bwt3650

Some trees really starting to look bare today..next stop, snowmaking in about 4 weeks.

Jay is giving me two free lift tickets for saddleback this year. I def have to get up there and check it out. You guys speak so highly of that place.

Yep; very true. I was surprised that last weekend, there was stuff going on almost non-stop in the ice haus. Don’t know if it was camps or what, but a surprising amount of teams and people in and out. Those tournaments are big business tho. Ive heard pass sales are actually up over last year, but I don’t think anyone knows if that will hold because if vt doesn’t loosen restrictions, a lot of those sales will turn into refunds. I think epic pass sales are booming too. There is clearly demand.

Jay’s reopening plan..no reservations and they are selling day tickets at the window. Much of the resort will be business as usual, with capacity restrictions of course. They are clearly anticipating the border staying closed and losing all the Canadian traffic but should be an amazing ski experience for us here. Taking the dog out at 5am with temps in the 30s the other morning has me ready. https://jaypeakresort.com/resort/blog-updates/202021-jay-peak-resort-anticipated-operating-plan

Wont be long until it all turns white.

Was listening to gov. Scott’s press conference today and he was asked about the lodging and hospitality industry. In response, he said (and I’m paraphrasing) that after they handle the school issues the next couple weeks, they would focus on assisting those industries both financially and looking at easing restrictions. Reading between the lines, great news for helping out the ski industry that has been pummeled and some hope for out of staters looking at the ski season; maybe a more manageable and fair quarantine system is coming?

That’s the one..crazy windy at first chair and I think the only thing running was the triple..I went by the four runner at about 11 and the chairs were off and thought there was no way it was opening..came out after lunch and couldn’t believe it was running. Virtually untouched for a few runs and just sick skiing. 2nd place was right around Valentine’s Day at jay..the glades off the freezer were deep as hell.

Moving on from the deep complexities of mean people, how about some lighter discussion...favorite run of last season? As soon as I saw this thread open, I immediately thought of that late feb dumping at Stowe/jay and how a run down starr was probably top five in my life...disappointing season; but it had its moments!

I’m from jersey, which is even worse than a masshole. We spend a good deal of time at jay in the winter and this year, with my wife and kids able to work and do school remotely, we plan on being up there 75 percent of the winter. Never realLt had anyone in that area give us a hard time besides some ball busting. I don’t take it personally, and quite frankly, Jersey does have a disproportional amount of a-holes so I get it. If someone wants to get off giving us a hard time or judging us as “tourists” have at it. I think that most people (not all) that you talk to and have a conversation with and don’t get immediately offended by, you realize you are really good people. I just want to ski, chill and drink some beer, no matter what your beliefs or political affiliation is. I do agree that preventing us from using our home without quarantine is not right, as im not sure there is a way to quantitatively judge someone’s risk factor just by state, but I’ll play along. and yes, I think the less Facebook, the better. I’ve never posted anything besides pictures of my wife or kids and don’t ever touch anything in the news, political or covid related. Nothing good comes of it.

That’s reassuring to hear and seems like a common sense move. I think they will all blast the mountains to get open, it’s the refreshing of the usual high traffic areas when they get icy that may get cut back; but this is nothing more than thinking out loud. The early commitment on snowmaking from sugarbush is a solid move tho. The jays and Stowe’s of the world should be safe bets with the upslope machine that in a normal year gives you that 3-6 every few days go keep things fresh. It’s places like a hunter for example that need to blow a ton of snow all season for those thaw/freeze days that I wonder if they will cut back..but it’s vail, so I guess they can afford it better than most. on another topic, I wonder if there is any plan for the tram at jay? Probably the least social distanced place in all of Vermont.

Yeah, I can see limiting day sales. Season pass def the way to go this season, as always. Day passes are the higher margin sale tho, so will they be able to operate fully losing that $100 plus dollar a day sale and the food and bev sales? I’m confident that those of us who ski 20-30 times a year on a pass are going to get some time in but losing those family day trips has got to hurt. And with losing all that money, where do the cuts start? less Snowmaking, less grooming or cutting terrain, cutting patrol or lifts? Be nice to get off to a quick start so there less reliance on pounding the snow guns. Your’re right tho, I don’t think anyone has more than a guess at this.

Stealing dr. Fauci’s favorite line, I am “cautiously optimistic” about the ski season. Yes, lodges and bars will be pretty much non-existant and those who ski once a year on a Saturday in jan will have a hard time, but for those of us who like to hit it on a Mid-week morning, I think it’s going to work. I saw an interview with killington’s gm and I thought he said pass sales were actually beating their expectations by a good deal. My worry is the resorts which rely on that packed Saturday in Jan or Presidents’ Day crowd to make it through the year. The smaller, local mountains will need people to make an effort to visit this year more than ever. Either way, enjoy this time of year as the excitement builds toward the first cold snap, first flakes and hopefully, snow making by october.