# 23" and first tracks on Big Jay



## gereddunne (Feb 25, 2013)

Don't get me wrong. Skied some of the greatest powder of my life last thursday at Jay Peak. Just got a little tired of playing donkey kong with all the spring breakers in the woods...

Can you believe, at high noon, no one had bothered to push on over to Big Jay?

You bet I did.

Full TR:
http://nebackcountry.blogspot.com/2013/02/big-jay-powder-day.html

Love to know if anyone has good route off the saddle trail to the right. One with both ridiculous pow AND a decent out-route.


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## skiking4 (Feb 25, 2013)

Smile!

(edit: This was a reply to a previous comment that was filled with curses towards the OP, for whatever reason)

Yeah.... awesome TR!! I wish I was up there so bad.


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## snowmonster (Feb 25, 2013)

Oh my God! I am so jealous. Amazing! Been planning a Big Jay run for years. I think I have to make it happen now.


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## bdfreetuna (Feb 25, 2013)

damn dude, so epic.


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## STREETSKIER (Feb 26, 2013)

No action shots. Gaper !!!!


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## ScottySkis (Feb 26, 2013)

Sweet, you lucky lucky a zpner.


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## gereddunne (Feb 26, 2013)

sorry streetskier. hard to take a good action shot skiing solo. but I've heard talk of posting game cameras throughout the big jay forest. never miss a moment. i joke... but that would kind of be amazing.


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## TheBEast (Feb 26, 2013)

Excellent....


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## marcski (Feb 26, 2013)

I was just talking to someone on Sunday who was up there around the same time as you...but obviously after based on your very envious fresh tracks!


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## gereddunne (Feb 26, 2013)

Actually, I think it got hit up pretty hard on Thursday after I went in. Later in the afternoon. I could hear whoops up high in the woods and then ran across the group last night on TGR. They had a dispute about my claim to first tracks. I had some issues with their manners. We worked it all out in the end.


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## soulseller (Feb 26, 2013)

So this is all available (at a lower altitude) from Timbuktu correct? I mistakenly went to far and ended up on 242 this past Saturday.


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## gereddunne (Feb 26, 2013)

No not at all. If you skied to 242 from Timbuktu, you skied the Dip.


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## soulseller (Feb 26, 2013)

From picture 8, it appears Timbuktu is the trail in the bottom left hand corner, correct? I understand I did not go as far as the routes you have marked but it is the same general area, no?


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## gereddunne (Feb 26, 2013)

no, trail at the bottom left corner is the bend in Northway, off the Tram.


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## soulseller (Feb 26, 2013)

ahh ok, thanks!


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## soulseller (Feb 26, 2013)

So that is an 8k' run from Tram to parking spot on 242, then a 2.5 mile walk if my Google maps stills are correct. I did the walk in roughly 20 minutes or so.

TGR peeps would be going on off on you for posting this stuff but i'm sure you know that already. In reality all you gotta do is strike up a friendly conversation on the lift with someone to find the goods, that is how i found the pump house.


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## bdfreetuna (Feb 26, 2013)

Down with ski snobs. Up with trip reports like this!


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## ScottySkis (Feb 26, 2013)

I need that Google car to get me to Jay.


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## snowmonster (Feb 26, 2013)

I find it funny how people can get bent out of shape about keeping access to Big Jay a big secret. Look, if you can go to a bookstore and buy a book that gives you turn by turn instructions on how to get there, then it's not that much of a secret. 

Having said that, anybody up for a Big Jay excursion this weekend?


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## twinplanx (Feb 26, 2013)

bdfreetuna said:


> Down with ski snobs. Up with trip reports like this!


I agree. Now about Slide Brook... ;-)


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## riverc0il (Feb 26, 2013)

snowmonster said:


> I find it funny how people can get bent out of shape about keeping access to Big Jay a big secret.


Could you provide some examples of people that have gotten bent out of shape due to information being posted about Big Jay? I seriously haven't seen any one ever get bent out of shape over that. As you noted, it is Goodman's book. And Jay kinda promotes it unofficially in many ways (hell, they cut the ridge trail, illegally albeit). Not to mention the media attention it got when the jailbird chute got cut...


