Outer Limits - Groomed and Beautiful 

Very cold at Killington today!

My day started out long. At the inn it was a brisk -9F. My Subaru decided it did not want to come out to play. Tried to give it a jump start and everything... It wanted to sleep this morning... So I took Mary's jeep to the mountain.

We started out on the Box at K1. At Killington Peak, the temperature was -12F with a nice 10 to 15 mpg breeze. Highline was glistening in the sun so we headed there. Even though it was cold, the snow surfaces were primo so it was a great run.

Back on the box, we decided to head south to Bear Mountain. Bear Claw and Bear Trap were really nice. The parks were groomed to perfection, allowing nice cruising over the terrain features. When we got to the base of Bear Mountain, we noticed that one in our party, Billy Mac, had strong hints of white on his cheeks, a precursor to frostbite, so we went in for an early coffee. While sitting in the base lodge, Outer Limits was beckoning... we just had to do it!

At the top of the OL Chair, the temperature read -5F (See, it really is warmer at Bear Mountain). There was some minor snow making going on at the top of OL. Just enough to keep some of the crowds off of it. On the first run, we were the only people on Outer Limits. All 4 of us were skiing in a single line, spaced about 20 feet apart, doing broad sweeping GS turns. The surface was firm, after all it was cold out, but carving turns was not problem. It was definitely worth a do over. On the second run, I think we ran into a bus tour from New Jersey (No offense to New Jersey meant here). We started off down the hill followed by about 40 people skiing in a pack. Some of the pack were hot dogging it, which did not give any of us great comfort, so that was the last run on OL for the day.

We then did a run on Cruise Control. The snow that was blown into Cruise on Wednesday was nicely groomed. Needles Eye was also in similar shape. After a quick trip up on the Skye Ship, I took a run down Bitter Sweet. Bitter Sweet was really nice...I probably skied it a little too fast, as conditions were just so consistent. After that, I headed out to look after the Subaru (of course it started when I got home). But I got my 3 days in this week on the hill. And nice day's they were.

Tommorrow at Killington the weather calls for warmer conditions. Still below freezing all day, but not bitterly cold like today. It should be a great weekend for skiing and riding at Killington.

Mary, Norm, and Howie on the Superstar Quad 

Ski conditions at Killington are getting better every day.

Last night, we had some more light fluff fall from the sky. Temperatures have stayed low enough for the resort to maintain around the clock snow making on the mountain. The snow cats have been out at night pushing the powder around, grooming the surfaces just right. It is just incredible to think that 3 weeks ago people were playing golf in Rutland in shorts. But ski conditions are just plain great!.

Today we hung out more on the KPeak side of the mountain, instead of journeying over to Bear Mountain. North Ridge, East Fall and Cascade were all really nice with packed powder surfaces covered with 3 inches or so of loose powder.

Superstar rated multiple do overs. The upper headwall was fairly soft. Middle Superstar was silky smooth. The lower headwall was firm but not ice. It was very receptive to broad carving turns. Bittersweet, Skye Lark, Skye Burst, and Needles Eye were all in great shape from all of the new snow that has fallen the last couple of days.

The most interesting run of the day was Cruise Control. The resort was making snow on Cruise. It looked like they had been at it for some hours, as the surface was covered with several feet of heavy new blown snow. The surface was crusty in a few places, damp in a few others. While on Cruise Control, one in our group, who shall remain nameless (not I) was bitten by a snow snake. Somewhere along the line the words 'Eject Eject Eject" were uttered, resulting on a front of the binding release followed by a minor yard sale. But that's just the risk you take if you ski under the guns.

In addition to Cruise Control, snow making operations were visible on Chute and on Great Eastern. Rumor has it that Great Eastern will be open to Route 4 this weekend (We have had that much snow the last few of days). When that happens, expect the overall open trail count at Killington to jump substantially.

The local forecast for the next 5 days is calling for seasonably cold weather with light snow continuously falling. When you combine what Mother Nature is providing with Killington's snow making, conditions can only continue to improve. Let it snow!

Killington peak from Skye Peak 

I had a chance to get out for a couple of hours this morning and I can report first hand that ski conditions at Killington are pretty good. The new snow from the last couple of days has really made a difference on conditions.

We started out the morning with laps on Highline and Cascade from the K1 "Box". Both primary trails were covered with groomed packed powder with an inch of so of light fluff on top. To get to Highline we took Great Northern, at a pretty good clip I might say. To get to Cascade we took Downdraft. The only ice we encountered was on Upper Downdraft. It was soft enough to take an edge and allow a turn or two, but I would call it more of a controlled skid versus down hill skiing.

After Cascade, we took High Traverse over to the other side of the resort. Bear Claw and Skye Burst on Bear Mountain were in nice shape. The terrain at Bear, however, was somewhat limited due to the construction of terrain parks on Bear Trap, Bear Claw and Dream Maker so we headed over to the Needles area. The triple play of Cruise Control, Needles Eye and Bitter Sweet were "do overs" they were in such good shape. I finished the morning on Superstar. Skiers left on lower Superstar is developing a small bump run. I took a couple of turns in it, but was not crazy about the firmness of the back side of the bumps, so I got out of there and cruised down the lower headwall.

Overall, the new snow we have gotten the last couple of days has helped soften up the mountain. We are expecting some more this evening which will only continue to improve conditions. Let it snow!

Adirondack chairs in the snow. 

Light snow is continuing to fall on Killington, with the forecast indicating it will continue most of the week.

Unfortunately I was not able to go skiing this morning. Work does get in the way. But our chef did go up to the mountain this morning to get in his turns. Steve (aka Frizzy) reported that most surfaces were machine groomed packed powder with a couple inches of light fluff on top. "I almost forgot what it was like to ski on natural snow because we have been skiing on man made snow for so long this season. It was really good!" With the snow we have received over the last 4 days, the base of snow that Killington had made over the last several months has been nicely dressed with several inches of natural powder. Let it snow!

