Conditions Report
Report from February 5-6, 2024.
Jay Peak, Vermont, is the pinnacle of East Coast skiing and snowboarding. I was fortunate enough to spend two days cruising around Jay, poking into trees, mashing around bump runs, and enjoying the sunshine. This pilgrimage north has become somewhat of a tradition for friends and me, escaping our respective day jobs and college classes to ride great snow and compete to see who can have as much fun as possible.
If you don’t know Jay, let me do my best to paint the picture for you. Deep in the Vermont north country sits a slice of paradise frozen in traditional ski culture that provides access to some of the best terrain you can find on the east. The infamous “Jay Cloud”, which is notorious for providing copious amounts of snowfall won’t show itself until you are practically on resort, where snow banks are twice the size as those which are just down the road. The parking lot is never full mid-week, and there’s plenty of terrain to go around. From tight trees and steep chutes to buttery groomers, to high-quality parks, to some low-angle beginner terrain, you’re bound to find what you’re looking for. Jay is cold and windy, the mountain throws out all it can to make you earn those turns, and that’s what makes it special.
Every time I find myself at Jay, it’s either dumping snow or there isn’t a cloud in the sky. There was no snow this trip, but two beautiful days under the sun with comfortable temps and a great crew to share it with.
For me, this trip was all about the trees. As is usually the case in New England, snow is not plentiful right now, unless you go to the right place. Jay Peak has received over 200 inches of snow this season, making the natural terrain perfect for our time there. We spent most of both days hot lapping the tram, digging deeper each run for some untouched pow lines, and having a blast. I’ve been fortunate enough to have some good friends turned locals show me their secret stashes in years past; each one was firing on all cylinders. I’d love to tell you where, but I wouldn’t be a good friend if I did, would I?
Here’s what I will share. The Flyer Quad is a great place to poke around and hunt for some less-than-popular tree runs. Andres Paradise is chock-full of technical lines with tight turns and great snow. Be careful and respect the boundary line, exploring too far over there can lead you far away from the resort. Everglade also provides some great turns. My favorite part of these runs is the runout, Ullrs Dream houses plenty of tree islands you can pump and jump your way through while sliding back towards the base, I found it lots of fun to follow the crew through the low-angle snake runs.
You certainly can not go wrong on the other side of the mountain. The Bonaventure quad boasts a pirate flag, which is a stoke provider turned memorial for Michael Pfaff, who was a staple at the base of the Bonnie quad for many years. (Read more about Michael and his Jay legacy) Vertigo is sure to provide the goods, as is Canyon Land and Deliverance. The parks are fun too, you can jump and jib the day away just as easily as you can hunt for untouched snow. The Jet brings you to some great terrain as well, though it was not open due to snowmaking to be able to spin the lift well into May.
If there is one thing to take away, it’s that Jay is a very special place. You can take my word for it, or go poke around up there yourself. With reasonably priced tickets and fairly easy access from either side of the USA-Canada border, Jay needs to be on your list this winter, or (in my case) every winter.
Check out the weather report at Jay Peak from their in-house weather man, Tim Kelley.
