Killington Peak - Mary and Bill
"In the box!"
January 17, 2006

Killington Peak - Mary and Bill
"In the box!"
January 17, 2006

Mary and I went skiing together for the first time since before Thanksgiving. Of course, Mary has been out a bunch each week, but I had been at the inn nursing a bum ankle. But it seems much better now...

I would rate overall conditions today as "OK". If you lived and worked at Killington, or were here visiting, you should have been on the mountain for some time today. We arrived around 9:00 AM to beautiful sunny skies with a temperature of 14 degrees and minimal wind. Conditions from the K1 at Killington Peak were firm, but we did not run into any ice problems. We made a "speed run" from the start to get to Highline, but but the time we got there a rope was across the trail. Bunny Buster and Mouse Trap were well groomed and gave us a pleasant run out back to the K1.

We then traversed across to Bear Mountain. Pipe Dream across South Ridge was glacial and roped off. But Great Easter was in very good shape. Bear Trap was "Interesting". The terrain park was set up and well maintained, but surfaces to skiers right were very sketchy with windblown ice and exposed rock ledge. Looks like the mountain took care of the park and forgot about skiers not wanting to do the terrain features. But not to complain, because Upper Wildfire was very well groomed. It was set up for crusin, and we did a couple of laps through it before heading over the Needles Eye.

While I thought Wildfire was the run of the day, Mary favored Panic Button-Needles Eye. Both had fresh blown snow that was groomed flat and fast. We did a couple of very fast laps (that's why we wear helmets) before heading over the Skyelark and calling it a day.

All told, while it definitely not a powder day, plenty of decent skiing and riding was available. I took a lot of pictures, but quite frankly, they were of trails that were empty, and as a result not visually interesting. Of course, Mary and I enjoyed the empty trails...Where were you??