No one ever said Jay Peak wasn’t a great mountain with uncommonly good skiers who loved the place. But now everyone can admit it: Amenities and lodging options were basic. Which makes it all the more astonishing that Jay has so quickly leapt to the forefront of the Eastern ski-hotel scene. While other resorts limped through the recession, Jay spent lavishly, using federally incentivized foreign investment money for low-employment zones (the EB-5 program). It built new parking decks, a hockey rink, an immense indoor water park, and two hotels—first the Tram Haus a couple seasons ago and now Hotel Jay.
And there’s even more in the works. In the spring, another hotel goes in at the Stateside area (served by a high-speed six-pack that will replace the Bonaventure lift). By 2017, Jay expects to open its West Bowl expansion, with 20 new trails and yet another hotel. The total tab: $500 million plus, not counting the $110 million that will be spent upgrading recently acquired Burke Mountain. And no one complains anymore about the paucity of lodging at Jay.
Here’s the latest and greatest.
