Today was an incredible day at Jay Peak. It’s safe to say it was the best day of my 29 days so far this season. The snow was deep. There were no crowds. Most of the mountain was open. All of the lifts were open. It was a 10/10 day. The only knock was the terrible visibility up high — but who cares when the snow is as good as it was?

Jay Peak reported four to six new inches of snow overnight, although I think it may have been a bit more than that up high. The snow was powdery everywhere on the mountain and you could still find plenty of untracked snow in the trees even in the afternoon. As mentioned, all the lifts were open today. The tram opened for the season over the weekend and the Green Mountain Flyer just opened yesterday. With these openings came rope drops on terrain, which put the mountain’s trail count at 74 of 81 runs open. They anticipate being fully open by this weekend.

Unsurprisingly, I spent most of my day in the trees, but I did ski a few natural snow-only trails here and there. As I’ve said in the past, I just started skiing glades last year and I’m not a monster in the trees, but I do really enjoy it, even when I get my butt kicked, which happened on Everglade today. I’ve skied this glade before with no problem, but today the trees just felt too tight and the powder was too deep. I know it sounds ridiculous, but it took me probably 20 minutes to ski that glade. Needless to say, I did not return. Everglade was the only glade that gave me problems and I really enjoyed all the other glades I skied. Some of the notable ones include Canyonland and Expo Glade. Coverage in the trees is excellent, even down low on the mountain.

I rode the tram for the first time this season. My rule with the tram is simple: I will not wait in a long line to ride the tram. If I catch the tram with a short line I will ride it. The terrain off the tram is something I’m still really exploring. While I have a season pass to Jay Peak this year, I’ve only skied there probably 15 times total and the majority of those days were in April and May of last ski season. Today I skied Green Beret for the first time and loved it. This run is a natural snow-only trail and it starts off with a steep headwall and then gets a bit more mellow (in terms of steepness) and bumpy after that. I’ll for sure be returning in the future.

I was so busy skiing everything off the Flyer, Tram and Bonaventure Quad that I never even made it to the Jet Lift today, which is a shame because I really enjoy Kitz Woods and Timbuktu. I bet they were excellent! Next time.

Jay Peak is in mid-season form right now and if you can get there in the next few days you should. There’s some warm temperatures coming next Sunday and Monday. Who knows what the future holds. What we do know is that Jay is prime right now. Make the right choices.

Tomorrow is Christmas and I’ll be spending time with my beautiful wife and dogs. My next ski day should be Thursday. Word is Clinton County, New York’s Greatest Vertical Ski Hill will be opening for the season. It’s very possible I will end up lapping the T-bar there.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays,

Lincoln

SKIING POWDER AT JAY PEAK ON CHRISTMAS EVE

OPENING DAY OF THE SKI SEASON AT BEARTOWN SKI AREA

SKIING SUGARBUSH AND RIDING THE NEW HEAVEN’S GATE QUAD