Jay Peak

Looking for true East Coast powder without hopping on a plane? As the northernmost ski resort in Vermont, Jay Peak is steadily the best bet for natural snowfall in the entire region. Jay Peak also stands out in a number of other ways, with the resort hosting Vermont’s only aerial tram and surprisingly extreme terrain. But the resort is very far from key major metropolitan areas, and a couple of drawbacks hurt it against more conveniently-located competitors.

Jay Peak’s defining characteristic is its snow. The resort consistently receives the highest snow totals in the Northeast, seeing over 300 inches of natural snowfall in a typical season—nearly double some of its competitors. This results in regular powder days, something that’s hard to say about any other East Coast ski resort.

But while Jay has the best natural snow in the East, conditions on “off”-days can become surprisingly poor. Jay’s unique topography also makes for some of the most wind-exposed slopes in Vermont, resulting in scoured, icy terrain. Jay Peak’s snowmaking covers 80% of trails—which may sound like a lot, but falls behind near-100% coverage of some competitors. And even with this coverage ratio, the snowmaking isn’t always consistent on every trail. A notable minority of Jay Peak’s trails see little grooming and face thin cover throughout a typical core season.

And even if it has snowed and conditions are good, a solid chunk of days fall victim to wind holds. Days like these leave the sheltered Jet chair as the only lift serving major on-mountain terrain, which turns the whole experience into a madhouse.

The one place that’s often spared from the wind is the trees. Indeed, Jay Peak’s glades often host the best snow conditions at the resort—let alone anywhere in Vermont—thanks to collecting much of the snow blown off open slopes. Even if conditions on regular trails are nearly unskiable, the glades can hold excellent powder stashes for days after a storm. In fact, Jay’s glades are just overall excellent, with solid intermediate and advanced options off every lift that are consistently skiable throughout the winter.

Speaking of terrain—Jay Peak may not be the biggest resort in Vermont, but it does offer some of the most unique runs in the region. The resort boasts a main mountain face, the top of which is served exclusively by the aerial tram, as well as two sub-peaks that include a significant portion of the resort’s terrain.

There are a number of great mountains in Vermont for beginners, but Jay Peak isn’t one of them. The resort has beginner zones served by dedicated lifts and magic carpets at both bases, but above these areas, there isn’t a single green trail. And while the beginner areas are designated as slow zones, upper-mountain blues and blacks filter into nearly all of these runs, leaving little truly isolated terrain for beginners to learn on.

Jay Peak starts to make much more sense for intermediates, although those unfamiliar with the mountain should still be careful about which trails to choose. Every lift serves groomed blue cruisers, and upper-mountain blues are home to the best views on the mountain. Lower-mountain areas host numerous intermediate glade runs. However, some of Jay’s blue runs are on the harder side, and a handful remain ungroomed throughout the winter, resulting in conditions that guests who might be comfortable on blues at other Vermont resorts may find too taxing.

Jay Peak is really best for experts, and terrain for experienced guests is what really sets it apart from competitors. Every major mountain area boasts numerous steeps, including narrow mogul runs, glades of varying widths, and a few groomers that allow for serious speed runs. Jay Peak doesn’t have a double-black rating, but don’t be fooled—some of these runs leave little room for error, and would easily be rated with this difficulty at other resorts.

Jay Peak’s most intense terrain is located off the top of the tram. The tram face is home to some of the hardest terrain in Vermont, with blood-curdling chutes that sustain perilous pitches and include tight trees. Some of these lines are so steep that they’re essentially impossible to maintain control on without fresh snow; if it’s not a powder day, the unmarked face trails to the skiers’ right of the tram are essentially death traps due to uncontrollably icy terrain that plunges right into unforgiving, unskiable trees. But Jay Peak’s primary Face Chutes, which are to skiers’ left of the tram, are sheltered from the wind—and while still incredibly technical, they often hold fresh powder longer than any other place on the mountain. Guests can thank Jay’s natural snowfall for its extremes; if it weren’t for the exceptional snow base, it’s unlikely that this type of terrain would be skiable at all.

Jay Peak isn’t the tallest mountain on the East Coast, but for its size, it boasts quite the feel. Pictures alone undersell how striking the peak is, with its jagged rock face conveying a presence unlike any other in-bounds terrain feature in Vermont. A ride up the tram, which travels at a height far above most normal lifts, affords birds’ eye vistas of numerous mid-mountain resort zones and close-up views of the tram face itself. The resort’s surroundings are quite remote, and a lack of on-mountain buildup makes for a local, uncommercialized vibe.

But Jay’s lack of buildup does make for a couple of modest drawbacks. Except for at the top of the tram, there are no mid-mountain lodges, making it impossible to stop in for a break without traveling all the way down to one of the bases. And while the base lodges are pleasant enough, they’re not the easiest to access from certain mountain areas. Jay Peak gets extraordinarily cold throughout the winter—it’s often one of the coldest mountains in the Northeast—and the lack of indoor shelter can make it really unpleasant to be at the resort.

Also not helpful on cold days is Jay’s lift setup. While the aerial tram clearly protects occupants from the elements, this lift isn’t exactly practical to lap due to its long headways, and it can generate long lines on busy days. None of Jay Peak’s other major lifts make for especially enjoyable rides. The Flyer Quad, which services the same lower two-thirds of terrain as the tram, is located directly in a wind funnel and, while high-speed, will leave guests frigid after just one ride. The Bonaventure and Jet lifts are thankfully more sheltered, but both are quite slow. At least the lines for these chairlifts are never too bad, only getting up to 10-or-so minutes, even on the busiest days.

Contrary to essentially every other competitive Vermont ski resort, Jay Peak is not a partner on either of the Epic or Ikon pass suites. Instead, Jay Peak offers two days of access on the Indy Pass, a much cheaper multi-pass product that primarily provides access to smaller, more regional resorts. While multiple Indy Pass partners enforce severe blackout dates on the product’s base pass, Jay Peak does not, making it much more practical to plan a weekend trip for than other Indy offerings.

Getting There

Jay Peak sits just below Vermont’s border with Canada, making it further away from major United States cities than every other ski resort in the state. A drive from New York takes a grueling six-and-a-half hours, while the trek from Boston is four hours. However, Jay is significantly more convenient to reach from Montreal than other Vermont destinations, sitting just two hours from Quebec’s largest city.

Lodging

Jay Peak offers three on-site hotel accommodations, as well as an assortment of ski-in/ski-out condos in lower-mountain areas. The Hotel Jay sits at the resort’s main base, and it’s connected to unique amenities such as an indoor water park and ice hockey rink (although these cost extra to access). The higher-end Tram Haus is Jay’s newest hotel, offering generous kitchenette and suite accommodations. The Stateside Hotel is the most economical option of the three, with no-frills rooms at the secondary Stateside base.

A handful of budget inns and vacation home rental options can also be found within 15-30 minutes of the resort.

Aprés-ski

The area surrounding Jay Peak is very rural with no town, and as a result, has very little going on. There are a handful of bars and restaurants—including one in each hotel—but guests expecting anything close to a real party town will be disappointed. That said, Jay’s base lodges and hotels do host live music most weekends during the core season, so there is always a bit of a vibe at the resort during peak times.

Verdict

So Jay Peak’s extraordinary East Coast strengths make it worth the drive—if you get there on a non-windy day, it’s snowed within the past few days, and you’re not a beginner. But a trip up to Jay is a bit of a roll of the dice due to regular wind holds as well as lackluster snowmaking and grooming measures. Lift ticket prices are very reasonable—with even peak days going for less than $100 at the ticket window—so the resort might be best enjoyed by those who book with short notice and a good sense of the conditions.