Skiing Jay Peak
Saturday. January 3rd, 2026
Runs: 21
Distance: 24.81 miles
Elevation: 25,240 feet
Max Speed: 33.3 mph
Avg. Speed: 14.0 mph
Moving Time: 1 hour, 46 minutes, 9 seconds
Total Time: 6 hours, 11 minutes, 48 seconds
Emma and I had a nice, chill night in and watched Bride Wars before heading to bed. She was up and out by 6:05am, but I slept in and left at 6:30am since I was driving seperate. Roads were unpleasant but no worse than I am used to. I fishtailed around the Jeffersonville rotary (normal) and did NOT skid at the stop sign by the winery or the left turn at the bottom of the hill, so a win! I also did most the drive without anyone behind me, which was NICE. A nice line of cars did start to appear behind me once I got to Montgomery, but they simply would have to deal with it because I was not going to go any faster. 242 was a bit rough, and the final push had my car UNHAPPY. The descent after the height of land was also super sketchy, but I made it in one piece, and did NOT skid into the snowbank when entering Jay! It might be time for snow tires... The slower-than-planned drive had me at the resort a little later than I wanted, but I did all of my chores (including buying toe warmers because I ran out) and on the snow around 8:10 - not too bad!
Snow Report
SATURDAY JANUARY 3 AT 6:32 AM
Early Morning Report
Temperatures are staying in the single digits today, and the wind will knock wind chills into the negatives at times. Bundle accordingly.
Wind is in the forecast today and it can impact upper-mountain lift ops.
A dusting of snow overnight and into this morning, not quite an inch, but enough to freshen up surfaces and give the wind somehting to work with, smoothing things out along the way.
Snowmaking has shifted to JFK and Upper Alligator Alley, which means closures while work is active on the trail. JFK, Wedel, Alligator, Everglade, and Staircase are a few of the notable closures.
Terrain Parks: All five terrain parks including Rabbit, Rusch, Shakedown, Rabbit Hole, and the Gully are expected to be open and ready for laps today.
Uphill Travel: The anticipated uphill route for today are the Northway and Ullrs routes up to SkyHaus. Patrol will conitnue assessing conditions and updates will be posted here.
Our Nordic Center is fully open and groomed with 15 km of scenic trails ready for skating.
Snow Report
SATURDAY JANUARY 3 AT 6:59AM
Windy Start, Cold Temps, Snow on the Ground
Lower Mountain lifts: 8:00a - 4p
Upper mountain lifts: 8:30a - 4p (The Flyer may have a delayed start)
It's already blowing up high this morning, and those winds could affect upper mountain lift operations today. Please check back here for updates throughout the day in case of delays or hold times.
A light dusting of snow this morning is refreshing surfaces across the mountain, adding a 15-inch snow stretch over the past 5 days. Our season total sits at 234 inches and counting, still deep and solid.
It's cold today, with highs in the single digits and partly sunny skies. Make sure to bundle up and keep any exposed skin covered. Those temps are ideal for snowmaking, and crews are currently spraying away on Alligator and JFK. Both trails are slated to reopen tomorrow thanks to that work. Starting tomorrow and into Wednesday, snowmaking shifts over to Ullr's Dream to keep building out coverage over there.
Snow Report
SATURDAY JANUARY 3 AT 8:31 AM
Update 8:30 AM - The Flyer will have a delayed start. All other lifts are loading public on time.
