Conditions Report
Report From Saturday, May 21, 2022, at Mary Jane, CO
The season ended with a bang at Mary Jane this weekend after a May storm dumped over a foot across Colorado and 16 inches at the Jane. Only a couple of Colorado ski areas were still turning lifts, with Mary Jane among them, and its closing day happened to be an epic pow day.
Friday afternoon, temperatures in the front range began to drop. Flowers were brought inside as it began to snow. Saturday morning, over a foot of snow had accumulated in the areas of the front range and even more in the mountains. For Mary Jane, it was time to officially end the season with one last pow day.
Saturday, May 21st, was closing day at Mary Jane – a territory of already closed Winter Park Resort. After navigating I-70 and Berthoud Pass, which had been littered with cars due to icy conditions from the night before, we finally arrived at the Jane. We weren’t alone. With only Arapahoe Basin open in Colorado, the parking lots were packed full; even roadside parking was filled up. Everyone wanted one last pow day.
The past two weeks leading up to the storm brought tons of sun and slush with temperatures into the 60s. It was great for slush bumps and carvey groomers but also accelerated melting and limiting skiable terrain for the last day. The Super Gauge, Mary Jane’s main six-pack, was the only lift that remained open. We hopped in line to “hurry up and wait” for those few sweet turns on 16 inches of late-season spring pow.
After over a half hour wait we arrived at the summit and headed to Sterling Way, one of Mary Jane’s infamous bump runs. Sure, it’s late-season but the snow was good and the trees looked covered so we risked the core-shot and harvested some untracked freshies. For being close to the end of May the snow wasn’t too heavy and pretty surfy and soft. Similar to March conditions, but at the end of May.
We arrived at the base, smiles ear-to-ear, and the lift line had grown. So we headed to the parking lot and made some breakfast. A few slices of bacon later, and we were waiting in line again. By now, it was packed out, and sharks were beginning to show themselves. But it was so soft. It was just past noon, and the majority of pow-enthusiasts had fulfilled their last face-shot of the season and regressed to tailgating. The line was shorter, so we packed in a few more soft-bump-filled laps.
It wasn’t a conventional closing day at the Jane, but the kind of closing day that makes you hungry for more. It keeps the stoke alive through the summer until the next storm in the fall.
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