A Complete Guide to Jay Peak Resort Vermont
If you don’t know, Jay Peak Resort (not Jiminy Peak) is an AWESOME ski mountain in Vermont. It is WAY up North, on the border of Vermont and Canada. It is located in Jay, Vermont, which is about an hour and a half northeast of Burlington, VT, so yes, it is quite up there! Also, it gets the MOST snow in the entire east coast (I would know, I was a ski instructor there, averages 347 inches). It’s comparable to some mountains out west, with the amount of snow it gets!
As well as getting the most snow per year, Jay has AWESOME trails, especially glades! If you are a tree skier/snowboarder, you will LOVE Jay. Without a doubt, they have the BEST glades on the east coast. As an avid northeast skier, I have skied MANY mountains on the east coast and I can confidently say, Jay Peak has the BEST glades and POWDER.
In this article you will read about Jay Peak Resort, Vermont, Jay Peak Ski Resort, Jay Peak Resort lodging, Jay Peak lift tickets, Jay’s season, trail map, and much more.
This article is all about Jay Peak Resort.
Jay Peak Resort:
Jay Peak Resort Directions
Okay, so it is quite a trek to get to Jay, which is the big downside of it. Also, it’s kind of in the middle of nowhere. Thus, if you want to stay in Burlington instead, that is an option. However, keep in mind Jay is about an hour and a half drive from Burlington, so you would be making that trip if you stay in Burlington. There’s really no straight forward way to get into Burlington, but I think the most straight forward way is to get onto Route 22A towards Vergennes in Vermont. Then stay on the Ethan Allen Highway for 61 miles, take a slight right onto I-89 East toward the airport. In 1.5 miles keep left and merge onto I-89 North towards Winooski and St. Albans.
Stay on here for 26 miles then take Exit 19 onto VT-104 toward VT-36. In half a mile, turn right onto Fairfax Road toward Enosburg, Richford. In 19 miles, turn left onto Main Street, then in 5.5 miles, turn right onto Montgomery Road. Then in 7.2 turn left onto VT-242 then in 7.7 miles turn left onto Stateside Road and you will see the resort. There are two sides to the mountain, State Side and Tram Side. There will be signs telling which way you need to go. If you are only skiing/snowboarding here, it doesn’t matter what side you park at, you can easily get to either side once you are on the mountain.
Jay Peak Resort photos
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Jay Peak Lodging
Now, if you don’t want to travel a lot, then there are multiple places to stay at on the resort at Jay. Also, the closest town is Newport, which is very tiny. There aren’t any hotels in Newport. But, there are some AirBnBs, but really if you want to stay close to the mountain, the resort is the main option. Jay Peak Resort lodging and Jay Peak Resort prices are most expensive on holidays and weekends, as you can imagine.
Martin Luther King Weekend and President’s Day Week are when you will see the highest prices. Jay offers a lot of different condos and hotels on the resort to stay at. They also offer shuttle rides for people staying at the resort/mountain to the ski mountain and other places on the resort. Here you will find plenty of different hotels and condos to choose from, with some being able to ski onto the mountain right from your condo and others having a waterpark.
Jay Peak Resort Water Park
Yes, Jay Peak does have a water park. The water park is located in the Tram Haus Lodge Hotel. This is on the Tram Side of the resort, so those will be the directions you will follow when reading the signs at the mountain when driving there. The water park is fun, but you can do everything you need to in one day or in one afternoon. There are a couple fun slides, especially the red one, a fun lazy river, and a flow rider machine.
Jay Peak Ski Season
Okay, like I said, Jay Peak gets the MOST snow in the east, averaging about 347 inches per year. The season typically starts end of November to early December and lasts into May. Jay Peak is known for getting early snowstorms in late November. When I was a ski instructor there, they did get an early snowstorm of about a foot and a half, it was great! They have had seasons where they don’t get snow until later into the season. It really all depends on the weather that year. Typically, the season does last until sometime in May. But Jay will stay open until they don’t have snow anymore, which again, is usually sometime in May.
Jay Peak Resort Lift Tickets
Jay Peak lift tickets are pretty comparable to other mountain lift tickets. They run about $125 per day on peak holidays and weekends. However, they do have some deals that they run. Here you will find some of Jay’s deals that they have with other companies and organizations. Here is a list of the different season passes they offer and when to get the best deals by. Jay Peak’s season pass is also good at Burke Mountain, which is another nice ski mountain, about an hour away.
Jay Peak Resort Map
Okay now on to the fun stuff, where to ski/snowboard! There are SO MANY awesome places to ski at Jay, specifically the GLADES! Without a doubt, Jay has the BEST glades in the east coast. Nothing comes close to Jay in my opinion when it comes to skiing in the trees.
Now, Jay’s ranking when it comes to trails are a little misleading. Jay has a total of 81 trails, that are all either, green circles, blue squares, and black diamonds, but no double blacks, even though they should. A LOT of their diamonds, especially their glade diamonds, should be a double black but are not. And they would be a double black at any other resort. Thus, I will tell you what black diamonds are really just blacks and what are double black diamonds.
In addition, the only way to get to the top top (summit) of Jay is to take the Tram (Aerial Tram on map) via Tram Side. Thus, if you are on State Side, you will have to ski or snowboard over to Tram Side to get to the top of the mountain, if that’s something you want to do. The summit of Jay Peak Mountain is really cool, because on super clear does you can see all the way to Mount Washington and it’s beautiful.
