NO GROOMERS THIS WEEKEND!!
Made it up to Jay at about 3am on Saturday morning after leaving Dan and Jess's Holiday party at Sullivan's Tavern in Charlestown around 10:30pm with Randy. The roads up to the Notch were pretty manageable. They were entirely clear, maybe a little wet but nothing that slowed us down too much. But the situation changed entirely once we hit the Notch. Almost immediately the roads became snowpacked and it started squalling. I figured that after the pass the roads would improve, but I was mistaken. For the rest of the trip we had snowpacked roads. This slowed us down quite a bit. The squalls became heavy at times and I really needed to take it easy. We finally made it without any events though.
Randy whined about my loud music all the way up. He's totally annoying. I'm never giving him a ride again.
Then, when we got there, the driveway hadn't been plowed. WTF?!!
It was pretty deep, too. Probably 10 to 12 inches. Luckily it was powdery.
Saturday - Dec 17
Got up to the mountain around 10am. F'd around for probably a 1/2 hour. Randy was slow as balls getting his pass. I had to call Chaz about my Football picks (didn't come close to winning this week).
On the lift at 10:30. The snow looked spectacular right away. I didn't see much untracked pow pow under the Freezer, but Expedition looked nice and soft. There was lots of texture to the trail. Bumps and drops with soft landings. We decided to head right for it before more people saw how nice it was. I found a line down skiers left near the Usual trees then cut back to the left and found a nice little kicker that sent me about 10 ft down the mountain, then continued to the left side of the slope for another little hit. Great first run of the day. We hit that trail a consecutive time. On the third ride up we saw Scott and Aaron chillin' at the top of the lift. We exchanged greetings and headed to Beyond Beaver Pond. This was a little beat up already. Seems like more and more people head to these glades right away and skip the inner-mountain glades and trails.
Next we hit JFK to lower Everglade. This trail seemed to be the winner of the day. It hadn't been bumped up yet so it was easy to fly down JFK. And Everglade still had some nice pockets of freshies. I found a nice pitch that hadn't been touched at all. We just kept on hitting that section over and over all weekend. I was still getting good snow here towards the end of the day on Sunday.
The JFK/Everglade combo was revisited three times in a row.
Then we hit Expedition again and the usuals (I really had a tough time finding a good line) and made our way over to the Jet. Over on the Jet side, we hit the Islands (not bad, but they need a little more coverage. Still too many surprises underneath the fresh stuff). Then we went to Kitz Woods at which point we all kinda got separated. We ment to kickout above the orange fence and we were going to meet over at the Freezer, but I don't think any of us made it. I went down to the T-Bar, saw scott and Aaron and waited for Randy. But he went back to the Jet. THe day slowed down at this point. I was starting to feel it, as was Randy and we had lost the other group. After finding Randy again he did one more run (JFK?) and I did a final run in Beaver Pond.
Apres ski, as usual, was at the Eagle. Scott and Randy were chillin' when I arrived, Aaron showed up at about 4:00. And, surprisingly, Eric showed up a few moments after Aaron. It was great to see that Eric made it up to the mountain after the late night that followed Dan's party. The I-Room was having a Season Pass Holder's party (FREE BEER), so we hung out there for a bit. Then Randy went back to the eagle to watch the Gints game. I went home then back the Eagle to pick Randy up. We all went back to the house and promptly fell asleep.
At some point I called Chaz. He wanted me to mention this and apparently I left a message and gave out a big Howard Dean yell, "Yeeeeoooohhhhh!!" Or something like that. I don't remember doing this.
Sunday - Dec 18
OK. I'm gonna start cutting words. These entries are too long.
Woke up about 8:30. Made it to the mountain about 10am. I switch to my Custom X. Randy decided to borrow my old Custom. Met up with Dave Favazza, a friend that moved to Burlington with his girlfriend, Grace, this past year. Dave's never been to Jay. We had to show him around.
First up - JFK/Everglade. We liked it so much the day before we decided to go back right away. I think we then did a run down the Usuals again. Then we went over to the Bonny area. This section had been closed the day before so we figured th
at there would still be some good snow. Gosh, were we correct. WE headed to Vertigo, since it's pretty difficult to access. River Quai definitely was sketchy. Lots of rocks hiding under the thin cover.But totally worth it. Vertigo was spectacular. There was lots of deep snow in there. I had many occasions of fresh turns and could just lean back and point the board. We hit this run three times in a row and probably could have gone back for more. I would say this was the run of the weekend. We had a great time in there.
We then headed over to the Jet. Did a run in Timbuk, but I wasn't impressed. I headed into the orchards but again, this area benefits from a deep base. I'll visit it again in a few weeks.
Then we saw Eric and Nikki coming down the Jet on our way back up. We decided to meet up with them and head over to the Main lodge for some lunch. Dave, Randy, and I ate at the Pizza place. After lunch, I don't remember what we did. I think we hit Beaver Pond for one run. We also did a run in the North Woods (we actually did one in North woods in the morning also). These glades are small but fun. Lots of texture in there. I should scope out some natural jumps in there next time. Plenty of room between the trees. We ended the day by doing Vertigo one last time.
