[SuspectDevice]

This is a public service anouncement;
Jiminy Peak is now ultra-superduperbadass. They let western ma's finest trailbuilders go ape**** on the mountain this spring, and I'd have to say that in my estimation, the place is as good as West was, and 100% better than Snow or Killington. I.e. I think it might be the best mountain in the east right now, save Diablo, but Jiminy has more terrain to work with...

As of next weekend they will be open from the summit, with all 1500 feet of vert. The stuff I rode yesterday was only with 500 feet, but it was still rediculosly badass. There is some rather platekillian terrain, combined with plenty of steep-a** dirt. The mountain is littered with jumps and drops, every trail is chock-full of flow, the season pass is $125, the mountain is open until 8 during the summer, and the high-speed detachable gets to the summit in 5 minutes.

Jiminy even has a geat little base-village now, with a very decent rental shop, an alpine slide, and all sorts of great family friendly american-gladiators style stuff. Plus it is right down the road from the Hancock shaker village, and 20 minutes from both Mass MOCA and the Clark, so it is very family/non-riding girlfriend friendly.
To make things even ultra-cooler the mountain announces trail work days, when folks can go up and make their dream trails happen. If you go to a work day, you get a free season pass!

Hip-hip-hooray!

 

[chillindrdude]

how far from cape cod is jiminy peak? i'll be in the area in mid-august.

what other dh options are there in mass?

 

[SuspectDevice]

how far from cape cod is jiminy peak? i'll be in the area in mid-august.

what other dh options are there in mass?

Jiminy is it. You need to consider going to Jiminy from where you are now, as it's about 2.5 hours from NYC. Just take the Northway to the berkshire spur, and Jiminy is right off of exit 3b

 

[chillindrdude]

do you have any pics of the trails?

 

[SuspectDevice]

do you have any pics of the trails?

No, I am one of those people who doesn't even own a film camera, letalone one of the webbified cell-phones. Let me verbalize my favourite trail there for you, in two sentences...

Get of the lift Sprint towards a rather large rock launch, pre jump it an pump the backside. Rip through an open field for ~ 100 yards, drift into the woods through a sexy right hander, cut back and forth through 3 tight off-camber swithcbacks, pin a ledge section by doubling up 2 small ledges, cut right, pin another root section, no brake drift a left handed berm at the bottom of that section, Sprint another 100 yards through a field, shut it down enough to make it through the right to left hairpin entrance back into the woods, immediately hit a small drop that sets you up for a very steep, loose shaley rock drop with a kicker going into it. Hit the kicker, land in a 90degree left hand slide, tag a tree with my right forearm, layoff the brakes and make the tight right 3 feet after the drop. Pin another twisty section, double another double stepdown ledge section, and go into a section of consistent decreasing radius turns in the woods, lots of drifting, trying to make my front wheel push to get around the corner quicker, last few drops, and back to the lift.

 

[MMcG]

Hey thanks for the review.

I will have to make it a point to hit Jiminy as often as possible since it is only about a 1.5 hour drive from the Hartford Area! Sweetness!

 

[Mumbles]

amen! Jiminy was awesome. chock full of good terrain and awesome opportunities for the current trails to get even better! its also (hopefully) going to rapidly grow -- Suspect and I sat on the lift and were like "oo that'd be a good place for a berm" or "that looks like it could get turned it a cool trail". i'm definitely all for making Jiminy THE spot to ride in the east! i can't wait for the summit lift to open! i'll be there...almost every day if i can (who needs a job? )
so yeah, ride Jiminy!

 

[mcA896]

what would be the udeal ride for this place? full-on dh bike? fr rig?

 

[dromond]

Well that's good to hear! Rock on Any idea when the season runs until in the fall? Or if there will be races?

 

[MMcG]

Well that's good to hear! Rock on Any idea when the season runs until in the fall? Or if there will be races?

