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Killington 2016-7

joshua segal

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Today, Oct. 26, 2016, Weds., I kicked of the 2016-7 season.

I would have gone yesterday, but when they changed plans to open at noon, I changed my mind. The trip had two nice surprises. First, the two worst stretches of road were repaved over the summer. The second was that despite the fact the trees were past peak, the color on the hillsides was still amazing. It was especially beautiful when the sun rose and illuminated only the mountain tops with lively iridescent colors.

At the mountain there was an illusion of total snow cover, and people had poached many of the trails. Superstar was covered T2B with guns that blasted all day. It looked skiable, but I was told that 1) it would not be open to the public until after the race and 2) They have a commitment to have a 5 foot base by the time the race happens.
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As for the skiable/lift serviced terrain: 1) The guns ran all day on upper and lower Rime. Reason was nice, but you still had to rejoin Lower Rime, so you couldn't avoid snowguns. They were running guns all day on Upper East Fall, but it was not opened.

The crowd wasn't bad - perhaps a minute at the peak times.

The snow was reasonably good. The problem was, it was virtually impossible to see anything (because of the snow guns), so one had to sense the terrain with one's feet. That kept speeds down and added a stress dimension. I quit after about 20 runs.

Every year, when I put on the skis and make the first turns of the season, I always wonder: Will the magic still be there? It was!

With the additional snowmaking tonight, I think Killington can withstand an extended thaw, so we won't have the shut down this year, like we did last year.
 

benski

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Superstar was covered T2B with guns that blasted all day. It looked skiable, but I was told that 1) it would not be open to the public until after the race
I assume they can't train till the whales are groomed out and the snowmaking stops so why can't the public ski it with whales and under the guns?
 

joshua segal

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I assume they can't train till the whales are groomed out and the snowmaking stops so why can't the public ski it with whales and under the guns?
On another thread, someone mentioned that the race training snow isn't good for retail customers and will require substantial work afterwards to make it pleasant. That being said, it's a fantastic start on the late season glacier!
 

mriceyman

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On another thread, someone mentioned that the race training snow isn't good for retail customers and will require substantial work afterwards to make it pleasant. That being said, it's a fantastic start on the late season glacier!

They will fire up the guns following the race i would assume


Sent from my iPhone using AlpineZone
 

joshua segal

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Dec. 7, 2016 - Weds.

Awesome powder day. While there was only 3" of new, a number of runs including North Star and Great Bear were opened and there were large unpoached sections where the fresh snow was 8" to 12".

Lovely moguls on West Glade (Upper Ridge Run) and Powerline. The brown/dirt in the troughs allowed for visibility in the fog/flat light

They are fully connected now with access from Killington Peak to Superstar via Heaven's Gate and Bear Trax and Ramshead might be online by today.

Glades are close. We poached Patsy's but it wasn't pleasant enough to try anything longer.

Undoubtedly, my best day of the season.
 
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