Skiing Jay Peak
Sunday, February 22nd, 2025
Runs: 17
Distance: 10.81 miles
Elevation: 11,385 feet
Max Speed: 32.2 mph
Avg. Speed: 9.9 mph
Moving Time: 1 hour, 11 minutes, 53 seconds
Total Time: 4 hours, 44 minutes, 22 seconds
After skiing Cochran's last night, Emma and I went back to her place and I showed her the movie "GNAR" - mostly because I planned to quote it endlessly througout the day, and thankfully she loved it too and also spent the whole day quoting it! We also decided we'd work on a Jay Peak version for s's & g's. Anyway, we slept in until 6:45am (a full hour later than her patrolling days), got our morning fuel, and worked our way to the mountain! We landed around 8:15am to a shockingly 1/2 full parking lot! Thankfully, we got princess parking. We made it just as the first half of the parking lot closed, so we got to park at the front of the second, which was one of the best spots in the lot - yay! Emma still hadn't picked up her free passes for patrolling, so she agreed to pay me back some money she owed me by buying my pass for the day - worked for me! Getting the pass on this busy morning turned out to be a hassle, but we ultimately survived and were on the snow just after 8:30pm! It was going to be a big day - team snowboard was going to hang with us and our friends Kyle and Gabby were coming up to take their first ski lesson with Emma (and me as the substitute/example dummy). We did learn that Kyle was coming with a snowboard, so he ended up being on his own, but more on that later...
Snow Report
February 22nd; 6:13 AM
**COFFEE REPORT**
Brisk down here at the base, but today's looking like a dinger. Sunshine, breezy, and highs topping oout in the mid-20s. The breeze doesn't feel like too much of a threat, so we'll hope for 9/9 lifts, and an update will come once our lift crew has a chance to see what the wind is doing where it counts.
We're expecting high volumes of visitors today and tomorrow, so if you're also sipping your first mug and planning your day, expect parking to fill quickly and be prepared to park a bit farther away from teh base lodges or offsite. If we're full, we'll let you know right away. Pack your patience and sense of humor, and you can save time an dsome cash by buying your ticket online in advance. Just redeem at the base lodge kiosks and get out there.
As soon as we know, so will you. The Snow Report will always have the latest and greatest updates, so keep itlocked in here.
February 22nd; 7:19 AM
Bust out those sunnies, because you're gonna need 'em today. Mid 20's for the high, sunny, and breezy. TK sees a refresh coming fro Sunday, with 6" possible throughout the day. The wind was smart enough to back off today, so we'll have all 9 lifts spinning on time and 100% open terrain. Conditions and operations status are never set in stone, so if anything changes, check back to the Snow Report to make sure you always have the latest information.
Runs 1-2
Run 1: Jet Triple - Haynes - Jet
[0.78; 3:49; 1,276 ft; 32.2 mph max; 12.3 mph avg]
Run 2: Jet Triple - Montrealer - Cat Walk - Northway - Hell's Crossing - Sweetheart - Stateside Glade - Paradise Meadow
[1.40 mi; 5:35; 1,234 ft; 25.5 mph max; 15.0 mph avg]
Emma resented booting up with the general public, but we soon made our way to the Jet to get our day started! The plan was to follow Haynes down all the way, but the lower half way closed for racing. Also, it skied pretty brutally. It was super icy and scrapey - not fun! We cut over to the lower Jet, which was in slightly better shape, and made our way back to the lift.
The goal for the day was woods and bumps, as I had my private instructor for the morning. We followed Montrealer down to Cat Walk, a route I'd never done fully before, and then skied on the Northway to Hell's Crossing, all of which were in much better shape (still hard and fast, though). We then cut into Sweetheart, and then Emma had me follow her through the lower stretch of the Stateside Glade, which was comically easy - basically an ungroomed Kokomo - good start for the day! From there, we followed Paradise Meadow to the Bonnie.
