# Jay Peak 1/19 - 20



## JSHSKI (Jan 23, 2013)

The mountain is slowly recovering from a devastating January thaw. It rained a lot over the 1/12-13 weekend and much base was washed away. Several storms during the week had trail counts increasing each day. By Saturday, there was a lot of powder in the woods and on the side of most runs. The problem was getting to them. The Tram and Flyer were closed both days due to wind. Our best runs were when we hiked from the top of the Bonaventure lift to the top of the Flyer and skied Ullr's. It had great powder as did the Beaver Pond Glades. Runs off the Jet lift were a mix of powder and scraped away powder leaving an icy base. Sunday was kind of a joke. We were warned before we reached the lodge that Jet was the only real lift running. After the agonizing wait to get on the Metro chair and the blind traversse in a squall over to Jet, we got in 4 runs and then it closed for wind. We had to walk up to the taxi chair to get back to the main lodge. A lot of hiking in the two days and only a little that rewarded the effort with good runs. Jay should buy several used J-Bars or Poma's and put them in spots to provide access to the trails when the chairs are on wind hold. This great mountain seems to rarely be fully open due to wind issues. It's fun to be up there, but a long ride for questionable available terrain. We did not stay on the Jay property, we stayed at the Jay Village Inn. Nice to be able to leave the resort and be in real Vermont for the evening. Also a lot less expensive than staying in the resort.


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## Mpdsnowman (Jan 23, 2013)

Nice report. I heard they lost a good amount from the thaw. They will recover because.....lol its Jay....Too bad about the wind. Ive been there when the freezer(flyer), tram and bonnie were down. 

One year the tram wasn't running for a few days due to it popping off track due to heavy ice buildup and they had to bring in someone from the mfg in Austria to re-calibrate it. Finally it opened two days before we all left...

Did you get to use the water park??


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## thetrailboss (Jan 23, 2013)

I've had a number of wind days at Jay.  They don't tell you about that issue....


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## JSHSKI (Jan 23, 2013)

*No Waterpark or Golf or Business Conference or Meals*

It was even hard to enjoy a beer at the Mountain. Jay built the Tower Bar about 1/2 the size that it needs to be. The newer "bar" has formal seating and seems to be all booked up too. We stood to drink one beer in the loud and very crowded Tower on Sat evening. Had to push through quite a crowd to find a place to stand. We felt like three old geezers who didn't belong there. The waitstaff trying to deliver appetizers seems to share our assessment. Their looks said "go home" or at least, "get out of my way". It's kind of like the lift issue. A miscalculation  regarding the size of the bar means less revenue for them and less fun for the skiers. We would have spent some bucks if we could have found a table and ordered. Great mountain with lift issues, Great bar that's too small.


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## from_the_NEK (Jan 23, 2013)

JSHSKI said:


> It was even hard to enjoy a beer at the Mountain. Jay built the Tower Bar about 1/2 the size that it needs to be. The newer "bar" has formal seating and seems to be all booked up too. We stood to drink one beer in the loud and very crowded Tower on Sat evening. Had to push through quite a crowd to find a place to stand. We felt like three old geezers who didn't belong there. The waitstaff trying to deliver appetizers seems to share our assessment. Their looks said "go home" or at least, "get out of my way". It's kind of like the lift issue. A miscalculation  regarding the size of the bar means less revenue for them and less fun for the skiers. We would have spent some bucks if we could have found a table and ordered. Great mountain with lift issues, Great bar that's too small.



Tower Bar = Huge improvement over the Golden Eagle. You didn't try to hit up the bar in the waterpark? It is HUGE.


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## from_the_NEK (Jan 23, 2013)

thetrailboss said:


> I've had a number of wind days at Jay.  They don't tell you about that issue....



They have gotten much better about reporting it. The Flyer and Tram are common wind holds. It takes a lot of wind to shut down the Bonaventure Quad and even more to shut down the Jet. rarely are all upper mtn lifts closed. This past weekend lifts were closed almost everywhere, not just Jay.


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## thetrailboss (Jan 23, 2013)

from_the_NEK said:


> They have gotten much better about reporting it. The Flyer and Tram are common wind holds. It takes a lot of wind to shut down the Bonaventure Quad and even more to shut down the Jet. rarely are all upper mtn lifts closed. This past weekend lifts were closed almost everywhere, not just Jay.



It's fair to say that since I was last there they have done much better in terms of reporting thanks to text messaging systems/other information tech changes.  

Wind is an issue with Jay...always has been and always will be, but there are good days to be had there.  Hopefully the original poster will go back on one of those days.


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## Huck_It_Baby (Jan 23, 2013)

I was skinning around Jay on Saturday and found lots of untracked snow. I almost like when the tram is closed because most people won't hike up and it saves some powder.

I've found that the Jay facebook page does a pretty decent job of updating on the wind holds.


