History
View of Jay Peak from the north, showing many ski trails
The ski trails were carved into the mountain during the 1950s primarily by its first ski school director/general manager, Walter Foeger, 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 adopted by a number of other ski areas.[citation needed]
In the mid-1970s, a 48-room hotel was built.
In 1978 Mont Saint-Sauveur International bought the resort.
To encourage Canadian tourism, the resort used to accept Canadian money at par. As of 2010, this is still true for lift tickets and the cafeteria.
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.
Despite a drop statewide during the 2006-07 season, Jay Peak saw a record year with skier visits up 7%.
In 2006, the resort employed 550 people in the winter, 100 in the summer. In 2008, it was the second biggest employer in the area.
In 2007-8, the resort reported a record 320,000 skiers for the winter.
In 2008, a group headed by Bill Stenger purchased the resort.
Trails
Jay Peak
Well-known for its off-piste skiing, Jay Peak Resort offers 24 tree-skiing areas, or Glades, covering approximately 100 acres (40 ha), 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.
Snowfall
The summit is at an elevation of 3,858 feet (1,176 m), with a 2,015 foot (614 m) vertical drop.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). In 2007-8, the resort reported 419 inches (1,064 cm) of snowfall.
Lift Capacity
Jay Peak is currently serviced by eight lifts: 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 60-person 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) , 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.
Plans
In 2008, the management announced plans for capital improvements. First, a new 57-room hotel would be added in 2008-9. Then the current 48-room hotel would be demolished in 2009-10 and replaced with a 120-room hotel in 2010-11. It would include a spa, conference center, skating facility, and a 33,000 square feet (3,066 m2) water park. They projected that employment would be 600 year around instead of just in the winter, as it was in 2008.
Management plans to expand the skiing to a third peak for the 2011-2012 season. The new area, known as the West Bowl, has been marked on trail maps as a Proposed Ski Expansion Area since the 2002-2003 ski season.
At least one of the incentives for some of the investors in the projected development was the promise of a federal EB-5 visa under which every $500,000 invested in the U.S. that results in ten new jobs gains the investor permanent residence.
Footnotes
^ a b c d e f McLean, Dan (July 1, 2008). Investors purchase Jay Peak. Burlington Free Press.
^ a b Gresser, Joseph (July 2, 2008). Jay expansion projects still on track. the Chronicle.
^ Walter Foeger website
^ a b McLean, Dan (July 2, 2008). New Jay Peak owners plan $100 million in upgrades. Burlington Free Press.
^ 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.
^ Voters approve sewer expansion - Jay Peak will pay most of local cost. the Chronicle. August 29, 2007.
^ Gresser, Joseph (October 22, 2008). After much anticipation, career center expansion opens. the Chronicle.
^ Gresser, Joseph (May 14, 2008). Jay Peak president has big plans. the Chronicle.
^ Wheeler, Scott (February 2008). The Man Who Helped Electrify the Jay Peak Ski Area. Northland Journal.
^ Guide to Skiing at Jay Peak Resort, Vermont
See also
Jay Peak (Vermont)
External links
Jay Peak Resort
Categories: Ski areas and resorts in Vermont | Jay, VermontHidden categories: Articles needing additional references from December 2008 | All articles needing additional references | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements from June 2008
Jay Peak Resort