Opening Day
12.05.03 - The day finally arrived. After months of patiently waiting for the snow to fall, weeks of being jerked around by the ever-changing opening day, and days of weather forecasts calling for anything from 0”-6,” Jay Peak opened. It was a humble beginning with lifts opening to a ‘hurrah’ from the crowd assembled at the Jet Triple at 9am Friday morning. The day appeared like any other from the base of the mountain. A dull cloud loomed overhead, excitement was in the air, and two FC staffers, Chris and James, were riding their first chair of the season.
As the lift plugged up the mountain, snowguns could be heard to the left blowing on the Haynes. The main part of the Jet had recently been groomed, leaving a fresh (yet shallow) line of powder directly under the chair, and multiple death cookies in between. To the surprise of the skiers and riders breaking through to the top of the mountain, the snowmaking cloud visible from the base disguised the world of baby blue sky and incredible sunshine existing around the mountain crest.
Quickly deciding to head down UN for the first run of the season, we found very nice coverage, up to shin deep across the trail. Although the woods were enticing, snow depth was going to be a question. However, by the second run we found ourselves knee deep in Kitz Woods, and the season was officially on.
Mountain conditions were surprisingly good for opening day. The trails that were open exhibited few bare spots, and although there were plenty of rocks and stumps underneath, the woods featured great early season turns. The many highlights of the day included an opening day romp through Timbuktu, the fine turns leading out of Derrick's Hot Shot/The Willard, and a hike up the Vermonter to find some untracked powder. By the time we hiked, a number of adventurous Jay Peak skiers, riders, and trekkers had established a nice boot pack and had kindly left us more than enough snow for a fantastic ride down. We were able to link turn after turn of boot deep early season powder.
Leaving the mountain fulfilled after opening day at Jay Peak, we began to hear rumors circulating about a southern New England storm that was potentially going to swing north. Hmmmmmm…
~JR
12.07.03 - Over the past 24 hours, the NOAA (www.noaa.gov) weather radio station forecasted 16"-24" of fresh snow for Jay Peak, VT. When we left for the Belfry early Saturday evening the snow was falling at 3" per hour. The anticipation of the following day's powder filled turns sent us to bed early and stoked...
10 Ideas to
Kick the Pre-Season Blues
11.22.03 - Jay Peak may open December 4, 5, or 6. This is what I read on the Jay website today. Last week President Bill told us we could get our boards ready to go right after we finished our turkey dinner, November 28th. And before that, we were promised we could hit the snow on the 22nd. And so goes the waiting game we play every season.
Skiing, more than any other sport, leaves it’s participants waiting for the coveted ‘Opening Day’. From watching the weather channel to bouncing from .com to .com, we attempt to guess when Mother Nature will start up her snowmaking guns...
Tech Tip #1: Pre-Season Tune-Up
11.01.03 - Many skiers and riders drastically underestimate the importance of tuning
their equipment. Maintaining gear not only improves your day on the mountain
but also goes a long way towards prolonging the life of your skis and snowboards.
Dull, rusty edges and dried-out bases cause sacrifices in speed and control,
which are essential to beginners, intermediates, and experts. This first edition
of Tech Tips offers preseason advice for tuning your equipment. I will provide
basic approaches to maintenance and things to keep in mind early in the year,
leaving in-depth tuning advice for later discussions...
Tenney Mountain Opens – October 4th
10.04.03
- Tenney Mountain promised an early opening to the 2003/2004-ski
season and on October 4th, they delivered. Breaking Killington's
41year history of providing the first turns of the east coast
ski season, Tenney hooked up 200 skiers and riders with spring
corn snow. Incorporating
state-of-the-art Japanese snowmaking technology into this mid-
New Hampshire ski mountain, owner-operator Dan Egan built a
terrain park
worthy of the jib scene that converged on it...
FC Magazine Launches Online Winter Home
09.01.03 - As we look past the fall season and start gearing up for another winter, we're excited to announce the launch of our new ski and ride website: 'First Chair - On Line Magazine' (http://www.firstchairmag.com). This site will actively serve as an on-line epicenter of the 2003 East Coast powder movement, which exists at Jay Peak, VT. Our Boston-based ski and ride brain trust developed this site as a definitive resource for a multimedia, interactive destination to prepare for, document, and remember the 03/04-winter season. Full completion is scheduled for Nov. 1st, ideally coinciding with the first turns of the season...