RidgeRacer

Just got back from another excellent day at Jackson Frost . The theme for today was packed powder and cold smoke. It was around 8 degress when I got there. There was no wind and a bluebird sky. The snow was a perfect packed powder corduroy. Everything is in excellent condition. I made my usual laps on East. River Shot had a nice layer of man made snow on top that was like butter. Floyds was a carver's dream easily some of the best runs I've taken on that trail all year. I then went over to Challenge / glade. There is decent coverage but the second headwall is still lookin' a little rough. It's best to enter it down below to the right of Challenge through the trees and down to the East Mt. lift. The snow at the bottom of the glade to the lift was like silk. Top Part of the glade Took a break to warm up, got cheese fries...(just another reason to love JF by the way...they don't charge for the cheese). Then it was out to the One park glade which I did a few times. Then back over to East where I hit Floyd's and River Shot a few more times. But this time I stopped on River Shot and beared right on the final head wall into the Elevator which was really fun (I think thats part of the Elevator). I did that a few times and called it a day. Today was easily one of the top three of the season. I can't wait to get back tomorrow.

They both have short / steep pitches. A fully bumped Floyd's is more intimidating than anything at CB IMO but it's definitely JF's glade areas that put it a notch above for me. Risk It is the only "trail" in the area that makes me think twice before skiing...most of the time it's because the snow can be sketchy though. Sno on the other hand has more on the map steep sections than both IMO.

Sounds great...I'll be back tomorrow morning.

Just returned and you nailed it...The snow was incredibly good given all of the rain. I know I said I would try to be there early but I didn't get there until around noon and found a pretty crowded parking lot. I took one run and met up with Rideordie7 who I had the pleasure of taking a number of runs with and watching him kill it in the park. Everything has decent coverage right now and the snow is a polar opposite from what we experienced on Wednesday. There is even still some snow in the trees to the right of Challenge and One Park which was fun. They're talking about some snow over the weekend and early next week so things are looking up. Once again props to JF for great conditions today.

Cool, I'll look for you if I'm there tomm which is looking good right now. I'm usually doing laps on the East Mt. / abstract lifts.

Timeless and Phillycore....see you guys next season!!

I should be there....not 100% yet but if I do I'll try to get there early

Today at JF was definitely not hero snow. The snow today is hard to describe... kinda like an ungroomed, frozen granular / ice. The kind that makes that real loud scrapy sound when you make a turn. As the day wore on it softened a bit and I could edge it ... still not the greatest. But still no bare spots although some icy / thin spots but most importantly...still open.

Timeless are you considering switching to JFBB?

I just got back and had a great time in the rain. I normally never ski in the rain but today I'm glad I did. It wasn't raining when I left but as I rode up the access road the fog grew thicker at the higher elevations and the rain started falling. It was a steady rain pretty much the entire time. The snow is a very fast wet granular...really fun to carve. There are a few brown spots but thats it...no bare. The one big one is just before the last headwall on River Shot. There were also a few sketchy areas on Thunderbot in the normal spots (to the right of the lift poles on the headwalls) but nothing major. I saw maybe 30 people the entire time. It was POURING with loud thunder this morning and I thought it would be ugly but Jack Frost never ceases to amaze me. Conditions are great. Tomoorow maybe different however with the warmup.

Very rarely. I usually only get up early for opening when I'm in New England. Mid week at JF is really not busy regardless of the time.

It was actually pretty busy. Exhibition, the triple and that area were pretty crowded. The only time I rode the triple there was a small line. There was even a "lot closed" sign up in the lot where I normally park.