I think all the details are up on the Jiminy Peak web site - and I also posted the info in a thread that LexxD started a week or so ago.

http://www.jiminypeak.com

 

[Mumbles]

what would be the udeal ride for this place? full-on dh bike? fr rig?

it's sorta hard to say -- there are many spots where a full on DH bike would be right for the job, but there are a lot of points with really tight turns and good use for a shorter wheel-base. Suspect was on a Giant DH and he said at a couple points that he wanted a shorter bike to take the turns a little better. so i think either way you would be happy, try both!

 

[SuspectDevice]

Suspect was on a Giant DH and he said at a couple points that he wanted a shorter bike to take the turns a little better. so i think either way you would be happy, try both!

I liked having the Giant, as putting a big bike through tight turns is pretty fun (yay for brake slides and crazy Australian weight shifting). Jiminy is not flat really, so there is no reason not to ride a full-on race bike, but a fr bike or trail bike would also rule as well. Once again the merits of a well designed trail shine through...

 

[chillindrdude]

cool...you've convinced me

i'll be there weekend of aug 14th...and then the weekend after that!

 

[JerseyDave]

sweet pic on their page.

 

[springfish]

I went there 2 years ago. I must say it was pretty cool even back then. At the time, there was only one real drop, but all the trails (that I could find at least) were fun. I'm definitely in for going again this season. Regardless of what anyone else says, the hands down best part of the mountain is the chair lift. IT'S HUGE! 6 people huge, and padded. You can take a nap everytime you go back up.

 

[Lexx D]

I was there on sunday. First off they were running the bitch lift and i was a little peeved about this. As soon as we got on a trail my perspective changed. The trails are very well made and with a few mods will probably give platty a run for its money. The dirt a jiminy is tacky as sin, just lean the bike over and you just stick through the turn. A few little drops(all riden by my friend on a hardtail) and some jumps(bad placement for some) but overall a great time. This mountain has a ton of potential!

I'll get a better idea this weekend when the other lift opens. But i found a new place to play. Just go you'll like it.

 

[Tom Church]

The main lift to the top is not open till June 29th which kinda sucks...but you bet I'll be up there!!!

Tom

 

[Lexx D]

The main lift to the top is not open till June 29th which kinda sucks...but you bet I'll be up there!!!

Tom

I'd call ahead of time. The guy in the shop said it would be this weekend.

 

[Tom Church]

I E-mailed them this morning because I was thinking of going up this weekend as it is only 1.5 hours from me...they told me that the small lift is open but the main lift to the peak opens the 26th.

 

[Lexx D]

I E-mailed them this morning because I was thinking of going up this weekend as it is only 1.5 hours from me...they told me that the small lift is open but the main lift to the peak opens the 26th.

someones telling a fib :mumble:
That sucks, i would still call and ask the guy in the bike shop(maybe he can push for us) He said the quad opens this weekend and they'll have two lifts going when schools out. Either way If they get the other lift open I'll be up there again. If not i guess plattekill will just have to do

 

[Mumbles]

someones telling a fib :mumble:
That sucks, i would still call and ask the guy in the bike shop(maybe he can push for us) He said the quad opens this weekend and they'll have two lifts going when schools out. Either way If they get the other lift open I'll be up there again. If not i guess plattekill will just have to do

i was told as well that the main lift was going to be open as of next weekend (the 13th). hrrrm.

 

[Lexx D]

i was told as well that the main lift was going to be open as of next weekend (the 13th). hrrrm.

Well shyt better be open or I'm raising hell. They closed the lift early on sunday :mumble: . The guy in the shop(seemed very cocky, my shyt don't stink attitude). Was like oh next week, don't get discouraged this time it'll be better. Trails seemed good with some nice flow so I wasn't mad. Some of the "drops" and "jumps" were fuking jokes. Like a 1 ft kicker with about 10 feet of flat to another 1 ft kicker. Oh well a little work and the place is gonna rip.

 

[SuspectDevice]

Well shyt better be open or I'm raising hell. They closed the lift early on sunday :mumble: . The guy in the shop(seemed very cocky, my shyt don't stink attitude). Was like oh next week, don't get discouraged this time it'll be better. Trails seemed good with some nice flow so I wasn't mad. Some of the "drops" and "jumps" were fuking jokes. Like a 1 ft kicker with about 10 feet of flat to another 1 ft kicker. Oh well a little work and the place is gonna rip.

