After a soaking wet silly morning at Ragged and an absolutely goofy night at Passover, it was time to wake up super early and drive up to Jay Peak for our annual Eclipse Anniversary and Easter Weekend! I couldn't get an answer from the Patrollers when they were coming up besides "after first chair," so I set my 4am alarm and slowly worked my way north. The drive wasn't too bad - a little sleep before Hooksett, but super pretty otherwise with a few bouts of precipitation (liquid in NH, and wet snow in VT). I got to Stateside around 8:15am, got my pass from Sarah's locker, and took my sweet time booting up. It was just around freezing out, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect in terms of conditions. I also had no idea when I would see my friends. Sometime after 8:30am, the precipitation stopped and I headed out to get some runs in before they landed!
Snow Report
SATURDAY APRIL 4 AT 7:27 AM
Spring Break, Briefly
Lower mtn lifts: 8-4. Upper mtn lifts: 8:30-4. Lift Operations will shift to spring hours on April 6th - Lower 9:00 AM - Upper 9:30 AM - All Lifts close at 5:00 PM.
9/9 lifts will spin on time, with a slight delay possible on the Tram due to overnight icing.
Temps dipped overnight just enough to firm things up after the recent wet cycle, so expect a mix out there this morning with variable conditions underfoot. Patrol isi out there assessing terrian and some trail closures are likely where coverage is thin.
A quiet start with a few pockets of sun should help things come around, and with highs pushing into the low 50s today is shaping up for some good corn snow skiing.
Snow will soften through the late morning into the afternoon, especially on the lower mountain and sun exposed terrain, with that sweet spot landing somewhere in the middle of the day.
The pattern shifts again later today as winds turn back into the south overnight, bringing in thicker clouds and some light rain by Easter Sunday morning. Expect fog, scattered showers, temps holding in the 40s, and gusty south winds pushing past 45 mph, which could impact lift operations.
Looking ahead, things start to turn back the other way. A cold front arrives Sunday afternoon as things begin to dry out, with clouds thinning a bit, winds shifting to the west, and a few snowflakes possible by sunset. That leads into some upslope snowfall Sunday night with an inch or three possible by Monday morning.
Monday brings a return to more wintry conditions, with flurries, temps near freezing, and a bit of a reset after the recent warmth. Another colder front moves through Tuesday, with the potential for a period of moderate to heavy snow.
As always, conditions, weather, and operations can change quickly up here. Nothing's ever set in stone, so check back here or the Jay Peak App a look before you head out and while you're chasing laps.
Runs 1-2
Run 1: Taxi Quad - Queen's Highway - Grammy Jay
[0.92 mi; 3:25; 577 ft; 29.5 mph max; 16.1 mph avg]
Run 2: Village Chair - Queen's Highway
[0.52 mi; 1:51; 312 ft; 26.7 mph max; 16.7 mph avg]
I was one of few people out this morning, which was such a treat. There was a LOT of snowmelt in the past two weeks, which was a bit of a bummer, but the running water did make for nice ambiance! Queen's Highway was already crudded up, but it was skiing fast, so I took this opportunity to fly down the Grammy Jay - I only got my second fastest time on it. Tragic! Run #2 was up the Village Chair and down Queen's Highway toward Tramside base.
Runs 3-7
Run 3: Flyer Express Quad - Northway - Goat Run - Lower River Quai - Subway
[1.49 mi; 4:47; 1,650 ft; 28.9 mph max; 18.7 mph avg]
Run 4: Flyer Express Quad - Ullr's Dream
[1.81 mi; 5:48; 1,627 ft; 27.1 mph max; 18.7 mph avg]
Run 5: Flyer Express Quad - Northway - Goat Run - Queen's Highway - Grammy Jay
[1.88 mi; 6:11; 1,742 ft; 30.5 mph max; 18.2 mph avg]
Run 6: Village Chair - Queen's Highway
[0.50 mi; 3:56; 315 ft; 26.8 mph max; 7.6 mph avg]
Run 7: Flyer Express Quad - Northway - Angel's Wiggle - Hell's Crossing - Paradise Meadows
[1.55 mi; 5:43; 1,506 ft; 27.6 mph max; 16.3 mph avg]
The line for the Tram was too long for me, which made sense since it was about 9:00am at this point. Thankfully, no line for the Flyer! My next two runs had nobody else on the chair with me, which was a TREAT! I did forget how much the towers make my teeth chatter when it's just me on the chair, though. Run #3 was down Northway to Goat Run, which was a little cruddy/cookie-y, but skied pretty well! Lower River Quai was hard and fast, and Subway was just a treat! Run #4 was down Ullr's Dream, which pushed "hard and fast" and borderlined "I'm just turning for the bit" - it was ICY. And Kokomo was closed :(. It seemed that most trail that weren't main groomers were closed this morning.
