Skiing Jay Peak (Day 1/Indy Pass Day 1)

Skiing Jay Peak

Friday. December 5th, 2025

Runs: 20

Distance: 18.66 miles

Elevation: 20,079 feet

Max Speed: 32.2 mph

Avg. Speed: 12.3 mph

Moving Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes, 56 seconds

Total Time: 4 hours, 53 minutes, 22 seconds

IT'S SKI SEASON!! Emma turned 30 on Thursday, December 4th, so I took a personal day today to drive up last night, celebrate with a drink, and to be silly up at Jay Peak. I was like a kid in a candy store I was so excited! I ended up leaving Emma's around 7:30am, hours before she and Sarah left, becuase I was just itching to get back. I got my Maplefields breakfast sandwich and wiggled my way to Montgomery Center, where my body even knew I was back (as indicated by the immediate urge to use the bathroom, which historically happens everytime I hit VT-242). 

Snow Report

FRIDAY DECEMBER 5 AT 6:50 AM

Snow Delivered, Trees Reloaded, Weekend Ready

Today's Ride Guide:

Upper mountain: Jet Triple and Bonaventure Quad from 9 to 4.

Lower mountain: Taxi Quad and Stateside Carpet from 8:30 to 4.

All lifts are operating out of the Stateside Base.

Yesterday's storm delivered a proper early December welcome. By the end of the day we stacked up close to 10 inches, bringing our early December total to 17 inches and pushing our season total to 136 inches. Yes, you read that right. One hundred and thirty six inches by December 5. The Jay Cloud is not messing around this year.

The wind traveled with the snowfall, shifting pockets and filling the trees through the afternoon. This morning those sheltered zones hold the best of yesterday's snow, refreshed and reset for anyone willing to hunt for the right lines. It was a classic Jay day, marked by steady snowfall and constant change across the mountain.

Tramside headlines the weekend. Metro and the Tramside Carpet are locked to run Saturday, and the Tram is in its final prep stage with the official word expected later today. Keep an eye on this report and our socials for the call.

And riding that same Tramside momentum, WinterShine returns Saturday from 4pm to 7pm on Alice's patio. Fire pits, free s'mores, holiday music, and Vikings ready to Skol winter into full swing. With WinterShine and Tramside lighting up on the same day, it really does feel like winter is showing off a little. The mountain has apparently decided it wants an audience.

Today brings calmer weather, with partly sunny skies and highs in the mid teens. The Jay Breeze is still hanging around, so expect drifting in exposed zones and that crisp cold that pairs perfectly with a hot cocoa or a warm tea from Miso Onigiri at Stateside. Layer smart, cover up, and keep the fingers warm.

Looking ahead, the pattern stays snowy. A small system moves in Saturday night with the chance for a couple inches, and another quick hit may arrive Sunday evening. Early December is leaning hard into winter, and TK's report this afternoon should help shape expectations for the week ahead.

Snowmaking continues on Perry Merrill, Lower Queens, and the Tramside Base with excellent temperatures and strong production. More terrain is queed up to join the party through the weekend.

I giggled at the first sight of the mountain and was basically bursting at the seams ready to get going! I got my Indy Pass for the day, got suited up in the Stateside Lodge (which took a WHILE - I kept forgetting steps) in MANY layers, and giddily made my way up to the Taxi to see if I even remembered how to ski just after 9:30am.

Runs 1-3

Run 1: Taxi Quad - Queen's Highway - Chalet Meadows

[0.48 mi; 2:19; 361 ft; 19.3 mph max; 12.5 mph avg]

Run 2: Taxi Quad - Lower Can Am

[0.38 mi; 1:27; 364 ft; 24.1 mph max; 15.7 mph avg]

Run 3: Taxi Quad - Kangaroo Trail

[0.45 mi; 1:40; 384 ft; 23.6 mph max; 16.3 mph avg]

My first three runs of the day were simply joyful. Jay had been inundated with early-season snow, and I was delighted to be reaping the benefits! Only three runs were open off of the Taxi, so I decided I'd hit each of them before getting to the upper mountain. My first run was the classic Queens Highway to Chalet Meadows, which had me on confused legs at first, but I quickly remembered what to do and I basically smiled the whole way down - it's really nice to by starting the season with smiles instead of nervous tears!

It was still too early in the season for the Rusch Park to be open, so my second run was down Lower Can Am, which is actually a great wide, solid trail for beginners. I found myself attempting to remember how to "correctly" ski and "carve" while just being so happy to be out. I was also thrilled that the winds were very low, at least at the base area.

Final run of the morning was down Kangaroo Trail, which had a couple of dicey spots due to water bars. I got my speed up at the end, and then it was time to hop on my innaugural trip up the Bonnie!

