Skiing Jay Peak
Sunday, February 9th, 2025
Runs: 29
Distance: 23.67 miles
Elevation: 21,115 feet
Max Speed: 26.9 mph
Avg. Speed: 12.7 mph
Moving Time: 1 hour, 56 minutes, 50 seconds
Total Time: 7 hours, 35 minutes, 2 seconds
After a super fun night in Burlington (I cannot recommend the Banff Film Festival enough) I made the safe but silly decision to carpool with Emma to Jay. Normally on a Sunday, we'd drive seperate and I'd leave the mountain mid-day, but it had been snowing all night the roads approaching Jay from the west are notoriously never plowed in the morning. So instead of leaving Jay around 1 and getting home around 5, I'd be leaving Jay around 5, getting to Emma's around 6, and getting home around 10. It was objectively the safe decision, though, becuase the roads were BAD (Emma's snow tires were GOOD).
We picked up Patroller Sarah (not my other hiking/ski friend Sarah) who let me use one of her free patroller passes (yay <3) and we made it up the mountain mostly safely! I did have a heck of a cough - I guess I should have used my buff a little more conservatively yesterday with the cold air. I did get awkwardly trapped in the patrol room waiting for the pass during their morning meeting. I eventually escaped and made my way upstairs to 1) destroy the bathroom and 2) get ready for the day. There was plenty of fresh snow out there and I was excited to continue to get better at skiing on it! Vibes were very good, and crowds weren't horrible considering the excellent conditions (I think the fact that it was superbowl Sunday and southern Vermont got most of the snow helped). The clock struck 8:00am and I was out heading to the Taxi!
Snow Report
Sunday, February 9 at 7:22am
We're 9/9 this morning with every lift running on time.
It's game day at Jay, and the only thing getting tackled out here is your sense of reality when you drop into yet another bottomless turn. Another 2-4" fell overnight and it continues to snow all day long today replenishing the already dense field of rich, deep goodness. Temperatures are feeling a little bit warmer this afternoon the base reaching a balmy 20 degrees.
What about the statistics? We're posting MVP figures.
* 10" in the last 48 hours (and growing).
* 18" in the last 72 hours.
* 39" in the past week.
* Season total: 279 (and counting...).
Similar to the Chiefs vs. Eagles showdown later on, February has come in like two lions at a lamb buffet, following in the footsteps of a January that refused to quit. If you're someone who prefer consistency, storm systems are also developing for 2/13 and 2/16, and, the majority of Thursdays and Sunday through the end of the month. It is anticipated that winter will repain in playoff mode for at least two weeks as there is no sign of significant warming in sight. The conditions today are as good as a fourth-quarter comeback regardless of whether you're happy here for the powder or simply to burn off some Super Bowl snacks. With your equipment in hand, head to the field (or, you know, the glades) and relish yet another unforgettable day at Jay.
* Registration is open until February 28th for the sixth annual Real to Steel. This combo freeride and freestyle event combines some of our toughest terrain with out most technical park for one big showdown, and the stakes are high with over $20,000 in prizes from sponsors Never Summer, Rossignol, and Vans.
Runs 1-3
Run 1: Taxi Quad - Queen's Highway
[0.72 mi; 2:18; 564 ft; 26.9 mph max; 18.8 mph avg]
Run 2: Metro Quad - Deer Run
[0.86 mi; 4:20; 535 ft; 25.0 mph max; 11.9 mph avg]
Run 3: Metro Quad - Perry Merril Ave. - Chalet Meadows
[0.60 mi; 3:32; 371 ft; 25.2 mph max; 10.1 mph avg]
Run #1 was my usual commuter run over to Tramside to see how bad the line for the Tram was. It wasn't ungodly, and in hindsight it probably would have been amazing skiing, but I would have likely had to wait 3-4 trams, which I was just not interested in. I also made it until 8:05am before being yelled at by my arch nemesis lifty on the Taxi for taking more than 2 second to put the bar down... Once on Tramside, I hopped on the Metro for Run #2 and went down Deer Run which was LOVELY. 2" on top of corduroy. It was so delightfully quiet, I was in love. I did notice my face was cold and my lungs were mad, so Run #3 was another commuter run back to Stateside to swap out my buff for a balaclava.