Runs 1-3
Run 1: Taxi Quad - Queen's Highway
[0.73 mi; 2:12; 584 ft; 29.4 mph max; 20.0 mph avg]
Run 2: Tram - Northway - Ullr's Dream
[2:15; 8:08; 2,073 ft; 30.2 mph max; 15.9 mph avg]
Run 3: Flyer Express Quad - Poma Line - Ullr's Dream - Kokomo
[1.83 mi; 7:46; 1,804 ft; 30.0 mph max; 14.1 mph avg]
I started the day with my classic Taxi - Queen's Highway run to Tramside - Queen's Highway was in good shape! The line for the Tram was NOT bad, which was absolutely shocking for a Saturday, but I guess the absolutely frigid temperatures and it being the tail end of a holiday week helped my cause. I got on the second tram du jour, and my main goals for the day were 1) to get better and 2) ski as many "new" trails as possible ("new" meaning trails that I have not yet skied this ski season, as I'm trying to color in my map). Run #2 was down the Northway from the tippy top and for the first time, I took the little chute to Ullr's Dream (I somehow had missed that the other times I'd been up there, probably because I would be trying to get back to Stateside or just flying down Vermonter). Ullr's skied well! The main headwall was a bit scratchy, but not bad at all. I flew down the fun part, and only had to skate a little bit during the run out (fun fact - this was apparently only the second time I'd ever done Ullr's in it's entirety, as I switched to Kokomo early on).
In line with my daily goal, I hopped on the Flyer next and took Poma Line to Ullr's to Kokomo. Poma was... unpleasant. Weird, sometimes soft, sometimes frozen, sometimes styrofoam windswept bumps. I still have a hard time stopping correctly/controlling speed on narrower bump runs - I think because I've been mostly practicing on wider ones where I can traverse to think (as I'm writing this, I should practice more on mellower bump runs but stick to a narrow sub-section - instead of traversing to think, work on stopping to think). Ullr's was good, and Kokomo was WONDERFUL. There was one hole opening up at the entrance, but beside that it was wonderful.
Runs 4-6
Run 4: Flyer Express Quad - Goat Run - Green Mountain Boys - Bushwhacker
[1.49 mi; 5:15; 1,775 ft; 27.0 mph max; 15.3 mph avg]
Run 5: Flyer Express Quad - Goat Run - Queen's Highway - Grammy Jay
[1.84 mi; 6:21; 1,795 ft; 29.2 mph max; 17.4 mph avg]
Run 6: Village Chair - Chalet Meadows
[0.20 mi; 1:17; 138 ft; 20.5 mph max; 9.4 mph avg]
I decided to keep working on the Flyer from here, now hitting a few trails off of Goat Run (Wedel/Alligator/JFK all had snowmaking, so I couldn't visit them today). From the Flyer, the S-curves on Goat were already looking nice a shiny, and they skied... okay. Patrol upgraded Goat to a black run, which I think was a solid move considering the conditions. I did make it down fine, and then I followed all of Green Mountain Boys down - both the blue and black sections were in good shape, and I was really focusing on the tighter turns with better weight distribution and edge engagement the whole time - I think I'm getting better! From here, I had a delightful run through the groomed track in Bushwahcker. I decided for my map, I'll do the groomed tracks in Bushwahcker and the Moons, and anytime I hit real glades (or go off the groomed track), I'll draw a little wiggle on my map (Doe Woods already has four wiggles).
Run #5 was down all of Goat (the lower portion was great!) and to my all-time favorite run, the Grammy Jay! I was going for a PR, but the cold snow held me back! Plus, a child learning... whatever...
My pole got stuck in the ground while trying to load the Village Chair (embarassing), but I pulled myself together, got on the chair, and finished out this pod of runs on Chalet Meadows to have some breakfast.