Made it home around 10:30pm.
I must say that it was a spectacular first full weekend. And it looks like the snow just continues to fall up there.
Day Ratings: Saturday: 7.3 Sunday 7.8
I will write again in about two weeks.
Randy whined about my loud music all the way up. He's totally annoying. I'm never giving him a ride again.
Then, when we got there, the driveway hadn't been plowed. WTF?!!
It was pretty deep, too. Probably 10 to 12 inches. Luckily it was powdery.
Saturday - Dec 17
Got up to the mountain around 10am. F'd around for probably a 1/2 hour. Randy was slow as balls getting his pass. I had to call Chaz about my Football picks (didn't come close to winning this week).
On the lift at 10:30. The snow looked spectacular right away. I didn't see much untracked pow pow under the Freezer, but Expedition looked nice and soft. There was lots of texture to the trail. Bumps and drops with soft landings. We decided to head right for it before more people saw how nice it was. I found a line down skiers left near the Usual trees then cut back to the left and found a nice little kicker that sent me about 10 ft down the mountain, then continued to the left side of the slope for another little hit. Great first run of the day. We hit that trail a consecutive time. On the third ride up we saw Scott and Aaron chillin' at the top of the lift. We exchanged greetings and headed to Beyond Beaver Pond. This was a little beat up already. Seems like more and more people head to these glades right away and skip the inner-mountain glades and trails.
Next we hit JFK to lower Everglade. This trail seemed to be the winner of the day. It hadn't been bumped up yet so it was easy to fly down JFK. And Everglade still had some nice pockets of freshies. I found a nice pitch that hadn't been touched at all. We just kept on hitting that section over and over all weekend. I was still getting good snow here towards the end of the day on Sunday.
The JFK/Everglade combo was revisited three times in a row.
Then we hit Expedition again and the usuals (I really had a tough time finding a good line) and made our way over to the Jet. Over on the Jet side, we hit the Islands (not bad, but they need a little more coverage. Still too many surprises underneath the fresh stuff). Then we went to Kitz Woods at which point we all kinda got separated. We ment to kickout above the orange fence and we were going to meet over at the Freezer, but I don't think any of us made it. I went down to the T-Bar, saw scott and Aaron and waited for Randy. But he went back to the Jet. THe day slowed down at this point. I was starting to feel it, as was Randy and we had lost the other group. After finding Randy again he did one more run (JFK?) and I did a final run in Beaver Pond.
Apres ski, as usual, was at the Eagle. Scott and Randy were chillin' when I arrived, Aaron showed up at about 4:00. And, surprisingly, Eric showed up a few moments after Aaron. It was great to see that Eric made it up to the mountain after the late night that followed Dan's party. The I-Room was having a Season Pass Holder's party (FREE BEER), so we hung out there for a bit. Then Randy went back to the eagle to watch the Gints game. I went home then back the Eagle to pick Randy up. We all went back to the house and promptly fell asleep.
At some point I called Chaz. He wanted me to mention this and apparently I left a message and gave out a big Howard Dean yell, "Yeeeeoooohhhhh!!" Or something like that. I don't remember doing this.
Sunday - Dec 18
OK. I'm gonna start cutting words. These entries are too long.
Woke up about 8:30. Made it to the mountain about 10am. I switch to my Custom X. Randy decided to borrow my old Custom. Met up with Dave Favazza, a friend that moved to Burlington with his girlfriend, Grace, this past year. Dave's never been to Jay. We had to show him around.
First up - JFK/Everglade. We liked it so much the day before we decided to go back right away. I think we then did a run down the Usuals again. Then we went over to the Bonny area. This section had been closed the day before so we figured th
at there would still be some good snow. Gosh, were we correct. WE headed to Vertigo, since it's pretty difficult to access. River Quai definitely was sketchy. Lots of rocks hiding under the thin cover.But totally worth it. Vertigo was spectacular. There was lots of deep snow in there. I had many occasions of fresh turns and could just lean back and point the board. We hit this run three times in a row and probably could have gone back for more. I would say this was the run of the weekend. We had a great time in there.
We then headed over to the Jet. Did a run in Timbuk, but I wasn't impressed. I headed into the orchards but again, this area benefits from a deep base. I'll visit it again in a few weeks.
Then we saw Eric and Nikki coming down the Jet on our way back up. We decided to meet up with them and head over to the Main lodge for some lunch. Dave, Randy, and I ate at the Pizza place. After lunch, I don't remember what we did. I think we hit Beaver Pond for one run. We also did a run in the North Woods (we actually did one in North woods in the morning also). These glades are small but fun. Lots of texture in there. I should scope out some natural jumps in there next time. Plenty of room between the trees. We ended the day by doing Vertigo one last time.
Made it home around 10:30pm.
I must say that it was a spectacular first full weekend. And it looks like the snow just continues to fall up there.
Day Ratings: Saturday: 7.3 Sunday 7.8
I will write again in about two weeks.
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