Let's just get right into it. We got a lot to cover. Three weeks up at Jay, which will be the last three weeks of the season.
We have to go all the way back to March 25th and 26th. This was the weekend after St. Patrick's day, a weekend well worth missing. Here's the short of it - POGUES in Boston on the 15th including Trivia at the Kinsale with my NY pals Chaz, Brad and Jenn; Thursday before St. Paddy's at McGills in New Paltz NY; and St. Paddy's Day in NYC and McGills. Good week all around.
March 25 and 26
ANYWAY, going back to the 25th. My notes say it was cloudy and mild. But now that I think about it, the weather threatened rain all day. It even sleeted in the morning for an hour or so. The snow was somewhat firm, because the day before was supposedly beautiful and warm. And then Saturday was a little colder so the snow hardened up. But the precipitation continue until it started snowing. And snowing. AND SNOWING!! Holy eff'n shit! IT'S SNOWING HARD!! BIG FAT FLAKES! BIG WET FAT FLAKES!! ALL HAIL THE JAY CLOUD!!
It snowed for less than an hour, but within that hour we received 3 inches!!! Awesome. We were all planning on skipping the rest of the day, but with the refresh, we decided to ski/ride for the rest of the day. We made it all the way to 4pm.
Best runs of the day: Timbuktu. No doubt. The snow underneath was soft enough to push around and the three fresh inches on top made it even better. I honestly don't remember any other runs on this day.
Sunday the 26th..Ummm....hmmm...My notes say pleasant, semi soft snow. That's it. That's the list. I bet it was a better day than expected. I just don't remember. I actually think it was really nice and sunny. Actually better than Saturday. But I'm not really sure. Whatever. On to the next weekend.
April 1st and 2nd
This weekend was rather uncrowded at the house. Only 3 of us. Randy, Me, and my buddy Josh. This was Josh's first time at the house. Welcome, Josh.
So this was a good weekend as well when discussing conditions. It was really soft and sunny. Saturday would have been a great day for our BBQ.
The riding on Saturday and Sunday were typical spring skiing conditions. Soft, heavy snow. Because Josh was riding with us, we didn't hit too may glades. Just a few only so Josh could experience them. But, really, it wasn't the type of day to be riding the trees. Towards the end of the season one of our favorite runs became the Ultimate Groomer (Lower Goat) and traditionally became our warm-up run every day.
We also hit the snow park a few times this weekend. On Saturday, I made the decision to hit Jay's Monster Kicker. It's a pretty freakin big jump, Only because the gap is like 10 deep. I guess the transition is pretty long too. This makes it super dangerous if you fail to make the landing (for example, where the camera dude is standing in the linked picture). In the past, not making the landing on a gap jump is how I screwed up my knee. Anyway, I knew this so I pointed it from the take off area, and I just barely made the landing on this day.
On Sunday, Randy make the (bad) decision of also attempting this jump. I don't know what the hell was going through his mind, As far as I knew, he had never hit a jump this big. Ever. I also never saw him hit any of the medium size jumps in the park previously. So he was basically going into it cold. I actually went first down the park and bypassed the monster kicker and opted for the smaller kicker a little lower. But Randy decided to hit the jump. Unfortunately, he supposedly speed check a few times prior to taking off. Bad decision. He took off and didn't even come close to the landing (according to Josh). A minute later, Josh saw Randy CRAWLING away from the jump up to the side of the slope. He was done. He said his legs were in pain from his knees down to his toes, and especially his heels. Apparently, Randy spent the next week walking around on his tippy-toes. HA!
April 8th and 9th - Last weekend of the year.
We were slow about getting to the mountain in the morning. Stupid us. It had snowed 10 inches during the week and a few inches at the top the night before. Above 2500ft. it was winter. Snow covered the trees and there was plenty of pow above the peak. We spent the morning riding the Jet mostly, but we eventually made our way over to the Tram. This was obviously the place to be. People were dropping the face chutes and Valhalla all morning long. So we didn't get fresh tracks, But for it being mid-April it was fine and dandy. And this was our first opportunity to hit the face chutes this year. Actually, I think it was the first time I did a track directly under the tram. Pretty sweet run. We, meaning Callin, Eric, Dan and I, did it again.
We ended Saturday by grilling a little, but it was colder than we expected so we cut the annual end of the year grilling a little short and decided to go back to the house, where it was sunnier and warmer.
Sunday was a nicer than Saturday. A little warmer, so the snow was softer. Callin and I did a Pump House run. We found a fresh line or two. But since the snow was heavy, he was having trouble keeping his skis together. We ended up going down the bottom of Green Beret which was also fun.
I spent the rest of the day riding by myself. I did a couple more Tram runs including a spectacular run from the Pump house, but instead of turning to the left underneath the shack, I headed right toward the top of Green Beret. I found a untouched chute of fresh snow. I got 5-6 turns before I needed to stop. Awesome. I also headed over to the Flyer for a few runs. I found some really good turns in the Weids, especially at the top. Beaver Pond area was a little beat up though.
I ended the day back on the Jet. I *almost* considered doing a dip run, but instead did "half" dip runs then traversed back to Hot shot. I guess there is some sort of trail that will get you back. I tried to find it but failed. But I still had some sweet runs in the orchards. Again, the snow would have been too difficult for a skier, but it was fine on a snowboard. I think those runs are ones I'll remember the most from that day. Anyway, it was a good full last day of the season.