#5 was back up the flyer with two snowboarders sharing a Modelo, and one of them was already piss drunk at 10:00am. Slurring words, talking about peeing, sounded absolutely insane! Thankfully we did not go the same direction - if I were to guess he didn't make it past 11am. I took Goat Run all the way down, which again, was skiing well! Only bummer was the choke point before the s-turns was tough with folks not ready for it and everyone was congregating at upper upper expo and green mountain boys, so it was tricky to get by. From Shenangians, which was just ice, I went back down Grammy Jay, but not as fast as last time. I got the "on the way" text from the Patrollers, who also had Stevens! Team Snowboard was also on their way.
Run #6 was back up the Village and down Queen's Highway, and then Run #7 was up the Flyer and down Northway (medium) to Angel's Wiggle (medium) to Hell's Crossing (bad) to Paradise Meadows (bad to medium). Lots of ice practice today!
Runs 8-9
Run 8: Bonaventure Quad - Goat Run - Lower River Quai - Interstate
[1.23 mi; 4:26; 1,434 ft; 27.5 mph max; 16.6 mph avg]
Run 9: Flyer Express Quad - Northway - Goat Run - Boulevard
[1.53 mi; 7:30; 1,555 ft; 29.1mph max; 12.2 mph avg]
I still had some time alone before everyone landed, so I did a quick lap in the bathroom and hopped onto the Bonnie for a repeat of Goat Run to Lower River Quai. I need the Jughandle half of Interstate, but it was ungroomed and mostly dirt, so I think that officially is a next season task. Interstate skied great, though! The snow was starting to soften up.
I got the text that everyone was landing as I was on the Flyer for Run #9, so I took Northway to Goat all the way to Boulevard (which aboslutely ripped). After, I grabbed a drink and a breakfast sandwich from my car, met the Snowboarders in the parking lot, found the Patrollers and Stevens (they had chores to do), and got back to work!
Runs 10-14
Run 10: Bonaventure Quad - Northway - Angel's Wiggle - Hell's Crossing - Paradise Meadows
[1.33 mi; 4:33; 1,407 ft; 27.8 mph max; 17.6 mph avg]
Run 11: Jet Triple - Montrealer - Catwalk - Northway - Angel's Wiggle - Paradise Meadows
[1.18 mi; 9:09; 1,237 ft; 30.1 mph max; 7.8 mph max]
Team Snowboard and I headed over to the Bonaventure Quad - they were surprised I was up here so early after waking up in Boston... I agreed. If I knew nobody would be getting to the mountain until 11ish, I probably would have slept in some more! Either way, it was nice to be out (as always). We decided we'd take the Wiggle down and make our way over to the Jet to see how things were skiing over there. I'd say Hell's Crossing was 5% better, but still pretty hard and slick.
What fun! When we got to the Jet, so were Sarah, Emma, and Stevens! I was surprised to see them taking him up here on a day so hard and fast, but here we go! We rode on up, had a nice drink on the Jet, got our pole picture in a cloud, and skied on down. Montrealer was in MUCH better shape - actually, everything was. Angel's Wiggle was significantly better than Hell's, and Paradise Meadows was finally softening up. Spring had sprung! We shedded a layer after this one, too. I also put a silly surprise in my pocket!
Runs 12-14
Run 12: Taxi Quad - Queen's Highway - Raccoon Run
[0.69 mi; 2:25; 577 ft; 28.1 mph max; 17.1 mph avg]
Run 13: Village Chair - Grammy Jay
[0.55 mi; 2:42; 344 ft; 20.6 mph max; 12.2 mph avg]
Run 14: Village Chair - Queen's Highway
[0.53 mi; 2:33; 325 ft; 25.7 mph max; 12.4 mph avg]
Sarah, Emma, and Stevens didn't take the break with us so they were gonna get a run in on the Taxi, except they got on the Bonnie instead and didn't tell us so we were waiting for a while. Eventually, we got on the phone with Sarah and agreed to meet at shenanigans, which thankfully softened up delightfully! We took Queen's Highway to Raccoon Run and then the Village Chair to Grammy Jay (on the chair, we got the notification that the sunrise Tram service was cancelled due to weather). The surprise in my pocket was leftover boxed wine, so naturally I had Steven's slap the bag on the chair (and at the top of the Grammy Jay headwall!). Run #14 was up the double and down Queen's Highway back to Tramside for a potty break.
