Competitors take the first ramp at the Bear Mountain Mogul Challenge 

With 100 percent sunshine, new snow last Friday, warm temperatures, and early spring attendance, visitors to Killington this weekend scored big time with a great weekend to ski.

This year, the Bear Mountain Mogul Challenge also was held this weekend. Usually held the first weekend in April, this year the resort decided to move the popular event to the last weekend in March to accommodate the planned shorter ski season at Killington. Crowds for the event were smaller than in prior years, probably due to the weekend move, and also the great ski weather out on the hill. I viewed the competition for 45 minutes of so on Sunday, during the men's quarter finals. But quite frankly, it was such a beautiful day to ski I decided to take a few more runs before heading back to the inn.

Conditions I experienced today were a mix of late winter and spring surfaces. Slopes exposed to the sunshine had soften up nicely. Shadow covered trails were still firm. High traffic areas were slick in spots but quite manageable. As it gets warmer this week, it will be interesting to see how the mountain evolves as we head into the spring ski season.

Let it snow!

Snow snake captures Howie at Pico. Notice Walt skiing into frame right with powder almost to his knees. 

While some people did practice runs on the bumps course set up on Outer Limits for this weekends Bear Mountain Mogul Challenge, the rest of us were out enjoying the second Friday powder day in a row. Not bad for late March.

Like last week, I headed off to Pico this morning. New snow depths at Pico seemed like 4-6 inches at the base with upwards of a foot at the peak. 49'er, KA, and Upper Pike all had mid shin to knee high powder in the middle of the trails, with marginally more along the sides. Unlike last week's storm, the snow that fell overnight and this morning was heavier as temperatures were flirting with 30 degrees. But my powder ski's loved it anyways.

From the summit, we skied Pike, KA, Sunset 71, Forty Niner and Summit Glade. Like last week, Summit Glade was pretty mean with large icy bumps lurking below the new snow surface. I went about half way down Summit Glades before bailing out through the woods back to 49'er. Upper Pike also had a few interesting features hidden under the newly fallen snow. Skiers right had major ice flows about 200 yards from the peak. The flows were covered in snow which broke away in a mini avalanche when we skied over them. Skiers left on the other hand seemed like all snow. The other trails were just great. Thet were groomed late in the day on Thursday resulting in a flat surface to receive the newly falling snow. My body gave out a long time before I wanted to leave. But that can be the nature of skiing East Coast Powder.

This will be Pico's last weekend for the 07-08 ski season. If you are up at Killington this weekend, and you want some challenging terrain without the crowds at the Bear Mountain Mogul Challenge, consider Pico. It's a pretty good alternative.

Let it snow!

Lower Superstar Headwall 

When my alarm went off this morning at 8:00, it did not look very promising. A low and very dark cloud hung over the inn. It looked like the perfect recipe for some r@*n, some extra zzz's, and a late morning trip to Johnny Boys for breakfast. But upon closer inspection out the back window of the owners quarters I noticed large white flakes falling from the sky. It was obviously an omen, and be it good or bad, I decided to get up and head off to the mountain.

By 9:00, I am in front of the K1 Base lodge, looking up at where Killington Peak is supposed to be. A very dark cloud was obscuring the peak. It look like it reached down to about 3000 feet. So off to Bear Mountain we headed.

Snow surface conditions had softened up some since yesterday. Temperatures overnight were in the high 20's, so the mountain did not freeze up solid. Bear Claw, Bear Trap, Upper and Lower Wildfire were all loose granular surfaces. Upper Wildfire was not groomed overnight so there were a couple of slick spots left over from yesterday. But they were visible and easy to avoid.

Outer Limits was very good. If only there was a little sunshine like the last couple of days. OL rated 4 do overs as the surface had softened up nicely. Curiously, there was still no sign of a bumps course for this weekends Bear Mountain Mogul Challenge...but quite frankly I did not care, as I was having too much fun doing loops up and down OL.

With the legs telling me it was time to leave, I took the Skye Burst chair out. Next year, when it is replaced with a high speed detachable, we should be riding this chair more often. Today, it was just a leisurely ride up the hill (13 minutes seems like a long time). By now, the cloud had descended to the top of Skye Peak, so we went down Skye Burst to Cruise Control to stay below it. Both were much softer than yesterday, but still not in spring skiing condition.

I did a few loops down Needles Eye, Bittersweet, and Skyelark, alternating between going down High Road to the Skyeship and going over the the Superstar quad. These trails were firmer that the south facing trails at Bear Mountain, but still in nice shape. Needles Eye between Panic Button and the Snowshed Crossover was a little slick, but my skis were tuned last week so it was no big deal.

The surprise of the day for me was Superstar. Upper headwall and middle Superstar were just like yesterday...basically flat and fast with some minor loose granular being created by skier traffic. The big surprise was on the lower headwall. Grooming machines had worked over the ice and bumps that had developed on skiers left, grooming the surface flat. Unlike skiers right, which is rounded out, skiers left is rounded in, so the first drop into the area at speed slightly releases one from the grip of gravity for a millisecond or two. The feeling is very hard to describe, but suffice to say, like OL, Superstar rated 4 do overs as well.

By the way, I never did see any r@*n while up on the mountain. Mary was up skiing with a girl friend. When she left the mountain around 1 PM, she said it seemed like a minor blizzard was taking place, as a heavy snow shower was moving through the K1 base area. But by the time she got back to the inn a few minutes later, the sun was shining and the sky was once again a bright blue. Weather in New England...if you don't like it, wait a minute and it will change.

