Today is April 12. Many ski resorts have called it quits for the season and those who are still open are starting to see their trail counts dwindle, but not the East’s snowiest ski resort. As of this morning, the mountain had picked up 458 inches of snow this season. There are people who are skeptical of that number. They think there’s some marketing ~magic~ at play. To those people, I point to the trail count. They had 76 of 81 trails open today, April 12, which of course included most of their signature glades the mountain is so well known for. If that isn’t a testament to the snowfall they’ve received this season, I don’t know what is.

I skied with Pro Skier Darren White today, as well as his friend Bryan from New Hampshire and his daughter, who showed up later in the morning. To be honest, it was a tough decision on where to ski today because there was a decent dump expected in southern Vermont and while it was expected to snow a little at Jay, rain was in the forecast, too. Ultimately, Pro Skier Darren White and I weighed our options and decided on Jay Peak because of the open terrain. After all, it’s April 12 and trees are still in play at Jay. You’ve got to get it while it’s good! We may not be skiing trees again until next January.

We were on the snow when the main lifts started spinning. The mountain was empty all day and there were no lines for lifts. The day started off dry, but eventually, the snow, rain and low visibility moved in. The rain was limited to the lowest levels of the mountain and it eventually switched to mostly snow. I’d say overall, the mountain picked up a few inches of snow during the ski day. The fresh snow, while nice to see, did cause some of the terrain to be a little sticky at times, although nothing was terribly grabby. The higher up the mountain you were, the better the snow quality and there was even some powder out there, despite it generally being a wet snow.

In total, we skied 15 runs and all of them were in the trees. We made sure to hit most of our favorites, including Timbuktu, Andre’s Paradise, Hell’s Woods, Canyonland and Expo Glade. The coverage was fantastic pretty much everywhere in the trees, but some glades had “better” snow than others. For instance, Timbuktu may have had the best snow of the day. It was powder up high and then a little soft down low. Kitz Woods was also fantastic. Meanwhile, over on Tramside, the North Glade was amazing in the morning, but not as amazing in the afternoon. It was still good, though.

Overall, I’d rate today as a top tier April ski day. It really doesn’t get much better than this on April 12 in the East. Today was Day 75 for me on the season. Over those 75 ski days, there have been many days that I will remember forever, such as the day I broke six ribs, a powder day at Smuggler’s Notch on December 7 and now skiing a nearly fully open Jay Peak on April 12.

Never Quit Skiing,

Lincoln

SKIING A NEARLY FULLY OPEN JAY PEAK IN MID-APRIL

THE FINAL DAY OF THE SKI SEASON AT BOLTON VALLEY

RETURNING TO SUGARBUSH 9 WEEKS AFTER INJURY