HISTORICAL INFORMATION

Want to learn more about the history of Jay Peak Resort? Here is a little background information on the mountain.

1953 – Vermont Governor Lee Emerson approves Joint Resolution to study development of Jay Peak.
1955 – Jay Peak is incorporated; fund raising stock rallies staged in local towns to sell shares of new company.
1956 – Jay’s first ski lift, a “Pomalift,” ordered from France; Jay’s first trail, the “Open Slope” cut under direction of Perry Merrill, Charles M. Lord, and Harold Haynes; Walter Foeger arrives from Austria to run ski school.
1958 – “Jet” T-Bar installed; Foeger made Jay Peak ski area manager; article in SKI magazine praising Foeger’s “Revolution in Ski Teaching”.
1961 – “Muehler” chairlift (aka the “Bonaventure” or “Red” chair) is installed on Stateside; “St. George’s Prayer” and three-mile “Long Trail” ski trails are inaugurated.
1962 – “Ski School” T-Bar opened on Stateside, and four more trails added; Foeger publishes “Skiing for Beginners”.
1964 – “Skyline” chairlift towers installed on peak by helicopter; this upper mountain skilift will provide access to top of Jay Peak and late season skiing.
1965 – “Ski Lark” movie featuring Dick and Dave Rivard, of Newport, filmed at Jay Peak, and in Austria.
1966 – Weyerhaeuser, Corp., becomes major shareholder of Jay Peak ski area and adds its extensive adjoining acreage; Weyerhaeuser announces plans for $2 ½ million expansion including slopeside hotel and 60-passenger aerial tramway to top of Jay Peak.
1967 – Derick Hotshot trail named to honour memory of Jay Peak ski racer, and Olympic hopeful, Dave Derick, of Newport; Tramway opens to public in January; in addition to tramway, Jay Peak now boasts over 40 trails, 2 chairlifts, 3 T-bars and 1 Pomalift.
1968 – Walter Foeger resigns and writes autobiography; D.M. Mack Matheson, of Domtar, Inc., Montreal, is new Jay Peak ski area manager for Weyerhaeuser.
1978 – Weyerhaeuser sells its interest in Jay Peak to owners of the Mont St. Sauveur ski area.
1985 – Mont St. Sauveur brings in Jack Frost Mountain ski area manager Bill Stenger from Pennsylvania to develop their Jay Peak interests.
1986 – Stenger sets in motion long-term plan to modernize Jay Peak’s snowmaking and ski lift infrastructure, as well as to expand and update its trail system.
1988 – Slopeside housing seen as key in the overall resort structure and made a priority for development.
1990 – Initial work on Jay’s extensive glade system is pioneered; Jay Peak’s Master Plan is approved.
1995 – Jet Triple and Bonaventure quad greatly increase Jay’s capacity to move skiers quickly to where the action and the SNOW is.
1999 – The new Flyer high-speed quad chairlift provides an alternate to tramway service and allows skiers/snowboarders access to east and west areas from a high upper terminal.
2000 – The 33-year old tramway is upgraded for the millennium and provided two new state of the art cars; Jay now has more than 8 lifts and 75 trails (including terrain parks and glades).
2005 – Jay Peak Ski and Summer Resort celebrates 50th Anniversary.