Mary, with friends Jane and Chuck, at the base of Panic Button on Needles Eye.

Mary, with friends Jane and Chuck, at the base of Panic Button on Needles Eye.

It was a little cold and breezy, but the snow conditions made today a nice day to be out on the mountain.

Today, because of time constraints with the weekend approaching,(it's that work thing you know) we did an abbreviated loop of the mountain. We parked beside Vale, skied down to Rams Head, and began our trip across the mountains of Killington. In quick succession we did Caper to the K1 Gondola. From there it was Blue Heaven to Great Eastern to Bear Trap. Looping from the Bear Chair on Outer Limits, we did another Bear Trap/Bear Claw combination followed by Wildfire. We then did a traverse on Great Eastern to Cruise Control followed by loops off the Needles Eye Quad onto Needles Eye and Bittersweet. We finished with a run down Bittersweet, cutting across the front of the K1 base lodge, before heading back to the car. All told, about an hour and twenty minutes on the mountain. Not bad for a work day!

Overnight, the resort dispatched it's grooming fleet to manicure the slopes for the weekend. In addition, is several spots, particularly on Wildfire, Bear Trap, and Bear Claw, new snow making whales had appeared; the result of overnight snow making.

The Killington side of the mountain had a stiff upslope breeze, probably caused by warm air on the valley floor rising to meet cold arctic air on the top of the mountain. Surfaces facing the breeze were suffering some wind scouring, revealing the icy base that lies below the powder we have received during the week. This was most noticeable on Bittersweet from todays runs, but I am sure you would find similar conditions where steep pitches are exposed to the wind. So it goes.

With that one exception, surface conditions were very good. The mountain should hold up quite well to weekend traffic. It should be a nice weekend to ski and ride Killington. Let it snow!