One year ago today I took an introduction to skiing class at Burke Mountain on the bunny slope. I instantly fell in love with skiing and went back to Burke the next day. For my first run I went down Upper Willoughby, which was solid ice, really forcing me to learn how to ski. As the weeks went by, I was hitting bumps, started playing in glades and towards the end of the season, I was looking for the craziest runs I could spot from the lifts and doing them. I ended up skiing 43 days at 20 different mountains in Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire and Quebec my first season.
This season I don’t plan on visiting as many mountains, because I bought the Judge Pass for Burke and Jay Peak, but I still plan on visiting a few places I didn’t get to last year. So today, for my one-year anniversary of skiing and my 14th day of the season, I made my way up to Jay Peak. My friend had gone there yesterday and told me it was the best conditions she’d ever skied in the Northeast, so of course I had to go check it out for myself. The conditions at Burke have been phenomenal the past two days, so I knew that Jay was going to be special.
Straight To Timbuktu And Then Glades Galore
My first run was in the Timbuktu Glades and although there was a lot of powder in them, there were also a lot of rocks. After that I made my way to Beaver Pond and Andre’s Paradise Glades, which was like being in ski heaven. It was full of deep fluffy powder, was so much fun and put a huge smile on my face.
I had so much fun in them that I decided I would mainly ski glades today, which took me to Northwest Passage, North Glade, Expo Glade, Hell’s Woods and the trees between UN and Haynes. It is unbelievable how much terrain that Jay Peak has to offer! My goal is to ski all the marked trails and glades by the end of this season. Every time I go to Jay Peak, I start out on 3-4 of my favorite runs and then spend the rest of the day exploring terrain I haven’t skied yet.
And Some Non Glades Too
Other trails today were UN, which is one of my favorites, Can Am, which also had a lot of rocks, Lift Line, Kokomo and all the trails to get to those like Upper Goat Run, Montrealer, Northway, Ullr’s Dream, etc… I really would have liked to get some more runs done in the Beaver Pond Glade but the Flyer Lift stopped working at one point and then completely closed by 1 and I did not have any desire to stand in line for an hour to take the tram to the top.
I’m very much looking forward to this upcoming season, especially now that conditions are drastically improving and ropes are dropping by the day.
Links
- Check out Stoked! Jan’s Ski Blog for more of his skating off-season adventures.
- Visit jaypeakresort.com for more information.
- You can also follow Jay Peak on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
- Follow Jan Welch on Instagram.
About “Stoked! Jan’s Ski Blog”
I’ve spent my entire life living in cities, where I was able to urban, distance and aggressive skate all year long. In December of 2017 I moved to rural Vermont and found myself in the dead of winter, with snow all around me. Winters in Vermont are long and harsh, making skating nearly impossible 4-5 months out of the year. I live 2.5 hours from the nearest city and an hour from the nearest trails, making skating even in the summer much less frequent then I was used to.
Something needed to supplement my skating during the off season, so I took up skiing on January 2nd of 2019. From the moment I put on skis, I was hooked! Skiing gives me the exact same feeling I get from urban skating. Through skiing I am able to replicate the feel of carving around on city streets and playing on whatever obstacles catch your eye. This blog chronicles my stoke on skiing during my skating off season.
– Jan Eric Welch (Founder of bigwheelblading.com)
Share Your Stoke
Are you a skater that also skis? Are you a skier getting into skating? If you want to write about your adventures, passion, journey or stoke for this site please contact me.
Follow Big Wheel Blading on YouTube // Instagram // Facebook
Join the Big Wheel Blading Facebook Discussion Group
Patreon
If you enjoy our articles and content at bigwheelblading.com please take a moment and visit our Patreon page. Your patronage will help us continue to create content in our quest to unite all of inline skating and help the sport grow as a whole. // patreon.com/bigwheelblading
Become a Patron!
