Ice dam remnants. Gravity always wins!

Ice dam remnants. Gravity always wins!

Last Sunday I posted a picture of the ice dams on the back building of the inn. They had started to creep off the edge of the roof towards there eventual demise. At 9:40 last evening, the tension between the melting ice, the roof, and the pull of gravity was finally resolved with gravity declared the winner once again. A slab of ice 50 feet long and 10 feet wide with thicknesses ranging up to 18 inches finally slid off the roof of the back building of the inn, creating a tsunami of snow when it impacted the ground below after a 30 foot fall. Todays picture gives a perspective of how big the ice blocks were that came off the roof.

The good news is that the roof is designed for the snow and ice load. The standing seam metal roof is also designed to let the ice and snow slide off the roof, which it does every year when temperatures rise. It is quite spectacular when it happens, but it is just part of life in this part of the country.

This week we have had above average temperatures in Killington, breaking the freezing mark most days before sliding back below 32 degrees at night. I had the great fortune of being out on the mountain on Thursday, which was a beautiful bright sunny day with temperatures in the mid 40's. I can say I have never skied in February with just a ski shirt and a vest on at Killington. Usually at this time of year it is full armor. But if Mother Nature throws us a precursor to spring, you got to go with it and enjoy the show.

Depending upon the alignment of a particular trail, ski conditions during the warm up have varied between a sweet ice cream, or a loose granular. Generally, south facing trails (think Wildfire, Outer Limits, Highline) were soft and creamy. North facing trails (think Superstar, Sky Lark, Cascades, Down Draft) were granular, as the magic of the sun was just not reaching the surface of the trail.

Skiing in just a vest in February? Click to enlarge..

Thursday I spent most of my time doing bump runs. Outer Limits, while not really bumped up, was just spectacular. Wildfire, the Stash, Skye Burst, and Bear Claw were all soft with varying levels of bumps being created Thursday morning. Generally speaking these were the cruisers for the main events.

Upper Dream Maker had some serious, but nicely covered, bumps down it's headwall. On Thursday, most of the bumps were 2 to 3 feet down both skiers right and skiers left. Where the headwall crests for the final descent to the mixing area with the Skye Burst offshoot, the bumps were 3 to 4 feet; some with severely cut back sides.

Old Superstar was just a joy to ski. Extremely regular 1 to 2 foot bumps were spread across the whole trail, giving one multiple lines to choose. Being north facing, but with little skier traffic, the bumps were still soft. On Thursday, Old Superstar was set up so well, it was the cruiser of bump runs.

Ridge Run (formerly West Glades) in the North Ridge area was developing 3 to 4 foot bumps in it's midsection. Backside troughs were starting to bottom out on this natural snow trail, with several exposing rocks and many showing grass. All of the bumps were quite skiable. And the grass and rocks were easily avoided as long as one paid attention to the bump line ahead of you.

North Star featured a wide variety of bumps to choose from. At the entrance, the bumps were in the 2 to 3 foot category, with good coverage and nice regularity. In the first and second turns, they grew a little taller and more random, making it difficult to hold a line and establish rhythm. Just as Ridge Run, in the natural snow section of North Star there was some grass showing in the deeper troughs in it's mid section. Lower North Star settled out again, especially the run out after Vagabond to Caper.

Royal Flush, with it's south facing terrain, was much softer. Upper Flush was similar to Old Superstar with 1 to 2 food well spaced bumps suitable for cruising. Bumps on lower Royal Flush were much bigger, with some ground penetration showing through in the deeper troughs.

While not really set up as a bumps run, Highline also deserves some mention. The south facing headwall was developing nice piles of snow with fairly regular patterns on late Thursday. These "bump precursors" were undoubtedly mowed down by the groomers overnight, but they were fun while they lasted.

Temperatures today are very warm, approaching 60, which will assure continued bump formation on ungroomed terrain. Overnight, temperatures are due to go below freezing, with cooler temperatures expected through the weekend. It sounds like we will be heading back to winter as we head into Presidents week. Of course, it is still only February, much to soon to think about chasing any little white balls down an open field, unless of course they were made of snow.

Where every you may be, have a nice Presidents day weekend, and .....Let it snow!