Saturday, April 11, 2026

Skiing Jay Peak (Day 41)

Skiing Jay Peak
Saturday, April 11th, 2026

Runs: 13
Distance: miles
Elevation: feet
Max Speed: mph
Avg. Speed: mph
Moving Time
Total Time

Back up Jay for another day of silliness! The main objective of the day was to meet up with some Friends who I ususally do not ski with, but who were spending the weekend at Jay. I couldn't afford to join the AirBnb, but was happy to join for the day! Everyone had a slow start. Emma and I got to the mountain around 10:00am - she planned to go for a bike ride but it turned out to be too windy for that to be even remotely pleasant, so she decided to ski with me - yay! I got a pass from patrol and went upstairs to boot up. I waited for Emma at the bottom of the Jet, but then she told me she got caught chit chatting, so I'd get started without her.


Snow Report
SATURDAY APRIL 11 AT 8:31 AM
Sweet Turns, Sweet Weekend
Spring lift hours: - Lower mountain: 9:00AM - 5:00PM. - Upper mountin: 9:30AM - 5:00PM.
9/9 lifts will spin on time today
A few flakes are floating around this morning before we pivot into a sunnier spring setup.
It'll be a bit of a gusty start, but winds should die down come afternoon. Surfaces are smi-frozen and a little inconsistent across the mountain to start the day, but with more sunshine and temps climbing into the mid 30s at the base, things should soften up as we head into the afternoon.
We cool back down overnight, setting up a frosty start Sunday. Temps dip into the teens down low, with 20s and even 30s higher up thanks to an inversion. Blue skies stick around for much of the day before clouds begin to move in late as a warm front approaches.
That shift brings a quick rebound, with temps climbing into the 40s Sunday and lighter winds for most of the day. Overall, a beautiful spring weekend shaping up.
Don't put the winter gear away just yet.
Nothing's ever set in stone up here, so give the Snow Report or Jay Peak App a look before you head out and while you're chasing laps.

Runs 1-4
Run 1: Jet Triple - The Jet
[0.71 mi; 3:34; 1,224 ft; 28.5 mph max; 11.9 mph avg]
Run 2: Jet Triple - Montrealer - Catwalk - Northway - Angel's Wiggle - Paradise Meadows
[1.32 mi; 5:06; 1,194 ft; 29.5 mph max; 15.5 mph avg]
Run 3: Bonaventure Quad - Goat Run - Upper Upper Exposition - Green Mountain Boys - The Flash - Harmony Lane
[1.31 mi; 5:53; 1,604 ft; 29.2 mph max; 13.3 mph avg]
Run 4: Green Mountain Flyer - Northway - Angel's Wiggle - Taxi - Boulevard
[1.72 mi; 7:10; 1,555 ft; 29.1 mph max; 14.4 mph avg]

Conditions were going to be interesting today! Mostly cloudy, mostly chilly, but maybe some sun and maybe some warmth? I did Run #1 by myself and decided to just do the Jet top to bottom to see how it felt, and it felt... mostly fine. I was going to ride the chair by myself but two... very kind... snowboarders said "are you riding solo? not anymore buddy get on over here!" Very kind... They said Haynes was super icy, but Jet really wasn't looking too bad, and it wasn't! Few slick spots, but nothing absurd.

At the bottom, Emma soon joined me and we skied the Montrealer down to the Wiggle, which was all in pretty solid shape! I still hate the new traffic flow on Montrealer, but it's fine... I STILL needed to ski The Flash, so that's where my sights were on next. We took the Bonnie up and skied over to Goat, which was... not great. We took Upper Upper Exposition to Green Mountain Boys, which was in significantly better shape! I wanted to hit Expo Glade, but it just wasn't warm enough for the snow to be worth the pain. The Flash was covered in sticks but such a fun, little trail! It's short, but starts off narrow and winding before opening up with two ways out - I really enjoyed it! I then put the cherry on top by ending on Harmony Lane and comically getting a PR on Strava (which was one second faster than Emma's PR, mind you). 

We got the text that Sarah had landed at Jay, so we were going to head over to see her (plus I was sweating and had to pee from a couple of lift beers). We took the Flyer up and both almost fell off of the chair unloading - either it was running slower than usual or the unload ramp had just melted enough where you can no longer jump up the second it hits the terminal to sling-shot off the chair - oops! We followed Northway to the Wiggle to Taxi, which was LOW tide, and then planned to "rip the shit" out of the Boulevard, but a family got in my way... curses! I want a new PR for there, too! I did not get my PR, but I did run into friends Matthew and Josh in the Bullwheel! They were a part of the crew that was up for the weekend, but they both seemed mostly done for the day (at 11:30am) - they were having a tough time in the corn and Josh ended up hurting his knee. 

Runs 5-6 
Run 5: Jet Triple - Haynes - Mont l'Entripide
[0.70 mi; 3:24; 1,211 ft; 32.3 mph max; 12.4 mph avg]
Run 6: Jet Triple - Montrealer - Catwalk - Northway - Angel's Wiggle - Taxi - Queen's Highway
[1.76 mi; 8:52; 1,285 ft; 26.6 mph max; 11.9 mph avg]

We picked up Sarah with a few on-duty patrollers behind her and hopped back onto The Jet. Emma and Sarah both had Ramen on their minds, and I could easily be convinced (EDIT: I shouldn't have, it did WEIRD things to my stomach...). We took Montrealer to Taxi and then followed Queen's Highway all the way down. I officially skied the skier's right side of the Tramside Carpet, which I had never done (but now I can mark it on my map!), and then we got out delicious ramen. We enjoyed it outside next to a GIANT inflatable Dermatone tube - it was the Vertical Challenge race day, so there were lots of vendors and what not at Tramside base. Also, the Tram was officially not running due to wind, tragic! I actually really did want to finally ski Green Beret... but oh well...

