What a pleasant surprise it was turning a corner at the Snowbound Expo and seeing the HEAD/Tyrolia booth brimming with interested patrons. I ski on HEAD Supershape i.Rallys. They rock like Foo Fighters. Better still was finding out that the bubbly, effervescent, and knowledgeable person chatting me up about the latest updates to their KORE ski collection was Julia...
[Editor’s Note: This is the second of three installments on Jay Peak. Part One, a thumbnail sketch is here. Part Three, the people that you meet, is here. Part Four, a brief summary of recent history and a look at the future will drop soon.] MOUNTAIN GAZETTEER Jay Peak has two main areas – Tramside and Stateside, each with their own base lodge and...
[Editor’s Note: Hooray for winter! Everywhere of note is making snow, and to celebrate the start of the season, our Border War Series is back. One man goes to 20+ places in New Hampshire and 20+ in Vermont and tells you once and for all who wins. This week we’ll be posting stories about Jay Peak! So let’s get right to it. It”s shred-tastic!]...
NORTH CONWAY, N.H. – Cranmore Mountain Resort’s plans for a sparkling new combination base lodge and condominiums proceed apace. The new Fairbanks Lodge – slated to open next fall – features over 30,000 feet of lodge and gathering space in addition to 15 two-story lofted residences on its upper levels. Daily services will also include season...
Super Eight and Counting – Maine’s Sunday River is an American Classic —by Jay Flemma special to JF.com and NASJA— NEWRY, ME – “ You can’t help but love plucky, authentic Sunday River, the winter resort that just keeps getting bigger and better with every passing decade. A little bit rustic, a little bit opulent, Maine’s...
We’ll have a long article on how fantastic JF.com’s weekend at Sunday River was this winter coming imminently. (And yes, we’ll be covering all the LIV developments in golf as well, just as soon as we get the lowdown on Tiger Woods’s confab with the rest of the PGA Tour players.) But for right now, let’s have a little fun with Eddy the...
We here at JF.com are thrilled to bring you the magnificent photo essays of Andrew DiGiovanni, a US ex-pat now living in Vienna and teaching school there. Proving you should meet as many people on a ski lift as you can, Andrew and I bonded the first time I ever skied my beloved Magic Mountain in Vermont. We lost touch after I published my Magic article in 2019, but a...
“Finally!” “Thank God!” “About time!” “What took so long?” and “I’ll believe it when I see it…” Those are actual reactions from Eastern skiers when they heard the blessed news: Vail has filed a proposal to replace that infernal, wonky, and roundly despised Attitash Summit Triple chairlift...
Pat’s Peak loving Life on Indy Pass —Special to NASJA and JF.com by Jay Flemma— Quick! What loveable local mountain was described by expert skiers as, “so tough you’ll want an extra hour at lunch for hot chocolate before you go back out for more?” It’s New Hampshire’s Pat’s Peak. Beloved in New Hampshire since it...
2022 Update – Magic for the Win [Editor’s Notes: As we go to press, Magic, like most of the northeast, is just exiting a bad stretch of warm weather. However, hope is on the horizon; a nor’easter is on the way, plus lake effect in some areas. Magic may well be in sterling shape by the weekend. Keep a sharp eye and ear on the weather and stay stoked...
In one of the most ambitious of Alterra’s world-wide, multi-million dollar property upgrade projects, the main base lodge of Utah’s Deer Valley Resort is set for a major expansion and renovation. The resort’s Snow Park Lodge will have all of its facilities significantly improved. The new base area will provide additional accommodations and skier...
Idaho’s Schweitzer Mountain Opens New Humbird Hotel —by Jay Flemma, special to NASJA— As part of a multi-year master plan launched in 2017, Northern Idaho’s Schweitzer Mountain has opened a new 31-room hotel accepting reservations for January 14, 2022 and beyond. Named in honor of the lumber company that was for decades the sturdy economic...
Border War! Vermont vs. New Hampshire Skiing Part 1 – Waterville Valley —by Jay Flemma Special to Slave to the Traffic Light Adventure Magazine— WATERVILLE VALLEY, NH – It all started with a snarky T-shirt worn by a local skier at Waterville Valley in New Hampshire: SKI NEW HAMPSHIRE – WE’RE LIKE VERMONT, JUST NOT AS STUCK UP...
LINCOLN, N.H. – This winter New Hampshire’s Loon Mountain Resort unveiled North America’s fastest eight-person chairlift as well as what is billed as “the most technologically advanced lift in the east.” Called the Kancamagus 8, this state-of-the-art Dopplemayr D-Line system spins at a whopping 1,100 feet per minute, (that’s 18...
Proving once again that a sense of humor is the best weapon in the modern age, Taos Ski Valley has done it again. The “Free Tacos” campaign continues with the renaming of their Pioneer Glade as “Free Tacos” in honor of George Medina, the legendary Taos instructor who helped end the resort’s ban on snowboarding in 2008. “Free...