Runs 4-8
Run 4: Bonaventure Quad - Northway - Sweetheart
[1.31 mi; 5:00; 1,493 ft; 23.1 mph max; 15.7 mph avg]
Run 5: Jet Triple - Jet
[0.69 mi; 2:37; 1,280 ft; 26.9 mph max; 15.9 mph avg]
Run 6: Jet Triple - Montrealer - Northway - Hell's Crossing - Angel's Wiggle - Paradise Meadows
[1.17 mi; 5:14; 1,198 ft; 23.1 mph max; 13.4 mph avg]
Run 7: Bonaventure Quad - Goat Run - Lower River Quai - Perry Merril Ave. - Grammy Jay
[1.68 mi; 7:32; 1,686 ft; 24.7 mph max; 13.3 mph avg]
Run 8: Village Chair - Queen's Highway
[0.46 mi; 1:35; 322 ft; 25.0 mph max; 17.6 mph avg]
Now I was back in business! I took a couple hits of abuterol for good measure and headed over to the Bonnie, which hardly had a line at this point. It was BEAUTIFUL out at this point. The sun was starting to poke through the clouds and the sky was full of what I could best describe as "glitter dust" - absolutely breathtaking. I followed Northway all the way down to Sweetheart. The Lower Northway was in MUCH better shape than the last time I was on it... in late April. Just narrow, icy, and a tad steep. The upper mountain had a lot more fresh snow, which was both fun and challenging, and resulted in me being a scared baby and heavily sitting in the back seat, which IGNIGHTED my quads. Sweetheart was an absolute delight of a trail, as usual.
Now on the Jet, I continued to admire the glitter dust as I shared the lift with two college ski racers dressed as... gnomes? There was ski racing going on all day on Haynes, and some teams were in usual uniforms, and some were in insane costumes. I followed the Jet down for #5 and it... sucked. I'm definitely getting better at steeps (still working on keeping shoulders down hill when I get spooked by the grade), but the snow was comprised of 1,000,000 death... pepples. Not cookies, but pebbles. I'm guessing it's from the snowmaking that happened a few days ago.
Back on the Jet this time, I followed Montrealer to Northway to Hell's Crossing and then back to Stateside. There was a lot of snow on Montrealer near the Angel's Wiggle junction, and Hell's Crossing was super soft and fun. Similar to yesterday, I was enjoying the SMALL natural bumps that were forming as the day went on. The next run was up the Bonnie and down Goat Run to Lower River Quai and then all the way down to Grammy Jay. Goat Run was actually in fantastic shape (I've skied it as a sheet of ice, with mountain-high moguls, and rarely, in excellent conditions) and Lower River Quai was fun (it used to be scary, so this was a major upgrade). Due to the new snow, I was moving slower than in past days, so tragically I would not achieve a new PR on the Grammy Jay. From the Grammy Jay, I hopped on the Village Chair and took Queen's Highway back to Tramside base.
Runs 9-12
Run 9: Metro Quad - Perry Merril Ave. - Full Moon
[0.69 mi; 3:21; 528 ft; 18.1 mph max; 12.4 mph avg]
Run 10: Metro Quad - Perry Merril Ave. - Quarter Moon
[0.76 mi; 6:48; 528 ft; 18.3 mph max; 6.7 mph avg]
Run 11: Metro Quad - Perry Merril Ave. - Raccoon Run
[0.79 mi; 2:55; 571 ft; 24.7 mph max; 16.3 mph avg]
Run 12: Village Chair - Chalet Meadows
[0.20 mi; 1:38; 164 ft; 16.4 mph max; 7.3 mph avg]
Next batch of runs were to work on my goal of continuing to get comfy with woods and natural terrain. Thankfully, Jay does a really nice job with this progression by having groomed tracks through the Moonwalk Woods. Run #9 was the Metro to Full Moon and Run #10 was Metro to Quarter Moon - both of which I was feeling really good about - specifically about how I was able to control my speed. Controlling my speed in two regards: being able to predict and see when it's okay to get a little speed, but also being able to slow down and stay in control. Growth! I planned to hit half moon on Run #10, but a HUGE family had just gone in, and I was not ready to add humans to the equasion yet. I followed Perry Merril down to Raccoon Run (still no PR...) and then the Village Chair to Chalet Meadows. My lungs were acting up again. I went inside to eat some breakfast and breathe some warm air, but the second I walked inside Emma texted me "I see you're inside" - so we met up for a couple runs before her sit shift - not before she mooched off a couple puffs of abueterol off of me!
