Space Between Trees

On my way home for the holidays in NY, I stopped by my buddy Josh's house near Saratoga NY. I called up another friend, Chuck, who was visiting from Seattle. We piled into the Saab and headed to Gore Mountain for the day to find some fresh pow. I can honestly say I was thoroughly impressed with Gore. Loved the groomers, really liked the glades, especially since many of them were untouched. Below is a video Josh put together consisting of our day at Gore: Gore 12-23-08 Snowboarding from josh on Vimeo .

Friday December 19 Jay Peak had gotten a storm Wednesday going into Thursday. But prior to that, they had received rain. Lots of it from what I could tell. Although they had about 10inches of snow, it was obvious that the rain took a lot of the base with it. The mountain looked decimated. I rode with the Avomination all day. We found some decent snow in some of the intermediate woods, such as Buck woods and Buckaroo bonzai. Had to be careful though as roots and rocks were hiding under the trees. Saturday December 20 Rode with Vommie and Randy. There was a bit more snow. Rode with Tepper for the last few runs. It was a good day. Passholder's party. Good orchard runs on this day, especially on the left side away from the gullies. Sunday December 21 Good day. Started snowing about 10am. We got to the mountain at 10:30. Expo/Expo woods was killer. I was able to do big west coast style turns down expo proper. Everyone lauched off the exposed rock drops, but Randy launched off the rocks ...

Friday December 12th Slow drive up on Thursday evening because of an ice storm in Mass and snowstorm in and after Franconia Notch. Took me about 5 hours. Jay Peak got about 8 inches on Thursday night. It was heavy snow and when I got to the mountain there was a freezing mist. It wasn't necessarily cold, somewhat of a warmth in the air and lots of moisture. The snow consistency was heavy and in certain spots there was a thin crust on the snow, but easy to break through even for skiers. Only the jet and Tram were open. No crowds. Timbuk was nice in the morning as it usually is. Right along the orange line I found some good snow. I hit up the orchards for the first time this year. It was money. Lots of snow covered stumps and rocks to launch off of. Also did the Dip. It was money, even the last section which can be shady this early in the year. Beaver Pond rocked. Lots of freshies. Didn't even have to go out of bounds. It was a "Wahoo" run. I caught myself projecting an...

Friday - December 5th: First day of the season for me. Took it easy because a) wanted to test my strained hamstring (no problems whatsoever), b) thought I needed to familiarize myself with riding again, especially icy runs. Rode intermediate slopes most of the day - Montrealer to Northway to Hells. Did that most of the day. Some pow stashes on the sides of trails. Saturday - December 6th: Visit by Dan, Jess, Bump, Ryan. Also rode with Vommie and Leslie. Decent conditions. Jet trails were a bit icy but the Jet glades, Timbuk and Kitz woods, were in good shape. Had my best runs in Timbuk (close to Derricks). Sunday - December 7th: Sat around the house all morning. Received reports from the mountain that the Freezer was closed. Decided to wait until afternoon to go to the mountain hoping the Tram lines were small (they weren't). Several people said that the Jet runs were spent. We didn't bother going over there. But the main lodge side was empty. We hit Upper Goat to Expo glades ...

Well, it's really too late for me to update the site with day by day trail reports. Let's just say that February and March were not, indeed, epic like the last few years. Jay Peak got a lot of snow, but the powder days just didn't come when we were there. Lots of mixed precip weekends this year. So, instead of recapping every day for the past couple months, here's a video highlight reel. Hope you enjoy. Jay Peak 2008 from Chris Kelley on Vimeo .

January 19 and 20. First weekend back after the January thaw. Reports were that it did a number on the mountain. By the end of the week only half the mountain was open and I'm sure it was boilerplate at that. So I skipped it. I decided to go up the next weekend even though the reports weren't epic. But sometimes you just have to go and find out for yourself. And although the conditions weren't great, they weren't bad. Lots of dust on crust. It was the type of snow that one has to take several runs to get used to it. Most of the trails and glades were scratchy. I guess you could call it a skills strengthening weekend. My body was definitely worked by the end of the weekend. I think the highlight runs were in Beyond beaver pond. I found several good stashes in there. didn't even have to go beyond the rope to find the fresh stuff. Many people complain that beaver is a short run. But I find it to be some of the steepest shots on the mountain, which I'm very willing...

December 17th. Mid week trip up to Jay with Chuck who was visiting from the Seattle for the holidays. Also met up with old friends Aaron and ODM, who were pioneers at Jay long before I started going up there. They were all part of the crew that started getting houses at Jay going back 7 or 8 years ago. They all totally rip it hard and it was a fun, fast group to ski/ride with. Not a lot of stopping and talking on this day. Chuck thought it was one of the best powder days he's had at Jay ever. I can't make the same claim but it was still fantastic. I have to admit that I was a bit bitter that I had missed the previous weekend. According to Dan, Big Air, and Eric, it was one of the best weekends at Jay they've ever had. They called and sent pics on my phone while I was stuck down in North Carolina at a wedding. Though, I was happy I went. I'm just upset that I missed an epic weekend in Vermont. December 30th. Decided to head up to Cannon for the day with a large crew...