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## snowmonster (Feb 26, 2013)

^ It seems someone did. If you go to the start of the thread, the second post seems to have been filled with "curses towards the OP, for whatever reason." Looks like said post was removed. The subsequent poster edited his post to reference the earlier removed post.


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## snowmonster (Feb 26, 2013)

twinplanx said:


> I agree. Now about Slide Brook... ;-)



I once did a TR on Slide Brook. I was then told that AZ treats Slide Brook like Fight Club. So, we had to rename the thread and let it fade away.


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## twinplanx (Feb 26, 2013)

snowmonster said:


> I once did a TR on Slide Brook. I was then told that AZ treats Slide Brook like Fight Club. So, we had to rename the thread and let it fade away.


I hate when that happens


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## BigJay (Feb 26, 2013)

Funny... I thought the dip was only for flatlanders and people from Jersey... But hey, you're on BJ... Why bother. Just don't hit the jibbers crossing the road with their rad poles and long snowblades!


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## skiking4 (Feb 26, 2013)

snowmonster said:


> ^ It seems someone did. If you go to the start of the thread, the second post seems to have been filled with "curses towards the OP, for whatever reason." Looks like said post was removed. The subsequent poster edited his post to reference the earlier removed post.



Yeah I should've taken a pic. It was a pretty big cursed-filled rant about how much the poster thought the OP was an a-hole. Pretty bad post, glad to see it was deleted.


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## bdfreetuna (Feb 27, 2013)

Slide Brook as in @ Sugarbush? 

What's the big secret? People ski there all the time.


IMO some people are too obsessed with "fresh lines" and "untouched pow".

God forbid you cross the tracks of another skier or two! Experience=totally ruined! Scarred=for life!

Get over yourselves please. Celebrate the fact that other people enjoy the same sport that you enjoy, and seek out adventure in similar ways.


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## kingdom-tele (Feb 27, 2013)

snowmonster said:


> ^ It seems someone did. If you go to the start of the thread, the second post seems to have been filled with "curses towards the OP, for whatever reason." Looks like said post was removed. The subsequent poster edited his post to reference the earlier removed post.



it was my post you refer to. it had nothing to do with where he skied. I deleted it because my distaste for it ultimately had nothing to do with the skiing.

nice irony tuna, appreciated.


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## Huck_It_Baby (Feb 27, 2013)

snowmonster said:


> Having said that, anybody up for a Big Jay excursion this weekend?



I'll be going to Big Jay this weekend but not sure on my timing just yet. Let me know if you're gonna be up there.


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## fbrissette (Feb 27, 2013)

I'm at Jay this week-end.  I'm always up for Big Jay.


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## snowmonster (Feb 27, 2013)

Huck_It_Baby said:


> I'll be going to Big Jay this weekend but not sure on my timing just yet. Let me know if you're gonna be up there.





fbrissette said:


> I'm at Jay this week-end.  I'm always up for Big Jay.


Sounds like a plan is shaping up. I'll send you both a PM.


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## bigbog (Feb 27, 2013)

Great stuff Gered....


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## twinplanx (Feb 27, 2013)

bdfreetuna said:


> Slide Brook as in @ Sugarbush?
> 
> What's the big secret? People ski there all the time.
> 
> ...


I brought up Slide Brook because I'm heading to Sugarbush next weekend and was hoping for some Intel. But as mentioned the first rule of Slide Brook is: there is no Slide Brook... Fwiw I'm not looking for completely untracked... Just want to get off the beaten path and catch a bus back to the base ;-)


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## octopus (Feb 27, 2013)

nice tr. i'll try to get my split board over there


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## Nick (Feb 27, 2013)

octopus said:


> nice tr. i'll try to get my split board over there



I'm am ass but what is a splitboard


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## JimG. (Feb 27, 2013)

Nick said:


> I'm am ass but what is a splitboard



A splitboard is a snowboard that actually splits down the middle; you can use each half as a "ski" for skinning up and then put the board back together for riding back down. Perfect for BC.


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## octopus (Feb 27, 2013)

seriously?


