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Back from Jay Jam, and it was an awesome trip. Tons of glades, powder, stashes... really the best skiing you're going to get on the east coast. Jay hadn't had snow in quite a while, but it was still more powder than anywhere else on the east. I found myself literally burried (and stuck) up to my chest at one point. It was actually the first time that I could have almost been content not riding any park.
Anyway, for as long as I can remember, since I have been skiboarding I have never ever seen a hill anywhere that had scared me. Really, I had never seen anything that I wouldn't just immediately ride without thinking about. For the first time ever, this changed at Jay.
Now, Jay is a pretty tall mountain, and not just by east coast standards. There is a gondala that goes 95% of the way to the top of the mountain, and from there, there is a rock face above which you can reach by hiking. The hike up, as Greco stated, looks like you are "walking accross the moon." It is basically a mix of windblown snow and craterlike rocks. Once at the top, the view is incredible. You can see mountains all the way in Canada.
After about 5 seconds of being amazed by the view, it was time for the fun part, figuring out where to ride. The first spot we looked was crazy... it was about a 30 foot drop over a rock face onto trees... probably not the best idea. After walking along the ridge for a little, we eventually found a chute that appeared ridable.
Now, I have ridden things that were extremely steep before. I have ridden things that were rocky. And, being and east coaster, I have ridden more ice than anything else. But put these all together to an extreme, and this was something I had never faced... or even seen
What we had was an extremely steep chute maybe 8 to 10 feet wide between rocky ledges on either side. You had to dodge a rock on the left, immediately dodge another on the right, then jump around again to straighten down the chute, and shoot over about 10' of rocks to ride out the chute for its remainder of about 40 feet until you got to where it was level enough to stop before entering a forest of untouched glades. Topping it off, the whole top section was a sheet of ice since it was the windblown face, which was followed by powder once you got down towards the bottom of the chute.
Looking at this from the top was the first time I ever felt scared looking at a hill. I started getting the same type of adrenaline rush eyeing it up as I normally would trying something new in the park. It was crazy. It was the first time in all my years of skiboarding that just a non-park run gave me this feeling.
It was Mark, Kirk S, Greco, and myself at this point. Greco told Kirk S that he really didn't think he should do it, but Kirk S wanted it. Mark went first and just flew down, dodging both rocks up top, launching over the set in the middle, and shooting down to soft powder, and sat there looking back up at us. I went next. It was fun. Really fun. The boards were able to hold enough on the ice, giving just enough edge grip to stay in control to dodge the rocks through the chute. Kirk S came after, and it looked a million times better to see it from below. It was the first time I saw something on skiboards looked like "real" mountain skiing. The feeling after that chute was same type of rush I normally only get from park riding. It was awesome.
After the chute, there was a huge section of untracked glades that we had all to ourselves. It was amazing. There were feet of powder everywhere... even more than I saw out in Colorado last year. This one run made the whole trip worth it...
Anyway, for as long as I can remember, since I have been skiboarding I have never ever seen a hill anywhere that had scared me. Really, I had never seen anything that I wouldn't just immediately ride without thinking about. For the first time ever, this changed at Jay.
Now, Jay is a pretty tall mountain, and not just by east coast standards. There is a gondala that goes 95% of the way to the top of the mountain, and from there, there is a rock face above which you can reach by hiking. The hike up, as Greco stated, looks like you are "walking accross the moon." It is basically a mix of windblown snow and craterlike rocks. Once at the top, the view is incredible. You can see mountains all the way in Canada.
After about 5 seconds of being amazed by the view, it was time for the fun part, figuring out where to ride. The first spot we looked was crazy... it was about a 30 foot drop over a rock face onto trees... probably not the best idea. After walking along the ridge for a little, we eventually found a chute that appeared ridable.
Now, I have ridden things that were extremely steep before. I have ridden things that were rocky. And, being and east coaster, I have ridden more ice than anything else. But put these all together to an extreme, and this was something I had never faced... or even seen
What we had was an extremely steep chute maybe 8 to 10 feet wide between rocky ledges on either side. You had to dodge a rock on the left, immediately dodge another on the right, then jump around again to straighten down the chute, and shoot over about 10' of rocks to ride out the chute for its remainder of about 40 feet until you got to where it was level enough to stop before entering a forest of untouched glades. Topping it off, the whole top section was a sheet of ice since it was the windblown face, which was followed by powder once you got down towards the bottom of the chute.
Looking at this from the top was the first time I ever felt scared looking at a hill. I started getting the same type of adrenaline rush eyeing it up as I normally would trying something new in the park. It was crazy. It was the first time in all my years of skiboarding that just a non-park run gave me this feeling.
It was Mark, Kirk S, Greco, and myself at this point. Greco told Kirk S that he really didn't think he should do it, but Kirk S wanted it. Mark went first and just flew down, dodging both rocks up top, launching over the set in the middle, and shooting down to soft powder, and sat there looking back up at us. I went next. It was fun. Really fun. The boards were able to hold enough on the ice, giving just enough edge grip to stay in control to dodge the rocks through the chute. Kirk S came after, and it looked a million times better to see it from below. It was the first time I saw something on skiboards looked like "real" mountain skiing. The feeling after that chute was same type of rush I normally only get from park riding. It was awesome.
After the chute, there was a huge section of untracked glades that we had all to ourselves. It was amazing. There were feet of powder everywhere... even more than I saw out in Colorado last year. This one run made the whole trip worth it...
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