Runs 4-8

Run 4: Bonaventure Quad - Northway - Angel's Wiggle - Paradise Meadows

[1.42 mi; 5:25; 1,522 ft; 23.7 mph max; 15.7 mph avg]

Run 5: Jet Triple - Haynes - Heaven's Road - Lower Jet

[0.79 mi; 3:55; 1,286 ft; 26.9 mph max; 12.1 mph avg]

Run 6: Jet Triple - Montrealer - Northway - Sweetheart

[1.13 mi; 4:41; 1,293 ft; 21.0 mph max; 14.4 mph avg]

Run 7: Jet Triple - Hotshot Derick - The Willard

[0.89 mi; 8:11; 1,286 ft; 14.1 mph max; 6.6 mph avg]

Run 8: Jet Triple - Montrealer - Angel's Wiggle - Taxi - Queen's Highway - Doe Woods - Chalet Meadows

[1.40 mi; 6:28; 1,247 ft; 28.6 mph max; 13.0 mph avg]

As the Bonnie brought me up the mountain I found myself just itching to hit all of my favorite trails, but I also acknowledged that it was the morning of day one, so I decided to take the easiest way down, and let me say it was an absolute delight. I felt good in my intermediate-level turns and I was actively thriving, having an absolute blast. From the bottom of Paradise Meadows, I turned right to head over to the Jet.

I initially thought I'd do the same bit from the Montrealer, but as I climbed up the Jet, I felt my confidence being strong, so I pivoted to my good old friend, Haynes. I got up to the headwall, said "damn," and off I went! My carving definitely isn't as strong on steeper slopes, as I partially revert back to making sharp, skidded turns, but I'm also not entire sure if that's wrong, especially when trying to control speed? To my dismay, there was somehow racing on Mont l'Entripede, so I had to hop on the powdery, flat Heaven's Road to get over to the Lower Jet to finish out my run. Feeling good!

To reward myself for doing a steep run, I took the Montrealer down to the full Northway, which had really soft snow and low-cover, to my favorite run, Sweetheart, which was an absolute treat. I felt strong and majestic on Sweetheart, making eyes with the Stateside Glade as I wiggled on down.

Time for another challenge! Run #7 brought me to another old friend, Derick. The first time I skied him there were big bumps, but I took it slow and had a good time. The second time I skied him, the big bumps were frozen with exposed rocks, and I bailed early on. This time, there were medium-sized soft bumps, and I was ready! I did not ski them gracefully, but I do feel like I did a better job that in the past (thank you, late season bumps from last year). Once the trail transitioned to The Willard, I felt much stronger with the lower-angle bumps, but I was sweating from this one! Good to know for cold days - all I have to do is hit some bumps to warm right up! There were some intense water bars on the Willard that I had to carefully navigate, but it was also fun! The only downside was the skate back to the Jet.

As another reward, for my final run in this group I followed the Montrealer to Taxi, all the way to Doe Woods for my innaugural tree run of the season, and it was DELIGHTFUL. By this point in the day, Emma and Sarah had finally arrived on-mountain and completed all of their patrol-related chores, so it was time to find them at the Bullwheel and start being silly (I was initially a little disappointed to start the season alone, but in hindsight I loved that time I had with myself to get my legs back and just experience some joy! Plus, I didn't share a single lift!). 

Runs 9-11

Run 9: Bonaventure Quad - Northway - Purgatory - Hell's Crossing - Paradise Meadows

[1.52 mi; 7:35; 1,440 ft; 28.6 mph max; 12.0 mph avg]

Run 10: Bonaventure Quad - Northway - Taxi - Queen's Highway - Doe Woods - Chalet Meadows

[1.58 mi; 6:35; 1,457 ft; 25.6 mph max; 14.4 mph avg]

Run 11: Bonaventure Quad - Northway - Lower Milk Run - Micky

[1.42 mi; 6:13; 1,499 ft; 29.0 mph max; 13.7 mph avg]

We threw on oversized bikini-print shirts, Emma put on her "I'M 30 BITCHES" sash, and we were off! Up the Bonnie, we had our first drinks of the day (including a failed attempt at "shotgun roulette") and sent it down Northway to Purgatory to Hell's Crossing and then Paradise Meadows. We were CRUISING and it felt so good - it also felt good to be skiing with Emma and Sarah again!

Next we made our way over to Taxi and ultimately to Doe Woods, where I found myself in the woods for too long, as usual, and got stuck on a water pipe... again. Still wonderful!

I asked for some easier bumps for Run #11 since my goal is to keep getting better at them, but nobody was ready for any of the black bump runs, so we agreed to hit Lower Milk Run and Micky, which was perfect. Emma and Sarah said the snow sucked, but I had a great time! Not knowing any better really has its benefits!

