Tuesday, December 3, 2019

First day at Jay for Jonny Jay: the 2019/2020 season begins

By Jonny Jay

Sunday December 1 at Jay was hard and fast. The two+ feet of the week before had softened with rain and then frozen, but I still had to hit the slopes as the sun was out and early season guilt was setting in. First outing for the year, so lugged the gear to the locker and checked the trail guide which stated that only two runs were open on Stateside, the Jet and Haynes. Anyway no crowds. 
 
First run down Haynes was very slick -- no ice just hardscrabble. The Jet looked better but you really had to be on the skis - saw two toboggans with injured skiers in the short time I was there. No access runs were open to the lodge so had to hike back over, up the stairs at Harvey's and down the others -- good workout for the legs and heart! Saw that the UN was actually open, as well as the Derrick, but reports on both were not positive. Then I bumped into someone at the locker who has stupidly gone down Timbuktu only to report that that was a big mistake and that was his run for the day!
 
All in all, a good time for the first time, lots of base for the winter and they were pounding snow at the bottom. Oh, and the plastic pipe footrest protectors have been replaced on the triple! Wow. . . .

No pics but wouldn't do it justice anyway because the mountain looks great! You would never know it was a bullet-proof surface until you were on it or heard it.