Lower Superstar Headwall

Lower Superstar Headwall

When my alarm went off this morning at 8:00, it did not look very promising. A low and very dark cloud hung over the inn. It looked like the perfect recipe for some r@*n, some extra zzz's, and a late morning trip to Johnny Boys for breakfast. But upon closer inspection out the back window of the owners quarters I noticed large white flakes falling from the sky. It was obviously an omen, and be it good or bad, I decided to get up and head off to the mountain.

By 9:00, I am in front of the K1 Base lodge, looking up at where Killington Peak is supposed to be. A very dark cloud was obscuring the peak. It look like it reached down to about 3000 feet. So off to Bear Mountain we headed.

Snow surface conditions had softened up some since yesterday. Temperatures overnight were in the high 20's, so the mountain did not freeze up solid. Bear Claw, Bear Trap, Upper and Lower Wildfire were all loose granular surfaces. Upper Wildfire was not groomed overnight so there were a couple of slick spots left over from yesterday. But they were visible and easy to avoid.

Outer Limits was very good. If only there was a little sunshine like the last couple of days. OL rated 4 do overs as the surface had softened up nicely. Curiously, there was still no sign of a bumps course for this weekends Bear Mountain Mogul Challenge...but quite frankly I did not care, as I was having too much fun doing loops up and down OL.

With the legs telling me it was time to leave, I took the Skye Burst chair out. Next year, when it is replaced with a high speed detachable, we should be riding this chair more often. Today, it was just a leisurely ride up the hill (13 minutes seems like a long time). By now, the cloud had descended to the top of Skye Peak, so we went down Skye Burst to Cruise Control to stay below it. Both were much softer than yesterday, but still not in spring skiing condition.

I did a few loops down Needles Eye, Bittersweet, and Skyelark, alternating between going down High Road to the Skyeship and going over the the Superstar quad. These trails were firmer that the south facing trails at Bear Mountain, but still in nice shape. Needles Eye between Panic Button and the Snowshed Crossover was a little slick, but my skis were tuned last week so it was no big deal.

The surprise of the day for me was Superstar. Upper headwall and middle Superstar were just like yesterday...basically flat and fast with some minor loose granular being created by skier traffic. The big surprise was on the lower headwall. Grooming machines had worked over the ice and bumps that had developed on skiers left, grooming the surface flat. Unlike skiers right, which is rounded out, skiers left is rounded in, so the first drop into the area at speed slightly releases one from the grip of gravity for a millisecond or two. The feeling is very hard to describe, but suffice to say, like OL, Superstar rated 4 do overs as well.

By the way, I never did see any r@*n while up on the mountain. Mary was up skiing with a girl friend. When she left the mountain around 1 PM, she said it seemed like a minor blizzard was taking place, as a heavy snow shower was moving through the K1 base area. But by the time she got back to the inn a few minutes later, the sun was shining and the sky was once again a bright blue. Weather in New England...if you don't like it, wait a minute and it will change.

Let it snow!