Long before the notion of gaming went from verb to noun, and even before either dungeons or dragons came forward to introduce fantasy wargames to a set that had been previously stuffed into lockers (and who, now, are busy running corporations), playing games, playing in general, was pretty simple. A favorite of mine, along with my semi-willing brother, were rock fights. Simple. I counted to three, by brother would sprint away in the other direction, and I would throw rocks at him. Not so much rock fights as it was, rock dodging or target practice—perspective depending. We’d also build forts out of forlorn furniture boxes, arm ourselves with a season’s worth of acorns and do battle until well after the street lights blinked on. While it remains unclear as to what drove our interest in physical, however tactical, violence, the formula of fun was as plain as it was simple; fair weather + willing participants + pretty much anything we could get our hands on = game on. It’s not that we don’t all want a return to the simple, carefree days of throwing actual rocks at each other, it’s that the notion of games has turned from real to virtual and, in the process, gaming has lost its, er, sharp edge.
At the very least, this is where we, Jay Peak, can bridge the metaphorical gap. Home to the very real. Mountains and rivers and grass and wind and ice. While giving nod to the slightly unreal, indoor waterparks with sliding glass roof systems, candied bacon, climbing walls, swimming pools and amphitheaters. We have secure footings in each camp-real and unreal-and it’s from that point-of-vantage we present this year’s Jay Peak Summer Magazine.
Our breathtaking and award-raking Jay Peak Championship Golf Course comes to life through the eyes of the smallish in Putt, Putt Goose (pg 8) while more indoor, and slightly slicker, pursuits are chased after in Stick Tricks (pg 12). If you’re game for a birthday party, we provide the perfect backdrop (says Ariel Toohey) in Pumped Up Party (pg 17). And if you’re still left climbing the walls, check out Erector Set (page 31) to see how you’ll get up, then get down, when winter drops next season. In between we tell you how to plan, what to eat, what to wear and, how to identify those in the know. They’re generally the ones climbing walls, or walking fairways, running trails or icing pucks. If you check, they probably also have rocks in their pockets.