Runs 7-10
Run 7: Bonaventure Quad - Northway - Taxi - Micky
[1.34 mi; 5:14; 1,503 ft; 29.2 mph max; 15.3 mph avg]
Run 8: Bonaventure Quad - Northway - Upper Milk Run - Lower Milk Run - Micky
[1.26 mi; 6:56; 1,476 ft; 31.8 mph max; 10.9 mph avg]
Run 9: Bonaventure Quad - Northway - Taxi - Queen's Highway - Raccoon Run
[1.80 mi; 5:20; 1,696 ft; 33.3 mph max; 20.2 mph avg]
Run 10: Village Chair - Queen's Highway
[0.49 mi; 1:46; 328 ft; 26.0 mph max; 16.8 mph avg]
I had a loaded hash brown from Maplefields in the car, but was too stressed while driving to have the sandwich I bought, so that was breakfast now! Emma and Sarah were always on the opposite side of the resort as I was, so I figured I'd just find them when they had their sit at 11:30. After my breakfast, I hopped on the Bonnie on the search for some bumps to practice on (and to redeem myself after my jault down Poma. I took the Northway to Taxi, which were both in good shape, and landed on Micky, which turned out to be exactly what I needed. I really focused on where my weight was and linking my turns, and it was (starting to) feel good! The run out after it merges with Lower Milk was lovely, and soon I was back to the Bonnie!
I was feeling braver for Run #8 and hit Upper Milk Run, which was kind of a bad time! The bumps were hard as rock and the troughs were ice luges. I managed to smash my hip into a bump, and it did not feel good! That being said, still good practice! The upper part of Lower Milk was equally as scrapey, but it got better about halfway down.
Run #9 was a full lap of Northway and Taxi (the corner onto Taxi was getting rough in terms of carnage and ice) and then down to Raccoon Run (I got my 2nd best time...). It was about 11:00am at this point, so I had a few more runs in me before I'd visit my two favorite patrollers. I took the Village Chair to Queen's Highway, landing myself back at the Flyer!
Runs 11-12
Run 11: Flyer Express Quad - Goat Run - Upper Upper Exposition - Lower River Quai - Quarter Moon - Queen's Highway
[1.67 mi; 6:06; 1,801 ft; 27.0 mph max; 16.4 mph avg]
Run 12: Metro Quad - Perry Merril Ave - Chalet Meadows
[0.57 mi; 2:52; 374 ft; 25.2 mph max; 11.9 mph avg]
When Goat is in good shape, one of my favorite runs on the mountain is taking Goat Run to Lower River Quai to Quarter Moon - I just wish that it got me back to Stateside! At this point, Goat was in BAD shape, so I took Upper Upper Exposition to bypass the curves, which I think was a good move? It was all brutal, though. Lower River Quai (a couple on the lift called it "River Quail," which I loved) was in excellent shape (and nicely steep), and then I took the little bypass of Perry Merril that spat me out at Quarter Moon. I followed the groomed path through Quarter Moon, which was fantastic, to Queen's Highway and scooted over to the Metro for a quick Perry Merril - Chalet Meadows run back to Stateside.
Runs 13-15
Run 13: Jet Triple - Montrealer - Northway - Hell's Crossing - Sweetheart
[1.21 mi; 7:10; 1,316 ft; 22.3 mph max; 10.1 mph avg]
Run 14: Jet Triple - Jet - Stateside Glade - Sweetheart
[0.84 mi; 4:08; 1,309 ft; 24.3 mph max; 12.2 mph avg]
Run 15: Jet Triple - Jet - Stateside Glade - Lower Jet
[0.77 mi; 4:04; 1,283 ft; 30.1 mph max; 11.3 mph avg]
I was asked to supply caffeine to our favorite patrollers, so I ran into the Stateside Cafeteria, got some Celsius and Red Bull (and a cookie for me), and wiggled my way over to the Jet. At this point in the day, I was chilly! The hot hands brand of toe warmers don't work as long as the ones I bought from Costco (although they get MUCH warmer initially), so my toes were starting to feel it. I stayed up at the patrol shack for a bit to play Bananagrams, but the day was starting to rev up in terms of patrol calls due to the ice, so Patrol Sarah had to leave early on, but I stayed with Emma until her sit was over so I could get at least one run with a friend! She had to re-drill a slow sign in on the Montrealer, which was another glacier of ice, but fun for me to watch as people FLEW past her! We ice skated on the Northway to Hell's Crossing, literally glided into Sweetheart, but then had a nice run on Sweetheart to wrap it up.
