Category Archives: Vermont

Revisiting Jay Peak

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Can a family have too many ski buddies?

No way.

Great weather! We finally made it to the summit!

New resarch has shown that the main problem with last year’s trip to Jay Peak in Northern Vermont wasn’t the frigid cold wind and sleet.  We just didn’t have enough families along.

This year, we added a half dozen or so friends to our roster and had a hoot of a time.  It didn’t hurt that the weather was beautiful, all lifts were running and we could actually get to the top of the mountain.

Hanging out in our pals’ room, with snacks

Other improvements over last year’s trip (which itself was really fun, as is evident in the fact that we wanted to go back):  we brought lots of food, because we knew we’d have a kitchen in our room, almost all our friends were on the same floor as us, and we give the kids lots more freedom to visit the waterpark whenever they wished.

Here are some highlights:

Riding on the lift with Eliza…

…and on the Tram with the Sullivans

 

 

 

 

 

 

Late-ish mornings, because we stayed right at the mountain

Late-ish evenings because even the German restaurant we went to wasn’t far from the hotel at all

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Which ones are our kids? We could never ski fast enough to catch up and find out.

Getting ready for the potluck dinner on night 3.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The second day of skiing was not as brilliantly sunny, but an extra lift was running and it allowed us access to the most appreciated run on the whole mountain.  Some of us went on Derek’s Hot Shot five times.  It was steep, but not bumpy and there was plenty of snow to keep us in control.  (Ed. — Last year Derek’s H

A gray day two sky hovering over Jen and the summit

ot Shot was very bumpy and pretty icy, too.  This year’s iteration was much, much better.)

Taking off down Derek’s Hot shot — it’s steeper than it looks here.

Even though several of us went in early because of tired legs, some of us — the ones with the oldest and most tired legs — kept on skiing until the lifts stopped running at 4.   Then we walked, stiff-legged, to the outdoor hot tub for a little therapy.

It’s 3:20, can we make it down to the Flier lift before it closes for the day? (We made it. And Chris Hall did, too, after taking our picture.)

Legs not to tired to walk all the way down to the end of the longest candy counter in the world

Then to top it all off, we stopped in Littleton, NH, on the way home for some Thai food and a singular treat.  We visited Chutter’s, a store that boasts the longest candy counter in the world.

 

 

 

Jay Peak, Plan B

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Do Nadia and her friend love you, Big River, more than they love skiing?

Lanie reflects on a major element of our Jay Peak stay.

One of the things I enjoyed most about Jay Peak was the indoor water park. We’re not talking about a couple pools and a waterslide. This was a the real thing. One of our favorite features was the Lazy River, a long waterway snaking around the entire park that you could ride on in tubes or just swim, gliding along on the artifical waves. (This feature is actualy called “The Big River”, but I’m refering to it as the Lazy River because I think it sounds better).

Incredibly, Zoe survived the red water slide.

Another was the four gigantic waterslides. The green and the blue you go on with the same inertubes from the Lazy River. The red and orange ones you just slide down. The red one was called “Le Chute.” It went in a huge loop, and started with a sudden vertical drop. You had to be 88 lbs to ride, but I wouldn’t do it if I could. (Ed note:  Zoe was the only one in the family to take on “Le Chute,” and one ride seemed to be enough for her.)

At the part before the loop, there is a hole in the top of the slide. There is a sign that said: “There is a chance you might not make in over the loop. If this happens, please let gravity take you and wait to be assisted.” So basically, if you don’t make it over the loop, you slide back down and climb out the hole.

  • Climbing too close to the Sun earned Lanie a whistle from the lifeguard.

    The park also included a large hot tub, fake surfing (Zoe did this numerous times), and a pool that contained water basketball, and climbing walls that rose six feet out of the water. ( I got whistled by the lifeguard for climbing to the top and sitting on top of the wall ).

All in all, the waterpark was a really fun place to spend an afternoon.

Mother Nature gives us all she’s got

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Here’s what things looked like on Day 2. I didn’t even manage to get the camera out of my pocket on Day 1.

