I'm Flying!
A competitor takes flight in
the moguls at US National Freestyle
Competition at Bear Mountain
March 24, 2006, 10:15 AM 

A little warmer but more cloudy today on the mountain at Killington. Spring skiing has definitely arrived.

Conditions are continuing to soften up this morning. Frozen granular "Beach Sand" is making an appearance across all of the mountains. The first few runs we took today were down Superstar. It was groomed out from yesterday, so conditions were very consistent. The upper and lower headwalls were nicely soft, allowing for broad carving turns. Middle Superstar had also soften up from yesterday, but it was still firm enough to just let it rip while cruising towards the lower headwall.

Over at Bear we found deep "Beach Sand" on lower Bear Claw. The portion of Outer Limits opened to the public had been groomed flat, but was quite soft. A Side Slip area has been installed on skiers left in an attempts to provide a safe pathway down OL for timid skiers who want to get up close to the mogul field to watch this weekends competition. We saw no one use it during our time at Bear.

Single freestyle competitions were ongoing down OL's mogul field. You can really tell the difference between world class freestyle skiers, and kids in development programs. The way the course is laid out, you can ski down OL and get right beside the course. Again today we camped out just below the first jump to snap some pictures of some of the big air being taken by the competitors. Really impressive.

On our way out of Bear, we took a lap on Dream Maker. Lower Dream Maker is set up with a terrain park. Coverage is pretty good, except for some exposed rock on the last knoll before the Super Pipe.

To finish the day, we took the "Box" (K1 gondola) to the top of Killington for a run down Cascades. I loved it because it had nice soft bumps which my ski's just ate up. Others, on GS skis were not quite as enthusiastic about it. But so it goes. Being a democracy, the vote for the final run of the day, pre "Johnny Boy's" for brunch, was down High Line. High Line was a touch firmer than Cascade, probably due to less skier traffic. All in all, a very nice day of spring skiing indeed!

Practicing in the Mogul Field
at Bear Mountain
March 23, 2006, 12:00 Noon 

Lovely spring day at Killington.

I dogged it this morning, getting out on the slopes around 11:00 AM. Instead of my usual routine of going into the K1 Base Lodge, I drove down by the Snowdon Quad, put my ski boots on in the car, and hopped onto the lift. Temperatures at the time were in the low 40's with a light wind and partially cloudy skies.

After a quick lap in the Glades, I went over to Bear Mountain. Wild Fire and the Terrain Park were softening up nicely. But the trail of the day was Outer Limits. Beautiful soft little bumps down the middle towards skiers right were developing. The resort had left skiers left bumped up, cutting a groomed swath down the right. The Freestyle competitors were just cruising down the right side, creating little bumps with each turn. It made OL just a lot of fun.

Midway down OL, I stopped to watch the the Freestyle competitors take practice runs down the mogul field. A lot of really good bumpers were taking runs. I stood by the top jump to try to take some pictures of them taking air. Very entertaining between the inverts, daffys, etc. Not to mention a few poor souls who missed the jump and were rewarded with very loud face plants in the snow.

After OL. I took a couple of runs down Cruise Control and Superstar. Both had softened up quite a bit from earlier in the week. Superstar was a little granular on the lower headwall, but well worth the couple of laps that I took.

US Freestyle Championship at Killington
March 23rd thru March 26th 

The mountain is ready; the competitors have started their practice runs; even the weather has cooperated by giving us some light snow. The US Freestyle Championship, sponsored by Sprint, is set to kick of this evening with opening ceremonies in downtown Rutland.

Competition is planned to begin on Thursday at the Superpipe on Lower Dream Maker. While this is taking place, competitors will be training on Outer Limits for both Aerials and Moguls. The set up at Bear Mountain has taken spectators into consideration. With the Aerials Jumps and Moguls course side by side, you can spend time on the deck at Bear Mountain and watch all the action. In addition to the Superpipe competition on Thursday, the Singles Mogul competition will take place on Friday. Aerials are scheduled for Saturday. Sunday will feature a Dual Moguls competition with head to head bumpers squaring off against one another. It should make for an entertaining weekend at Killington.

