Redemption Day at Jay Peak (w/ video)

Upon the shores of the Ice Coast, powder is a privilege, not a right. You don't just stumble on the goods, you work for it.

I was sitting in the lush new JetBlue JFK terminal, delayed an hour, when Brent called. He was audibly beaming with excitement from a day of powder at Jay. I could tell he was holding back a bit for my benefit as it was likely I would not make it for the next day's bounty. All he said was, "Get here, just get here."

[caption]BTV at 12:36pm.[/caption]By a winter miracle, JetBlue manage to slip our flight out of JFK a few ticks ahead of the midnight hour. Upon touchdown in Burlington, I was immediately struck by how much fluffy kitty was plastered on everything. At the same time, I was skeptical of the riding quality as it was some wet thick snow. By the time I made it home, it was already 1:30am and there was still shoveling to be done. At 3am, I laid down and set the alarm for 5:30am. It was going to be an early rise, it was to be an epic ride.

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[caption]First Light[/caption]I rose promptly at 5:30am, powered by a lust of deep powder. With haste I readied the gear, made ample amounts of coffee, and double checked the weather. As the wee hand stroked past 6:20, the town of Bristol was treated to the loud call of the STI's coffee can exhaust. I put in a call to a tired and surprised Brent, simply saying, "I'll be there."

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[caption]Parking Close[/caption]The parking attendants whisked me to the front of the parking lot, posting the STI in prime real estate. I climbed out of the rig, narrowly missing a sliding stalker van. Across a row of snow covered vehicles, I could see the smiling face of Brent and the high pitched muppeting of Price. It was on.

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[caption]Third Chair[/caption]This is as close as I likely will ever come to first chair. We were actually in the second position but got snaked by some powder ferrets with higher credentials than us. Typically this would really irk me, but you have to appreciate a resort that takes care of its own. You can feel the soul of Jay Peak beating triumphantly through-out the core skiing and riding community that inhabits its slopes. You don't just wander into Jay, you are there to rip.

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[caption]Yup that deep, that good[/caption]We jumped off the chair and straight lined/straight aired it right into the woods and whoa, hello big big powder. It was insane. Owing to the previous day's slashing, the woods were filled with pillows of 1-2 feet of powder. It was not completely untouched but that actually made it better as you could always keep your speed. Smiles were all around, yelps of stoke were heard across the hill, and I was there. I will let the big pictures and video say the rest. Thank you Jay Peak.

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