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| Q, doing stuff |
Jay Peak is located in the Green Mountains and Jay National Forest, 5 miles from Canada in Vermont. The elevation is 3,858'. It used to be higher, but they cut off the top to make stuff. It has a vert of 2,153'.
Jay is gangsta; it can have brutal temps and wind. I only saw the sun a few times in six days. The rest of our trip was Jay gray. The weather can keep the faint of heart away, which equals more snow for me. Jay has more powder than anywhere in the east. They have gotten 248" this year! In comparison, Killington got 189" this year and stupid Vail got 346" (whatever Vail- we all know you're great). There are six lifts and an old school tram. So no rest for you on the tram- you just stand there. The tram holds 60 people and takes 8 min. to get to the top of the resort. In the morning of a powder day it can be like the 6 train, everyone jammed in a box breathing each other's air, but instead of going to stupid work, you are going for freshies.
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| me |
We got perfect conditions. It snowed four ft in the week that we were there. We shared this powder with like 100 people. Unbelievable. It was cold with temps of 5 and 10 with the windchill blowing below zero.
But none of that matters in the trees. You go to Jay for the trees. More than half of the mountain is glades. My second run, Jesse (who i met on the lift) took me hiking out of bounds off of the Flyer (I am bad at remembering names of runs). I fell in love with Jay at that first turn.
We originally booked a package with Jay Peak earlier on in the year, but it was snowing so much that we decided to leave the city early. Q found this amazing place, Shéady Acres and booked the Tea House (more on Shéady Acres and the O'Sheas in future posts). The tram had been closed our first day because of high winds, so the O'sheas had hiked up the peak and got the face. Eamon told me it would behove me to be on the first tram and follow their example. The next morning I choked on Face shots in the Face Chute. Soooo good.
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| Face and Tuckerman chutes |
It might have been best to have a guide, though; for these chutes. Three out of the four times that I did the Face or Tuckermans I ended up fighting my way out the trees right above the flyer, which is wrong. Later on Q heard some seven year olds on the tram talking about the face and tuckman chutes, "stupid people go there"- said one while pointing to my line.
On the fifth day, the sun came out and I decided to pay someone to take me to places I couldn't find on my own. I had also been spending a lot of time in the trees by myself, which isn't the smartest thing ever. I took a lesson, it was everything I dreamed of. Calla took me to many secrets. We giggled through the stashes of powder.
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| happy land |
I can't even explain how epic this trip was. I cried when we left.
