K1 parking lot looking towards Super Star

K1 parking lot looking towards Super Star

Last night we had about 4 inches of snow fall around the inn. A big whoop for those in the Mid-Atlantic states who have seen feet of snow fall the last couple of weeks, but with luck it is a precursor to our normal heavy March snow accumulations Killington is famous for.

Being a very busy week at the inn, I am not out on my normal rounds on the mountain. But today I decided to get our for an hour or so to get a little exercise.

I scored a parking spot in the K1 parking lot near the Snowdon Quad. The lot was full with cars, almost approaching full weekend capacity.

My loop today brought me up the quad then across to North Ridge. From there, I went over the back side of the resort, winding up at the top of Needles Eye. I wanted to try to stay on high speed quads to maximize my short time out on the mountain.

I did a quick run down Needles, then over to Cruise Control, followed by Dream Maker, Skye Burst, the Stash, and Skye Lark. From there I headed back to the car, feeling good about spending an hour on the mountain.

Conditions today were variable. Many low traffic spots were covered with 3 to 4 inches of powder over a firm base. Higher traffic areas were a mix of hard pack combined with powder bumps. Most of the bumps on high traffic areas were small and irregular, the result of a lot of random skiers and riders going down the terrain.

I was impressed at the number of skiers and riders on the mountains. In addition to full parking lots, all of the lifts I rode were filled as well. The only lifts I took alone were the Snowdon Quad and the North Ridge Triple. My rides up the Needles Eye Quad and the Skye Peak Express were all done via the singles line, matching up with other skiers. While it is hard to judge exactly what is going on with the economy sitting here in Killington, the number of people in town this week that I can see give one some reason for optimism that things are starting to turn around. Time will tell.

......let it snow!