Runs 7-8
Run 7: Tramside Carpet
Run 8: Green Mountain Flyer - Goat Run - Upper Upper Exposition - Goat Run - Lover River Quai - Bushawhacker - Ullr's Dream
[1.69 mi; 7:46; 1,713 ft; 25.0 mph max; 13.1 mph avg]

Next plan was to get a couple runs and then get a drink. We rode the Tramside Carpet, where an older man in front of Emma tried to walk backwards on skis to talk to her? She put him in his place. We then skied over to the Flyer, flirting with the idea that we'd ski Expo Glade. We took Goat Run, which was in a stage of rapid deterioration, back to Upper Upper Exposition, and then gave up when we saw how hard and unpeleasant Expo looked. Instead, we had a joyous time down Lower River Quai and then cut over to Bushwhacker, which was thinly covered but super fun and spring-like! I was skeptical, but very glad we went in! After this run, we went into Tower Bar and saw it was mobbed, so we decided to pivot to either Howies or Bullwheel. They had paperwork to do for patrol and wanted to take the Metro, so I told them I'd take the Flyer and meet them when they're done.

Runs 9-10
Run 9: Green Mountain Flyer - Northway - Upper Milk Run - Taxi - Showoff Glade - Micky - Kangaroo Trail
[1.55 mi; 9:13; 1,545 ft; 25.7 mph max; 10.1 mph avg]
Run 10: Bonaventure Quad - Northway - Upper Milk Run - Taxi - Lower Milk Run - Kangaroo Trail
[1.34 mi; 7:49; 1,450 ft; 26.5 mph max; 10.3 mph avg]

Emma and Sarah did their chores as I checked out Upper Milk Run, which was in better shape than it had been this season, but the bumps were huge and HARD. Skiable, though! I continued onto Taxi and followed what were effectively detour signs to get to Micky through Showoff Glade. I did a bad job in Showoff, I did a great job on Micky! Super fun spring turns with a few creeks to pray over. From here I followed what's left of Kangaroo Trail on the way out. 

I met Emma and Sarah in the gear shop so Sarah could spend the rest of her Patrol stipend (she got a buff), but to my surprise they both debooted and didn't do their paperwork yet... I just wish they told me that before I made my way to the shop. I told them I'd get another run in and then meet them for a drink, so Run #10 was back up the Bonnie with a redemption on Upper Milk Run (I did a better job). This time, I followed Lower Milk (per usual, fine but less fun than Micky) and back to Kangaroo Trail. I met the patrollers who were fully in street clothes now, we each got a drink at Bullwheel, and sat out by the fire pretending it was warmer than it was while enjoying our beverages.

Runs 11-13
Run 11: Taxi Quad - Queen's Highway
[0.75 mi; 3:16; 545 ft; 23.8 mph max; 13.8 mph avg]
Run 12: Green Mountain Flyer - Ullr's Dream - Beaver Pond Glade - Kokomo - Ullr's Dream
[1.78 mi; 11:01; 1,686 ft; 29.1 mph max; 9.7 mph avg]
Run 13: Green Mountain Flyer - Northway - Angel's Wiggle - Taxi - Boulevard
[1.69 mi; 6:24; 1,503 ft; 36.3 mph max; 15.8 mph avg]

Emma and Sarah wrapped up and were ready to go home a bit before 4:00pm. Thankfully, we planned for this: Emma and I drove up in Emma's car, and Sarah drove seperately in case I wanted to stay but Emma wanted to leave - it worked! I said my goodbyes to them, talked to another patroller, Bonne, for a bit, and then tried to meet up with some friends I met in the fall who are friends with Matthew and Josh - Sergio and Gus. I found them at the top of the Taxi. Thankfully, they have LOUD ski suits so I was able to find them pretty easily. They were helping their friend learn to ski (at 4:00pm in April is NOT easy conditions at all). I said hi, did a quick catch-up, but then said my goodbyes because I wanted a few more big mountain runs in, but then Sergio decided to join, yay!

Run #12 was up the Flyer with Sergio - he said he skied Beaver Pond earlier and it wasn't horrible, so I was down! We shared a lift drink and had a nice time cruising down Ullr's. We both started a few years ago and seem to be roughly at the same level of skiing, which was fun! Usually my friends are MUCH better than me or still learning. We both made our way through Beaver Pond a few turns at a time, doding the occasional river and blowdown. It wasn't what dreams were made of, but it was sure nice to get in there! Kokomo was still going strong, so we cruised through Kokomo back to the Flyer.

It was just about 5:00pm (JayLight savings time!), so we knew it was time to call it. Sergio proposed the Metro, I proposed the Flyer, he bit! We did an easy run down Northway to Taxi, which truly skied the same it had all day. We said our goodbyes, he went down Queen's Highway and I BLASTED down the Boulevard, but did not get a new PR :(. 

I packed up pretty quickly and had a nice drive home to Emma's where we watched the second half of Hot Dog... The Movie! and the first half of "Zapped" - it autoplayed and was WEIRD before heading to bed. Tomorrow I planned to hike and ski Cannon's closing day!

Map of Jay Peak (2025-2026, Updated)

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