All Images: Courtesy of Jay Peak Resort
Hike parks are a staple of summer skiing. You'll normally find them in British Columbia, Oregon or Colorado. And for a few hours each summer, you can find one in Vermont. Jay Peak Resort celebrated its third annual Summer Solstice Sessions last weekend, and it was the biggest outing in the event's brief but memorable history.
The team was proactive and saved nearly 200,000 cubic feet of snow from this winter. Just the other week, the Jay Peak Parks crew got to work laying out the spread of rails and distributing their precious preserved pow. Weeks after it had been tarped and stored, the snow was finally put to use with a litany of rails, boxes and tubes.
The weather featured an array of classic New England conditions, with clouds rolling in throughout the day. Still, skiers poured in and took advantage of the sunny patches that came, with riding lasting from 9 am until 6:30 pm. Talk about making proper use of the longest day of the year.
The flat-down tube was a fan favorite
The flat-down tube was a fan favorite
Less people early in the morning just means more laps if you're there
Snow skate? Yeah, we'll count it!
Snow skate? Yeah, we'll count it!
Pop it for the people
Pop it for the people
Jay Peak Brand and Creative Manager Andrew Lanoue was thrilled about the event's turnout. "The event was a huge success," he proudly told FREESKIER. "We saw a much bigger turnout this year on the snow pile, with folks traveling from all over New England, and some even from beyond that. It was great connecting with everyone and meeting other park crews from Camelback Resort and Mountain Creek, who made the trek together to ride rails one more day."
Traveling riders were rewarded with a more robust course than in years past. Lanoue noted the park's crew intentionally "created a more line-style setup to differentiate from last year's upper plaza section. This year's centerpiece was a spine-inspired feature that could be hit in many ways."
Aside from the skiing, you could find live music both at the base and at the top of the hike park, food and drink, and a bona fide skate park with a mini ramp, rails, ledges, and an A-Frame feature. It was truly one of the most impressive Solstice Sessions to date. Shoutout to all the East Coasters who made the trek to the best growing events in summer skiing!
