THE GLADES

The Man, The Legend, The Glades

"So much snow, so many trees, so little time.”
Sel Hannah

Jay Peak skiers have enjoyed the adventure of skiing “off trail” for decades because natural snow overwhelms this special corner of Vermont, gracing the forests of Jay Peak with all the snow a woodskier could want.

In 1985, during Bill Stenger’s first season at Jay Peak, he noticed that the widest smiles of all the lift riders were those who were also covered with snow from head to toe. Inquiring further of these skiers, he learned that the snow was residue from the “secret stash” tree skiing experience enjoyed between the regular trail system at the mountain. If these skiers were so excited by this, he thought, “What if we made the tree skiing experience safer and cleaner, providing better access and creating a limited glade system?”

So in 1987, the first of Jay Peak’s 24 glades was created. Sel Hannah, one of Eastern skiing’s legendary mountain designers, was advising Stenger and Jay Peak on some trail and lift design when the subject of glade design and creation was raised.

Stenger’s goal was to maintain the natural intimacy of the woodskiing experience and to provide a rhythmic experience that would link the mountain and provide a total glade network tree skiers could enjoy throughout their day at Jay.

Sel Hannah advised Stenger and Lawrence Carnahan of a cutting strategy that would give skiers a great woods experience but not clear the forest more than needed. The Hannah design called for a trim radius to be 6 to 8 feet only, no healthy trees were to be taken and regeneration was to be a focal point of the plan.

With those marching orders in hand, Bill Stenger with Jay's team of cutters, the “Gladiators,” began a decade-long glade system creation that knitted the mountain woods system together.

Each year over the past four years, an additional glade has been added, the most recent being “Beyond Beaver Pond,” a multi-acre stash of woods, steeps, cliffs and snow ecstasy.

Whenever we start a new glade, we always ask if it will improve the network, excite our guests and honor the memory of Sel Hannah, our glade mentor here at Jay Peak.

In the future, there are numerous additional areas where the glade system can be advanced and improved. We all look forward to enhancing Jay Peak’s designation as the best glade skiing experience in North America.

Off Piste
Skiing and riding challenges the human spirit like few activities in life. The glade skiing experience raises that experience to a new dimension, and only Jay Peak goes a step beyond offering its skiers and riders the freedom to find their own limits and experience the full essence of pure woods skiing and off piste excitement. Yes, you can ski anywhere within the Jay Peak boundaries so long as you ski in threes and exercise caution when re-entering the trail system.

It’s a freedom to be found only at Jay Peak and offers our skiers and riders an exceptional challenge and an even more exceptional reward!