Mary at the top of Mouse Trap

Mary at the top of Mouse Trap

After operating continously for over 2 full days, the Killington Resort, at least temporarily, shut off it's snow making system. As warmer temperatures crept back into the region, one by one the snow guns of Killington became silent. In their place, grooming machines in the early morning hours traveled across the snow covered slopes of Killington, packing down the snow gun's product to form a think , and hopefully resilient, layer of machine made packed powder for all to enjoy.

In hopefully(?) what is not the last excurson onto the slopes of Killington for us in 2015, we headed off to the resort to meet up with friends at the K1 base lodge. At 8:50 this morning we all gathered in the lodge with a mix of anticipation and resolve. When we exited some of the first gondola cars of the morning, we were greeted on the top of Killington Peak with what can only be described as a "Winter Wonderland". With trepidation we struck out down Great Northern, not knowing what we would encounter as we made the turn around Killington Peak. What we found was acres and acres of flat and fast corduroy to be enjoyed. In this El Nino driven early winter, where "Powder Storms" are but distant memories of seasons past(2014/15), corduroy is good. No Corduroy is Great!

From our excursion on the mountian, Killington had made miles of snow on Great Northern, Rime, Reason, Upper East Fall, Bunny Buster, Mouse Trap, Chute, Mouse Run, Killink, and the various incarnations of Sky Lark. Not open to the public yet were Caper and Vale, serviced by the Rams Head Lift. Large snow piles were seen stockpiled on these trails, to be groomed out in the next couple of days to allow more terrain to be opened for skiing and riding.

Skiers and riders starting their day at the resort on Great Northern at the top of Killington Peak.

Snow throughout Killington was packed down tight. Most of the time when the Resort makes snow, there is a residual softness to it. The Resort usually lets freshly made snow sit for several days before hitting it with a grooming machine. But, alas, that is not a luxury they had this time around. With snow presevation first and foremost on their minds with the holiday weeks upon us, the Resort opted to roll snow surfaces down tightly. This approach will definitely minimize snow losses due to wind (high winds were expected at the peak this afternoon). I would presume it will also help conserve surfaces as temperatures rise the next couple of days; of course that remains to be seen.

Snow covered North Ridge at Killington Peak.

As far as the trail specifics are concerned, Sky Lark was probably the ROTD. Wind blown hardpack greeted us at the top of the Superstar quad, but once that was dealt with, Sky Lark in general was well covered supporting edge to edge carving. Lower Sky Lark had some residual bumps from snow making, but they are easy to negotiate.

Killington Peak was flat and fast. North Ridge, Rime, Reason, and Upper East Falls were firm machine groomed packed powder. Generally the slopes were devoid of any features with the exception of an errant snow making bump here and there. Wet snow guns were still making snow along Great Northern after Rime, into Ridge Run for the turn back to the North Ridge Triple. Our guess was that the resort was purposefully leaving these guns on to firm up the surfaces in what is usually a high traffic area of the resort.

Bunny Buster (Upper and Lower) were well covered. Mouse Trap was slick just at the crest of the hill. It then transitioned into small bumps; the aftermath of the Fan Gun at its base operating continiously these last few days. Lower Chute back to the Snowdon Quad was not open when were were on the mountain this morning, but it looked like the rope was dropped before noon and the chair was loading people as we were leaving the Resort.

All in all, we had a nice ski day at the Resort. With terrain that is for advanced and experts only, beginners will find some challenges until the resort opens Caper and Vale. And we all have our fingers crossed that Mother Nature is kind to us these next few days before Christmas. But no matter what, we live in a beautiful place and get to play all the time in the out doors.

If your travels bring you to Killington over the holidays...stop in!. Our restaurant will be serving dinner nightly starting Tuesday the 22nd right straight through Saturday January 2. But where ever you may be....have a great holiday season and Think Snow!