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 ...