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## from_the_NEK (Jan 23, 2013)

Once the West Bowl comes online several years from now, that part of he mountain will be very wind protected.


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## billski (Jan 23, 2013)

Thanks TB for reminding me of FB.  I'm scoping out where to ski in NVT this Fri-sat.  One day will be Stowe for sure.


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## JSHSKI (Jan 23, 2013)

*A big Bar in the waterpark??*



from_the_NEK said:


> Tower Bar = Huge improvement over the Golden Eagle. You didn't try to hit up the bar in the waterpark? It is HUGE.



Damn. If I knew we would have definitely gone there. Only bars we tried were the Tower and the one right across the way (over Big Dogs Pizza or whatever it's called) Neither had room for us. We were welcomed and happy at both the Jay Village Inn and at The Belfry during our stay. I will be back to Jay and I'm not down on the place at all. I just notice things that could be done better and wish they were.


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## riverc0il (Jan 23, 2013)

JSHSKI said:


> This great mountain seems to rarely be fully open due to wind issues.


You must not ski Jay very often? Granted, it has more wind issues than average. But "rarely fully open" is more than just a bit of a stretch or hyperbole. I've skied Jay more than any other area and had a pass there for a few seasons. I think I've driven up to Jay to have all of their upper mountain lifts closed twice. 

I was there on Sunday and at least the Jet ran in the morning. Then it was skinning time. Lots of people talking about the water park in the liftlines and on the chairs. 

It was a pretty miserable day but Jay can't control the wind and suggesting they have surface lifts for such days is kinda crazy. Can you imagine the lineup of people waiting at the Jet on Sunday morning queuing up for t-bars and pomas? It would literally be faster to hike.


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## riverc0il (Jan 23, 2013)

thetrailboss said:


> I've had a number of wind days at Jay.  They don't tell you about that issue....


Actually, they do. They even included it in their tongue in cheek "Unchangeable" campaign last year. 



Also in Jay's defense, their snow reports usually have some good tongue in cheek references to just how bad it is when it is bad.


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## riverc0il (Jan 23, 2013)

JSHSKI said:


> It was even hard to enjoy a beer at the Mountain. Jay built the Tower Bar about 1/2 the size that it needs to be. The newer "bar" has formal seating and seems to be all booked up too. We stood to drink one beer in the loud and very crowded Tower on Sat evening. Had to push through quite a crowd to find a place to stand. We felt like three old geezers who didn't belong there. The waitstaff trying to deliver appetizers seems to share our assessment. Their looks said "go home" or at least, "get out of my way". It's kind of like the lift issue. A miscalculation  regarding the size of the bar means less revenue for them and less fun for the skiers. We would have spent some bucks if we could have found a table and ordered. Great mountain with lift issues, Great bar that's too small.


Wow, a complaint about the bar at Jay? You definitely don't ski Jay very often if you aren't singing the praises of the Tower Bar. You definitely never had "the pleasure" of visiting the Golden Eagle or whatever the heck it was called.

Goodness, gracious... a bar that is packed and loud on a Saturday night? Time to apres in your hotel room, old timer.  :beer:


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## GnarBear (Jan 23, 2013)

the golden eagle is Beast. Jay knows what's up.


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## GnarBear (Jan 23, 2013)

Wow. What's with all the haters? I live right down the road from Jay (like literally I can see people come down the mountain from my window) and it's a pretty epic place. Guess everyone is used to telemarking on groomers at Killington or something and they don't appreciate the untamed beast that is Jay.


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## Nick (Jan 24, 2013)

GnarBear said:


> Wow. What's with all the haters? I live right down the road from Jay (like literally I can see people come down the mountain from my window) and it's a pretty epic place. Guess everyone is used to telemarking on groomers at Killington or something and they don't appreciate the untamed beast that is Jay.



Not a lot of haters here ...
 Lots of Jay love I think overall on this board


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## Huck_It_Baby (Jan 24, 2013)

riverc0il said:


> Also in Jay's defense, their snow reports usually have some good tongue in cheek references to just how bad it is when it is bad.



I agree. I find Jay's reporting to be pretty honest and accurate.


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## Mpdsnowman (Jan 24, 2013)

There is one thing that I do miss....The old pizza shop that was under the tram..We used to take that place over lol.
The bar in the water park is really nice.....

Wind is a crap shoot anywhere you go....or any time frame for that matter.


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## riverc0il (Jan 24, 2013)

Mpdsnowman said:


> There is one thing that I do miss....The old pizza shop that was under the tram..We used to take that place over lol.


Their new shop (Mountain Dicks, I think it is called) is decent. A LOT more room and now damp/smelly due to too many skiers in too small of an area. Prices are up quite a bit though. Coming in from skiing and sitting down next to folks coming in the opposite door from the waterpark is weird. Kinda a PITA to get to from the slopes since you gotta go down the stairs an then back up. They should have figured out a way to get that at snow level, oh well.


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