Even If you’ve taken more than a cursory-glance at this year’s Jay Peak Magazine cover, it’s unlikely you’re making the connection between Jay Peak and the power of alchemy. But we that overthink these things, the creating of magazine covers and themes and colors and such, still have a job to do. To tie together disparate pieces of a winter vacation and package them in such a way, creatively, that doesn’t feel templated, or dispassionate or boring as, in reality, we check off exactly none of those boxes here at Jay.
But alchemy and the process of change, of transmuting, and ultimately transformation, seems to fit us in a way that, well, fits. And, equally fitting, is that as we sit here almost 10 years from the start of a growth process that would take us from then to now, from not much to just enough in a million different ways, we’re still putting out a magazine that tries to be equal parts vacation planner and contract; something that binds us to you in ways that only the collective understands. If alchemy is always connecting to the mysterious, the unaccounted for, or the inexplicable, then Jay Peak seems to be its perfect forever-home. And that alchemic power may start with turning something into something else, but it continues, and ultimately finishes, with you. The guest. The Jay Peaker. The final arbiter of what sort of change works and what sort of change needs to, still, be changed. Our buildings and waterparks and ice rinks have exactly zero bits of alchemic possibility in their DNA, but the folks that use them, and enjoy them and tell us where we can be better, do. That’s why colors and pictures and themes about alchemy are great and fine but the real power to change and transform isn’t something that we at the mountain have any access to. That power, that responsibility, sits with you, and we hope and expect that you’ll still hold us as accountable as you ever have, for the experience we all hold so close.
No one holds that responsibility any tighter than our employees and it’s one of the reasons we put them on display, front and center, in our Hotel Jay. Hit page 12 to see the who and the what. Our employees work hard at delivering uniquely great experiences here at the mountain but they also contribute to our community in meaningful ways as well—check out what makes ski instructor Mimi Magyar go on page 11 Our local community takes great pride in who we are and who we continue to become and that’s evident in our story about Nelson and his Big Jay Tavern and how quickly it’s transformed the local food an social scene on page 22. And if there’s a birthing point for change and transformation and alchemy, you’d have to look wide and far for a better example than our Raised Jay 8-Week Program. Take a look at what we’re talking about on page 14. In between you’ll find just enough to pique your curiosity about what’s happening here, who’s responsible for it and, hopefully, how you can get involved. After all that’s what real alchemy is all about; reaching to be better than we presently are, so that everything around us becomes better in the process.
We look forward to seeing you this season.
-Steve
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