It is no secret that Canadians are a little pissed at the US of A right now. That said, last weekend I took a chance, headed for the border and landed in Vermont for the weekend. It could be the 11th province, dontcha know. Easiest border crossing ever - do they really care?
Conditions were fine at Jay Peak on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Sun, spring snow and good company were available in abundance, although Sunday was a little cloudy. Friday was a bluebird day with nice snow and moderate crowds, while Saturday offered a ridiculous crowd, with the tram on wind hold (second busiest day of the season, according to Steve Wright, the GM) but everyone was in a good mood. Sunday was surprisingly quiet and the clouds kept the snow in good condition
We skied all over the place. The glades were a bit sketchy overall, though the Green Beret did have a good run in Timbuktu. The usual groomer runs were fine and natural snow runs like Upper and Lower Milk Run, the Derrick Hot Shot and others were in good form. My personal favourite of the weekend were JFK, the Derrick, Haynes and Ullr's, with with Lower Powerline (aka Mickey) coming in a close second.
Twas a fine weekend of family bonding, wine drinking and great skiing. Let's hope that this kind of cross-border shopping will continue.
Glad you had a good trip to Jay! Sorry I couldn't make it. But it was better to let my injury heal than push it.
ReplyDeleteVery surprising about Saturday being Jay's second busiest day ever. I've seen Jay's lots fill to capacity twice this season, but both of those days were powder days.
Either Canadians wanted to see through previously made vacation plans and season pass costs, or Jay is such a draw that it can overcome the justified desire to give the USA a cold shoulder. Next season will be more telling about the long-term impacts (i.e. no sunk costs).
Unrelated, last time I was at Jay, I noticed the trail sign for Derick Hot Shot was changed to Hotshot Derrick. I checked skimaps.org and it looks like that change happened in 2012-2013, but the trail sign was never changed. I had no idea the trail name was ever changed until I saw the new trail sign.