Just back from my first day out since last Monday. It snowed about an inch overnight and there was a light snowfall going on pretty much the entire time I was there. I hit the snow around 11:00. I was expecting icy conditions since everything else around here is seriously iced over including my driveway but I found nice conditions at the Mt. Made my first run of the day on Thunderbolt. The snow is a nicely groomed hardpack surface with the little bit of snow we received overnight on top which made it nice. I headed straight for east. Floyd's is completely groomed and it probably needed it. The snow was very nice except for one icy patch on skiers right on the steeper portion of the headwall towards Risk It. A groomed Floyds is fun for carving out wide GS turns but it's not nearly as intimidating (sp?) without the bumps. Not that I'm big on the bumps but Floyd's is definitely meant to be bump trail. It was then over to river shot and the rest of East. After that I headed for the Challenege glade which is a hockey rink so I got out quick. I worked my way west to the One park trees and found that to be very nice. It's not sold ice but a very firm hard pack, yet carvable. Jumped out onto Exhibition, then to Lehigh and back over to East to get away from some of the crowds and to finish my day. Overall a very nice day at Jack. All we need is a nice storm to replenish the trees and bring Jack Frost back to it's full glory. I'll be back tommorrow give me a shout if you'll be there.

Right on...The trees adjacent to Jane's used to be marked as Janes Glade.

That area is fun...Is Marks Way the official name for it?

Sorry I missed you Method. I would have looked for you but I wasn't able to make it today. How was it?

Nice TR...Renegade is not lighted. Nastar at Shawnee is fun. I did it last year and scored a bronze

Believe it or not I just use my phone's 1.3 mp camera. It takes some semi decent shots in the sunlight. I lost my camera last year while skiing and can't afford to lose another one.

Enjoy... Risk It... Telstar looking down toward Solitude and the Mad Trees... Looking down on some sweet conditions on Thunderbolt from the lift

Agreed on all points, especially on your take to the email response. Referring to Jack Frost as boring is completely off base and unwarranted.

PASkiingSucks I think your points are valid. But Elk's policy is what it is for better or for worse. You seem like a knowledgeable skier who could contribute greatly around here. But labeling all of Pennsylvania as "suckiing", as per your username, primarily because of Elk's no skiing in the woods policy is a bit much. Again, I'm with you and I personally would love to see Elk open a few marked gladed trails too. But as others have mentioned there are other options in the state for skiing glades including Jack Frost, Blue Knob and now Sno Mt.

Pulled up to a semi crowded the lot at 11:30. It was a little busier than I had anticipated...got my ticket and headed for T bolt glade and Thunderbolt. The snow was a perfect packed powder surface and nicely groomed. I headed staright for East and did my only run od the day on River Shot. Headed back up and did a few runs through the outter portion of Mad Tree and down to Floyd's. All of East got blasted with snowmaking and Floyds was PERFECT....no ice, just ungroomed man made snow that was easy to carve...I then headed for the Challenge glade. which is nice on the flats but the headwalls are filled with exposed rock. I headed back to the East Mt lift and found that all of east and Challenge was closed....I saw them running groomers up challenege so I'm assuming they closed it for grooming not that it needed it. But that gave me an opportunity to ski parts of the mt. that I neglect all too often . I headed for Jane's Lane / Jane's Glade then to One park but I stayed in the trees to the right of the park which was easily the run of the day. The snow in there was smooth and easy to carve. From there I headed out to Exhibition. Did that a few times and headed back to East for a few more down Floyd's and called it a day...Another great day at JF....I'll be back tommorrow hopefully after some fresh snow tonight.

Just back from another great day at JF. Conditions were pretty much on par with yesterday. The snow is perfect right now. The place was empty. I had great snow and cord were pretty much all to myself with each run. They must have blown a ton over night as the trees lining the trails were covered with snow and looked really cool. Challenge was more fun than normal today. They didn't groom it and it was nice to plow through the man made powder. I hit a few rocks on the glade near challenge and got out of there. Rivershot and the rest of east is perfect packed powder corduroy except Floyd's which is a weird combination of bumps, ice and powder. If you can get around the ice it's fun to plow through it but once again the ice got me Although I didn't do the "Risk It" leap ...The snow in the trees to the right of Floyds and on the outter edge of Mad Tree is soft and light which and was really fun. That's pretty much it. Jack Frost is really top notch right now (with a few more inches tonight possibly) get out there and take advantage of it while it lasts.

I'll probably be there around 11 tomm. If you're still there look for a guy with grey pants, grey helmet, olive green jacket and orange dynastars doing laps on the East Mt. lift.

That is Floyd's from about 30 feet below the entrance. GSS you should definitely come up to JF after a snowfall...you wont be disappointed.