East Fall from from K1 Gondola
March 21, 2006, 10:00 AM 

Almost Spring!

A beautiful ski day on the mountain, with temperatures somewhat moderated from yesterday. Temperatures were in the upper 20's with almost 100% sunshine. There was still an up slope wind on a few trails which created a chill, but other than that it was a near perfect day to ski at Killington.

Today we did well over 20K vertical. In the early morning, it looked like East Fall would be the run of the day. East Fall has a firm but carveable base with a nice dusting of fluff on top when we skied it early this morning. In the parlance, it was a do over!. But, after we got done playing in the canyon, we headed over to Bear Mountain for a big surprise.

Our first run down Bear Trap/Bear Claw was pretty routine. Lots of snow, great carving, with the snow becoming a little sandy as you neared the base lodge. Up the OL Lift we went. We were entertained by people practicing for the Freestyle competition. (It is unbelievable the amount of work the resort has put into Bear Mountain to make sure that everything is just right for this coming weekend.) When then decided to go down Wild Fire. Wow! The resort had blown snow top to bottom last night on upper Wildfire. A beautiful 2-3 inches of pure velvet. Absolutely great! If you are up this weekend, make sure you hit this trail early for the full effect.

The rest of the day was spent looping through the Needles Eye and Superstar areas. Lower Superstar was really nice on skier's left, as a lot of snow has been pushed across the compound fall line under the lift. All in all, a really nice day on the hill.

Killington Peak from KBL
March 20, 2006, 12:15 PM 

Welcome to spring!

Today was a nice ski day on the mountain, although conditions were anything but spring like. Temperatures on the mountain this morning were in the teens, with a brisk up slope wind. Light snow flurries were occurring randomly on the different peaks, with light dimmed by a partly clouded sky.

Snow surfaces were consistent all over the mountain, with a hard based topped by loose granular combined with fresh snow. Snow guns were going at the top of Bear Mountain in the high traffic area just off the Outer Limits Lift. Outer Limits was partially opened, as work continues on the construction of the freestyle course for this weeks competition. Skiers on OL were being diverted to the cross over trail to Devils Fiddle about 2/3rd's of the way down Outer Limits.

In addition to our usual routes, we did take a side trip today down to the Route 4 gondola stations via Great Eastern. The resort has blown a substantial amount of snow along this route in an attempt to keep the Sky Ship Stage 1 operating. I would guess that they have done this probably so they can divert people to Route 4 for parking for this weeks Freestyle event, and next weeks Bear Mountain Mogul Challenge.

Still Snowing at Killington
March 19, 2006, 1:15 PM 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..everywhere you go.... Oh! Sorry... wrong season... spring is coming!... how quick we forget.

Last weekend we were looking wet and dreary. This weekend, we have had significantly colder temperatures; we have seen Killington fire up their snow making system all over the mountain; and we have experienced an almost constant light snow drifting down from the sky. Killington peak early this afternoon was completely encased in a snow squall, with snow falling from Snowdon all across the spine of the Green Mountains through Skye Peak, Killington Peak, Snowdon and Rams Head. I know it's not much of a picture, but it totally tells the story about what is happening on the mountain. We are looking forward to having a great week to skiing at Killington.

Pico Peak
from Ovation at Killington
March 17, 2006, 12:15 PM 

Our weird and wacky winter is slowly starting to claim ski resorts for the season. It was officially announced this week that this coming Sunday with be the last day of operation for the 2005/2006 ski season for Killington's companion mountain, Pico.

Pico is a great mountain complex in normal snow seasons. Many locals, myself included, trek over to Pico on powder days to ski the many winding trails and glade runs Pico has to offer. However, this has not been a normal year. While many will be sad to see Pico close for the season, the good news is that with Killington still in great shape due to it's extensive snow making system, that the 2005/2006 ski season will continue for a few more weeks in central Vermont.