Killington Peak from top of Bear
Mountain against a beautiful blue sky.

Killington Peak from top of Bear
Mountain against a beautiful blue sky.

This morning I awoke to bright sunshine and a beautiful, cloudless, blue sky. It looked like the perfect day to go out on the hill and take a few runs.

Temperatures last night dropped into the low 20's. While I am sure it is making the local Maple Sugar producers happy, it was sure to create firm conditions on the slopes in the morning. Mary and I dawdled a little this morning. We left the inn around 9:45 instead of our usual 8:30. We figured we would give the mountain time to soften up a bit (plus it was Mary's turn to make breakfast for our inn guests). I convinced Mary to forgo a trip into the base lodge, so I parked in bay 1 right beside the K1 gondola. We put our boots on in the car and walked right onto the lift. Very efficient when the weather outside is beautiful.

Even at 10:00 AM, it was clear while we were taking the box that the Killington Peak side of the resort was frozen like a brick. So we decided to cruise across the spine of the resort on down Blue Heaven and Great Eastern and made our way to Bear. Great Eastern was as solid as it has been all winter. It was pliant enough so you could set an edge, but it was a very fast rocket ride over to Bear.

At Bear, we swept down Bear Claw and over the Vipers Pit. The trails were still firm, but the coverage was excellent. Bear Trap to Anti-Venon on the next loop was the same. Outer Limits looked like it was softening up, but we decided against it as the Mogul course was set. The pinch point on the trail at the top of the Mogul course looked pretty slick and crowded with herbs, so we decided to pass on it.

We took a few more runs down Cruise Control, Skye Lark and Superstar. All were in nice shape with some exposed ice flows left over from the melting earlier this week. They were all quite visible, and since the rest of the surfaces were very edge-able, there was no problem avoiding them. Overall, we were impressed with how well the mountain was holding up. Based upon the conditions we experienced, the next several days through the weekend should offer some pretty good skiing and riding at Killington.

Passport Update - According to usps.com, the Post Office's website, "Your item was delivered at 11:52 AM on March 28, 2007 in PHILADELPHIA, PA 19101". Step one down. I hope the State Department saw the "Expidite" note on the front of the envelop.

Let it snow!