Runs 15-17
Run 15: Tramside Carpet
Run 16: Metro Quad - Deer Run - Ullr's Dream
[0.76 mi; 3:39; 505 ft; 23.9 mph max; 12.5 mph avg]
Run 17: Flyer Express Quad - Ullr's Dream - Kokomo
[1.76 mi; 8:22; 1,667 ft; 29.8 mph max; 12.6 mph avg]
We momentarily lost the patrollers (apparently they went into a different bathroom than we did), and in that time apart Emma caught an edge and SLAMMED into the ground at the base of the magic carpet - that carpet has a way of keeping us humble! We rode the carpet for the bit and then went over to the Metro for more slap the bag and a delightful time skiing down Deer Run, which was in just wonderful shape. Stevens' asked "where does that go?" and pointed at the Flyer. We all agreed he's ready to Ullr's, so we brought him on up! The clouds had mostly parted at this point, revealing some beautiful views from the top (plus minimal wind made the ride up NOT miserable!). The whole run was really in wonderful shape now that the snow had softened, and he crushed it! Made it down the headwall with only one moment of terror, and the rest was smooth sailing afterwards! Emma and Sarah started yelling at a fellow patroller about Kokomo being closed, and to our joy, it was now open, too!
Emma and Sarah were going to head inside to get a drink and then some ramen, but the rest of us were excited to keep on skiing, so we did!
Runs 18-20
Run 18: Flyer Express Quad - Ullr's Dream - Kokomo
[1.80 mi; 8:50; 1,673 ft; 25.6 mph max; 5.2 mph avg]
Run 19: Flyer Express Quad - Northway - Goat Run - Lower River Quai - Perry Merril Ave - Shakedown Park
[1.38 mi; 8:03; 1,450 ft; 26.0 mph max; 10.3 mph avg]
Run 20: Taxi Quad - Rabbit Park
[0.42 mi; 3:39; 341 ft; 20.0 mph max; 6.9 mph avg]
Stevens, Snowboard Emma, and Elizabeth and I got back on the Flyer for another lap of Ullr's and Kokomo, which went really well - Stevens killed it on the headwall both times! We stopped into the Tower Bar to say to Emma and Sarah and accidentally did a shot of Jagermeister before heading back out... oops! Emma and I both lamented at how easily Jager goes down now, I shouted "THIS IS 30," which gave the older guy at the bar a solid chuckle.
We got back on the Flyer without the aptrollers and did a run down Goat Run (upgraded to a black, Stevens' first black run!) to Lower Quai - Stevens yet again did great, even though I took a fall simply turning... We took Perry Merril down and Stevens wrapped on Chalet Meadows while Elizabeth, Snowboard Emma, and I hit the three boxes in the Shakedown Park (I CRUSHED it).
Team Snowboard wanted more park time and I was feeling a little silly, so we all got back on the Taxi. Stevens went down Boulevard while the three of us hit the Rabbit Park. There were two box features that I had my eyes on. First was a dancefloor into a standard box and the second was a swoopy one to w a wavy one. I fell off of both of them. I hit the first of each fine, but then got a little crooked going onto the second. Oh well! Both falls were super soft and easy, so no harm no foul (minus a sore wrist, which I already had).
Runs 21-22
Run 21: Bonaventure Quad - Northway - Sweetheart
[1.28 mi; 6:37; 1,677 ft; 25.4 mph max; 11.6 mph avg]
Run 22: Jet Triple - Montrealer - Northway - Hell's Crossing - Paradise Meadows
[1.19 mi; 6:24; 1,158 ft; 27.1 mph max; 11.2 mph avg]
Team Snowboard was going to continue in the park, but Stevens and I were gearing up for one or two more upper mountain runs. We got back on the Bonnie and had a smooth ride up - it was now truly a beautiful day! Partially blue skies, no wind, and soft snow! Northway was in great shape sans a few surprise giant bumps (fine for me, stressful for Stevens). We then skied down to Hell's Crossing from Northway and he said he was feeling good about going for the new cut - his first official black run! We went into Sweetheart afterwards, which was only partially open. We made it to the Jet right at 3:58pm, just in time for a two more skip the last!
At the top of the Jet, we took a classic pole picture with the Vermonter in full view, and then had truly a lovely run down Montrealer (he redeemed himself at the little chute) to Hell's Crossing and finally Paradise Meadows - it was such a lovely spring lap!
Afterwards we grabbed our stuff and migrated to my car for drinks and hot dogs - it was FINALLY parking lot weather! We also celebrated our annual solar eclipse anniversary, which got many giggles from passerbys. Elizabeth and Snowboard Emma eventually left and we all checked into the Stateside Hotel for a quick siesta and then dinner at Howie's with our favorite bartender, MJ. We got some fun gossip about resort happenings, and then had a super chill night watching The Office and the crazy weather rolled in.
It was a bummer to not ski on Sunday, but it was a treat to get home earlier and get brunch at the Jay Village Inn. I wanted to go for a hike on the way home, but it rained the WHOLE WAY HOME. Oh well, another day! Also, cheers to 40 days skiing this season!
