Wheres the Bagel?
Yours truly, Gary, and Ruts on Ovation.

Wheres the Bagel?
Yours truly, Gary, and Ruts on Ovation.

Just like yesterday, soft snow ruled the day at Killington...with a couple of differences.

After skiing this morning, it was obvious that yesterdays snow was genuinely soft; the result of minimal overnight freezing on Wednesday night. Last night, temperatures reached below the freezing point, causing surfaces to at least initially firm up. Early runs saw spring firm conditions under foot. As skier and rider traffic increased through out the morning, surfaces once again took on a buttery softness on popular trails. Trails skied by fewer resort guests maintained there early morning firmness much longer.

And then there was the light...or lack thereof. Yesterdays overcast was replaced with a low cloud cover hanging around 3000 feet. While not dropping any precipitation, the clouds deposited a nice layer of condensation on goggles and other eyewear. But at least the Weather Channels pronouncement from earlier in the week have been proved false, as there was no precipitation to be found around the resort.

Unlike yesterday where we spent most of our time in the Killington Basin area, todays adventure focused on Bear Mountain and Sky Peak. The first runs down Bear Claw, Bear Trap, Wild Fire, Dream Maker, and Skye Burst were for the most part on firm terrain. Lower elevations were slightly softer. Firm in this case is not ice hard, as the temperatures did not get that cold overnight. But there was a definite crunchiness on some of the upper trails for the first hour or so. By 10:30, all trails at Bear Mountain that saw any skier traffic had softened up nicely. We did see one poor soul going down Outer Limits. The resort has left OL bumped up, causing most midweek skiers and riders to bypass it for smoother pastures. As a result, the bumps on OL have solidified, creating an interesting ride for the few brave enough to attempt it.

By 10:30 we switched gears and moved over to Skye Peak. The top of Dream Maker was firm, but that did not stop me from going down it's little bumps. Middle and Lower Dream Maker through the terrain park, featured primarily a wet, mixed granular surface. Very responsive under foot.

Panic Button at Needles Eye was closed to prepare it for race training. You could still enter Needles Eye underneath the Skyeship Gondola, which we did. Needles Eye was surprisingly firm, but still provided some easy cruising to refresh the legs.

Bitter Sweet, Skye Lark and Super Star were all quite soft. Skier traffic had worked its magic by 11, leaving ski surfaces with a nice soft upper texture. The bumps on Lower Skye Lark maintained some hard spots, probably due to a low volume of skiers and riders. In contrast, lower Bitter Sweet and Super Star were like a high fat ice cream, filled with creamy goodness.

We finished up on Ovation and Old Super Star. The cloud deck was right on top of middle Ovation. The group followed a pretty tight course down the middle, one skier on the tails of the person in front. It left for a few comedic moments and near collisions as the distance between us expanded and contracted in response to the bumps we encountered going down the trail. But as you can see from the picture, we all made it down to the connector with Super Star, choosing to bypass Lower Ovation for another day.

Old Super Star was similar to Ovation, only the bumps were bigger and firmer. Far few skiers had ventured down Old Super Star. As a result, the bumps had a crunchy crust which, when combined with the cloud on the deck, toyed with the psyche. But it was fun just the same.

......let it snow!