Runs 3-5
Run 3: Bonaventure Quad - Northway - Upper Milk Run - Taxi - Queen's Highway - Doe Woods - Chalet Meadows
[1.36 mi; 8:29; 1,450 ft; 26.9 mph max; 9.6 mph avg]
Run 4: Bonaventure Quad - Northway - Upper Milk Run - Taxi - Bonaventure Glades - Lower Milk Run - Kangaroo Trail
[1.16 mi; 9:24; 1,473 ft; 28.6 mph max; 7.4 mph avg]
Run 5: Bonaventure Quad - Goat Run - Buck Woods - Chalet Meadows
[1.30 mi; 9:28; 1,493 ft; 24.5 mph max; 8.3 mph avg]
From the top of the Bonnie, we went back to Upper Milk Run for some bumpy fun! I definitely felt better this time, and my skis only popped off once! We then followed Taxi to Queen's Highway and then jumped into Doe Woods, which was lovely. This stretch was good practice for controlling speed in woods without having massive bumps everywhere to turn onto.
Team Snowboard joined us for Run #4 after attempting to get their student passes from the Tramside service desk. Elizabeth was successful but Snowboard Emma was not - she's a full time grad student at UVM, but that means she's only taking 9 credits, and Jay requires 12 credits for the student pass. She joked (or didn't joke) about sending an email to Steve Wright (the general manager) to explain the situation and confusion with the subject like "Wright this Wrong." We'll see how it goes! Back up the Bonnie, we went back to Upper Milk Run, which went better again! We briefly followed Taxi and then went into the Bonaventure Glades - my first real black glades. The drop in was scary/sketchy, but the actual woods were beautiful. Super bumpy, but that was kind of helpful as it helped me plan turns and control speed. Snowboard Emma did do my dirty and took a photo of me so incredibly far in the backseat going over a bump. Emma said "I've never seen someone do something so wrong but not fall," so I'll take it as an accomplishment! After the Bonnie Glades, we popped out on Lower Milk Run (I had never been on Lower Milk before, so I was CONFUSED where we were), and then ended up on Kangaroo Trail.
#5 was back up the Bonnie and down Goat Run, which was skiing really well. As I'm writing this, almost a week later, I think I figured out what my breakthrough with carving was - instead of just rocking my knees side-to-side, I'm now putting a little more weight onto the outside ski when initiating a turn. I think before I had more uphill weight. Still not sure, still going to keep figuring out, still going to keep reading Reddit and buying Emma beers for free lessons. From Goat, we went into Buck Woods, which was pretty similar to Bonnie Glades, but I think a little steeper maybe? Not sure, they were pretty similar. We identified my two main things to work on in the woods are 1) keep the skis together and 2) keep the weight forward). I couldn't believe I was actually having fun in the woods! Once we escaped the woods, we followed Chalet Meadows back to the Stateside Lodge. Team Snowboard went in to pee and Emma and I went to the car to grab some drinks for lunch, which Team Snowboard would be cooking over on Tramside.
Runs 6-7
Run 6: Taxi Quad - Queen's Highway
[0.93 mi; 9:45; 610 ft; 25.2 mph max; 10.9 mph avg]
Run 7: Metro Quad - Perry Merril Ave - Chalet Meadows
[0.60 mi; 3:19; 371 ft; 23.9 mph max; 10.9 mph avg]
Run #6 was the classic commuter run on the Taxi to Queen's Highway. Comically, this was also the longest line we'd waited in all day. We each had a drink on the lift and made our way over. Team Snowboard went to the car to get the dogs cooking, and Emma and I went to customer service to get her free passes for being a patroller (thanks Emma!). From there we made our way to Team Snowboard, who were parked just on the outside of the main garage (honestly a perfect spot). Snowboard Emma had fun tropical-themed cups in her car, so we had a lil' mini party. Gabby and Kyle were getting close at this point, but were struggling to find parking. They eventually parked in the 242 lot, so once Emma and I got that call we started our return trip back up to the Metro (no line!) and back to Stateside.