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## JimG. (Feb 27, 2013)

octopus said:


> seriously?



Is my description lacking?


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## octopus (Feb 27, 2013)

not at all. nick has never heard of splitboards? weird


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## fbrissette (Feb 27, 2013)

JimG. said:


> A splitboard is a snowboard that actually splits down the middle; you can use each half as a "ski" for skinning up and then put the board back together for riding back down. Perfect for BC.



Transitioning is quite slow, but it beats carrying snowshoes.


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## BigJay (Feb 27, 2013)

fbrissette said:


> Transitioning is quite slow, but it beats carrying snowshoes.
> 
> View attachment 7937



yeah... But more float and an overall greater tool for snow.


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## Nick (Feb 28, 2013)

octopus said:


> not at all. nick has never heard of splitboards? weird



Yeah I've heard of it before and I probably could have googled it. I guess I have just never really seen one.


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## STREETSKIER (Feb 28, 2013)

Pretty risky going alone   Just sayin. The guys over on tgr dig your act!! when will you come to sb I could use some help finding the goods


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## gereddunne (Feb 28, 2013)

Nick, in your defense, I've never really seen one either. But if you really want to blow your mind, google tele board. Still waiting for the split technology to trickle down to that one... and the monoski. RIP great ski dreams.

As to slide brook, I prefer to tackle New England's most dangerous well known ski spots solo. Enhances the street cred, etc. But if you want to get out on a trip around the Mad River Valley, I'd love some company. Contrary to popular belief, the blog MO is to keep tours we 'join in on' off the record.


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## fbrissette (Feb 28, 2013)

gereddunne said:


> I prefer to tackle New England's most dangerous well known ski spots solo.



Not a practice you should advocate on your blog.


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## octopus (Feb 28, 2013)

Nick said:


> Yeah I've heard of it before and I probably could have googled it. I guess I have just never really seen one.


i guess they are kinda rare. i just finally got one myself after years of wanting one, can't wait to try it out.  i've never skied before, should be interesting.


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## Huck_It_Baby (Feb 28, 2013)

octopus said:


> i guess they are kinda rare. i just finally got one myself after years of wanting one, can't wait to try it out.  i've never skied before, should be interesting.




So what kind of skins do you guys use on a split board?


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## octopus (Feb 28, 2013)

idk. im still getting all the pieces. i think you just use voile and trim to fit? theres a few other companies too, i think. its all new to me


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## skiking4 (Feb 28, 2013)

STREETSKIER said:


> Pretty risky going alone   Just sayin. The guys over on tgr dig your act!! when will you come to sb I could use some help finding the goods



Lol, let them stay hatin
http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php/260237-While-you-were-sleeping-in-Big-Jay-2-21-13


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## Huck_It_Baby (Feb 28, 2013)

octopus said:


> idk. im still getting all the pieces. i think you just use voile and trim to fit? theres a few other companies too, i think. its all new to me



Once split those planks are probably pretty wide. Usually you will want near edge to edge converage with the skin so I thought perhaps there are extra wide skins that boarders use. Tip and tail connections are probably different too.

Check out:

http://www.backcountry.com/split-snowboard-skins


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## octopus (Feb 28, 2013)

Huck_It_Baby said:


> Once split those planks are probably pretty wide. Usually you will want near edge to edge converage with the skin so I thought perhaps there are extra wide skins that boarders use. Tip and tail connections are probably different too.
> 
> Check out:
> 
> http://www.backcountry.com/split-snowboard-skins



thx for that link. i have lots to figure out before i go anywhere


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## Nick (Feb 28, 2013)

octopus said:


> i guess they are kinda rare. i just finally got one myself after years of wanting one, can't wait to try it out.  i've never skied before, should be interesting.



Are they any downsides? Less torsional rigidity? How do they actually attach / come apart? 

I like the idea quite a bit.

Kinda like hardbooters or monoski ... not all that common


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## STREETSKIER (Feb 28, 2013)

Just hit 1.5 million vert     How bout you???


