SICK SICK SICK! If anyone thinks that this season has sucked, they have not been paying attention! Reports of this season’s premature ending have been greatly exaggerated. Thanks to orographic lift and a great location, The Jay Cloud continues to churn out massive amounts of snow on an almost daily basis refreshing lines with six inches of snow throughout the weekend. Though snow fall totals from the night before were only six inches, up to twelve inches of untracked could easily be found in addition to the occasional shot of knee deep. Despite only having a moderate amount of new snow in that magical 6-12″ range, Monday was my best lift serviced day of skiing this year. With exception of skiing a few groomed trails in between the trees, I essentially skied nearly untracked powder all day long.
Forgetting that powder hounds would still be out en mass even though it was a Monday, I took my time getting ready at home. As a result, despite getting into line for the Tram at 8:45 A.M., I still waited for the third Tram Car to ascend to the Summit of Jay Peak. My delay could not have been more fortunate! Despite not being able to make first tracks down Valhalla, my delay resulted in an even better occurrence. As I departed the Sky Haus, I heard my name being called out. When I turned around, I saw none other than Austin who posts on AlpineZone and FirstTracks!! Online. Austin said he would be running late and hopefully we could meet up later in the day. Turns out I was the one running late and Austin arrived earlier than planned. The unexpected run in provided great company and a skiing partner for the afternoon romp through Jay Peak’s extensive glade network.
We started the morning with an all out assault on Valhalla off the summit. The snow was VERY deep in places as we scored some knee deep powder shots and began hooting and hollering our joy! Six to twelve inches was the norm, most still relatively untracked. We snaked our way through the openings and closings of the glade and it all ended too soon. With our legs burning and lungs working double time to keep up with our racing hearts, we spied another tree shot and wasted no time jumping right in. Right in to a foot of fresh with excellent natural lines through the trees!
Actual snow fall totals were in the 4-6″ range; however, the wind had deposited a lot of that snow in the trees. Drifting and the rare occurrence of untracked from the previous day meant that we were able to score consistent 6-12″ untracked shots all over the mountain. The main glades were still pretty well packed down without much fresh. The goods were all off the map and kept away from the tourists. Groomers were fairing slightly better than Saturday with decent and edgable snow but occasional scraped and icy patches could still be found. Groomed trails on the Tram side near the Green Mountain Freezer were still wretched and nasty due to the wind whereas slopes near the bottom of the Bonaventure Quad were delicious packed powder in the afternoon sun, a rare delight to enjoy such great conditions on a groomed trail late in the afternoon.
The snow kept falling through the morning and early afternoon until around 2 P.M. when the sun graced the sky and the wind began to howl. The Tram had the plug pulled around 2 P.M., but the summit trails were cooked by then any ways. I found this out the hard way on Green Beret where I attempted skier’s left over a steep exposed field of rocks sparsely covered with snow. A hop step and kick turn had me down through most of the worse when I spied better snow to skier’s right. I pushed off and went for a jump turn when my skis came down hard on a rock buried under the snow. I instantly ejected flying head over heels and sliding down the steep forty degree pitch headwall of the trail. One ski remained behind as I slid to stop 20 feet below. Kicking steps into the snow was near impossible due to the frozen base below the thin covering of snow. The pitch and natural terrain features reminded me of climbing Tuckerman Ravine, but at that moment I couldn’t get a foot hold. I hailed a fellow skier and requested assisting which saved me an agonizing attempt at the short climb. Lower down on Green Beret, the snow was absolutely fantastic soft loose powder with some excellent rock drops. As I flew through the air off the big rock, I reflected that I just took a hard fall and followed it up with a six foot huck. I became suddenly aware that the recovery from my Broken Arm no longer was holding me back. I was suddenly flying down the hill looking for holes in the trees knowing the lines I wanted to hit were open again. It was a fantastic feeling.
We continued to trash untracked snow all over the place but rarely on the map. Jay Peak has an open woods policy: if you have the ability and enter from an open trail, you can ski any line that strikes your fancy. And our fancy was surely struck! Untracked powder run after run and always at least six inches deep, occasionally more. The lines just kept getting better and better as we got more bold and pursued tougher lines and looked beyond the ski area boundary. An amazing day from start to finish that ranks as my best lift serviced day of the year. After the abnormally warm and snowless months of January and February, most New England skiers have already written off winter and the ski season. If they only knew, things are just getting started.
