NSBS backstory: A Blind Date at Jay Peak

Bloggers ready for first run at Jay. Photo by Matt.

When I told Blue Toes that I was going skiing with a bunch of guys I met on the Internet, she gave me a funny look. Not that this kind of Internet dating is a new thing. Since the early days of the Web, newsgroups, and then ski forums, have allowed like-minded individuals to find rides, ski partners, crash pads, ticket deals, mad parties, gear deals and much more. If you combine that with the standard travel industry model of the FAM tour (as in FAMiliarization), you get the Northeast Ski Blogger Summit, or NSBS. Or, as Steve Wright (Jay Peak Sales and Marketing VP) called it, the Anti-FAM. The guy does have a way with words.

A rare view of Timbuktu - untracked. Photo by Harvey.

Now that the first NSBS is over,  I can look back and say that those guys and I had an amazing experience at Jay Peak, on many different levels. What made it so? Well, for one thing, the mountain delivered the goods. Day One at Jay Peak was an unexpected powder day and days Two and Three were bluebird sunny days with enough leftover powder and finely tuned groomers to keep anybody happy. What more could you ask for? Well, maybe the storm that dumped 30 plus inches today - but I am not complaining. I don't know if my legs could have handled it. Beyond that, we had some very interesting insights into the future world of Jay Peak, the developments happening now and those scheduled for the years to come. Tough questions were asked and frank answers were given. These stories will come out in due time.

Secondly, you have the people: two Canadians, four Americans, with representation from one big province (Ontario) and three of the "New" states (NH, NJ and NY). Ages ranged from 30 to 53. Skiing ability was high. Stoke level was off the scale. Two kinds of glisse were performed, with both the locked and free heel getting along famously and, in some cases, switching it up. Three of the group members had considerable Jay experience, one a little bit and two were JP never-evers. The blogs (see below) represent six very different views on skiing.

Thirdly, you have the common threads: obsession with skiing; the Eastern skiers' constant quest for powder days among the icy days; a predilection to write about the ski experience, take pictures and, finally, an inclination to share that commentary online with whoever chooses to read it.

Nice condos and first tracks to Racoon Run!

Ultimately, this event could not have happened without the support of Jay Peak and, in particular, Steve Wright. When I first dreamed up the idea that it would be cool to bring together a group of ski bloggers at the same mountain, at the same time, and see what came out, I had no idea that I would be staying in a ski-in/ski-out condo with three days of complimentary skiing for six people. As the idea gained momentum, with the input of Harvey44 and others, I started to think that the do-it-yourself original plan was maybe not enough. I drummed up my courage, wrote out a proposal and set up a meeting with Steve back in October. The meeting went very well, IMHO. The stage was set, the incentive was offered and all that remained was for Ullr to smile upon us, which he did. Selling out to the man? Not at all. Taking advantage of a generous offer made by a creative marketing guy taking a big chance on my pitch? Absolutely.

Your humble author finds some fresh tracks on one of his favourite runs at Jay Peak, the Green Beret. Photo by Matt.

The blogs involved in the 2011 NSBS

The Real Jay Peak Snow Report:  
http://jonnyjay.blogspot.com
The Snowway: 
http://www.thesnowway.com/
Ski = MC Squared:  
http://skiequalsmc2.blogspot.com/
Ski Mad World: 
http://madpatski.wordpress.com/
Harvey Road - The New York State Ski Blog:  
http://www.nyskiblog.com/
The Magazine - The Mountains Less Traveled: 
http://www.nyskiblog.com/p/harvey-road-magazine.html

NSBS Day 3: Nothing like a little hike to start your day!

Posted live from a yellow picnic table in Stateside Lodge. Man, am I a geek!

Yesterday, I did something I've been wanting to do for a long time. I have to admit, I'm a bit of a slave to the lifts at Jay Peak and have long wanted to get into the Vermont backcountry. Every time I drive up the Mountain Road, I stare at a certain hill and think, "I'd like to hike up there and ski down." It's not a particularly secret stash, and certainly not hard to find, but most people opt for the ease of The Dip. Oh well, too bad for them. On the third day after a storm, there were only about half a dozen tracks ahead of us.

With the route-finding guidance of Steve, our gang of four headed out and were skinning up by 8:30 or so. We could have been earlier if it were not for a few cascading and hilarious mistakes that caused some delay. Oh well, the snow wasn't going anywhere.

Matt skins up the track some nice people made for us.

Steve looks pleased with his situation

Where's Harvey? Backlit in the early morning light. Lots of snow to go around.

After an epic sidestep to egress from the run, we dashed back to the condo, threw everything in our cars and headed for the lifts. Another sunny day, the groomers were super-fast and fun. We even found fresh powder in a few spots in Beaver Pond, probably the most popular glade at Jay Peak.

For the first time visitors in the crew, this trip was a dream come true. For the returning skiers, it was a rekindling of the stoke you have for a familiar place. The lesson: never take Jay Peak for granted.

After a delicious lunch at Alice's Table, we went for a different sort of hike. More on this later!

