Jay Peak Resort
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| Jay Peak Resort | |
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| Nearest city: | Jay, Vermont |
| Coordinates: | Coordinates: |
| Vertical: | 2,015 feet (614 m) |
| Top elevation: | 3858 ft (1,176 m) |
| Base elevation: | 1843 ft (553 m) |
| Skiable area: | 385 acres (1.56 km²) |
| Runs: | 76 |
| Longest run: | 4.828 kilometres (3.000 mi) |
| Lift system: | 8 (1 Aerial tramway, 5 chairs, 2 surface lifts) |
| Snowfall: | 9.02 metres (29.59 ft) |
| Web site: | Jay Peak Resort |
Jay Peak Resort is an American ski resort located on Jay Peak, outside the small village of Jay, Vermont in the Green Mountains. The resort is just 4 miles (6.5 km) south of the Canada–United States border, the province of Quebec. Jay Peak Resort is owned and operated by Mont Saint-Sauveur International, a Canadian owned ski resort operator.
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[edit] History
The ski trails were carved into the mountain during the 1950s primarily by its first ski school director/general manager, Walter Foeger[1], an Austrian and former racer who had previously trained the Spanish Olympic ski team. He developed a method of teaching parallel skiing that avoided first having to teach the student snowplow/stem turns. Instead, the student was taught to change direction by means of a slight hop keeping the tips of the skis on the snow, and displacing the back of the skis sideways. He called his ski teaching method "Natur Teknik" (natural technique). The Jay Peak ski school offered a "learn to ski in a week" guarantee. The method was remarkably successful and was later adopted by a number of other ski areas.
To encourage Canadian tourism, the resort used to accept Canadian money at par. As of 2007, this is still true for lift tickets and the cafeteria. This is a largely symbolic gesture however, as the Canadian and American dollar are more or less trading at par as of early 2008.
In 2007, the resort agreed to pay the state $105,000 for violating stormwater rules in polluting a stream while building a new golf course.[2]
Despite a drop statewide during the 2006-07 season, Jay Peak saw a record year with skier visits up 7%.[3]
In 2006, the resort employed 550 people in the winter, 100 in the summer.[4]
In 2007-8, the resort reported a record 320,000 skiers for the winter.[5]
[edit] Trails
Well-known for its Off-piste skiing, Jay Peak Resort offers 24 tree-skiing areas, or Glades, covering approximately 100 acres, which have been trimmed of small vegetation to provide enjoyable off-piste skiing. For every six glades that the resort "thins or trims" only one appears on the trailmap. Jay has 76 trails covering 385 acres (155 ha) of skiable terrain.
[edit] Snowfall
The summit is at an elevation of 3,858 feet (1,176 m), with a 2,015 foot (656 m) vertical rise. Jay Peak enjoys the largest average annual snowfall (355 inches or 9 metres) of any ski area in Eastern North America, including Mount Washington (which averages 645 cm / 253.9 inches annually on the summit).
[edit] Lift Capacity
Jay Peak is currently serviced by 8 lifts, comprised of 1 aerial tramway, 5 chairlifts, 1 t-bar and 1 magic carpet. These lifts give the mountain an uphill capacity of approximately 12,000 skiers/hour. The oldest of these lifts, the aerial tramway, also known as the "tram", is the only one of its type in the state of Vermont. This tramway was originally installed in 1966 by Von Roll, and upgraded in 2000 with new cabins from Swoboda.
In the mid 1980s the resort began to upgrade its lift capacity. In 1985 it purchased the Jet Triple chair from Doppelmayr to replace the Jet T-Bar. This was followed in 1987 with the purchase of the Bonaventure Quad which replaced the old Bonaventure Double. In 1999 the resort removed the Green Mountain Double chair, which had serviced the north side of the mountain for 30 years, and replaced it with the Green Mountain Flyer (dubbed the "Green Mountain Freezer" by skiers because of its notoriously cold ride due to the strong winds blowing on it) [6], the mountain's first high-speed detachable chairlift.
Other lifts that currently serve the mountain are the Metro Quad, the Village Double, the Queen's Highway T-Bar and the Magic Carpet.
Jay Peak offers several on mountain housing options including hotels, condos and townhouses.
In 2006 Jay opened a golf course.
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Walter Foeger website
- ^ Jay Peak to pay $105,000 for violating stormwater rules - Boston.com
- ^ Wright, Leslie (June 7, 2007). Resorts log worst winder in 12 years. Burlington Free Press.
- ^ (August 29, 2007) Voters approve sewer expansion - Jay Peak will pay most of local cost. the Chronicle.
- ^ Gresser, Joseph (May 14, 2008). Jay Peak president has big plans. the Chronicle.
- ^ Guide to Skiing at Jay Peak Resort, Vermont