There are no friends on a powder day! 

I went to bed at 2:30 AM. My alarm was set for 7:00 AM. 3 inches of light fluffy powder had fallen when I went to bed... But the time I had gotten up another 2 inches had been added. The biggest snow fall this season.. I needed to go skiing!

I got to the K1 Base Lodge around 7:30 AM. The "Box" was already loading. I saw some old ski house mates heading out. The plan was to meet at the Superstar chair around 8 after taking a run thru the pow.

By the time I got my equipment on and got over to the K1 Gondola, it was 7:40. When I got to the peak, I figured that I could cut across the mountain and run down Superstar, meeting the group at the scheduled hour.. Bad Plan... At 7:45, Superstar was a cold version of hell. Snow was still falling very heavy, there was a 20-30 MPH up slope wind, and the resort had groomed a path 3 cat tracks wide down the middle. With the falling and blowing snow, visibility was ZERO. And the traverse between a groomed surface and knee deep snow drifts was not the great ski experience I was planning. (But I would not have missed it for the world!) While I am in the middle of this mess, and I was the only person on Superstar at this point, I see the people I was supposed to meet overhead on the Superstar chair... there are no friends on a powder day!

I took the chair and went off the back side towards Bear. Bear Trap was sweet, with a nice 6 inch covering of fluff on skiers right. On lower Bear Claw, this guy rockets by me on a board. I was already far over to the right, he was between me and the woods. I thought I recognized him, so I followed him down to the OL chair... sure enough, it was my friend Larry who did car parking duty for me last weekend.

We got on the OL chair for a loop before taking the Skye Peak chair to head down to Needles Eye. Skye Burst was getting pretty cut up. Cruise Control on far skiers right was clear. Needles Eye had some great face shots interspersed with a little slip and slide. From the Needles Eye chair, we went down Bitter Sweet (which was totally blown away by the wind) and took Low Road back to the Superstar lift. Low Road had only been track by 1 other skier... nice pow on a thin base. From the Superstar Chair we then went down Upper and Middle Ovation. The wind had blown a ton of snow onto skiers left on Upper Ovation, which was really nice. Middle Ovation was a little boney, with powder bumps interspersed with skid plates. After all, the sign at the top did say "Thin Cover". The visibility had improved considerably on Lower Superstar. Skiers right was very deep, although the very end featured a interesting slide around the "Slow" sign at the bottom. Hard to go slow on powder shot legs when the surface is rock hard.

One more boost on the Superstar chair and I was done... It was 9:45, I had skied for 2 hours on 4 1/2 hours sleep... not a bad ratio. Now if we could get another 6 inches of powder tonight!

Superpipe at Bear Mountain being coated
with snow on Thursday. 

Killington is continuing to expand terrain and todays light snow will only help. Local forecasts are calling for up to 6 inches of light snow spread out over the next 2 days to fall on the area. Around the inn so far we have about 3/4's of an inch. Our chef, who went skiing on the mountain this morning, reported that the peak at received about 1 to 2 inches of new powder with light snow ongoing. He also reported that the little death cookies on the slopes yesterday had been groomed out overnight resulting in a very consistent packed machine groomed granular base with light snow on top. For the weekend, Killington plans to have 41 miles of trails open, the most skiing and riding on the East Coast.

Snow making operations are continuing on Outer Limits, building up the base into large whales. The guns are a little wet today, as temperatures at Bear Mountain are in the high 20's at the base lodge. Snow making is also underway on the Superpipe at Bear Mountain. Killington plans to complete building of the Superpipe to allow it to open this weekend.

Down slope on Upper Superstar Headwall 

In comparison to yesterday, it was a veritable heat wave at Killington today. This morning when we left for the mountain it was 18 degrees, a full 30 degrees warmer than yesterday. The warmer temperatures we matched once again with full sunshine, although the wind was a little stronger. Although 30 degrees warmer sounds like a lot, it was still plenty cool.

Conditions on the mountain were much more variable than yesterday. The grooming done overnight was not quite as good as the previous day. Many of the trails were groomed with little death cookies. Apparently yesterdays deep freeze caused the surfaces to crust up a little bit. Once over with a snow cat and the tracks cut the crust up into bite sized chuncks. This type of surface condition was all over the mountain except where snow making operations were going on, so it had to be related to the snow itself, and not just a stray snow cat needing adjustment. Another groom tonight should chop the surfaces up to a more consistent shape. Snow surfaces being what they were, ski conditions were still very good. Most surfaces were very receptive to edges, allowing nice carving turns if that is your thing.

Snow making was continuing on Outer Limits and Super Star. Both trails were open top to bottom today for skiing and riding. Surface conditions on OL were very soft man made powder organized into broad whales. Under the snow guns on skiers left was fairly flat, while skiers right was developing several skier made bumps. Of course, since this was OL's first day, there were more than a few herbs planted on the bottom side of each bump. But with the blowing snow, OL was not set up for fast cruising, so the obstacle course was quite navigable.

Super Star continued to improve. Upper and Middle had a few slick spots. Middle had not been groomed, so yesterdays comments about the surface still hold. Lower Superstar was a different story. The guns have been moved almost into the woods on skiers left. A real nice combination of soft whales and intermediate bumps was developing. And since the crowd was over on Outer Limits, you could actually pick a line and keep it all the way down the hill.

Overall, it was a very nice day. Some insignificant light snow is expected tonight and tomorrow, so I would guess that conditions will continue to get better as we head towards the weekend. Think Snow!