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## fbrissette (Feb 28, 2013)

Nick said:


> Are they any downsides? Less torsional rigidity? How do they actually attach / come apart?
> 
> I like the idea quite a bit.
> 
> Kinda like hardbooters or monoski ... not all that common



I'm not a snowboarder, but I have a friend who splitboards quite a bit.  Splitboards vs snowboards are kinda like alpine touring boots vs straight downhill ski boots.  The very best will come reasonably close in terms of downhill performance, but they will be very expensive.

http://thegoodride.com/snowboard-reviews/jones-carbon-solution/


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## octopus (Feb 28, 2013)

fbrissette said:


> I'm not a snowboarder, but I have a friend who splitboards quite a bit.  Splitboards vs snowboards are kinda like alpine touring boots vs straight downhill ski boots.  The very best will come reasonably close in terms of downhill performance, but they will be very expensive.
> 
> http://thegoodride.com/snowboard-reviews/jones-carbon-solution/



whoa. that thing is top of the line for sure, but not what i'm looking for now. they attach together with swing clips on the nose and tail and hooks in the middle. i think once you mount the bindings in snowboard mode, the torsional rigidity issues would be minimal. i'll try to post pics of my burton spliff if you want to check it out


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## soulseller (Feb 28, 2013)

fbrissette said:


> I'm not a snowboarder, but I have a friend who splitboards quite a bit.  Splitboards vs snowboards are kinda like alpine touring boots vs straight downhill ski boots.  The very best will come reasonably close in terms of downhill performance, but they will be very expensive.
> 
> http://thegoodride.com/snowboard-reviews/jones-carbon-solution/



It has been a couple years since I've considered picking up a splitboard, I choose to re-learn to ski last year instead in attempt to get my touring fix. Two seasons in and I feel like I have another couple to go before I have the confidence on skis as I do on a board part of me wonders if I should give in and just buy a split. 

Wouldn't the quality of ride or torsional stiffness be effected more so by the quality of hardware then the board itself? IIRC, Voile is, or at least was, the standard for hardware/bindings.


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## BigJay (Feb 28, 2013)

Splitboarding is the answer.

check out splitboard.com for all the info!


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## baykon (Mar 1, 2013)

sorta off-topic but this story on jeremy jones from last weekend's nytimes is a good read and has a little bit of info on splitboarding

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/s...er-blazes-icy-trails.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0


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## Nick (Mar 1, 2013)

baykon said:


> sorta off-topic but this story on jeremy jones from last weekend's nytimes is a good read and has a little bit of info on splitboarding
> 
> http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/s...er-blazes-icy-trails.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0



Thanks for sharing that!


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## gereddunne (Mar 5, 2013)

fbrissette said:


> Not a practice you should advocate on your blog.



you seem nice but very literal.


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## polski (Mar 5, 2013)

gereddunne said:


> But if you want to get out on a trip around the Mad River Valley, I'd love some company. Contrary to popular belief, the blog MO is to keep tours we 'join in on' off the record.



Not trying to be a d*ck but I think you've fed "popular belief" - in short, that no secret is sacred with you guys - with some things you've said in that TGR thread and in comments on your own blog. So I'm trying to grasp something. Understood that your Last of the Mohicans quote in that comment thread was hyperbole, and your colleague Randonnee Andy noted further down in that thread that no "private 'secret' stashes" have been burned (is the operative word there "private" as in on private land?). At the same time, though, you seem determined to post details on some spots that have not seen the light of the intertubes before. I won't get into whether that's "good" or "bad" or whatever. But if you "join in on" a tour, what exactly do you mean by "off the record"? Would you _never_ write about any of the spots in that tour? By agreeing to join someone else's tour you'd be narrowing down the list of places you might find on your own and then, if you are so inclined, write up. OTOH if you took your own tour to one of these spots at some point in the future, using any info learned on the earlier shared tour, and then wrote it up, wouldn't that be burning your original "hosts"? 

I admit to mixed feelings about this. Of course I enjoy reading about spots (and I've paid money for the Goodman books) but in my own limited bc experience I've found a lot of the fun is in researching places on my own and then, when conditions permit, reaping pow turns in them. I get greater satisfaction out of that than if I'd followed some color-by-numbers directions, especially if that resulted in competition for fresh tracks in a limited number of lines. I'm not that bad of a snow snob, I can have plenty of fun in chop, but when I am making a concerted effort for first tracks I want first tracks ... especially if on lines I'd found and cleared myself.


