Vermont Travel Notes

Jay Peak photo credit: Brian Keet photo of skier Mike Britt, taken Jan 2, 2008.

Today I received a snow report email from Jay Peak with the photo above and very little text. The photo nearly says it all so there's little need for much text.

Without a doubt, Jay is the King Kong of snowfall in the eastern United States. So far this ski season, they have had 200 inches of snow. It looks like this year will exceed their annual average of 350 inches of snow.

Several characteristics contribute to this. Jay is located in far northern Vermont , just a few miles from the Canadian border. It is at the far northern reach of the Green Mountain range which creates a "snow belt" that catches moisture soaked clouds. These clouds pick up their moisture from nearby Lake Champlain or the Great Lakes farther to the west. When they hit the upper elevations, they release the moisture in greater quantity than lower elevations.

See Jay Peak current conditions here.

(c) 2008 Jeff Connor