Runs 13-16
Run 13: Taxi Quad - Queen's Highway
[0.72 mi; 2:42; 554 ft; 22.5 mph max; 16.0 mph avg]
Run 14: Metro Quad - Perry Merril Ave. - Doe Woods - Chalet Meadows
[0.57 mi; 2:51; 348 ft; 22.1 mph max; 11.9 mph avg]
Run 15: Bonaventure Quad - Northway - Upper Milk Run - Angel's Wiggle - Hell's Crossing - Paradise Meadows
[1.27 mi; 8:19; 1,493 ft; 24.8 mph max; 9.1 mph avg]
Run 16: Jet Triple - Montrealer - Northway - Hell's Crossing - Paradise Meadows
[1.25 mi; 6:56; 1,161 ft; 19.8 mph max; 10.3 mph avg]
Now I was with my favorite ski patroller, Emma! I had been waiting to explore "Bushwhacker" - the "next level" after the Moons - until we were together, so we took the Taxi over to tramside and then on the dreadfully slow Metro Emma got a call that Patroll Sarah's sit shift ended early, and Emma's would start late, so we changed plans and made our way back to the Bonnie to ski with Patroller Sarah and her boyfriend, Sean. We chatted about runs on the Bonnie and both Sarah and Emma got a twinkle in their eye as I was describing my day and said "let's take him down Milk Run" - which I'd never done and sounded scary! We followed Northway, which had some surprising sheets of ice, to Milk Run, which was just a steep mogul field. They had a FIELD DAY with me. I SLOWLY made my way down, Emma had a ball taking photos and videos. We concluded my main thing is connecting the bumps and turns, versus turning, trying to stop, and panicking. I also dug my tip into a bump and popped my ski off... yikes. Sarah and Sean eventually skied off to be a happy couple and Emma and I finished our Milk before heading down to Stateside for Emma to get some water, and then we took the Jet up for Emma's sit.
I followed Montrealer down to Northway, Hell's Cross, and Paradise Meadows to restart my solo career. My goals for the next pod was to hit Half Moon and maybe get crazy and explore Bushwahcker - we'll see how that goes!
Runs 17-21
Run 17: Taxi Quad - Queen's Highway - Raccoon Run
[0.73 mi; 2:39; 591 ft; 23.4 mph max; 16.5 mph avg]
Run 18: Village Chair - Queen's Highway
[0.48 mi; 1:59; 318 ft; 19.8 mph max; 14.4 mph avg]
Run 19: Metro Quad - Perry Merril Ave. - Half Moon
[0.69 mi; 3:24; 564 ft; 20.4 mph max; 12.2 mph avg]
Run 20: Metro Quad - Bushwhacker
[0.72 mi; 4:12; 522 ft; 20.7 mph max; 10.3 mph avg]
Run 21: Metro Quad - Perry Merril Ave. - Chalet Meadows
[0.58 mi; 3:10; 358 ft; 23.2 mph max; 10.5 mph avg]
I was back on the Taxi, stopping on Raccoon Run again before getting back to Tramside. I took the Metro to Perry Merril to Half Moon, officially completing the Moons! The next step would be Bushwhacker, which I was excited and nervous for. Emma said it's basically the same as the moons just tighter. I took the Metro up, turned right, and made my way onto Bushwhacker. There were tracks everywhere, which made it difficult to follow the "intended" track, but this actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise for me, because it basically forced me to explore. I LOVED it in here! I'd say I followed the groomed track for maybe only 60% of the run (not be design, it just happened that way). The snow was soft and lovely, and I truly had a great time. Once I had officially survived, Emma was done with her shift so I made my way back over to meet up for rice balls.