Runs 8-14
Stateside Carpet
[0.05 mi; 1:30; 36 ft]
Now, the fun was going to begin! Kyle still insisted on snowboarding, so we let him know that he was basically on his own for the day. Emma got Gabby booted up and set up with all of her rentals. My job was to run to the car to grab the Jagermeister for a quick shot (the newbies only got a half shot) before heading out to the snow! Emma did her usual fantastic job of day one lessons with Gabby, and I just kind of watched Kyle skate around with one boot strapped in. Kyle eventually told me he was ready for the carpet, so it was my job to chaperone. The first time, he just stood on the carpet and brought his board up with him. He made it down one piece, but fell every time he caught speed. The only advice I could offer him was to stop straight-lining, which he kind of did? Second run he kept the board on and did an okay job! He had to make a quick adjustment once on the carpet, but he was good! He needed a break after this run, and Emma was working with Gabby on side-stepping up a hill and doing pizza turns to stop.
Eventually, both rookies needed a break, so I took a lap on my own to figure out how to ski backwards AND turn around. I'm good at going downhill and turning around to go backwards, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to get back around! While the kids were still taking a break, Emma came up with me for two runs we tried together to figure it out to minimal success. The best we got was the kind of turns Sarah and I did at Blue Hills (backwards pizza with a step). Someday I'll get the whirlybird!
Eventually, Emma's dad stopped by to say hello before going on his own adventure (her parents were going to join us for Apres). Last two runs at the carpet were with the whole crew! I will say, Kyle did a good job studying his YouTube shorts, because he was doing a lot better than I thought he would do (non-deragatory). I convinced Gabby to get on the carpet, because I noticed the constant side-stepping was wearing her down, and the carpet does the uphill for you! Tragically, she still hadn't figured out stopping, so she sent it over a banked turn and spectacularly fell (spirits were high, though, and the video of her falling made it to her Facebook post)! She fell again on the second run, and after that they were ready to wrap up for the afternoon. Emma and I were planning on a soft power hour around 3 anyway, so this timing worked out well! We helped Gabby de-boot and get the rentals back, and Emma and I blasted off! We found Team Snowboard and hopped back on the Bonnie for a few more runs!
Runs 15-17
Run 15: Bonaventure Quad - Goat Run - Buck Woods - Chalet Meadows
[1.28 mi; 8:03; 1,437 ft; 24.3 mph max; 9.5 mph avg]
Run 16: Bonaventure Quad - Goat Run - Buck Woods - Raccoon Run
[1.45 mi; 6:13; 1,654 ft; 27.8 mph max; 14.0 mph avg]
Run 17: Village Chair - Chalet Meadows - Doe Woods - Chalet Meadows
[0.20 mi; 1:49; 135 ft; 21.3 mph max; 6.6 mph avg]
Team Snowboard mentioned that the Northway was horribly icy, so we decided we'd hit Buck Woods via Goat again, and just mentally prepared for rough conditions. To our delight, Goat Run was in great shape! Only a little scrapy, which was great for 3pm on a busy Saturday. The s-curves were bumped up, but I'm better at those now! After the curves the trail actually skied great - we were all delighted! Woods were good again and I was definitely getting better - I just had to keep talking to myself saying "weight forward, skis togther, weight forward, skis together." I did have to take off my goggles in the woods because the light was FLAT and I was not trying to die. Only issue is that getting whacked with a branch hurts a lot more without protection!
Run #16 was more of the same and we made it to the Queens Highway/Chalet Meadows junction at 3:55, which was just enough time to send it down Raccoon Run in time for last chair! Unfortunately, I did not PR, but it was fun nevertheless. Our final run for the day was up the Village Chair and down Chalet Meadows, with a weak attempt at dipping into Doe Woods in between.
We met back up with Gabby and Kyle, who just finished their first rice balls, and then we found Emma's parents in the Bullwheel for apres. Emma's dad got us a round, which was super nice - I still need to ski with him, though! Afterwards, Gabby, Kyle, Emma, and I drove to the Village Tavern in Jeffersonville for dinner (featuring the Drowned Buger). They did seat us upstairs, which was WAY too fancy for us, but thankfully the menu was the same. Oh, and I forgot to mention, Emma BLASTED through Waterville and got pulled over for going 40 in what we thought was a 25. The cop said she did her a solid by only giving her a ticket for going 35, and turns out the speed limit was 30, which was a bit silly... I had a good laugh, though!
Our night ended by showing Gabby and Kyle the masterpiece, "Hot Dog...The Movie," and off to bed for a good night's rest.
(They still haven't uploaded the current year's map...)
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