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| photo by Christian Tremblay |
It’s known as the White Room, though it has no walls or ceiling. There is no door, no floor and no windows. There is only snow, of such abundance that up could be down, right could be left, and the only way to sort it out is to keep charging blindly into the void.
According to traditional thinking, if you want to visit the White Room, you go west, to the high mountains of the US and Canadian Rockies where the snow is plentiful and dry. But traditional thinking doesn’t account for a northern Vermont mountain known as Jay Peak, where the White Room is open for business.
Jay Peak is an aberration, a powder-cloaked mountain in a region better known for blue ice, brick-hard moguls, and the constant drone of snow guns. Over the 2000-01 season, Jay received 571 inches, more than any other resort outside of Alaska. The lean Northeastern winter of last year still delivered nearly 400 inches. “Everywhere else was dry as a bone,” says Dirk Anderson, a recent Jay convert. “But Jay just kept getting sweet little dumps that kept things fresh.”
Credit the “Jay Cloud,” a meteorological phenomenon generated by the area’s location at the very top of Vermont’s state-long chain of Green Mountains. As such, the mountain acts like a huge, greedy claw, snatching moisture from northern storm systems before it reaches more southerly regions. And because Jay is about as north as you can get without a passport (from the top of Jay, you could, with favorable wind and some practice, probably land a spit ball in Canada), most of that moisture falls as light, dry powder, rather than the cement that often plagues other New England ski resorts.
Deep powder is only part of the Jay story. The other is the area’s commitment to off-piste skiing and riding. Sure, some people go to Jay and don’t hit the woods. They’re the same sorry souls who go to Europe and eat at McDonalds. Jay is renowned for tree-skiing, and rightfully so: Well before other resorts caught onto the trend, Jay was ushering skiers and riders into the woods. And unlike most mountains, Jay offers low-angle, widely spaced glades for even novice snow sliders. The result is that the parking lot can be packed, but the open trails are empty. Everybody’s in the woods.
And, of course, in the White Room.
Slopestyle
The Snow: Powder! It’s a rare week indeed that Jay doesn’t pick up at least a dozen inches.
Skiable Acres: 450
Vertical Drop: A respectable 2,153 feet
Bottom Line: $53
Gotta Hit: Everglade, Beyond Beaver Pond
The Vibe: Fat boards, wool sweaters and duct tape
Pack a...Compass. It’s easy to get lost when exploring the outer limits of Jay’s stashes.
Rentals: Firsttrax, in nearby Montgomery, rents alpine, tele and snowboard gear. 802-326-3073;
www.firsttrax.net.
Lodging: The Woodshed Lodge has rooms starting at $35, only a couple miles from the slopes. 800-495-4445; www.woodshedlodge.com.
Après-Ski: The Snowline Pub (800-638-4661) on the Mountain Road and the Rustic Tavern (802-744-2238) on Route 100 in nearby Lowell.
Contact: 800-451-4449; www.jaypeakresort.com.
Last Updated: Feb 24th, 2006 - 14:18:11
© Copyright 1999-2006 by Hooked on the Outdoors
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