Emma had to bring the drill back to the top of the Jet but she said she was all set with skiing in these conditions - I was not! I wanted to hit the Stateside Glade and the Jet wasn't looking TOO horrible, so I decided I'd give it a go and see what happens. Thankfully, the upper Jet was in pretty good shape (meaning, I have skied it in MUCH worse conditions). The steepest stretch was a little scratchy, but still not too horrible. I realized that my tendency is to make a turn and then skid until I slow down, so I was working on turning more often and just really digging those edges in. I might have been over-counter-flexing my upper body, because my back was feeling a certain type of way... oh well!
Stateside Glade was a DREAM. I verbally kept going "oh thank god" to myself - soft snow, nice turns, and the trees are wonderfully spaced (I think it's only a black glade because it's inaccessible from blue trails). I NEEDED another run. I popped out and got back on Sweetheart and then right back on the Jet!
Run #15 was more of the same, but I popped out of the woods onto Lower Jet to wrap things up. The Stateside Glade is probably my favorite woods on the mountain (at least until I get better!).
Runs 16-18
Run 16: Jet Triple - Montrealer - Catwalk - Northway - Taxi - Micky
[1.28 mi; 9:36; 1,293 ft; 28.6 mph max; 8.0 mph avg]
Run 17: Bonaventure Quad - Northway - Taxi - Queen's Highway - Grammy Jay
[1.92 mi; 6:11; 1,699 ft; 32.7 mph max; 18.6 mph avg]
Run 18: Village Chair - Queen's Highway
[0.49 mi; 1:37; 331 ft; 27.3 mph max; 18.1 mph avg]
I knew I was in the "starting to wrap it up" phase of my afternoon, but I was still having fun! I decided I'd get back over to Micky for some more bump practice. The Angel's Wiggle/Taxi corner was BAD. Lots of folks down and hardly any way to stop. Micky was still skiing great, and I could feel myself getting better the more I did it!
Back on the Bonnie for Run #17 - they had officially closed Goat Run! That made sense. I followed the Northway to Taxi all the way to Grammy Jay where I BOOKED it - still didn't PR - need to shave off 4 more seconds! I really want to get faster than Emma's PR, but she had the advantage here...
#18 was up the Village Chair and down Queen's Highway to check out the Tram line.
Runs 19-21
Run 19: Metro Quad - Perry Merril Ave - Half Moon - Queen's Highway
[0.66 mi; 3:05; 541 ft; 23.2 mph max; 12.8 mph avg]
Run 20: Metro Quad - Perry Merril Ave - Full Moon - Queen's Highway
[0.71 mi; 3:21; 548 ft; 19.8 mph max; 12.8 mph avg]
Run 21: Flyer Express Quad - Northway - Taxi - Micky
[1.56 mi; 7:07; 1,572 ft; 32.2 mph max; 13.1 mph avg]
It was about 2:30pm at this point and I was past chilly and I was cold, but I was NOT done! The Tram line was too long for a painful, icy run, so I hopped on the Metro and decided I'd get the other two Moons. Half Moon was fun and windey, and Full Moon had two steeper spots that surprised me (apparently the day before somebody broke their collar bone at the "drop" on Full Moon, which did create a few jokes...).
The Flyer had no line, and I figured it would take the same amount of sitting time regardless if I took the Metro or the Flyer, so I got on the Flyer, which lived up to it's "Freezer" nickname! This was the first time in my skiing career that I was shivering - it was COLD and windy. I happily skated away one at the top and ran the Northway back to Taxi back to Micky for a final run. I emotionally wanted to stay out for the last 45 minutes, but I was FROZEN. Overall, though, it was a fantastic day of getting better!
I found Emma's family (surprise to me), did my chores, and chugged some Gatorade. Two of my toes were borderline white, which was a new thing for me! Thankfully, I defrosted in no time, and then I later met Emma and Patrol Sarah for a drink at Howies for apres. I had a LONG drive home, but it was so worth it for the fun and success I had.
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