March 25, 2009 E-MAIL PRINT

Jay Peak is spring-loaded with glades

by Tony Chamberlain/

Jay Peak is one of the snowiest ski areas in New England. (photo: Jay Peak)

Jay Peak is one of the snowiest ski areas in New England. (photo: Jay Peak)

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As often noted, spring creates its own set of conditions in ski country, and the general rule of thumb is to find the areas that receive or create the most snow. Higher elevations and northern extremes usually fill this bill, as do areas with lots of glade skiing and well-shaded trails.

Jay Peak, in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, can rightfully claim to be among the snowiest ski areas in New England, and it fits the other categories for superb spring skiing and riding.

Once lucky enough to stay in the apartment in the tram house at the top of Jay, I realized just how high and far north we were. Called Elevation 4000, at night you could see the glow of the Montreal lights in the distance, and that year Jay averaged more than 300 inches of snow.

This year, Jay is pushing nearly 350 inches, and the area has some of the finest glades in the East — plenty of dark woods that hold the snow until the last skier is down — maybe around the Fourth of July or so.

Like most areas, Jay discounts heavily in spring, especially in the lodging/lift ticket packaging. The daily ticket itself is down to $65 for adults, $45 for juniors.

So, on a warm sunny morning, we played hooky and found ourselves in the first tram ride up to the summit — which is actually just a smidgen under 4,000 feet. The snow was firm, even a little glazed in our tuneup run, but the air was rapidly warming under a cloudless bluebird day.

Among Jay’s 76 trails and runs are a bevy of long, ego-stroking blue cruisers such as Green Beret and Jet, which we limbered on down to the long run-outs at the bottom.

Over on the left side are a number of shorter, steeper runs, such as Timbuktu, which was just loosening up. Without much traffic, it presented as perfect a spring run as I can remember.

As I say, glade skiing is everywhere on Jay, and the difficulty in steepness and denseness of trees varies widely, so no one is left with an excuse for staying out of the woods.

As the day warmed, we made our way into Stateside Glade, rated blue and very manageable by mid-level skiers and riders. Hell’s Woods and Expo Glade are another matter, though not too daunting, especially as the surface softened.

My knees limit my bump activity these days, but once lured into moguls on the U.N. trail, we were happy to find the softness was most forgiving, and the amount of bump skiing I allowed myself was a thing of joy.

Being as close to Canada as Jay is, there is a true international flair throughout the area, from the flutter of flags to the hotel with its Tyrollean feel throughout.

Like most Northeast Kingdom destinations, there is a mistaken notion that Jay is remote and hard to reach. Those of us coming from the south who take the route up I-93 through Franconia Notch have discovered the drive is no further than that to Killington.

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