Skiing Jay Peak
Saturday, March 21st, 2026
Runs: 20
Distance: 17.19 miles
Elevation: 15,984 feet
Max Speed: 31.6 mph
Avg. Speed: 11.0 mph
Moving Time: 1 hour, 41 minutes, 7 seconds
Total Time: 7 hours, 25 minutes, 2 seconds
After yesterday's hike up Mt. Wachusett, Emma and I (and later Ray) had a wonderfully awful drive up to Vermont! Slippery snow, lots of people off the roads, and simply unpleasant driving conditions. Thankfully, we were rewarded with pizza (that we ordered)! Ray landed about an hour after us, we watched half of Hot Dog... The Movie!, and got to bed and ready for an early morning at Jay! This was going to be Ray's third and final "Learn to Turn" day, and I was just looking forward to playing around my favorite mountain and hopefully crossing off some more needed trails. The drive was wet from last night's snow, but not awful. Comically, we were all piled into Sarah's car (which was a NICE drive!). We dropped off our patrollers, and Ray and I headed inside for some breakfast and slow chores. I told him my plan or getting a power 1.5 hour in, but then I'd claim him around 9:30 to make sure he's all good for his lesson and to get some laps in. I gave him very specific instructions on what trails to take and what trails not to take, we'd see if he'll listen!
Snow Report
I forgot to screenshot the Snow Report :(
Runs 1-4
Run 1: Taxi Quad - Queen's Highway
[0.71 mi; 2:29; 548 ft; 26.0 mph max; 17.1 mph avg]
Run 2: Metro Quad - Bushwhacker
[0.70 mi; 3:27; 525 ft; 23.8 mph max; 12.3 mph avg]
Run 3: Metro Quad - Perry Merril Ave - Quarter Moon - Queen's Highway
[0.74 mi; 3:06; 518 ft; 25.2 mph max; 14.3 mph avg]
Run 4: Metro Quad - Perry Merril Ave - Chalet Meadows
[0.58 mi; 3:18; 341 ft; 25.9 mph max; 10.6 mph avg]
To my dismay, after a wonderful first run down Queen's Highway through buttery-soft snow, I realized that it was going to be a busy day again, and last weekend's lack of crowds were simply a fluke. The Tram line was already ridiculous, so I figured I'd get some laps in on the Metro until the Flyer opened for the day. Run #2 was down Bushwahcker - the groomed path was in great shape, but anything off of that was dust-on-rocks-and-roots. Run #3 was in the other direction down Quarter Moon, which was in much better shape and super fun! I got a text that Team Snowboard had landed at Stateside, so I took a run down Perry Merril and Chalet Meadows to find them.
Runs 5-6
Run 5: Bonaventure Quad - Goat Run - Green Mountain Boys - Deer Run - Ullr's Dream
[1.31 mi; 5:10; 1,631 ft; 26.3 mph max; 15.3 mph avg]
Run 6: Flyer Express Quad - Northway - Canyonland - Taxi - Show Off Glade - Micky
[1.29 mi; 11:15; 1,526 ft; 30.1 mph max; 6.9 mph avg]
Ray was still getting situated with his passes and rentals. Jay told him that he'd need to get his own pass for the day, so Emma gave him one of hers. I claimed Team Snowboard, and we hopped onto the Bonnie, which had a medium line - we hit the single's line and waited for no more than two minutes. I was hellbent on getting to The Flash, so we skied down Goat Run to Green Mountain Boys - both were scratchy. To my dismay, the cut-through through Exposition was AGAIN closed - no Flash for me (Sarah later pointed out I can get there through Expo Glade, which I always forget exists). We followed the lower part of Green Mountain boys to the delight that is Deer Run, which did make up!
Run #6 brought us up The Flyer (singles line, but Elizabeth and I got to ride together!) to Northway and onto Canyonland, which was pretty fine! I've gotten so much better at trees this season, and I love that I'm able to just ski them and not worry about dying all the time (just most the time, now!). We got pooped onto Taxi and aimed for Bonaventure Glade, but it was FULL of people, so we went one more over to Show Off Glade, which was functionally the exact same (maybe with a few more exposed rivers now?) and bottomed out on Micky before finding Ray!
