Gary, Chuckles, Ruts and the Bagel on Killington Peak in the snow.

Gary, Chuckles, Ruts and the Bagel on Killington Peak in the snow.

While not quite living up to the hype broadcasted by the Weather Channel and local TV weathercasters, Killington was blanketed today in a solid covering of heavy, dense, snow. With temperatures hovering around freezing, the snow coming out of the sky is perfect to continue skiing and riding at Killington well into the spring.

We started our excursion today with a K1 Gondola ride followed by a traverse across the top of the resort to Bear Mountain. Some problem kept the Superstar Chair from operating at 9:00. Taking advantage of the situation, we found ourselves staring at Wildfire with not a ski track on the trail to be found. Such tough luck...

Snow on the trails was heavy. The perfect consistency for making snow men or throwing snow balls. The proverbial phrase "Keep your tips pointed down hill you chicken s#!t" was the order of the day, as any time you strayed from that mantra your skis were pulled fiercely to the side by the newly fallen snow.

We got several runs down trails at Bear Mountain before other skiers and riders figured out to cross the top of the mountain. Even then, the terrain got chopped up very quickly, as the stickiness of the snow promoted the development of moguls at every turn.

Most trails had been groomed overnight, so they were very receptive to the newly fallen snow. Trails that were groomed early displayed a tendency to have a frozen surface below the new snow, making it important to pay attention to your turns and avoid skidding and sliding.

At Bear Mountain, we skied Wildfire, the Stash, Bear Claw, and Dream Maker. We stayed away from Outer Limits, letting the bumpers getting ready for this weekends Mogul Challenge have a clear slope to play on.

From Bear Mountain, we then did Needles Eye, Bitter Sweet, Sky Lark, Superstar and High Road off of Sky Peak. Superstar was solidly encased in cloud cover till the lower headwall. All of the other trails skied well, although the further we went north on the resort to the Killington Basin area, the worse the visibility became.

Off of Killington Peak we did Cascade, East Fall, Rime, Reason, Great Northern, and Highline. Snow coverage on all of the trails was pretty good, although the low cloud made for some interesting runs, most notably down Cascade.

Snow has continued to accumulate at Killington all day with about 4 inches of new snow recorded at the snow stake at the inn this afternoon. While it is not the foot predicted by various weather outlets, it is white. It should make for a great weekend of skiing and riding at Killington....Let it snow!