You can read about day three (and see more pictures) from other points of view at The Snowway, Ski = MC Squared and Harvey Road. I'm sure there will be more to come on this trip.

NSBS Day 2: Oh darn, the sun came out.

Today was a day for exploring. Light winds, brilliant sunshine and cold temperatures. Not to mention a little leftover snow from yesterday. But where to go? With MadPat added to the collective, our fired-up crew now had three sources of Jay tribal knowledge for seeking out leftover powder. In doing so, we literally skied from one boundary rope to the other. There were even a couple of forays beyond a rope. I have to thank Snowway Steve for sharing his extensive knowledge of woodland nooks and crannies, which allowed me to ski somewhere I'd heard about but never been before. If I can find it again...

Since the sun was out and the wind was down, out first ride (after the Village Chair), was up the the tram and down the Green Beret, one of my favourite runs at Jay Peak. After negotiating the sketchy, rocky, top section we found only a few tracks in the fresh powder and plenty of room for new ones. After that things became a blur of trees with powder, trees with not so much powder left, repeat. The handy groomed runs that take you to the various glade runs were in great condition - truly "powder/packed powder."

Ullr is smiling on this group.

Steve takes the rock jump on Green Beret

Matt ups the ante with a tele-heli. I took pictures.

Ski bloggers in their happy place

MadPat running gates in the forest beyond the rope

Check out more tales and pictures from today on Harvey Road (there's a video there too), Ski = MC Squared and The Snowway.

NSBS Day 1: What a day!

There was a little unexpected snow at Jay Peak today. You could even call it a powder day! SBR got a face shot on Upper Exhibition at 11:30 am, on the way to lunch. Unreal day, snow-filled everywhere.

I did not take many pictures today but the guys I was skiing with did and have already written some great reports. How can I keep up? Check out Harvey Road, Ski=MC2, The Snowway and FTOL. Watch the "ski blogs to read" feed to the right for further reports from some other skiers that were here for the festivities.

It snowed heavily all morning. Accumulation on my pants only halfway up the Bonnie.

When I returned to the Snowbaru, it turned out that the car had a powder day too!

Jay Peak in 48 hours: a guest report

Here is the first "guest report" on the RJPSR, I hope there will be more. Will, Duper and Jer are three lads from Huntsville, Ontario who went to Jay for the first time earlier this week. Clearly, they have now  been stricken with the Jay Peak bug. Duper was on skis, Will and Jer the single plank. This is their story, as told by Will:

With two days off and snow in the forecast for the east, the only thing left to do was pack up the car and hit the road. Thanks to the trusty advice from the Great El Gordo (editors note: that would be me), we found ourselves heading to the hills of Vermont.

This must be the place.

We checked into Grampas Grunt's Hostel at about 10pm, Sunday, Feb. 13. Even when checking in you could sense that this was a place of history, a place of legends and with tales of the mountain to suit. Gramps got us checked into our room and informed us there would be no breakfast the next morning as he had a poker game to get to that night.

We woke the next morning bright and early and headed to Jay. We parked at Stateside, as this was the first piece of advice given to us from Gord. We knew that this was the side of the mountain to go to for the true "local experience." Little did we know that’s exactly what we were in for.

Standing eagerly at the bottom of the Bonnie, waiting for the lift to open, we met up with a fellow Gramps resident. Ed, aka VW, has been coming to Jay for over ten years. The story has it that he shows up in a different Volkswagen every time, hence the name.  He assured us that, without question, every time he rolls into town he stays at Gramps. More importantly, he let us know that he would be happy to ride with us up the first chair and "show us a few good spots" to check out on the mountain.

Somewhere down a rabbit hole.

Ed ended up riding with us the entire day, showing us the local lines that we never would have found without him. At the top of every run he would just shout, “follow me to the next rabbit hole” and, without fail, after every rabbit hole we found ourselves in some of the best tree skiing in the east. We rode everything from chutes, to tight lines, to wide open glades, all of which had at least knee deep fresh snow covering them.

We rode from first chair to last that day and even got a run in on The Dip, where we ended down at the road and hitchhiked back to the parking lot. We were hooked: Jay was the place to be.

Grampa Grunt atmosphere.

We spent the night at Gramps' again, cooked up a big feast and shared some beers with our new buddy and local tour guide Ed. He told us we were very fortunate to meet up with him, that usually he’s riding with others and he never would have shown three newbies the lines he did. We sat around the basement rec room; Gramps shared some stories of the 80’s, when the hostel was truly the place to be in the east. The wall mounted snowboards and skis, beer stained floors and dim lit atmosphere certainly made you think: that if only these walls could talk.

Our second day at Jay Peak was bluebird skies and sunshine. With the stashes on the windblown side of the mountain covered in snow, Ed continued to show us tree lines and always seemed to find the deep snow. The tram wasn’t running so we did a hike up to the summit to take in the views and get a run in on Valhalla. We also bagged two more runs on The Dip and called it a day after that. Figured we had to end on a high note. We thanked Ed repeatedly for his guide service and hit the road back to Ontario.