Runs 7-9
Run 7: Taxi Quad - Queen's Highway
[0.71 mi; 3:04; 548 ft; 25.2 mph max; 14.0 mph avg]
Run 8: Metro Quad - Perry Merril Ave - Raccoon Run
[0.80 mi; 4:22; 558 ft; 20.3 mph max; 10.9 mph avg]
Run 9: Village Chair - Chalet Meadows - Shakedown
[0.19 mi; 1:18; 154 ft; 19.3 mph max; 8.9 mph avg]
We TRIED to claim Ray, but he did not listen to my very clear instructions that I texted to him. I called and asked where he was and he said "it says Metro Quad" - he was on Tramside. I told him to not move a muscle and we were on our way! We flew down Queen's Highway, claimed Ray, and introducted him to the world's slowest chair. Snowboard Emma and I wanted Ray and Elizabeth to fall in love, so we took Ray down Perry Merril to Raccoon Run and had them sit together on the Village Chair - they did NOT fall in love, sadly. We had a great run, though! At the top of the chair we saw it was 10:40, so time for Ray's lesson! Snowboard Emma, Elizabeth, and I hit the Shakedown Park (three boxes and a jump, my DREAM), did some quick chores, and sent Ray off to his last day of ski school! We're so proud of him!
Runs 10-14
Run 10: Bonaventure Quad - Goat Run - Green Mountain Boys - North Glade - Deer Run - Ullr's Dream
[1.21 mi; 8:26; 1,535 ft; 22.1 mph max; 8.6 mph avg]
Run 11: Flyer Express Quad - Poma Line - Ullr's Dream - Beaver Pond Glade - Kokomo - Ullr's Dream
[1.85 mi; 11:17; 1,729 ft; 26.9 mph max; 9.9 mph avg]
Run 12: Metro Quad - Perry Merril Ave - Chalet Meadows
[0.71 mi; 3:11; 371 ft; 24.8 mph max; 13.4 mph avg]
Run 13: Jet Triple - Timbuktu
[0.94 mi; 9:08; 1,240 ft; 29.6 mph max; 6.2 mph avg]
Run 14: Jet Triple - Montrealer - Northway - Hell's Woods - Hell's Crossing - Paradise Meadows
[1.07 mi; 6:25; 1,201 ft; 31.6 mph max; 9.9 mph avg]
We had no idea how long Ray's lesson would be, so we set a 1:30pm Rendez-Vous time (mostly because he can hold his own and I wanted some adventure skiing while the snow is still good). We dropped him off and went back to the Bonnie for Run #10. We decided to focus mostly on the glades for these runs, so we went back down Goat to Green Mountain Boys and had a wonderful time in North Glade before finishing onn Deer Run. Run #11 was intended to be Andre's Paradise, but I chickened out and lost speed before the up-ramp at the bottom of Ullr's headwall. I did hit Poma Line, which was... weird, which seems to be it's usual state of being. Beaver Pond was wonderful as always, even though it was decently crowded (we interrupted a 10-12 person safety meeting). Kokomo was a dream, per usual, as well.
Run #12 was up the Metro (the Flyer stopped running for a few minutes and we didn't want to get caught, since the Freezer was in full effect) and down Perry Merril to Chalet Meadows and all the way over to The Jet since Emma and Sarah were having their sit and I wanted to hit up Timbuktu. The line for the Jet was expectedly awful, but the single's line was moving decently. Poor Emma had a migrane, so we just quickly popped in to say hi at the top shack and then headed into Timbuktu, which was not as challenging as I expected. Sure, it was steep and maybe a little tight up top, but I think Saddleback shifted my brain chemistry on what challenging trees are (thank you, Casablanca 0). The lower part was fun and pretty mellow/open, and I was hyper-cognizant about staying in-bounds to not become the talk of patrol (and I know they would NOT be nice to me!). The lower bit was truly a bit underwhelming - felt more of a traverse than anything since we were cutting diagonally across the fall line at a not-so-steep angle, maybe I'm missing the part of Timbuktu that people lose their minds over? Either way, it was nice to get onto The Willard and get some bigger turns in.
