A well groomed and very cold Superstar beckons.

A well groomed and very cold Superstar beckons.

If you listened to the Weather Channel this morning, you would think that the second coming of the great ice age was upon us. Skiers and riders who were fooled by this obfuscation missed a great ski day at Killington. Yes it was cold, but beautiful sunshine and strategic rides on the resorts Gondolas made this mornings adventure on the mountain quite enjoyable.

When we left the inn a little before 9 this morning, the temperature at the front desk was registering a balmy 4 degrees. The car did rebel a little bit while it warmed up, but once the frost on the windshield melted, we headed off to the mountain. Killington was resplendent this morning; a blue jewel on the horizon bathed in full sunshine.

Of course, long time skiers and riders at Killington know that this time of year the sun only touches the top of Killington Peak on the Basin side of the mountain. Knowing this, the group we were skiing with today decided to start out by taking the K1 gondola to the peak, instead of the Superstar Quad, and traverse across the back of the resort to Bear Mountain.

Last night the resort picked up about an inch or so of new snow. Wind had blown it into small clumps across South Ridge on Bear Trax (formerly Great Eastern) as we traversed from the peak. By the time we got to Bear Claw, the new snow cover was much more consistent, as the trail was minimally impacted by evening winds.

At Bear Mountain, Skye Burst, Bear Claw and Wild Fire were all groomed. Snow making was taking place on lower Skye Burst. The low energy guns were putting out a very fine snow, but they were also creating a dense fog cloud with limited visibility in several sections. Once again the Stash was closed for grooming. I am not sure if this is a new early morning routine, or if the resort is making modifications to the park, but on both Monday and today the Stash was not open at 9:30 in the morning.

After a few loops on the Skye Peak Quad (it was in the sun and warm) we headed down Cruise Control to the Skyeship Stage 2. Cruise Control in the shadows was noticeably colder than any trail at Bear Mountain. This is usually the case as you traverse back from Bear to the Killington Peak area, but today it seemed more pronounced than normal.

Needles Eye was closed for race training (while in the Skyeship we did see a nasty fall), so we took Bitter Sweet to High Road for one more pass in the Gondola. After a quick trip down Skye Lark with a loop on Superstar, we called it a morning.

When we got back to the inn, the temperature had fallen to 2 degrees, which is where it sits in mid afternoon. With no wind and bright sunshine, it almost feels warm...But of course I live here so I am somewhat used to it.........Let it snow.