Runs 22-26
Run 22: Bonaventure Quad - Goat Run - Lower River Quai - Interstate
[1.28 mi; 5:31; 1,621 ft; 21.4 mph max; 13.7 mph avg]
Run 23: Metro Quad - Bushwahcker
[0.69 mi; 4:12; 518 ft; 18.8 mph max; 9.8 mph avg]
Run 24: Flyer Express Quad - Ullr's Dream - Kokomo
[1.85 mi; 8:32; 1,736 ft; 22.6 mph max; 12.8 mph avg]
Run 25: Metro Quad - Bushwahcker
[0.74 mi; 4:42; 525 ft; 18.8 mph max; 9.4 mph avg]
Run 26: Metro Quad - Bushwhacker
[0.66 mi; 3:43; 509 ft; 18.9 mph max; 10.4 mph avg]
The break ended up going longer than planned - I was started to feel icky, mostly becuase of my lungs. After the delicious rice balls, Emma had a radio crisis (it kept switching to playing music on FM) so she went back into the patrol room and I went into the lodge for hot chocolate and to breathe in some of that lovely, warm, sweaty air (unfortunately, I mean all of those adjectives - I usually hate it but it felt unfortunately good). After 30ish minutes, Emma never reappeared. I texted her and she said "boots off. fading," so I took that as initiative to get back out for the last couple hours of the day. I wanted to start by going back to the upper mountain "to remind myself why I need to keep getting better," but it went shockingly well! Bonnie up, and then Goat - Lower River Quai - Interstate down. I felt good! Hot chocolate brought me back to life, and I hit TWO (2) bumps on Goat that I successfully stabbed with my poles and turned around. It felt like how the YouTube videos look, which was THRILLING.
Run #23 was another lap of Buhwahcker, where I intentially got off the groomed run some more, and it was just as lovely as the first. When I made it back down, I noticed the line for the Flyer was finally minimal, so I decided "why not." I got on with a nice patroller from a small mountain in New York - we chatted for a while, and soon enough we were off! I followed Ullr's down, which was skiing nicely, especially for late in the day. A few bumps that I CRUSHED and then I continued into Kokomo. With my newfould confidence, I followed some tracks on the right into the woods like a DAREDEVIL. My only beef was that there wasn't much of an exit point for a while, so I stayed tucked in for a bit.
Runs #25 and #26 were back to Bushwhacker! On #25 I landed myself in a big pile of slow where my ski popped off and... disappeared? I had to probe the pile with my pole until I eventually found it. It truly disappeared! When I stepped back, I fell into at least 3'. Super silly. #26 was more solid, but I followed some tracks that went down and up a steep, tight dip, which I did absorb like a boss, but required my knees going into my neck. All in a day's work! At this point, Emma and Patroller Sarah were exploring some more advanced woods, but I was feeling good about my day, and was getting ready to start my last few runs.
Runs 27-29
Run 27: Metro Quad - Perry Merril Ave. - Grammy Jay
[0.92 mi; 3:31; 568 ft; 25.3 mph max; 15.7 mph avg]
Run 28: Village Chair - Chalet Meadows
[0.18 mi; 1:05; 118 ft; 17.9 mph max; 10.1 mph avg]
Run 29: Taxi Quad - Boulevard
[0.41 mi; 1:28; 367 ft; 24.6 mph max; 15.9 mph avg]
My last few runs were pretty typical for me. I took the Metro to Perry Merril to Grammy Jay (my favorite), and then Village Chair to Chalet Meadows. I never called "two more skip the last," though, so I then, with a few minutes left of lifts running, hopped back on the Taxi to hit the Boulevard as my final hurrah of the day (I do wish I got one more in just to say I hit 30 runs... oh well!).
This ended up being my biggest day of skiing ever, which im super proud of because 1) I was alone for most of it and 2) I hit a lot of new challenges that I was feeling a lot better about. I beat my previous number of runs record by 9 (8 if you count the 21-run day I did at Big Snow in July...), beat previous miles record by 2, did not beat elevation (not mad about it), had an hour longer of elapsed time and 20 minutes longer moving. I was beat! My lungs were also on FIRE. Emma finished up her trail sweep pretty quickly and we on the way home in no time!
We got to Emmas, I packed my car, and I was on the road! I had a LONG drive ahead of me, but thankfully the roads were mostly clear (thank you, Super Bowl). I stopped at the Target in Lebanon, NH for a little walk and snack and got a text from a friend who we hung out with at the bar on Friday saying that he had the flu, and then I IMMEDAITELY sneezed... oh no.
...oh YES. I woke up the next morning with a fever. It's now Thursday, and I finally have enough energy to write this. This has been an absolutely brutal week, but I NEED to get better because it's almost time for Maine ski weekend+! We have an AirBnb booked in Roxbury, Maine for Saddleback, Black Mountain of Maine, and Mt. Abram. Weather is looking WINDY for our trip, but we'll make it work!
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