Jay Peak Ski Holidays

For the longest time, Jay was a “hidden gem”. A rough-and-tumble ski town on the Canadian border, it got by on the personality, boundless backcountry and epic conditions that drew a small cult following to this distant corner of the Green Mountains.

Shedloads of investment in recent years have altered the narrative. Now ski-in/ski-out lodgings are the new normal and facilities like a glass-roofed, heated water park entice many along the extra mile it takes to get here.

But there’s no danger of the corporate machine sapping Jay’s personality. Not so long as the ski school vets have a say. You’ll catch them in horned helmets and pelts at the resort’s weekly Welcome Parties, pouring discounted drinks and introducing you to the staff you’ll be rubbing elbows with throughout the week. “The Jay Way” is a big part of life here, and manifests itself in features like quirky food trucks, bars and restaurants crammed with old Jay Peak relics (including lifts…) and an annual “Beach Party” at the water park.

In a region filled with timber-framed lodges and mile upon mile of pristine pines, Jay could easily get by on looks alone. But to sweeten the deal it throws in the best snow in the entire Northeast (at 9m+ a season), perfect powder conditions and the classic New England towns of Jay, Newport and Montgomery just down the road for trips.

385 acres of the Northeast’s best terrain offer up amazing tree glades, long groomed runs, and heaps of natural snowfall, with more than a few highlights for an upper intermediate and advanced skier. Tree-skiing is the local specialty, and 100 of the area’s acres are gorgeous cultivated glades that stick in the memory long after you leave.

While beginner slopes don’t exactly dominate the piste map, the lower mountain does give learners an opportunity to spread their wings between both bases. Check out if the resort still offers Learn to Turn sessions (an economical way to pick up the basics), then head to the area around the Village chair, a quiet place to practice that’s cut off from the more advanced runs. To help save more pennies, Jay has traditionally offered a “lower-mountain only” lift ticket.

Each of the resort’s main upper-mountain lifts offer at least one lovely long groomed run all the way back to the bases. These are outshined only by Jay’s intermediate glades. Bushwacker and Stateside Glade are standouts, but for all the uninitiated, learning to love tree skiing doesn’t get smoother than the step-by-step induction on Quarter Moon, Half Moon and Full Moon glades - each progressively steeper.

Advanced skiers are in their element in Jay, starting at the top with the highly coveted conditions on the Face Chutes directly below the aerial tram. The Jet Triple chair offers enough steeps and bumps to keep you busy, plus one of the finest advanced glades, Timbuktu. But there are strong gladed contenders left, right and centre, and tucking into these is half the joy of this resort.

Jay’s backcountry is what first earnt it a loyal fan base, and today this is still a crowd pleaser. A popular route involves skiing off the back of the resort and hiking to nearby Big Jay peak, when it’ll really feel like it’s just you and the mountains.

Once Jay was the kind of resort where you had to make your own fun or make do, but today there’s more excitement on the cards. Drawing a drinking crowd from 4pm, the Tower Bar at the Tramside base and the Bullwheel at Stateside keep the beer and the conversation flowing.

Whether you’re partial to a pool or not, the Pump House water park really deserves an afternoon. Kept at a balmy 26°C, many come here just to settle down at The Drink bar and enjoy the slightly trippy experience of a frozen margarita in tropical temperatures at a ski resort…This is also a great option for parents, whose tots and teens will go wild for the pools. Staff warn you to tighten the drawstring on swimming trunks before hopping into pods with collapsing floors…and the surf machine is worth a whirl so you can boast that you’ve skied powder in the morning and surfed in 26-degree weather in the afternoon.

Food is another Jay Peak forte and even the cafeteria pizzas here come with toppings like caramelised rhubarb and goats cheese. Flatbreads named after resort runs are a nice touch at the Foundry Grille, while the Miso Hungry ramen truck is great for gobbling on the go. Surrounded on all sides by pretty New England towns, a short trip down the road offers up plenty more options. Other nearby bars and restaurants include the North Troy Village Pub for American cuisine, and the beautiful Belfry in Montgomery – where friendly bartenders will point you in the direction of Jay’s best backcountry.