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## from_the_NEK (Mar 5, 2013)

This thread was pretty much dead until gereddunne decided to poke at fbrissette and bump it to the top. 
Don't feed the trolls.


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## gereddunne (Mar 5, 2013)

polski said:


> Not trying to be a d*ck but I think you've fed "popular belief" - in short, that no secret is sacred with you guys - with some things you've said in that TGR thread and in comments on your own blog. So I'm trying to grasp something. Understood that your Last of the Mohicans quote in that comment thread was hyperbole, and your colleague Randonnee Andy noted further down in that thread that no "private 'secret' stashes" have been burned (is the operative word there "private" as in on private land?). At the same time, though, you seem determined to post details on some spots that have not seen the light of the intertubes before. I won't get into whether that's "good" or "bad" or whatever. But if you "join in on" a tour, what exactly do you mean by "off the record"? Would you _never_ write about any of the spots in that tour? By agreeing to join someone else's tour you'd be narrowing down the list of places you might find on your own and then, if you are so inclined, write up. OTOH if you took your own tour to one of these spots at some point in the future, using any info learned on the earlier shared tour, and then wrote it up, wouldn't that be burning your original "hosts"?
> 
> I admit to mixed feelings about this. Of course I enjoy reading about spots (and I've paid money for the Goodman books) but in my own limited bc experience I've found a lot of the fun is in researching places on my own and then, when conditions permit, reaping pow turns in them. I get greater satisfaction out of that than if I'd followed some color-by-numbers directions, especially if that resulted in competition for fresh tracks in a limited number of lines. I'm not that bad of a snow snob, I can have plenty of fun in chop, but when I am making a concerted effort for first tracks I want first tracks ... especially if on lines I'd found and cleared myself.



Chicken or the egg i guess... I haven't made a lot of return trips (or any) to the places I've been, for the same reason you give for enjoying a day in the backcountry - I enjoy the experience getting out and skiing someplace new. Wouldn't really be a need to get back in the next week and burn it all over the web. There are plenty of good spots out there. Not sure what kind of consolation I can offer you beyond that. The policy is intended to be a reasonable gentlemen's agreement, one way or the other. It's better to agree to disagree on the maps and keep it friendly, than divulge into troll-calling.


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## kingdom-tele (Mar 5, 2013)

from_the_NEK said:


> This thread was pretty much dead until gereddunne decided to poke at fbrissette and bump it to the top.
> Don't feed the trolls.



What kind of street cred you got to be making such bold remarks NEK?


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## from_the_NEK (Mar 5, 2013)

I own the Street. So I don't need anymore cred. And I make lots of maps of streets, so I have that going for me.


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## ScottySkis (Mar 5, 2013)

from_the_NEK said:


> This thread was pretty much dead until gereddunne decided to poke at fbrissette and bump it to the top.
> Don't feed the trolls.



? Why


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## Nick (Mar 5, 2013)

Scotty said:


> ? Why



You'd have to visit TGR to understand :lol:


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## kingdom-tele (Mar 5, 2013)

from_the_NEK said:


> I own the Street. So I don't need anymore cred. And I make lots of maps of streets, so I have that going for me.



well, well, forgive me kind sir.

the whole getting out someplace new reminds me of a great story.  pretty fuzzy on the dates, must have been 2001, 2002 maybe, standing at east burke sports after a great 6" powder day at burke.  talking to one of the guys who was working there about some of the skiing we ventured into, the first time for us, we were just thrilled with the ski we had in a new place on the mountain, he smiles and reminsices about his first time through the same area many years prior to us.  it dawned on me then, just because its your first time, its probably something someone has been skiing for years, that perspective taught me a lot./stupidstory

gerry- while you may only hit things once and move on, maybe keep in mind some of us are skiing the same areas over and over and over


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## octopus (Mar 5, 2013)

for nick.  kick ass snowboard


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## octopus (Mar 5, 2013)

damn it, skis.....     to do more kick ass snowboarding!


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