Runs 12-15

Run 12: Jet Triple - The Jet

[0.70 mi; 2:53; 1,276 ft; 28.2 mph max; 14.6 mph avg]

Run 13: Jet Triple - Kitzbuehel - Stateside Glade - Lower Jet

[0.86 mi; 7:42; 1,286 ft; 30.3 mph max; 6.7 mph avg]

Run 14: Jet Triple - Montrealer - Catwalk - Northway - Angel's Wiggle - Taxi - Micky - Kangaroo Trail

[1.34 mi; 6:56; 1,273 ft; 32.1 mph max; 11.6 mph avg]

Run 15: Jet Triple - Montrealer - Angel's Wiggle - Paradise Meadows

[1.27 mi; 4:57; 1,250 ft; 32.2 mph max; 15.3 mph avg]

Some other members of the crew for the day were to be arriving soon, so we all planned to rendez-vous at The Jet. Sarah, Emma, and I all rode the triple up and stopped in the patrol hut to see who was on sit before getting in my daily Jet run, which was... fine. The Lower Jet was fun! The upper Jet was... normal. Chunky and scratchy, but I'm definitely coming into the steeper groomed runs with much more confidence this year!

We met up with Team Snowboard for the next run, and Sarah managed to talk me into tackling Kitzbuehel - a new run for me! The eternal low-tide sign had me too worried to ever tackle it alone, but when the patrollers said it was basically the same as Derick, but narrower and without bail-out points, but considering I did Derick fine and did not need to bail, I was in! Emma reminded me to keep my shoulders downhill and to do my best to use my full lower body, not just my ankles to turn around the bumps. I was averaging 2-3 turns at a time, which is still an improvement! We took the little jughandle on skier's right, which Sarah said made the run much easier (thank you), before making our way down. The run really wasn't too bad after all! From there, we went into Stateside Glade, which was a DELIGHT. It's a really nice next step after hitting all of the blue glades, just tricky to get to for the full glade (you can hit it from Sweetheart, but the main entrance is near the bottom of Kitz and the Lower Jet. This spat me out onto the Lower Jet, and I got cheers from Emma and Team Snowboard, who were already on the chair. Sarah was waiting for me back at the loading zone, and we were up for another lap!

Before Run #14, the full crew came together, which included me, The Patrollers, Team Snowboard, and a new batch, who we'll call Team Rhode Island (Emma's brother, sister in-law, childhood friend, sailing friend, and a man who she barely knew existed). We got a few group photos before heading down Montrealer towards Bonaventure Woods. I was not feeling the risk of a more advanced glade (in my terms), so I went down Micky, but not before almost getting leveled by an out-of-control skier FLYING down Taxi. Thankfully, I was unscathed (miraculously). Micky was bumpy and good for me. Run #15 was a nice and easy classic run down the Wiggle per Emma's request, and then Emma and Team Rhode Island went in to warm up while Team Snowboard, Sarah, and I kept the momentum going!

Runs 16-20

Run 16: Bonaventure Quad - Northway - Taxi - Queen's Highway - Doe Woods - Chalet Meadows

[1.36 mi; 5:13; 1,437 ft; 29.0 mph max; 15.6 mph avg]

Run 17: Taxi Quad - Queen's Highway - Doe Woods - Chalet Meadows

[0.40 mi; 1:52; 358 ft; 26.5 mph max; 12.8 mph avg]

Run 18: Taxi Quad - Queen's Highway - Doe Woods - Chalet Meadows

[0.44 mi; 2:09; 348 ft; 23.9 mph max; 12.3 mph avg]

Run 19: Taxi Quad - Queen's Highway - Doe Woods - Chalet Meadows

[0.41 mi; 2:04; 348 ft; 24.3 mph max; 11.9 mph avg]

Run 20: Taxi Quad - Queen's Highway - Doe Woods - Chalet Meadows

[0.42 mi; 2:39; 358 ft; 25.0 mph max; 9.6 mph avg]

We all rode up the Bonnie for Run #16 which brought us back to the beloved Doe Woods. For Run #17, Team Snowboard went back up the Bonnie, but we were COLD at this point, so Sarah and I got a few more laps off the Taxi and Doe Woods. I originally thought I'd call it at 17, but then Sarah wanted to hit it again, and at that point, I simply had to get my 20 runs in, so we did four laps total through Doe Woods, and it was truly such a perfect way to wrap up my first day back on the mountain!

We apres'd in the Bullwheel, took a bunch of birthday photos, and then got into our room at the Stateside Hotel to change for dinner at the Belfry (my first time!), which was wonderful! We ended the night with drinks in the room, Stevens eventually arrived, we popped the air mattress (in fairness, it apparently arrived popped), and we got to sleep. Emma and Sarah had patrol training all day the next day, so I was going to be Stevens' subsitute teacher for the day!

Map of Jay Peak