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Jay Peak Resort Map : Beginner Area/Trails (Green Circles)
I’ll start with the best beginner area and best greens to stay on if you are new to skiing or snowboarding. I would stay on State Side, because that is where the kids ski and ride school is located, there’s also a nice beginner area too on Tram Side. On State Side, I would stay near the bottom of the mountain, specifically, stay at the the Taxi Quad lift. Some great greens are, Lower Can Am, Rabbit, The Boulevard, Chalet Meadow, and Perry Merril Ave (this will take you over to Tram Side). Doe Woods is rated as a blue square, but if you are ready for some baby woods, this is a great trail to do so on.
Okay, now onto Tram Side. Tram Side does have a beginner area as well, which you can access from State Side via the Perry Merril Ave Trail. Some fun beginner woods to take your kids through via Perry Merril are the Quarter and Half Moon Trails. These will drop you onto Queen’s Highway Trail, which will also bring you to Tram side. Queen’s Highway is also a green trail.
The areas to stay at for beginners on Tram Side are The Metro Quad Lift. Some trails to stay on are Interstate, Subway, Deer Run, and Harmony Lane. There is also a magic carpet to the left of the Tram. Same with State Side, there is also a magic carpet right next to the ski and ride school.
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Jay Peak Resort Map : Intermediate Area/Trails (Blue Squares)
Jay does have some nice intermediate or blue square trails coming from the top of the mountain. However, these trails get skied off easily, so you might want to ski/snowboard these trails early in the day. On State Side from the Jet Triple Chair (all the way to the left, when looking on the trail map), some nice blues to the right of the chair are Montrealer, Catwalk, Angel’s Wiggle, Purgatory, Hell’s Crossing, Paradise Meadows, and Sweetheart.
Now, moving onto the Bonadventure Quad, there are a lot of the same blues from the Jet Chair. However, to get to these blues you would have to ski/snowboard some diamonds. Thus, if you don’t want to ski any diamonds, I would stay away from this chair and State Side in general. I would stay on Tram Side if you solely want to ski blues.
Okay, moving onto to Tram Side blues. From the Tram, there are many different blues you can take. A popular one is Vermonter. This is a nice one that wraps back to some of the Jet Chair Trails mentioned above. To get back to Tram Side, follow the signs for Angel’s Wiggle into Taxi Run, into Perry Merril Ave, which will bring you back to Tram side. You could also take, Northway Trail, from the Tram, which is to your right instead of your left.
Okay, onto our last lift (still on Tram Side), the Flyer Express Quad. This also has some fun blues, however, this chair is usually the first to close because it gets hit the most with wind. Thus, when it’s excessively windy out, this chair will be closed. But when it’s open, some nice blues are Goat Run via Northway, Ullr’s Dream, Poma Line, Northway to Alligator Alley to Wedelmaster and Kokomo (fun glades) via Ullr’s Dream.
Jay Peak Resort Map : Advanced Area/Trails (Black Diamonds)
Okay, I’m going to talk about groomed diamonds first then I’ll mention the fun “easier” diamond rated glades. Like I said above, the highest rating Jay gives their trails are black diamonds, however, there are A LOT of black diamond glades, that I would and other mountains would rate as double black diamonds, which I will discuss in the next section under Expert Terrain.
Again, starting from State Side on the farthest chair over, the Jet Chair, there are a lot of groomed diamonds here. Hot Shot Derick, Haynes, U.N., Jet, and Kitzbuehel, are all good ones. Some fun “easier” woods (still only for advanced skiers) are Timbuktu, Kitz Woods, Stateside Glade, and Hell’s Woods.
Onto the next chair lift on State Side, the Bonadventure Quad. Some fun groomed diamonds from Bon are Upper Can Am, Upper River Quai, and Lift Line. Some fun black glades from Bon are Canyonland, Buckaroo Bonzai, Bonadventure Glade, and Show-off Glade.
Moving onto Tram Side, specifically the Tram. We’re going to skip the Tram glades because I think all of them should be double diamonds, so we’re flying straight to the Flyer Express Quad. Some great ones are, Beaver Pond Glades, North Glade, and Andre’s Paradise.
Jay Peak Resort Map : Expert Terrain /Trails (Black Diamond Glades)
Okay, here I’m going to talk about the black diamonds that should really be rated as double blacks. Again, starting from State Side on the Bonadventure Quad, some great “double blacks” are, Deliverance, Vertigo, and Expo Glade (will take you to Tram Side).
Now, onto the Tram expert terrain, the “double blacks” are, the Face Chutes and Tuckerman’s Chutes. I think these are the hardest trails on the mountain. Like they say, they are straight chutes, thus, I would ski/snowboard these when there’s lots of snow, they are not fun when they’re icy. Also, more difficult but slightly easier trails from the Tram are Green Beret and Valhalla (the most doable). Lastly, the Flyer Express Quad on Tram Side. The most difficult trails on this chair are Everglade and Staircase.
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Overall Thoughts
Overall, I would not say that Jay Peak is an easy mountain. There are doable trails, but the majority of the mountain is glades. Thus, this is NOT your mountain if you don’t enjoy the glades/trees or woods. However, I LOVE Jay, I think it is by FAR the gnarliest mountain on the east coast. It is EASILY one of if not my favorite mountain in the east. And with the amount of snow Jay Peak Vermont gets, it is UNREAL compared to any other ski resort on the east.
Overall, Jay Peak is such a special place to me, not only because I was a ski instructor there, but when I was there, I was really taught how to be a good skier. A lot of ski instructors will begin at Jay then go out west, for a lot of people it’s a stepping stone to moving out west. Jay really is comparable to some mountains out west and is the gnarliest in the east. Thank you so much for reading and please take a TRIP to Jay Peak Resort!
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