Let it snow!

Junction of Cascade, Downdraft, Double Dipper, and East Falls 

----- Extra ----- Updated at 5:20 PM -

Late this afternoon the Killington Resort announced that they would extend their ski eason by an extra week based upon current snow conditions.

In the letter from Dave Rathbun, Director of Marketing, Sales, Reservations and Golf for the Killington Resort and Pico Mountain, the planned closing date for the resort is now slated to be Sunday April 20. Initially, the resort had planned on closing on Sunday April 13th.

The new announced operating schedule is:
- Ramshead Lodge and lifts, Skye Base Station and Skyeship Stages I and II close after Sunday, March 30 (all daycare and children's programs will still meet at Ramshead Lodge through April 6)
- Bear Mountain Lodge and lifts, Needles Eye Express, Northridge Triple, Snowdon Quad and Triple and Snowshed Lodge close after Sunday, April 6 (Snowshed Lodge bathrooms and beginner lifts will operate April 7-9 to accommodate the last UK school groups)
- Canyon Quad will operate "as needed" through April 13
- K1 Lodge will be the main base lodge from April 7-20
- Superstar Express and K1 Gondola will operate daily through April 20

Rates during the extended schedule are:
- Regular Season rates are in effect through Sunday, March 30
- Late Season rates commence Monday, March 31 and are valid through Sunday, April 13 ($60 adult, $48 young adult and senior, $42 junior and senior plus)
- Rates for April 14-20 will be $49 / $44 / $39
Additional information will be posted on Killington's website.

------ End Extra ------

Another day with beautiful bright blue skies, 100% sunshine, and late winter temperatures.

Conditions today were ever so slightly softer than yesterday. Why is hard to tell, as temperatures are still holding everything frozen. But I would guess that another day of grooming combined with moderate skier and rider traffic is loosening up the surfaces just enough to beat back the residual effects of last weeks ice storm.

Today was your basic double black diamond day. After a warm up run down Highline, the group did laps up in the Canyon area. All of the trails were firm, but were quite receptive to edges, promoting fairly high speeds with wide sweeping turns. Cascades, Downdraft, and East Falls all appeared to have been groomed overnight. Between 9 and 10 this morning, all were in great shape. Downdraft, which can on occasion become an icy mess, rated a highly unusual 3 do overs this morning. It was both challenging, and nice to ski on...something unusual on a trail with the pitch that Downdraft has.

On the Bear Mountain side of the mountain, Outer Limits was also softer than yesterday. It was worthy of a couple of runs. It is still pretty firm, and there is no evidence of a bump course for this upcoming weekends Bear Mountain Mogul Challenge, but it was worth doing over just the same. Upper and Lower Wildfire were starting to release from the grip of last weeks ice. Both were developing a nice layer of ground packed powder. Lower Wildfire was the softer of the 2, being south facing and in 100% sunshine.

Back on the Killington Base side of the mountain, we also did some laps on Superstar. Superstar was basically like yesterday with a firm base covered with loose granular. If I were to pick a run of the day, I would have to go with Downdraft. While Superstar, Wildfire, Bear Claw, Outer Limits and Cascades were all good, I don't remember a ski day where I wanted to ski Downdraft over again....until today.

Let it snow!

Snowdon, Rams Head, and Pico Mountains under a bright blue sky. 

Mary and I took a couple of hours away from the inn this morning to play on the mountain. As the temperature was in the single digits last night at the inn, we waited until 10:00 AM to make our trek to the hill, figuring we would give the bright sunshine some time to work on the surfaces. Well almost....

In general, surfaces across Killington were firm with a residual snow covering left over from Friday's snow storm, grooming, and skier traffic.

Lower Bear Claw re-opened to skiers and riders after last weeks Chevrolet Grand Prix. (Click to enlarge.)

While most of the trails were not "dust on crust", there were still firm just the same. Much like skiing in mid January, in the dark, instead of late March in the sunshine.

From a trail perspective, Wildfire, Bear Claw and Bear Trap were in nice shape. Outer Limits was open when we first arrived at Bear Mountain, but the upper section was pure slickness. When we left Bear around 11:00, we saw the ski patrol putting a rope across it to close OL.

Bittersweek, Skyelark and Superstar were also nice. They were all multiple do overs from the fast Superstar Quad, except for Lower Skyelark which was a little slick. I personally thought Superstar was the best run of the day during our time on the mountain. While surfaces on Superstar were firm like the rest of the mountain, there was plenty of light snow on the trail to support turns on both the upper and lower headwalls. All in all a nice morning.

Let it snow!

Happy Easter 

Easter weekend at Killington brought 2 full days of bright sunshine for skiers and riders on the mountain. While Mary and I did not have the opportunity to go out on the hill, our guests reported that conditions ranged from icy firm in places not touched by sunshine, to early spring soft where the sun had a chance to work it's magic. With temps predicted for the mid 30's most of the week, it looks like spring skiing season will get into full swing.

Where ever you may be, Mary and I wish you a Happy Easter. Let it snow!....(at least for a few more weeks)

Fools Gold at Pico on way to Summit Express Quad, 9:05 AM March 21, 2008 

6 inches of champagne powder fell last night around the inn. At 6:30 AM the temperature was a balmy 15 degrees. Pico and Killington Peaks both got on the order of a foot of fluff. I had my powder skis in the car. I drove to Pico this morning, was number 8 in line on the Golden Express Quad at 8:55, number 4 onto the Summit Express Quad. You know the drill.

There are no friends on a powder day! Let it snow!