Cascade, Down Draft, Double Dipper, and East Fall junction

Cascade, Down Draft, Double Dipper, and East Fall junction

....not that I needed one.....

The Killington Chamber of Commerce held a morning mixer at the Killington Resort this morning, followed by a morning of skiing. A group of us assembled in the Superstar Pub for a light breakfast, provided by the resort (thank you!) before heading out to the slopes.

At the meeting this morning, the resort announced their new Spring Pass for the end of the 2010 season, and season pass prices for passes for the 2010/2011 season. The Spring Pass, priced at $169, is valid for skiing and riding beginning on March 22 through the end of the ski season, currently projected through the first weekend in May. Season passes for the 2010/2011 season are priced at $999 for an unlimited pass, $649 for a black out pass, and $399 for a midweek pass. These prices are available with a payment plan until April 29, 2010. See Killington.com for complete details or follow the link after the second picture.

Enough about the meeting already....what about the skiing!

Today was one of those primo days. Bright blue sky, lots of sunshine, and a good mix of ski surfaces.

The sunshine and the blue sky did do a head fake on the resort however. Looking outside from the meeting, we were thinking that conditions would be soft. But last night, temperatures at the resort dropped into the low 20's, so even at Bear Mountain which had 4 full hours of sunshine before we hit the trails, ski surfaces were firm. But firm is also fun to play on, especially if you have a legitimate excuse to go skiing.

After a warm up run down Superstar, more on that later, we headed to Bear Mountain. The first runs down Bear Mountain at the Stash, Wild Fire, Bear Claw, and Skye Burst were all quick on groomed flat trails. Soft snow was present against the tree lines of each, where the trails were protected from the sun.

Killington 2010/2011Season Pass information released.. Click to enlarge or go to Killington.com for more information..

Heading back to the basin side of the resort, Superstar was groomed side to side, turning this signature trail of Killington spring skiing into a high speed cruiser. Middle Superstar had a little chunk on it, the result of grooming during a thaw/freeze cycle, but skier and rider traffic was quickly breaking it up. Including the warm up run, we did Superstar 3 times before heading to other terrain. Skye Lark and Bitter Sweet were beautifully groomed. The smoothest run of the day was probably Upper Skye Lark to Lower Bitter Sweet. Lower Skye Lark was not groomed. It still had small bumps on it left over from Monday. While a little crunchy, it was very easy to negotiate.

Heading over to the K1 Gondola, Double Dipper and East Falls were flat and fast. The Canyon Quad was spinning today, so these trails deserved a lap or 2.

Under the lets do something different category, Royal Flush looked interesting today. It was a total fake out. The bumps on the upper Flush were hard as rocks, even in full morning sun. The person I was skiing with bailed out, to my great relief, on Racers Edge. I have not skied down Racers Edge in years. It presented some interesting little bumps as it threaded a path over to High Line. Not to be slowed down, we followed Racers Edge over to Mouse Trap before taking a few runs on the Snowdon Quad.

At Snowdon, there were seeded bumps courses set up on Upper Royal Flush and Mouse Trap. Both were set with regular patterns that allowed development of a nice rhythm as you skied down them. The bumps on Upper Flush were on a shallow pitch, which made them quite fun. The ones on Mouse Trap had a steeper pitch, which promoted more concentration as you navigated down them. Both were great ways to get the legs a little exercise after a morning of up and down groomers.

......let it snow!