We could have gone back to Stateside, but Ray was back on the Taxi and we decided it would be less energy to wait in line again for the Jet (I love being lazy). We got super lucky on this one, because the lifty was loading triple-singles over and over again, we waited in a comically long line for only about three minutes! We also got to ride together, which was just the icing on the cake.
Run #13 was down Montrealer to Hell's Woods. Partway down, I saw Emma and Sarah skiing down on Hell's Crossing, so I skied faster than I ever had in a glade to catch up to them - so fun! Emma was still hurting, so they were heading to the patrol room for some medication for her. The rest of us skied on back toward Stateside and got in line for rice balls! We had a drink, too, and a nice sit on the ground. The sun popped out for a bit, which was just a delight. Ray was very pleased with his first rice ball, too! I also ran into a recurring character, the Beekeeper, in the lodge, but we didn't talk long (I had to pee and everytime we spoke when I was in my dating era he'd stop responding after 72 hours until I saw him again at Jay).
Runs 15-19
Run 15: Taxi Quad - Queen's Highway - Grammy Jay
[0.77 mi; 4:33; 591 ft; 23.1 mph max; 10.2 mph avg]
Run 16: Village Chair - Queen's Highway
[0.44 mi; 2:46; 312 ft; 19.4 mph max; 9.5 mph avg]
Run 17: Metro Quad - Deer Run - Ullr's Dream
[0.72 mi; 3:56; 515 ft; 24.2 mph max; 11.0 mph avg]
Run 18: Metro Quad - Perry Merril Ave - Grammy Jay
[0.88 mi; 4:44; 554 ft; 21.2 mph max; 9.6 mph avg]
Run 19: Village Chair - Chalet Meadows
[0.18 mi; 1:09; 135 ft; 16.0 mph max; 9.6 mph avg]
We said goodbye to the snowboarders after rice balls and Ray and I ventured off to get some runs in together. Run #15 was up the Taxi and down to the infamous Grammy Jay. We skied right up to the headwall and talked through it - I told him he can do tight turns, wide turns, to send it and pray. He decided to go for tighter turns, and did a great job! Not a single fall!
Run #16 was up the Village Chair and down Queen's Highway to hop on the Metro for Run #17, which brought us over to Deer Run, which is just a delight. I spent some good time practicing my whirlybirds, which are coming along nicely! I think I'm most successful when I get my weight as centered as possible and kind of force my hips around (before I was basically trying to carve my way through them, which was NOT working).
We got back on the Metro for #18. We followed Perry Merril and hit the Grammy Jay again, where Ray got some more speed AND stuck it! Ray's final run was up the Village Chair and down Chalet Meadows - I blasted off to the Bonnie to get one (or two) more upper mountain runs in.
Run 20
Run 20: Bonaventure Quad - Northway - Upper Milk Run - Taxi - Bonaventure Glade - Micky
[1.36 mi; 8:01; 1,453 ft; 27.6 mph max; 10.2 mph avg]
Tragically, the Bonnie took me about 20 minutes to get off due to constant stopping... oh well! I followed Northway to Upper Milk which was... bad! Giant bumps with long stretches of sheet ice in between - I wish they had never groomed it! I landed on Taxi eventually and continued into the Bonaventure Glade for a really nice final push. Again, I'm feeling good about trees! Who would have thought years ago I'd be doing this! OH! I also forgot to mention (I forgot on the day, too) that this was my 100th day on skis! So fun!
Back at the lodge, we changed in the cafeteria and went for a drink at Howie's, which was busy as hell with folks wrapping up their day of freestyle competition. Thankfully, Ray and I got a spot at the bar, and the best bartender, MJ, got to us once Emma and Sarah showed up just a few minutes later. We had a few rounds of drinks here, congratulated Ray on his big day, MJ showed us a drone video of him skiing in Alaska, and then we headed into the patrol room for the St. Patrick's Day party (I told EVERYONE about Ray conquering the Grammy Jay headwall). We wrapped up after an hour or so and got a delicious dinner at the Village Tavern in Jeffersonville before falling asleep soon after.
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