Into the Maelstrom. Snow making underway on Superstar at Killington.

Into the Maelstrom. Snow making underway on Superstar at Killington.

Today was a really nice, rather lazy, ski day at Killington. Temperatures in the early morning were in the high single digits. The sun was shining brightly. There was no wind. And snow surface conditions, while firm, were generally excellent on all of the terrain we skied.

Starting at North Ridge, Rime, Reason, and Upper East Fall were all in great shape. We were skiing with our friend, Ruts, today, so in deference to him as he boards, we did not take Cascade or East Falls. That would have caused us to take the long run out, Spillway, back to the K1 Gondola. With so much open terrain open, that was unnecessary.

From North Ridge, we hit Highline. The bumps from several days ago were groomed flat. The first run down, at about 10:00 AM was a little spooky because of the light. The upper portions were bathed in bright sunshine. The lower third was in complete darkness. Literally, somebody tuned out the lights, the transition was so abrupt. The trail itself was relatively smooth with some residually fluff on the top, so even skiing by braille it was quite nice, even though it was a little disconcerting at the same time.

We hopped the K1 Gondola after Highline and did the traverse across the top of the resort (which is better for boarders than across the bottom) over to Superstar. Upper Skylark was in great shape. You can tell that the snow surface was thin, as groomers overnight are popping up little pebbles as they do their work. They were easy to avoid as long as you paid attention to the track you were taking.

Snow making operations were taking place on Superstar. We avoided the headwall, as it was in complete darkness. After looping around Upper Ovation, we went down under the guns of middle Superstar. A couple of inches of nice soft snow were covering a firm base. In places where the surface was wind blown there was some skidding, but in general it was nice to play under the guns once again. Even in the cold, temps by now had risen to the low teens, some of the guns were a little wet. But that is the price to pay if you want fresh snow.

We took a warm up coffee break at the Snowshed base lodge, then finished with a run down Rams Head over to Snowdon. Caper was nicely groomed. Chute on Snowdon was surprisingly firm, especially skiers right near the trees. We finished with a run down Upper Royal Flush to Highline. Highline was now bathed in beautiful sunshine from top to bottom. It was a really nice run to finish up a lazy morning on the mountain.

Snow making operations were taking place on Superstar. Guns were also pounding the Needles Eye area. That looks like the next part of the mountain to open, probably this weekend..... let it snow!