FYI: Jay Peak is closed till further notice

[phoenix]

Yup... just happened. All employees, all staff, instructed to leave. You can guess why. I'm simply posting this in case any of you were thinking about heading up there, not to add to the current freak out situation.

Peace (and wash your hands!)

[fisheater]

Peace, and wash your hands Phoenix. Just curious, doesn’t Jay have uphill passes? If they do, is that closed as well?

I have been to Vermont once and not to Jay. However if I would like to go again. Jay is the first place on my list if I’m taking my son.

[phoenix]

Good question... and I'm not sure about the skinning policy. Below is a post I copied from BC Talk; it was posted last night by a local here who skis and skins up there almost daily. Post is from last night:

"Jay Peak just announced they are shutting down the resort, all lifts stop tomorrow. So last day to ski. I hope they will let us continue to skin up, if/when we have more storms. Normally our season runs until early May, sometimes May 15th or so.
Ski Resort posted statement below; that visitors from Quebec or Ontario can't cross the border into the US, but I can't find any confirmation of that."


Dear Jay Peakers
I want to personally give you an update regarding operations, forward looking plans and an update regarding our staff and team-members.
Effective the end of business operations, 4:00 PM, on Saturday March 14th, we will be closing winter operations for the 2019-2020 season. Operations tomorrow, Saturday, March 14th will be limited to skiing and snowboarding via our entire lift system (so long as the wind allows for it, minus our Aerial Tram which has shut down for the season), and limited food and beverage operations. Check back with us for trail and conditions updates tomorrow morning. This is obviously a difficult decision for us and one that we have not made without hours and days of deliberation and predicated on hourly updates from federal agencies, state offices and international health organizations. At our core, and despite all that we’ve built in and around us over the past decade, we are a mountain community. And we all cherish that unchangeable part of us-both in serving that index of our guests and enjoying the mountain ourselves. But, even before that, we are an employer and a member of both a closer-in and much broader community of friends, neighbors, family and guests. And we have an obligation to those segments, and their safety, above anything else.
The most recent tipping point for us was the announcement by the Quebec government to limit entry into the United States and similar restrictions placed on travelers from our Ontario markets. Given that we are about to welcome thousands of Ontario guests onto our campus, most of them returning friends and repeat vacationers, saying we are disappointed feels like the understatement of the century. It goes without saying that we will be offering either full refunds or we will push vacations to next year and lock in this year’s rate so there is no additional cost to come and visit us next season. Our Reservation line at 800-451-4449 will be available 12 hours a day, 7 days a week to assist you. We will do everything in our power to leave you as happy as possible given the circumstances.
While this is certainly a difficult time within the Jay Peak family of employees, community members and guests, we felt it was the most prudent thing to do given the evolving climate and the changing protocols and restrictions relating to travel. Added to the reality that the virus, even as unsure as we are about its net total impact, is likely not done expanding, we needed to act in the best interests of the people that have long supported our business.
We strongly believe that this, too, shall pass and when it does, we will be here to provide the backdrop for future vacations and experiences. We are sincerely sorry for this and we will be, without question, looking forward to seeing you on campus this summer.
Thank you
Steve Wright
President/General Manager

[MSU Alum]

Park City - Canyons and Deer Valley in Utah are closed 15-22 March. I don't expect them to reopen, but we'll see. Probably just need to let the employees move on. I think we have a grand total of 2 who are known to be infected in Summit county - so far.

[lowangle al]

If anyone knows of any closed resorts in the Northeast that allow skinning, could you please let your freeheel brothers know about it.

[Rodbelan]

I wouldn't mind Al and go skiing and skinning if they are closed. You just need to be discreet. Very few employees are intervening when the see us skinning up when the resort is closed. At least in the Quebec city area... Stoneham, for exemple: some employees even told me where in the mountain it was the most skiable (the resort was closed for the season).

[lowangle al]

Thanks Rod. My wife and I just cancelled our trip back to Ak so are looking for some skiing opportunities back here. I guess if there is a BC area nearby to fall back on it would be worth a chance if the resort doesn't work out, but all of that good, easily accessible terrain sound good. I also assume there is a better chance to find good corn snow on resort groomers. My wife also wants to camp instead of getting a room so I have to find a place for that. Anyone have any suggestions?

[MartinF]

I wouldn't mind Al and go skiing and skinning if they are closed. You just need to be discreet. Very few employees are intervening when the see us skinning up when the resort is closed. At least in the Quebec city area... Stoneham, for exemple: some employees even told me where in the mountain it was the most skiable (the resort was closed for the season).

Slightly off-topic question from a European: Why should they be able to stop you skinning when the lifts are closed? Over here in the Alps, the companies running the lifts are only able to impose a ban on skiing when the pistes are being groomed after sunset (for safety reasons, obviously). Other than that, they don't own the mountains and can't stop you using them.

[Landscraper]

I wouldn't mind Al and go skiing and skinning if they are closed. You just need to be discreet. Very few employees are intervening when the see us skinning up when the resort is closed. At least in the Quebec city area... Stoneham, for exemple: some employees even told me where in the mountain it was the most skiable (the resort was closed for the season).

Slightly off-topic question from a European: Why should they be able to stop you skinning when the lifts are closed? Over here in the Alps, the companies running the lifts are only able to impose a ban on skiing when the pistes are being groomed after sunset (for safety reasons, obviously). Other than that, they don't own the mountains and can't stop you using them.

It’s actually similar here. I don’t think anyone could make a case for stopping a skinning skier if they’re “following the rule”

At least in VT, ski areas operate on a lease basis on public land. Most require a pass to skin. Most uphill policies prohibit skinning during lift operations or mountain ops, some allow continued uphill access on prescribed routes. Some charge a price for uphill access on the basis that downhill skiing a groomed run still incurs a cost of maintenance (my opinion).

I think a good interpretation of a lot of uphill policies in VT would give access to skinning during this “ski outage” and it would be arguable that without any enforcement staff, uphill trail access updates, or office to get passes from that a skier should be able to uphill without a pass.

Also, you know, public land. It’s your right to use it at your own risk.

[MartinF]

Ah... now I see the difference. Over here, the resort operators merely run the lifts. They don't have a lease on the land. They are very limited in the number and type of (safety) rules they can impose for the mountain itself. The only time they can ban skinning is when grooming is in process.