Jay Peak Feb 20-21, 2010

Ski Days 13 and 14.

Jay. Peak. Rules. Jay delivers again. No new snow on Saturday and it was colder and windier than it looked, however the conditions were very good all over the mountain. Even our warm up run down the Goat (aka The Worlds Greatest Groomer) was really good and that run is usually is scraped off by the first skier! Once warmed up we hit up... i honestly can't remember, but i know it was good. We covered much of the mountain today, except tram serviced trails. Highlights included the Weeds and then Beaver. Then up the Bonnie again to more glades that were in nice condition. Headed over to Jet and met up with Randy, Eric and the gang. We went and got a Timbuk run which was very fun, did an Orchard run which was good also. Broke for a ham sandwich tailgate lunch and then set up the cars and did two Dip runs I believe. The Dip was awesome as usual. Found plenty of good stuff in there just as Chris had predicted.



Did a few more runs after the Dip. I think Hells Woods and Expo glade too. All of it was fantastic. I think we quit just before 4 today. It started to sleet and soon we were covered in a thin layer of ice. Goggles glazed over and visibility was very poor. We all headed over to the new Tram bar for a few rounds, and by a few i mean 4. Everyone had a great day and we left hoping that the stuff falling would turn over to snow later. Had an easy night back at the house.



Sunday morning surprised us with around 4-5" of fresh light powder on top of the glazed surface from late Sat afternoon. Greg, Vommie, and I made our first runs of the day in Timbuk, then one more in the Orchard. Awesome Awesome Awesome! Plenty of first tracks for us. It was very fast with the frosted base and light fluff on top. Tons of fun. I was whoopin'. Met up with Chris and Jason and did another Orchard run which was just as good.




Next run we did Kitz woods and then up the Bonnie to Vertigo. I managed to take a nice fall before entering Vertigo... while trying to negotiate past that tram tower near the exit of the Bonnie I somehow caught my edge on some brush and before I knew it was airborn upside down. Not sure what part of my body touched ground first but it knocked the wind out of me. Continued into Vertigo which was is a tough one. Had lunch and I think Greg called it quits after that so Chris, Jason, and I finished up the day together. I think we did another Weeds and Expo run along with two Everglade runs. I really like the Everglade. It is very long, fairly steep, and challenging. It also feels very isolated in there as the it is basically tightly cut mature pines. Can't see more than 2 turns ahead. Love it. Also really liked the Weeds glades too. Don't think I had been in those before this weekend. So many glades at Jay I can't even remember them all. It's hard to take mental notes when I'm just trying to keep up with Chris! I was wore out, but Sunday afternoon was very enjoyable. Relaxed but we were goin at it, at least I felt like I was. Quit around 2 to prep for the ride home. It was great to hang out with friends and forget about life for a weekend anyway. After all, that is to me a huge part of what skiing is all about. Said our goodbyes and headed out. Jay is batting .1000 in my book.

Gore 02-08-2010

Ski Day 12.

An interesting day. Woke up Sunday morning at 6:30 and was initially not going to go. Texted Deb to tell Greg I wasn't going. Went back to sleep and woke up around 8 feeling much better. Packed up real quick and headed up.

Wouldn't you know it, I found a spot in the top lot at 9:45 on a Sunday morning! I was at the gondi by 10 and I thought for sure I would run into Tim and Greg there cause I knew they got there early and this is usually the time we take a quick break. No dice.

Headed up gondi. Rode Pine Knot down to summit chair. Checked the hut on top, no dice there either, however there were bootprints all around. I felt like Mantracker trying to find these guys. Normally I'll take Lies or Open Pit back to chair but today I took Cloud to Headwaters. Hadn't been on that in forever. It was nice and chill. Paused at the the summit chair to look for the guys, no dice here either! Cruised Tannery which I remember being totally empty and just so-so condition. Waited again at Bear Mt summit, no luck again, so down Foxlair -> Sunway -> 3B. Nice run. Adk Express to Sleeping Bear which was also ok conditions. One more run on lower mountain, Sleighride -> Wild Air, then done cause I knew the guys had to leave early today.





Now it's 12:20 and I would have bet my life I'd find them in the bar... sure enough, they were half way done with their first beers already! Come to find out I was right on their tails all day long, I took the same lift order all day, I could just never catch up to them. Turns out they lapped Hullabaloo towards the end of their day. The only chair I didnt check and from i read later, the best place on the mountain that day. Guess ya win some and ya lose some!

Whiteface 02-06-2010

Ski Day 11

Another PERFECT day at Whiteface. This has to be some kind of record, something like 7 consecutive bluebird days at Whiteface for me. Unbelievable!

Did the standard runs on little whiteface, Mountain Run and Excelsior. Conditions were scratchy, hard pack with thin cover. Then over to summit chair. We tried out The Follies which had good coverage. Then on the summit chair again Greg convinced me to do Upper Skyward. It had decent coverage. That trail will probably always make me just a tad nervous looking at it from the lift and then again on the initial drop over the edge onto the trail. There's something scary about looking over that edge, it seems so steep and vast.

On the ride up the summit chair we saw one of the lifties riding a shovel down lower skyward -



He was actually moving at a fast clip. I'm fairly certain he passed a few skiers! Coming down Victoris to the summit chair I spotted a nice chute just beyond the edge of the trail thru a thin row of trees. If we ever get some fresh snow this would be really fun -



We rode the Wilmington trail again this week. It was in good shape, the last thrid of that trail is challenging. The middle third could really use a nice fence all the way down the left side. Someone is going to go right over that cliff one day.

Towards the end of the day we went over to Wolf and tried out the mini skier cross they built recently. A banked turn at the start and finish with a group of small rollers in the middle. It was a nice change of pace.

We also watched some guys hit a medium size kicker. Nearly every one pulled a nice trick. The level of rider and skier at Whiteface is noticeably higher than most other places. It is indeed a very challenging mountain.