After reading all of the reviews placed on this site I don't quite think that any of them quite did Jay justice. Having grown up in the Northeast I can't comment on skiing out West, though I have hiked most of Colorado, but judging by the fact Jay Peak consistently is rated #2 best tree ski resort in the US assures me in my judgment: there really isn't any place on earth quite like Jay. Going to school at UVM, and having a schedule custom made around maximum pow I was afforded the ability to ski over 70 days two seasons ago and hopefully will make it into at least the 40-50 day mark this year. I know Jay like the back of my hand. It's awesome and the reason you ski it: the trees.

Terrain: For those with minimal skiing ability Jay is the place. It has excellent sheltered spots where maniacs don't come shooting through and endanger your life. My girlfriend is very much a beginner and I feel very comfortable leaving her at the base to learn to ski.

For intermediates this is kind of where Jay falls on its face, on powder days (to its credit for the northeast, or quite frankly any resort, Jay gets an impressive amount of snow) anywhere on Jay is lovely although it does tend to get washed out sightly by the end of the day or into the next. Jay has a serious wind problem and the right side of the resort seriously suffers until about half way down making a lot of the intermediate terrain less fun than would be hoped for. All in all still better than anywhere in Vermont or the East Coast but I'm guessing this is where all the slightly pretentious folks here are saying Jay isn't up to snuff.

For experts: Ride the glades. Ride them again and ride them all. Some days in the glades have been the happiest days in my life and this is what people strive their entire lives on skis for. The feeling of literally flying across clouds of pow that you'd sink more than knee deep into if you were silly enough to stop. The glades protect the areas from wind and the "I shouldn't be in these woods" demographic tend to stick to the widest lines. Ski just around those lines (the glades here are big enough to have first tracks days after the snowfall) and enjoy. This is what it is all about.

Service: You get on a chairlift and it works. You fall and ski patrol picks you up. You don't have skis and they rent them to you. Seriously, everything works and everyone is laid back I don't know what people are on about.

Crowds: Ranging from problematic to none. Glades: no people ever, few people ride and the territory is large enough to handsomely facilitate those who do.
The rest: depends heavily on the day. Weekends and holidays forget it, check UVM's SSC (ski and snowboard club), when they converge on the mountain by the busload it will rain on your parade. As a rule of thumb, Tuesdays and Thursdays you pretty much have the mountain to yourself, literally. The rest of the work week you might be forced to share the chairlift bench with someone else.

Activities: A shady bar in Montgomery and maybe something in the town of Jay proper. Bottom line: you come here to ski if not...may I recommend a thirty rack in the back of your friend's Jeep....

Value: For what you get, top three in the US tree skiing, most pow in the East, some of the coolest people and generally only skiers that know what they are doing, Jay is priceless. For $67 a day it is not only cheaper than the rest of Vermont, it is vastly superior.

Everyone's down on Jay, myself included, because the ride to get there is HORRENDOUS. Unfortunately, Vermont's policy on road upkeep in winter is "I hope you've get a plow....we sure don't" making it somewhat hellish to get there. Ultimately, to buy a place near Jay is pennies on the dollar and really returns us in every aspect to the skiing for the people mentality, which is priceless today when that attitude is increasingly disappearing. The terrain for those who can hack it, is what keeps people coming back to Jay and the dream of more days like the immortal ones I have had at Jay are what inspired me to write this review.