The Covered Carriageway doing its job keeping snow off the entrance to the inn

The Covered Carriageway doing its job keeping snow off the entrance to the inn

Contrary to reports on the Weather Channel, snowmageddon did not materalize here at Killington with the winter storm that is racking the coastal communities of New England. While by city standards we have had a decent amount of snow, by mountain standards it is a good day to play.

Conditions on the mountain today were really nice, if you could overlook poor visibility and a 25-35 MPH northwest wind. Blowing and drifting snow created some issues down the center of many trails. But, if you were observant, you could find shin deep powder in many places along the tree lines of most trails.

Todays journey began with a trip up the Rams Head lift for a run down Swirl and Easy Street. These are not my normal first runs of the day, but Mary decided to come out with me this morning in the middle of the storm. Taking an easier trail was a good choice to allow her to get comfortable with the newly fallen snow. A little confidence builder goes a long way.

From Rams Head we traversed through the connecting tunnel to Snow Shed; ultimately taking Low Road back to the Superstar Lift. While the wind was howling, the angle of attack of the Superstar chair prevented any real wind impact on us as it carried us to the top of Skye Peak.

The Birch Ridge Inn covered in freshly fallen snow.

Off the back of Sky Peak we went for a run down Upper Bittersweet to Lower Wildfire. There was great snow coverage down skiers left snuggled up against the trees. This area was relatively sheltered from the wind, resulting in a consistend 3-4 inch powder surface on top of the existing base. Just beautiful.

The Sky Peak Quad, on the other hand, was a little rough. Wind was pushing directly into our faces as the chair carried us uphill. We decided to head down Cruise Control to the Skyship for some shelter. Upper Skye Burst to Dreammaker was just beautiful, with loads of snow. Mary decided to go through the wind tunnel towards Bittersweet. She found that surface slick and wind blown. But in either case, the trails were very easy to navigate as we vitually had the mountain to ourselves (or so it seemed.) Our final destination for this traverse was Cruise Control, which was nicely covered.

After out bucket ride, being buffetted by the wind, we decided to head back to Superstar for a few looks. Skylark and Bittersweet were nice. The same holds for Superstar. I did try Old Superstar which was nasty. The trail is normally bumped off. But with the angle of the wind, the trail turned into a collection of seemingly hard bumps and snow cornices. Not a great trail pick, but so it goes. Picking my way throught the moguls in a 30 MPH wind with blowing and drifting snow beats flying a desk any day!

Let it snow!