On to the golf season! Where the term "space between trees" takes on a whole new meaning....
We have to go all the way back to March 25th and 26th. This was the weekend after St. Patrick's day, a weekend well worth missing. Here's the short of it - POGUES in Boston on the 15th including Trivia at the Kinsale with my NY pals Chaz, Brad and Jenn; Thursday before St. Paddy's at McGills in New Paltz NY; and St. Paddy's Day in NYC and McGills. Good week all around.
March 25 and 26
ANYWAY, going back to the 25th. My notes say it was cloudy and mild. But now that I think about it, the weather threatened rain all day. It even sleeted in the morning for an hour or so. The snow was somewhat firm, because the day before was supposedly beautiful and warm. And then Saturday was a little colder so the snow hardened up. But the precipitation continue until it started snowing. And snowing. AND SNOWING!! Holy eff'n shit! IT'S SNOWING HARD!! BIG FAT FLAKES! BIG WET FAT FLAKES!! ALL HAIL THE JAY CLOUD!!
It snowed for less than an hour, but within that hour we received 3 inches!!! Awesome. We were all planning on skipping the rest of the day, but with the refresh, we decided to ski/ride for the rest of the day. We made it all the way to 4pm.
Best runs of the day: Timbuktu. No doubt. The snow underneath was soft enough to push around and the three fresh inches on top made it even better. I honestly don't remember any other runs on this day.
Sunday the 26th..Ummm....hmmm...My notes say pleasant, semi soft snow. That's it. That's the list. I bet it was a better day than expected. I just don't remember. I actually think it was really nice and sunny. Actually better than Saturday. But I'm not really sure. Whatever. On to the next weekend.
April 1st and 2nd
This weekend was rather uncrowded at the house. Only 3 of us. Randy, Me, and my buddy Josh. This was Josh's first time at the house. Welcome, Josh.
So this was a good weekend as well when discussing conditions. It was really soft and sunny. Saturday would have been a great day for our BBQ.
The riding on Saturday and Sunday were typical spring skiing conditions. Soft, heavy snow. Because Josh was riding with us, we didn't hit too may glades. Just a few only so Josh could experience them. But, really, it wasn't the type of day to be riding the trees. Towards the end of the season one of our favorite runs became the Ultimate Groomer (Lower Goat) and traditionally became our warm-up run every day.
We also hit the snow park a few times this weekend. On Saturday, I made the decision to hit Jay's Monster Kicker. It's a pretty freakin big jump, Only because the gap is like 10 deep. I guess the transition is pretty long too. This makes it super dangerous if you fail to make the landing (for example, where the camera dude is standing in the linked picture). In the past, not making the landing on a gap jump is how I screwed up my knee. Anyway, I knew this so I pointed it from the take off area, and I just barely made the landing on this day.
On Sunday, Randy make the (bad) decision of also attempting this jump. I don't know what the hell was going through his mind, As far as I knew, he had never hit a jump this big. Ever. I also never saw him hit any of the medium size jumps in the park previously. So he was basically going into it cold. I actually went first down the park and bypassed the monster kicker and opted for the smaller kicker a little lower. But Randy decided to hit the jump. Unfortunately, he supposedly speed check a few times prior to taking off. Bad decision. He took off and didn't even come close to the landing (according to Josh). A minute later, Josh saw Randy CRAWLING away from the jump up to the side of the slope. He was done. He said his legs were in pain from his knees down to his toes, and especially his heels. Apparently, Randy spent the next week walking around on his tippy-toes. HA!
April 8th and 9th - Last weekend of the year.
We were slow about getting to the mountain in the morning. Stupid us. It had snowed 10 inches during the week and a few inches at the top the night before. Above 2500ft. it was winter. Snow covered the trees and there was plenty of pow above the peak. We spent the morning riding the Jet mostly, but we eventually made our way over to the Tram. This was obviously the place to be. People were dropping the face chutes and Valhalla all morning long. So we didn't get fresh tracks, But for it being mid-April it was fine and dandy. And this was our first opportunity to hit the face chutes this year. Actually, I think it was the first time I did a track directly under the tram. Pretty sweet run. We, meaning Callin, Eric, Dan and I, did it again.
We ended Saturday by grilling a little, but it was colder than we expected so we cut the annual end of the year grilling a little short and decided to go back to the house, where it was sunnier and warmer.
Sunday was a nicer than Saturday. A little warmer, so the snow was softer. Callin and I did a Pump House run. We found a fresh line or two. But since the snow was heavy, he was having trouble keeping his skis together. We ended up going down the bottom of Green Beret which was also fun.
I spent the rest of the day riding by myself. I did a couple more Tram runs including a spectacular run from the Pump house, but instead of turning to the left underneath the shack, I headed right toward the top of Green Beret. I found a untouched chute of fresh snow. I got 5-6 turns before I needed to stop. Awesome. I also headed over to the Flyer for a few runs. I found some really good turns in the Weids, especially at the top. Beaver Pond area was a little beat up though.
I ended the day back on the Jet. I *almost* considered doing a dip run, but instead did "half" dip runs then traversed back to Hot shot. I guess there is some sort of trail that will get you back. I tried to find it but failed. But I still had some sweet runs in the orchards. Again, the snow would have been too difficult for a skier, but it was fine on a snowboard. I think those runs are ones I'll remember the most from that day. Anyway, it was a good full last day of the season.
On to the golf season! Where the term "space between trees" takes on a whole new meaning....
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