Of Vermont's 17 ski resorts none has more character than Jay Peak. If you are an upper intermediate to expert skier, and you count the skiing experience as the most important item in your ski vacation Jay Peak is for you. But, if you want a really pampered experience costing hundreds of dollars more,  it is not. Jay Peak is not an IntraWest destination resort running with Swiss precision, but it almost always has snow. Among Vermonters it has a reputation for having snow when other resorts don't and when other mountains have snow, Jay Peak usually has more snow than any other resort in the state.

Jay Peak is big. It exhilarates and exhausts the best skiers while still catering to the less accomplished. The challenging terrain includes more than a dozen blacks and a host of glade areas. Glades are wooded areas that have been thinned and cleared of underbrush. At Jay the glades have made it possible to expand the mountain's skiing terrain without actually cutting new conventional trails and running afoul of Vermont's tough development and environmental regulations.

The glades and the need to introduce visitors to the northern side of the mountain seems to have been the motivation for the construction several years ago of the Green Mountain Flyer, a high speed quad that whisks up to 2,600 skiers per hour to an area of the mountain that almost always has plenty of natural snow. Unfortunately, the Flyer, or ``Green Mountain Freezer" as it is euphemistically called by Jay cognoscenti, is usually the first to fall victim to closure (followed rather swiftly by the tram) when wintery winds blast the mountain. Still, the chair is the only quick way to Ullr's Dream, JFK, the Beaver Pond Glade and Beyond Beaver Bond Glade.

Jay is also the fiefdom of Bill Stenger, mountain manager and part owner. In being a true Vermont mountain czar, Mr. Stenger has  imprinted himself into Jay Peak and Vermont's Northeast Kingdom. Nothing happens at Jay Peak without Mr. Stenger's personal approval or order and his influence is felt throughout the Kingdom. The personal management style is reflected in Mr. Stenger's penchant to pitch in, whether it is to bus tables in the cafeteria or check tickets at a lift.  On a day when the cafeteria in the main lodge is chilly, the giant fireplace may not not be lit until Mr. Stenger orders it so.  The day I was there it wasn't lit until around 3:00 PM, just as people were leaving.  This is not forgetfulness on Mr. Stenger's part, but deliberate. The fire can only be lit when the wind is right, otherwise the cafeteria would be filled with smoke. But, alas the visiting skier is unaware of the problem and leaves feeling like the mountain doesn't care about its guests.

 Of course, you get what you pay for, and Jay's prices are a far cry from those of a Killington or Stratton. Like many businesses in the Northeast Kingdom, Jay has struggled in the past to make money. It is not that easy for a mountain manager to compete. One part of the market (Canadians from Quebec and Ontario) has a dollar worth around 64 cents and the other must be persuaded that Jay is worth the time it takes to travel to the northeastern tip of Vermont.

Timothy Palmer-Benson
Editor - Publisher
nobullski-vermont.com
December 27th, 2000

At the beginning of the 200/2001 season there was much hoopla over the arrival of two new tramcars. The cars were constructed at a cost of $500,000 (with state money, of course. Not surprisingly, this brought Vermont's governor, Howard Dean, came to the mountain for an inaugural ride. The improvements to the tramway also include a hydraulic bumper system to make the process of docking less violent.

The cars are a welcome change to the 33 year old ones that they replaced. You can still see one of them at the main entrance area. They are relics of a past I remember well, especially the day when unexpected high wind  smashed a tram into the mid mountain tower, breaking its windows!

Archived Review from 1998

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We thank the Newport Express for providing the picture of Bill Stenger. All other pictures in this review are copyright Scenes of Vermont - PB Publishing