Alright, so I guess my idea to do updates about Jay wasn't so original after all. Seems like there is (was?) another crew with the same idea. But they seem to be bummin' about the dire snow situation this year and haven't gotten around to updating.

Check it: http://www.firstchairmag.com/

Ahh, brings back memories from the past few years.

This weekend started out as sucking, but ended up being not so sucky, but also not so good either. Their base really took a hit on Friday due to ANOTHER rain event. Mother Nature, you're dead to me.

Saturday, I think, can go down as a TOP 5 WDAJ (Worst Days at Jay). Brutally cold and windy. The snow was in bad shape and slow. I almost got frostbite on my nose. My toes were frozen solid to the point I had to go inside (I hardly EVER go inside due to cold extremities). I broke my binding strapping in at the top then had to make it all the way down with no ankle strap. I had the most runs of the day with 3. Everyone else only did one or two. Just. Brutal.

We ended up going to Newport and hanging out at the Lucky Dog tavern and went bowling. BOWLING! Did you know there are bowling alleys that still make you count the pins, instead of the overhead computer doing for you? I didn't know this. We even had to figure out how to score strikes and spares. Actually, it's not as hard as I thought. Unfortunately, no turkeys.

We also decided since the day sucked so bad that it was a good day to visit the handful of drinking establishments in the Jay Peak community. Snowline, Inglenook, and the JVI all made the cut. We even attempted to stop by the Lodge, but the door to Squiddies was closed so we packed up and headed home.

Sunday was only a little better than Saturday. I don't even remember if it snowed at all. But the slopes were in better shape and I even found some decent snow in some of the trees. The best stuff was found in the Usuals. That's about all. Only Callin and his buddy Burch made it out also on Sunday.

Funny story about Burch. This dude drove up Thursday night from Jersey to spend the weekend at the house. On Friday, Jay closed all the upper lifts due to the wind. On Saturday, he rode two runs and called it quits because of the cold. AND he didn't get his money back. On Sunday, we took two runs, attempted to follow Callin and I into the Usuals and fell right into a birch (ironic?). Possible sprained knee. I feel sorry for the guy because just before that run he was all gungho about following us into the glades even though he didn't have much experience in them. I even made a comment about how we didn't mind him following us, but we don't want him to get hurt. Then, BAM!, next thing you know, he's going down the hill in a Ski Patrol sled. I don't think he had a very good weekend.

Monday was definitely the best day of the weekend. The crowds were minimal and the weather turned into a normal Jay day – 15 to 20 degrees, light wind, and snow flurries spitting all day long. The mountain must have picked up a couple inches the night before, which was just enough dust to cover up the crust. In all honesty, I had many good runs including ones in Timbuk orchards and my first BBP run. Also the right side of the Usuals was killer. I was getting fresh tracks all day long. They weren't exactly deep turns, but they were enough to get me psyched for the upcoming weekend.

Since Monday, Jay has been picking up small increments of snow each day. But, that works for me. An inch here, 6 inches there, another 3 the next day. It all adds up.