarbush South a legitimate hammering after having eluded me during previous visits for various reasons. Could not have picked a better day short of a big powder day to do it! Certainly the best Spring Corn days rank right up there just below the best of powder days (though in a season like this, today would not even crack my top ten).

Paid the man $46 for a lift ticket and ascended Super Bravo to warm up on Murphy’s Glade before heading up to the summit for a run down Paradise and on to Castlerock for a marathon session on the trails offered off the double. I was particularly impressed with the refurbished lift design. The Castlerock Double is rather high speed for a fixed grip chairlift but has its chairs spaced out at a rediculous distance. Good management decision regarding this chairlift, thank goodness ASC never bouched up this gem.

I am going on the record to say that Rumble is the best non-gladed marked trail in the Northeast. Big statement, I know. So the caveat on that statement is I have never skied Smuggs, Whiteface, Gore, or Sugarloaf (since I was rather young). Otherwise, I stand by the remark and was very appreciative of the trail which had it all: Good Pitch, Lots of Curves, Very Narrow, Terrain Features, Tree Options around the Curves, Good Mogul Rhythm despite Narrow Trail, etc. Essentially, a slightly steeper and more turny version of the best untouched leftovers from the CCC days. Beautiful.

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The rabble invaded Stowe today for the Can Food Drive and I was more than happy to do my part for a $25 ticket. Regardless of conditions (generally), I don’t pass up opportunities to ski Stowe at a discount.

Conditions were interesting and variable. It puked snow all day which was a glorious sight to behold halfway through the month of April. But don’t let your guard down because everything looks soft and fluffy! Ascending the Mountain Road, the rain snow line pretty was the Toll Road Area. Just down the Mountain Road everything was wet and rainy. Snow near the base area was very wet and there was a hard setup from the day before with warming temperatures causing consolidated snow to firm up. The lower 200-300 vertical feet of the mountain was choppy and unfriendly. Upper elevation sported a dense powder with untracked lines were hard to find though available off the beaten path.

After finally getting to disappoint myself by sampling Goat which had been roped on my previous visits, I wasted no time ducking into the woods. Trees in the Upper Mountain Forerunner area were mighty fine and impressive with that thick, dense powder. Mighty fine steep and tight lines in the trees, thank you very much! But I quickly decided that the royal soaking on the Forerunner was not worth the upper mountain trees and spent most of the day on the Gondi.

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Met up with Nhski and from_the_NEK for a mid-week assault on Jay Peak as yet another major April snow storm slammed into New England with more on the way. I am quickly getting used to this and hope I will not suffer too much withdrawal when Spring finally returns with a vengeance to wash all this wonderful whiteness away.

Jay Peak’s web page is reporting 10 inches within 24 hours and 20 inches within 48 hours which does not match up to what we skied today. It was excellent but it was not 20 inches even in the untracked that was not skied the previous day. I would estimate closer to between sixteen and eighteen for the two day storm total. Not shabby for April regardless of how you measure it.

But that total was over the course of two days, so on lines that had been tracked the previous day, we only found about ten inches untracked in the morning. Despite light crowds, I felt that the untracked went quick as any one out there knew where to find the goods. I would not expect much untracked for Saturday but the snow is really good. Warm weather was getting the best of snow near the bottom of the mountain with some exceptionally wet and heavy snow down low. Things were still powdery on the upper sections of the mountain, but even after a foot and a half, Spring and April are letting their presence be known.

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This report is essentially useless gloating as Mad River Glen is now closed for the season. This is due to the construction schedule for the Single Chair rebuild including an important Haul Line inspection during early April. Work begins immediately and even a one week delay would have put an already tight schedule behind. With cold weather to persist through this week and potential snow fall Thursday and Friday, it is conceivable with the current base that Mad River could be skiable from top to bottom perhaps for the entire month of April. Even without the Single construction plans, given the extremely low turn out for three powder days in a row at one of the best mountains on the East Coast, I doubt operations would have turned profitable for an additional week, which is unfortunate for late season skiing in general, let alone late season skiing at Mad River Glen.

Three inches fell over night though it seemed like more in places on the Upper mountain. It snowed all day with not much accumulation. Though it really started coming down hard as I began driving home at 5:30p. Tomorrow will be an amazing fifth straight powder day for the Northern Greens. This is April? This weekend certainly has not sucked. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday combine for a three way/day tie for my third best day(s) of the season. Not the deepest powder but pretty close at times and no competition all weekend with lots of untracked. It has really been sick out there.

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