Back in the 2017–18 season, a trail that had long been known as Upper Powerline took on a new identity. Locals already knew it that way. Patrol called it that on the radio. If you spent any real time here, you probably did too. “601 to Micky” wasn’t just shorthand, it was a nod to two people who shaped the mountain in ways that don’t fit neatly on signage.
Peg and Mick Doheny built their lives here. Nearly 80 years of combined service between them, spanning Ski Patrol, Ski & Ride School, and just about every corner of the mountain where experience actually matters. Peg’s call sign was 601. Mick was, simply, Micky. Say it together and it stuck.
The trail itself reflects that kind of legacy. Steep in sections, playful in others, always a little different depending on how it’s filled in. It rewards familiarity, patience, and the kind of skiing that comes from years, not weekends. The same could be said for the two names attached to it.
Renaming the trail formalized something that had already been true for a long time. It connected the top and bottom of the line the same way Peg and Mick connected generations of skiers and riders to the mountain. Not through headlines or ceremony, but through steady presence, hard work, and a lasting imprint that shows up in how this place skis today.
It’s a trail name. It’s also a story.
In snow country, Ski Patrollers are called Sled Dogs, Instructors are Show Dogs. Often times, they are at odds. Mick and Peg Doheny are different. He runs Jay Peak Ski School, she’s head Patroller, and they’ve been married 18 years. In both tone and spirit, they typify our mountain.
JP: Is it weird that Peg is running Ski Patrol, typically more of a male-dominated culture, and that Mick is heading up Ski School?
Mick: I think people expect Patrollers, Sled Dogs, to be more task-oriented, more outdoorsy. I think they also have to be very focused—if their day goes bad, there is the potential that they might have to deal with some pretty unpleasant stuff. I don’t think these are necessarily male traits. In any case, they fit Peg to a T.
JP: What about the Show Dog analogy? I’m thinking this has to do with being pretty and well manicured?
Mick: Instructors are concerned with perfecting and prettying-up your turns and helping you have a good time on our mountain. Of course, here at Jay, it’s also about teaching the fundamentals of powder and glade skiing and snowboarding, but you get the gist. I’m ok with pretty and having fun in the powder.
JP: You’re both at the mountain working outside every day. What’s it like and how do you manage?
Peg: I’ve been a Patroller since the 81-82 season at Jay and we’ve come a long way. We started out with beepers. No sweeps. We just skied and responded. There’s quite a bit more organization now. The responsibility is the same, it’s just the accountability that’s heightened. I’m still beat up at the end of the week. The elements take their toll.
Mick: Same here. When we head home at the end of the day, I make dinner, she heads into the bath with a glass of wine and a book.
JP: Mick cooks and Peg relaxes?
Mick: We’re both relaxing, really. Cooking is my way of unwinding after a busy day at work.
Peg: He’s a great cook. I married him for his looks, but I stayed for his chicken.
JP: How did you guys first get things moving? I mean how does someone with more of a Patrol mentality fall in with someone from the other side of the proverbial tracks?
Mick: She started up at Jay in 1973 working in the Charter Jay, now the International Room. She was 20 years old…
Peg: I was 19.
Mick: …and hadn’t found anything steep to ski yet. I pointed her in the right direction and she was hooked.
JP: On you?
Mick: On both of us.
JP: So with winter not nearly being enough time to spend together, you guys own a landscape company where you spend the entire summer in each other’s back pocket as well?
Mick: Yup. McLawn. We now have half a dozen seasonal staff, more work than we at times know what to do with and a good excuse to end every day with a relaxing swim in our pond followed by a Vodka Tonic and dinner on the deck.
Peg: Like you need an excuse. The summers are great up here. In the old days, we had a 20-knot clause—if the wind was blowing we’d stop mowing and go windsurfing on Lake Champlain. We’re too busy to get away with that these days but we get our windsurf fix most every April at Cap Hatteras.
JP: Which do you like best—2 feet of powder or a 20-knot day?
Mick: I still like a 2-foot powder day over a 20-knot day on the lake, but it’s real close.
Peg: I’ll take the 20 knots. I can get 2 feet any day.
Mick: Well said.
