Welcome to "The Stash"

Welcome to "The Stash"

"The Woods are the Goods"..... or at least so says the Burton Snowboard site thestash.com. From their "Love" collection of 70's Playboy pictorial snowboards, to their cooperative ventures with resorts around the world named after that special hiding place we all had when we were growing up, Burton seems intent on trying to educate the Millenials on some of the finer points of the Boomer generation.

Looking downslope at the lower section of The Stash (Click to enlarge.)

The Killington Resort, ever cognizant of a good cross branding - cross generational strategy, has teamed with Burton this year to bring "The Stash" to Killington. With this in mind, Mary and I aimed our hike directly into "The Stash" to find out what it is all about. What we found was quite revealing about how the new owners of Killington plan on merging the retail brand of "boulevard" skiing common at many ski resorts, with more radical terrain features and some downright gnarly woods.

Killington's incarnation of "The Stash" is actually an amalgamation of several underutilized trails on Bear Mountain, combined with new sections cut right into the woods leading off of Sky Peak. It is clearly designed to allow groups of riders (and skiers) of different levels to have fun together. Riders with different abilities will be able to share the experience, in particular the "organic" freestyle riding features found on the "boulevard" sections of the Stash. To access the Stash, freestylers will need to break out of the base level parks. If Killington is successful with this, freestylers will start to discover that Killington as a lot to offer. There is a whole mountain out there to enjoy!

Looking upslope from the trail formerly known as "Great Eastern" into The Stash (Click to enlarge.)

During our hike, we entered "The Stash" near the bottom on what in 2008 was called "Great Eastern". Looking down slope, the boulevard formerly named Upper Bear Claw now forms the lower third of "The Stash". The first thing you see is a big log, thrust like a giant spear into the side of the mountain. Further down the trail, 2 large ramps have been built on riders right and a large earthen mound is visible on riders left. Just below the ramps, a new building with a hexagonal roof has been installed.

For at least the last 5 years, the top of Upper Bear Claw had been closed off to skiers and riders to minimize collisions on Great Eastern. As Great Eastern is being re-routed, the formerly closed section of Upper Bear Claw has been drastically cleaned out, and widened to align with Lower Stash. Several very large features have been installed including an impressive ramp and a large box/table top type of structure (which happened to be the only feature we saw that was blatantly not "natural").

Mary beside on of the ramps on Lower Stash (Click to enlarge.)

Box/table top midway on "The Stash" (Click to enlarge.)

As we started our ascent up "The Stash", we started to appreciate the scale of the features that the resort has built. Mary walked over to the first ramp we came upon so I could get a picture with a size reference. Mary is about 5'6" tall. The ramp she is beside easily tops out at more than 6 feet with a lead in that is probably 3 times as long. It is a massive structure that will clearly promote big air.

The Sugar Shack (Click to enlarge.)

One of the most interesting things being constructed in "The Stash" is a "Sugar Shack". The press releases about "The Stash" implies that the Sugar Shack can be "jibbed and jumped" and will also be a place where riders can hang out. A "timeline" with the history of snowboarding in Vermont with "vintage" snowboarding gear and pictures will be on display in the shack. While the interior is not overly large, a good sized deck is attached to the front, which should be the perfect spot to watch riders coming down the trail. It will be interesting to see if this becomes a modern day "Coopers Cabin" at Bear Mountain. Of course, the commercial interests of Burton and the resort might take it in a different direction. Only time will tell.

To get to the Sugar Shack there are 2 ways through "The Stash". The easy way in is a broad boulevard on the trail formerly known as "Frostline". The resort is building a large wooden fence blocking off what was the connection between "Frostline" and "Great Eastern" to keep traffic segregated and minimize beginners from mistakenly entering "The Stash".

New trail cut through the woods leading to the Sugar Shack (Click to enlarge.)

On of the many logs set up for jibbing in The Stash (Click to enlarge.)

A more interesting route to the Sugar Shack for advanced riders and skiers is through a new trail cut through the woods from the top of old "Frostline". In this section, riders can travel down a medium steep grade through a gladed run, or punch through the trees if they want some more excitement. Through out this section of "The Stash" riders will find many elevated logs for jibbing along with several banked turns set back against the tree line.

After hiking out of the woods onto the trail formerly known as "Frostline", we discovered we still had a lot more of "The Stash" to cover...and this part will not be for the feint of heart when it is snow covered. It is cut right out of the woods with big trees and gnar everywhere.

Right off the bat, we came upon another ramp. This one jumps directly into the old "Frostline Trail" (wonder if that will be blocked off!). While the ramp itself was only about 4 feet tall, the take off point will suspend the rider about 10 feet up in the air, as the take away from the ramp is all downslope away from the structure.

Ramp exiting the upper portion of The Stash (Click to enlarge.)

Yours truly at the ramp exiting the Upper Stash (Click to enlarge.)

From here all the way to the top of Sky Peak, "The Stash" is a pure run cut through narrow woods. Experienced Killington tree run skiers and riders will like this new terrain, particularly after a multi-foot snow storm. If you are not experienced...not so much.

In this area, the resort has trimmed out many of the lower branches from the trees. A few natural features, primarily fallen logs, were evident through this area, but they did not seem as organized as the lower "boulevard" section of "The Stash". In this section, the woods is the challenge, plain and simple.

Mary taking a breather after climbing through the trees of Upper Stash (Click to enlarge.)

The entrance to Upper Stash from Stash-Way (Click to enlarge.)

The top of Upper Stash comes out on what used to be called "4-Way", now called appropriately enough "Stash-Way". Stash-Way leads to the top of the Sky Peak Quad and the redesigned Sky Peak, which will be the subject of the next blog.

It will be interesting to see The Stash this winter covered in feet of snow. I am sure that the features will present a different perspective with snow on the ground. Big ramps and large logs suspended 6 feet in the air look a little out of place on a cleared trail covered in straw. Of course, when they are surrounded by snow that has been sculpted to fit, I am sure it will all make sense. And be fun to boot..... Let it snow!