Middle Superstar..Soft Silky Powder!

Middle Superstar..Soft Silky Powder!

There is no headline that I could use that would tell the story of Killington today. Killington was a true animal today. The quality of a persons ski day was clearly based upon a combination of factors including skiing ability, equipment, knowledge of Killington, cold weather, working lifts... you name it, it all came into play.

I was up on the mountain this morning for over 2 hours. I skied on every mountain at Killington, from most of the lifts that were operating. Conditions were wildly variable based upon snow surface conditions. I could easily say that the mountain was great or the mountain was horrible. If you were new to Killington today and did not know the mountain, you might have gotten yourself in trouble. As an experienced Killington skier, I found some great runs. The only thing which caused me to come in was having to go to work this afternoon. (Bills need to be paid you know.)With all this in mind, the entry today will be little snippets of possible stories that could be made by people at Killington today.

Killington - Just the facts!

The storm Killington experienced yesterday turned out to be a disappointment. Weathermen were predicting 8 to 12 inches of snow over the wide area of Killington. In actuality, the area received 3-6 inches of heavy wet slop. Cold temperatures have moved into the area solidifying yesterdays accumulation into a white candy coating. While the storm was rather light on the total accumulation front, the storm and the cold temperatures that are infiltrating the area in the storms wake has solidified the base on all of the ski trails at Killington.

Flat and Fast at Killington

Temperatures in Killington have dropped to the low teens today after a very heavy wet snow yesterday. Conditions on the mountain were variable over a frozen base. Trails that saw overnight grooming can be characterized as flat and fast, while trails that have not been groomed are virtually un-skiable. The K1 gondola was not operating today for an unspecified reason. Most of the trails serviced by the Snowdon Quad and the North Ridge Triple were groomed flat with an occasional coating of light powder in patches.

Death Cookies must die!

Rams Head, usually one of the easiest mountains at Killington to ski because of it's combination of blue and green trails was probably the most difficult mountain at Killington today. In addition to snow blowing operations on side trails from the top of Rams Head, "Header", the main trial under the lift, was a chewed up mess of death cookies ranging in size from small ball bearings to softballs in diameter. Accomplished skiers and riders, with the possible exception of needing a foot massage after chattering down the trail, were able to negotiate "Header" with little trouble. However, I saw numerous beginner skiers and riders hiking down skiers left on the trail, instead of riding it out.

Dust on Crust at Killington

Yesterdays wet accumulation froze overnight at Killington. A continuous light snow flurry in the area left crusty groomed surfaces covered with a fine dust of snow at Bear Mountain and in the Needles Eye Area. Snowmaking operations were visible as Killington was taking advantage of the seasonably cold temperatures to build up ski surfaces.

Sweet Powder at Killington

The run of the day at Killington is a toss up. Leaving the Needles Eye area, I took the Skyeship for a run down Skye Lark. Oh My!. Sweet, carve-able snow on top of a firm, flatly groomed base. Perfect for ripping GS turns at high speed down the nearly empty trail. The only downside was that lower Skye Lark, while groomed flat, was rock hard as no snow had blown on top of the surface. While the surface was very receptive to the sharp edges on my skies, it was a pure rocket ride to the bottom to get a boast back to the top on the Superstar Chair.

Snowmaking operations were taking place on Superstar on both the upper and lower headwalls, and on Middle Superstar at the Skye Lark exit. All I can say is WOW!

I took the upper headwall of Superstar with a nice pace through the snow guns. Beautiful, light powder was being dropped on the trail from overhead snow guns. Soft little powder bumps were developing, just right for some quick hits before dropping out on the flat of middle Superstar. Snowmaking operations had taken place overnight on middle Superstar, resulting in a flat surface covered with 2 to 3 inches of new, silky, sweet powder. Until I skied Superstar, I was sure Skye Lark was the run of the day, How quick one can change their mind.. I did another couple of loops on Superstar before heading out for the day. Just a great way to end. Let it snow!