Killington 5/6/2007 Closing Day..

[andyzee]

Date:May 6, 2007

Resort: Killington

Conditions: Corn and bumps.

Weather: Sunny day, freezing temps first thing in the morning, 50s later in the day.

Trip Report: Didn’t initially plan on making it to Killington this week, had things to take care of at home on Saturday. Then I figured, last day of the season, we have to go. Glad we did because it turned out to be a great day of skiing, hiking, and partying.

Saturday I decided to wax my skis for the trip. By the time I got them waxed and loaded them into our cargo box, with the sun beating down, it was hot as can be. Me and my wife just laughed that it’s so hot and we’re going skiing. We took vests and shells to play I safe, didn’t think we’d have a need for the shells, we were wrong. We got to Killington a bit before 8 AM on Sunday and it was freezing, you could see frost on the trees.

First run of the day was Superstar which was groomed flat as can be down the center:



The first run was fast and nice, but was a bit scary due to the fact the snow was frozen granular. Although it was soft, I constantly had a fear of catching my ski in a groove or frozen snow, couldn’t wait for this stuff to soften up, it didn’t take much time at all. Our third run down, me and V were going to head over to the car when I heard someone call me, turned out to be Roark. We took a couple of runs and my phone rings, Trailboss calling to inform us that he should be at the Superstar lift by 11. Couple more runs and we meet up with Trailboss, good stuff. Overall in the morning, we hit Superstar a number of times, the bumps were growing at an unbelievable rate, Lower Bittersweet, nice soft snow and bumps, same for Upper Bittersweet, except there was some walking involved.

Some walked, some, like Rustyk, thought they were doing a “What’s in you wallet commercial”, that boy is crazy. Top of Skyhawk had no snow for the first 20-30 feet and then some nice bumps. Lack of snow means nothing to Rustyk, he looked he took off. Later on we came to the top of Skyhawk again, this time we stood more to the right of the snow so it was a bit further before you hit the snow. There were big rocks strewn all over the place, Rustyk looks at the rocks, states that he wishes he saw this before and takes off over the rocks, boy is not all there! Few more runs, Trailboss calls Snowmonster to see what’s up and finds out that he won’t be arriving until about 1. So we go down to the Kzone BBQ for some lunch, there was a good sized group of Zoners gathered. Eventually we see lil Monster, she was waiting for Snowmonster to come down Superstar. He comes down, we chat, have a few beers at the BBQ, some food and then decide to hike to Killington peak.

Me, Trailboss, Roark, Snowmonster and G-Smash, Cuervo 1.8k, and Mr Moose from Kzone took the Superstar Quad up and then hiked across Launch Pad to KillingtonPeak. Once at Killington Peak Cuervo had the task of scattering his recently deceased friends ashes off the top. So, we walked up the Catwalk stairs and to the very peak. There Cuervo 1.8 K told us about his friend, this was Don Gray from the popular local band Bobby Darling. Told us how they met and what a great guy he was. We all open up a beer and had a toast to Don. Then Cuervo scattered his ashes and we climbed down. From there is was an easy run down Great Northern and down a really nicely bumped Double Dipper. We took our time stopping here and there to enjoy the peace and quiet of this closed off area. Hard to believe that there was still so much good snow and they were closing. We skied to the Canyon Quad chair, where the snow ran out and we had to walk down to the Killington Base Lodge. Then across to the KZone BBQ, few more beers, some food. Then Trailboss, Roark, and Snowmonster took off. Me and V hung out until about 6 and that was the end of the 2006/2007 season.

It was good end to a great season with good friends. Normally I would be saddened by the end, not this year. This turned into our best season ever in terms of ski days, powder skiing, new mountains, new friends. It was a good ending to a really good season. Plus, Roark and Snowmonster talked me into doing Tucks this Saturday, so it’s not yet over. You can find pics from yesterday here: http://killingtonaccessrd.com/cpg/thumbnails.php?album=79 .

[snowmonster]

I second you on that, andyzee. This was a great season for me not only in terms of great skiing but also in meeting great people who share the same passion for the sport. The season is not yet over. We just have to hike for our turns from here on in.

[roark]

effin right.

[andyzee]

And a lil Rustyk action:

[Greg]

Some guys ski thin cover. Others ski no cover.

[thetrailboss]

Great video! That was before I got there I take it?

[thetrailboss]

Originally Posted by Greg

Some guys ski thin cover. Others ski no cover.

Actually, we were all joking that they had a "THIN COVER" sign on that trail before Sunday...thin cover? It was GRASS!

[andyzee]

Originally Posted by thetrailboss

Great video! That was before I got there I take it?

Yeah, I think you were there for his second run though, where he skied over the rocks to the right?

Originally Posted by thetrailboss

Actually, we were all joking that they had a "THIN COVER" sign on that trail before Sunday...thin cover? It was GRASS!

I think the thin cover sign fell when the snow melted, it was laying on the ground Sunday.