Jay Tram continues to be hotbed of rumours...

Now, this is interesting. Not that the last bit of news wasn't interesting but this is REALLY interesting.

Throckmorton reports that intelligence gathered on the summer tram ride included some as-yet-unveiled-by-Jay Management plans for lift relocation and even, GASP, a new lift!!!! This does not mean that the fabled West Bowl Expansion is happening any time soon. We have concluded that Throckmorton's and Gollum's children may be able to ski the West Bowl by chairlift. And for the non-family visitor, those boys are still teenagers. What it does mean is more skier capacity on the existing ski area, particularly Stateside, and better access to intermediate terrain on the lower mountain. This is scheduled to be ready for the 2011/12 ski season, according to our source. Shall we call him Deep Powder?

This is what the Tram operator (Deep Powder, not George) revealed. Stay with me now:

1)  The Bonaventure quad chairs will be relocated to the existing Jet Chairlift. So, the Jet Triple (AKA The Blue Chair) will become the Jet Quad (AKA, uhhh, the formerly Blue but now Red Chair). With any luck, Bill Stenger will spring for some Tremclad and we will still be able to call it the Blue Chair.

2) This is wild. The Bonventure Chair (AKA the Red Chair) will become the Bonaventure Six-Pack. Yes, a six person chair. And who knows what colour it will be! Anyone who has experienced a six-person chair knows the general mayhem of these line-ups and the starting gate things that get the chair riders set up for boarding. We are not excited about this.

3) The new lift will allegedly run from somewhere near the Moose T-bar (AKA Queen's Highway T-bar) to the top of Lower River Quai (ie., the Lower Quai/Goat intersection). This is a very interesting proposition and will, a) make getting from Stateside to Tramside much more fun, b) open up the Lower Goat and Lower Quai to more intermediate skiers looking for interesting runs, and, c) help reduce traffic on the Upper Goat, which is a disaster waiting to happen on most busy days. On the down side, it could, depending on the route, wreck Buck Woods and/or Buckaroo Banzai and a few secret stashes. Maybe the lift will run right up the Lower Goat. Check out the Jay Peak Trail Map and draw your own lift line.

If any Jay Peak management folks are reading this blog, feel free to comment and let us know if this is only a wild rumour, or really, possibly, true.

The things you learn on the Jay Peak Tram...

Sklinda and Dogski were down at Jay Peak last weekend for a little summertime R&R. They probably never expected that they would learn a Jay Peak history lesson, including the fact that our Jonny Jay, while certainly original, is not the first John Jay! Jay Peak, like many other mountains around the world, is named for some politician who never set foot or even laid eyes on the hill. And I'll bet he wasn't a skier.

Hi,

So it is amazing what you learn on a tram ride! Maybe you knew this but it was new to us. Jay Peak was named after John Jay one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence (editor's note: interweb research reveals that John Jay retired from the first Congress in 1776 rather than sign the Declaration. Nevertheless, he is an important figure in early US political history. Hey, we're Canadians, who knew?). The tram driver (not George) said that to everyone's knowledge he never set foot on the mountain. He eventually became governor of New York.

The excavation for the new Hotel Jay and water park is roaring along. The footings are in. It is hard to imagine what the old Jay looked like! The golf course clubhouse is beautiful - a lovely restaurant inside. We had a skate which was really fun. They even rent figure skates and for a senior like me the cost was $1. Jack caught two trout in the river.

 The first John Jay obviously started the tradition of orange and black regalia

The Real Jonny Jay taking a breather on the hike to Andre's Paradise, 
resplendent (as always) in his orange and black regalia