This may be another one of those scenarios where someone in our family disturbed an ancient burial ground or dug up a cursed idol or unleashed a malevolent spirit.  On our winter break trip to do our first college tours with Zoe, we thought we’d sweeten the deal a bit with a couple of days skiing.  We found a good deal at Jay Peak way up north in Vermont and planned to spend two nights there — with the potential for close to three full days of skiing, counting our arrival and departure days.

Things started out a little dicey right from the get-go, as we hit snow — rather than the forecasted rain — about 15 minutes from our house.  It was slow going for a while.  And then, miraculously, we crossed through Franconia notch and the snow disappeared and the sun came out.  (And, more ominously, the wind picked up.)  It was like we’d traveled to a completely different state.

Hurricane winds drive Bob into the trees – well, luckily not literally into the trees.

Day 1: Sleet

We reached Jay Peak, checked in, and were so excited to get skiing that we skipped lunch.  We were greeted with sleet, and the news that the upper mountain lifts — including the protected, indoor aerial tramway — were closed due to ice and winds.  Still, we stuck it out for a while, getting frozen to the slow-moving lifts on the way up and feeling any exposed bit of skin getting sand-blasted with stinging ice crystals on our way down.  We braved the “expert only” terrain on the biggest lift that was open, and managed to survive an unfortunate trail choice that led to huge, steep, icy moguls.  In the end, it was the icy water soaking through our mittens and ski pants that forced us to give up and head inside.  (Luckily, Jay Peak offers other diversions — see Lanie’s entry for more on this.)

Day 2: Blizzard/Bomb cyclone

Knowing the weather forecast was iffy, we roused the protesting kids in time to get to the lift opening at 8:30.  We knew there were high winds predicted, and were guessing we were not getting to the top again — but were looking forward to exploring more of the (non-

This was about when the lifts stopped running.

mogul) expert trails atop the several inches of snow that had fallen overnight and was due to be coming down throughout the day.

Things started out well.  We found some lovely intermediate-level glades trails which even Bob and I enjoyed and kept us protected from the gusts of wind so strong that they’d literally take your breath away.  (The kids always love the glades, but Bob and I don’t feel that the imminent threat of crashing into a tree really adds to our enjoyment.  However, these trails were not very steep, and best of all had a narrow, groomed path winding through the center, so you could enjoy the loveliness of the woods without the constant tree-terror.)

Then the curse returned.  The higher lift, accessible from a different base area, closed as soon as we reached it.  Sticking it out on the lower trails, conditions deteriorated to the point that we were almost getting blown back uphill, and sometimes had near-whiteout conditions.  We persevered only because the snow conditions were so awesome — fresh powder under our skis and more falling all the time.  When we stopped in the trailside bar for Vermont beer, hot chocolate, and a warming break, all the lifts got shut down — leaving us at the wrong base area and needing to take a shuttle back.

Day 3: Polar vortex

This was REALLY going to be our day.  Yes, we knew it would be cold.  But we’d strategized.  We could take the aerial tramway up and thus warm up between runs.  We would finally get to the top, and ski on the several inches of fresh powder that no one else had been on yet.  Get up early, kids!  Put on all the layers, pack up the bags, check out of hotel room, then head to the slopes.  Disregard the gusts of wind howling past our windows.

Looks pleasantly sunny, doesn’t it? Note the absence of exposed skin.

Even on day three, the best snow was off the trail and between the trees.

At 6:30 am snow report said all lifts would be running.  At 7 we found out there was no aerial tramway.  At 8 the expert lift was taken off the table.  It was almost as windy as the previous day, and about 20 degrees colder.  Still, we made an effort.  We went back to our beloved glades trails and found that even the conditions didn’t live up to our expectations, since all the snow had apparently been blown off the mountain the night before, leaving the trails like concrete.  Nadia and Lanie made it three runs before bailing out in favor of the water park; Bob, Zoe and I did an additional one before calling it a day.

Luckily, the good people at Jay Peak gave us two days of free lift tickets to come back in the future, so I was able to stop gnashing my teeth at the wasted money.  And we can’t wait to come back — based on the small amount we’ve seen so far, we think we’re going to love this mountain.

Last run of the day selfie