Mountain Mechanics: Overnight at Jay Peak

We battled through some snowy highways after departing Wednesday morning at 8 am. We nearly crossed the border into Canada but eventually found our way to Jay Peak. The boys and Cara were very impressed with our slope side townhouse. Our place had three stories, a large family style dining room table, and a porch we could ski right off of. The lift passed right by the house, and we could already see people heading up the mountain.

Not a bad view from our porch!

     

Jay Peak, Vermont

     
For many people it was their first time skiing/riding in the glades and back country. A handful of our group members rode the tram to the top together and rode some fantastic glades off the summit. People quickly learned to stay together as a group and the importance of relying and trusting one another in the woods.

Packed in the tram.

After a family style dinner we all headed over to Jay's new and impressive water park. Some people still had energy and tried their luck surfing the FlowRider, while others chose to soak in the outdoor hot tub. Many people floated around the lazy river and eased their joints. Our shorts froze on the way back to the town house and it didn't take long for the group to pass out.

Family style dinner.

"Today the Mountain Mechanics team woke up to a delicious smelling breakfast that consisted of bacon, sausage, diced potatoes, scrambled eggs, and toast. After breakfast we traveled to the ski patrol area where we met with Patrick, a member of the ski patrol. He told us about his daily schedule, which mostly consisted of helping those injured on the mountain and getting rid of hazards. After the meeting with Patrick I learned a lot about how the ski patrol runs at Jay Peak, especially how they prioritize helping injured people. We then had the rest of the day free to ski the mountain. Jay Peak was my favorite mountain because of the amazing snow that it had. The snow was basically all powder wherever you went, which is something very hard to find in the east. Overall my day was very fun and informative and hopefully I will be able to go back to Jay Peak sometime."                   
- Alex S.

Patrick, from Jay Peak's ski patrol, explains their new headquarters.

Jay Peak summit

"Today we finished our second day at Jay Peak. To start our day, Tobin and Ms. Koester made us a huge five star breakfast. After eating we packed up our stuff and loaded it all onto the bus. Around 10 o'clock we met with Patrick, who is a part of Jay Peak ski patrol. He told us that it is probably the best job in the world. He described his typical day on the mountain, which started at 7:30 am. They would have a meeting early in the morning and directly after the meeting they would go mark the trails and check the snow conditions. After we took a group picture, we headed out to conquer the mountain. We skied until about 4 o'clock and headed back to New Hampton. Tomorrow we are going to get our presentation finished and ready to show to everyone, and hopefully that night we will go night skiing."   
- Howie H.