Stop taking pictures - let's go riding!

You want me to go where?

The result, three exhausted guys with memories of epic tree lines and deep fresh snow. My recommendation, go to Jay Peak. Check in at Gramps, soak up the atmosphere and hope you are as lucky as we were to run into Ed.

Thanks VW.

Here is a little postscript from Duper:

You know you are at a great mountain when you barely stop to take photos.  I'm still thinking about the terrain, the people and places of northern VT.  It's defiantly in the top four ski trips of all time for me personally. The green coat belongs to William.  Jer had the pumpkin coat.  I'm in grey with the blue bonnet. Last but not least, our tour guide Ed is Johnny Cash dressed all in black.

A single track is always a good sign.

A first for the RJPSR!

The other day, I stumbled upon a site called the Outdoor Blogger Network. Browsing through the blog categories, I thought: "hmmm, there is nothing about skiing here. Skiing happens outdoors and most skiers I know are outdoorsy-type people."

So, what the heck, I signed up and suggested that they add a "skiing blogs" section to their existing "outdoor athletics" category. They agreed with my logic and, lo and behold, the RJPSR is the first ski blog on the site.

So if you have a ski blog,  an outdoors blog, or just enjoy reading blogs about outdoorsy stuff, check out the the OBN.

Social media case study: hate VS debate.

Disclaimer: In case you haven't figured it out, this gang of Jay Peak skiers live a long way from Jay Peak. That's why you aren't reading an account of how great the skiing is right now. So if like me, you WISH you were at Jay Peak right now, and need something to distract you from the powder stories, feel free to read on.

Unless you have been living under a rock, with only dial-up Internet access, you'll have noticed that social media services like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs and the like are increasingly being used by businesses to promote their products and services. In the tourism industry, which, like it or not, ski resorts are part of, progressive operators have been using social media for some time because they know that “creating the conversation” between themselves and clients, or even better, between clients and clients ABOUT the product, is a relatively easy way to keep people thinking about their operation. And if you keep thinking about something good, you'll want that something, even if you have to drive seven hours to get there.

The trouble is, keeping on top of the blog, chatter and tweet is yet another thing for the marketing person to do, more tasks to be completed in an already busy work day. Hopefully, the marketing person's boss gets it and doesn't chastise them for “spending too much time on the Internet.” Fans and followers come to expect regular blog posts, Facebook updates, tweets and responses to their comments. And you never know when it just might blow up in your face (book).

Let's take a look at two recent Facebook incidents that underscore the need for vigilance and responsibility. Two ski resorts, Jay Peak and Sunshine Village (near Banff, Alberta) have had Facebook blow-ups recently and dealt with them in very different ways.

If you follow ski industry news (and who doesn't, he asked facetiously) you will have heard about the recent public relations meltdown at SSV. If not, the very short version is that a junior patroller pulled the pass of someone who was skiing in a closed area. Turns out that the someone was Taylor Scurfield, the son of the resort's owner, Ralph Scurfield Jr. Shortly afterwards, several senior patrol and operations staff were fired. The remaining patrol had a bit of a protest and more were fired, including the rookie patroller who pulled young Scurfield's pass in the first place. Now the skiing public is up in arms on-line and the ex-employees are launching a wrongful dismissal suit. You can read the full story, along with links to various other discussions and articles, on MadPatSki's excellent and detailed recent blog post. But please come back.

At this writing, Sunshine Village has taken down their official Facebook page (the page that appears to be official is a “mirror” site, apparently not managed by the resort). When it was up, there was much heated discussion, a lot of hate, many people got banned, popped back under a new name, banned again, and so on. Several other pages have popped up, including pages for supporting the wronged patrollers, boycotting Sunshine, etc. etc. If you are on Facebook, try a search and you'll see what I mean. What a mess. The resort management appears to have completely given up on trying to communicate about the situation and mitigate this public relations disaster. There is no indication that anything is amiss on the resort's web site. The score: social media backlash, 1; Sunshine Village, 0. This will be a very interesting story to follow.

Meanwhile, over at Jay Peak's Facebook page, there has been some heated, but friendly, debate about the ongoing development project. As you can imagine there are a lot of people for it, and a lot of people against. The waterpark, in particular, seems to get folks pretty riled up. The screen shot below is of the Jay Peak Facebook post on Jan. 31. What started out as an innocent photo and comment about the waterslide developed into a 108 comment debate about development with the “fors” and “againsts” well represented throughout. It is worth reading. No matter what your stand is on the development, you have to admire the Jay Peak marketing team's thoughtful and attentive replies to the stream of comments. It takes a lot of work to stay on top of this stuff and keep a professional level of response going. The score: social media dialogue, 1; Jay Peak Resort, 1.

PS: The Jay Peak development story keeps popping up in various places, check out this recent thread on AlpineZone and several pages of back and forth on the TGR East Coast Stoke thread (note: the discussion starts about half-way down the page and goes on for about two more). Word of warning, if you have never visited TGR before, be prepared for some, uhhh, colourful language and more than colourful characters.