Once-in-a-Lifetime Snow? Skiing right after a Total Solar Eclipse at Jay Peak

I don't think it's too often that you wake up slopeside at Jay Peak in Vermont for a morning of skiing knowing that there's going to be something much cooler than the skiing going on that day, but that's the situation I found myself in on April 8. In fact, I had traveled to Jay Peak to be under the path of the total solar eclipse. And I must say, it was totally worth it!

Going into the day, we knew that Jay Peak planned on reopening the "lower-mountain lifts" after the eclipse, but I wasn't sure if I was going to go back out or not. Boy am I glad I did. The snow conditions were great, and dare I say literally once-in-a-lifetime.

The morning skiing was fun, but it was definitely "spring conditions." We (me and my dad) checked out the Jet Triple chairlift, but that was starting to get skied-off so that it was starting to get like mashed potatoes by like 10:30. The highlight of the morning was when I chose to go down JFK (a steep, narrow black run) and almost instantly "regretting" it because of the hard moguls.

Back on the main mountain, the spring heat was making the trails near the bottom almost unskiably sticky. We were happy that we got an introduction to Jay Peak and called it a day early to get some food and get ready for the eclipse.

I couldn't have been happier with this balcony spot!

Totality

I am not going to write much here, because neither words nor pictures can do justice to what I saw. Of course, I will post a picture below, and it is worth noting that I could feel it get noticeably colder during totality.

Lights out at Jay Peak!

In person, the vibrance of the corona was absolutely stunning. No photos capture how cool this part really looks.

Epic Laps

A couple minutes after totality ended, I could see them start to get ready to run the (lame, lower mountain) lift again. I felt a strong calling to put my boots back on and see how many laps I could get. I grabbed my Faction twin-tips and mentally geared up for these runs which I had a feeling could essentially be a sendoff for the ski season.

The first run was amazing! The trail felt much firmer and faster than before. The stickiness was totally gone. It felt like the combination of the eclipse and the slopes being shut down for skiing for a few hours refreshed the surface like a natural "Zamboni" effect. I relished the chance to carve this refreshed surface.

When I dipped into some snow off to the side of the groomed trail, it felt like waterskiing in partially-melted butter. It was a sensation I had never experienced before. Very fun. In general, I've never experienced snow conditions change for the better in the middle of a day without fresh snow or grooming.

I loaded the lift for a second run. "It's better now," the man next to me said. "The band sounds better up here too." It was like he plucked those very thoughts out of my mind. I agreed strongly with both points, and it confirmed to me that the conditions actually were better. I wasn't imagining it. We were in for some more special runs on a very special day. We noted how you could tell people had just carved up the run under the lift while I made plans to do the same. I'm actually not 100% positive I caught his name or remember it, but we chatted on the next chair too and it was a good time.

I haven't been using the 'Ski Tracks' app this season, so this day will always stand out as a legend in my history

The next day, it occurred to me that the "Full Moon" glade was open during the eclipse too. It would have been super cool to check out, but I was trying to keep it on the greens anyway at that point in the day. So I may have gotten some rare snow, but anyone who checked out those glades got some even rarer snow! I can only wonder! (please leave a comment if you did)

In my defense, it didn't even occur to me to see if the glades were open because I usually ski in New Hampshire, where the glades are open for like 5 days a year. My brain is not conditioned to look to the woods and glades throughout a normal ski day. I might have had a Vermont IPA during the Eclipse too.

The trails might have been easy, but that hour and 7 minutes of skiing was magic. I think it must have been breathtaking to see the shadow coming at you from the top of the mountain, but those folks who had a reservation to be up there during the eclipse missed out on the little ski session after. Not that there is a wrong way to experience it, though. I am happy that so many people got such a great view in Vermont and other places. Thanks for reading!