Indeed, there are some oddly placed rocks on the trail. But the mountain is a no-complaints kind of place, I mentioned wanting a berm a certain place on one of the trails, and the lift operator offered to go get me a shovel!

 

[Lexx D]

Indeed, there are some oddly placed rocks on the trail. But the mountain is a no-complaints kind of place, I mentioned wanting a berm a certain place on one of the trails, and the lift operator offered to go get me a shovel!

Hey, I like that. Once they get the other lift going i'll be there for sure. i still can't get over the traction(the dirt is super tacky) i had yesterday.

 

[Brad Trent]

It's been a long while since we rode JP...before this latest bit of trail building it was OK, but not exceptionally challenging and there was one hell of a lot of flat sections that didn't make anybody too excited!

My only question is this...do they still turn the lifts on at 11:00AM or have they smartened up and started them at a smarter hour, say, 9:00AM?!!

BeeT's

 

[Lexx D]

No still 11. They say in summer it will be 11-dusk, whatever that means.

 

[SuspectDevice]

Still 11am. Fine for me though, as i don't even need to get out of bed before 9:45 that way

 

[thespackler]

This is a public service anouncement;
Jiminy Peak is now ultra-superduperbadass. They let western ma's finest trailbuilders go ape**** on the mountain this spring, and I'd have to say that in my estimation, the place is as good as West was, and 100% better than Snow or Killington. I.e. I think it might be the best mountain in the east right now, save Diablo, but Jiminy has more terrain to work with...

As of next weekend they will be open from the summit, with all 1500 feet of vert. The stuff I rode yesterday was only with 500 feet, but it was still rediculosly badass. There is some rather platekillian terrain, combined with plenty of steep-a** dirt. The mountain is littered with jumps and drops, every trail is chock-full of flow, the season pass is $125, the mountain is open until 8 during the summer, and the high-speed detachable gets to the summit in 5 minutes.

Jiminy even has a geat little base-village now, with a very decent rental shop, an alpine slide, and all sorts of great family friendly american-gladiators style stuff. Plus it is right down the road from the Hancock shaker village, and 20 minutes from both Mass MOCA and the Clark, so it is very family/non-riding girlfriend friendly.
To make things even ultra-cooler the mountain announces trail work days, when folks can go up and make their dream trails happen. If you go to a work day, you get a free season pass!

Hip-hip-hooray!

No offense...But checked out Jiminy and wasnt impressed at all....."Best mountain in the east"...well, not even close. Right now there isnt a mountain on the east that is even trying to compete with Diablo (except maybe Bromont). Rumor has it that diablo has leased a few mini excavators and are currently building multiple jump lines. after seeing what those guys did to a so-so DH course for the US Open, i think they know their ****! I overheard Sam Hill say that the Diablo course was probably one of the best courses hes ever ridden, including some world cups!

 

[dfinn]

this is what I like to hear. if/when I ever move back to western mass it's nice to know I'll have some options for good DH close by. BTW, SuspectDevice, I was born in cooley dick. small world.

 

[Brad Trent]

Damn! 11:00AM is still damned late if ya axe me...for one thing, in the dead of summer it's kinda nice starting before it's 85 stinking degrees out. Secondly, while riding until "dusk" may be a great, dusk is dusk! And the hill pretty much faces North so you really lose light early. I'd always rather start early and end early...

I really can't figure JP out 'cuz there are always people who are staying there hanging out at the bottom of the hill at 9:00AM.

BeeT's

 

[gmac]

Did that say daily riding ? As in mid-week ? As in I'm there.

 

[Lexx D]

Yes they did.

I will have to hit off diablo soon. But most people i talk to tell me platty is better. So why am i gonna waste my time. I did have one person tell me mountain creek was better. so that's 1 out of 8 yeah, i'm not in a hurry to find out.

 

[gmac]

Any pictures of Jiminy riding out there ?