For those that crack on "seeded bumps"

[Greg]

I think a big problem is how people are introduced to bumps.

Agreed one billion percent. There needs to be more lower angle bump runs so people can figure it out. The only way to get good lines on lower angles is to seed. And not necessarily course-like perfection, just some piles to get the field started. Just like............be sure you're sitting for this one.........Sundown does.

 

[skiadikt]

I think the Killington bump hayday was still going strong in the 90's. What I don't get is why there isn't a new breed of bump skiers out there. In the late 90's we saw the advent of shaped skis, allowing almost anyone to be able to carve pretty early on. Around the same time tree skiing and on map glades became popular and that's where the more advanced skiers seem to spend most of their time. It seems the brutal grooming became the norm as a result. Now with so few good bumps, less and less people know how to ski them so the mountains continue to overgroom. Vicious cycle really.

agree. seems like the turn came late 90's. and you're right about the vicous cycle. any talk of late season skiing has to include bumps. if you're gonna mow the place, then you might as well close april 20. you saw ol yesterday. disgraceful. at least the bush still gets it though. betcha stein's is bumped up.

 

[Madroch]

Agreed one billion percent. There needs to be more lower angle bump runs so people can figure it out. The only way to get good lines on lower angles is to seed. And not necessarily course-like perfection, just some piles to get the field started. Just like............be sure you're sitting for this one.........Sundown does.

Lower EX- case and point. Also, Ego Alley at Mount Snow last Spring.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Ahh, Jerzey bumps. welcome to killington. don't worry East Fall will be groomed nightly

shhhh..people from Jersey are gonna discover Killington..:smile:

 

[Greg]

at least the bush still gets it though. betcha stein's is bumped up.

Stein's, Organgrinder, Ripcord, Spills, Paradise. I've always said Killington is my day trip limit. Might need to rethink that.

 

[mondeo]

I think a big problem is how people are introduced to bumps.

+1. We need more feeder hills with bumps and more intermediate trails done as half and half.

And PSIA needs to fix their heads or just stay out of the bumps.

 

[Madroch]

Stein's, Organgrinder, Ripcord, Spills, Paradise. I've always said Killington is my day trip limit. Might need to rethink that.

Daytripping SB from central CT is not that bad. Did it earlier this year. Am gonna try and daytrip Stowe this weekend.

 

[Greg]

Catwalk is plenty bumped up

Upper is closed, no? Lower was flat as a pancake yesterday.

 

[Greg]

Daytripping SB from central CT is not that bad. Did it earlier this year. Am gonna try and daytrip Stowe this weekend.

From my area, I have to either battle through Waterbury and Hartford or take a back ass route to get up towards the airport. It usually takes me an hour just to get to Springfield. For those along the northern 91 corridor in CT, Sugarbush is more than day trippable.

 

[icedtea]

Upper is closed, no? Lower was flat as a pancake yesterday.

Don't be so worried about poaching!! One of things about K, is that often times trails are not closed because they are not ride-able.

 

[bvibert]

I've always said Killington is my day trip limit. Might need to rethink that.

Stop being a wuss and just do it!

 

[bvibert]

From my area, I have to either battle through Waterbury and Hartford or take a back ass route to get up towards the airport. It usually takes me an hour just to get to Springfield. For those along the northern 91 corridor in CT, Sugarbush is more than day trippable.

I guess I'll just have to go with you to keep you company on the long drive. It's a sacrifice, but I'm willing to make it to help you out.

 

[Madroch]

From my area, I have to either battle through Waterbury and Hartford or take a back ass route to get up towards the airport. It usually takes me an hour just to get to Springfield. For those along the northern 91 corridor in CT, Sugarbush is more than day trippable.

My bad. I realized that after I posted. I can get to 91 a lot easier than you can, but I still kill a good amount of time getting there (no real easy way to either 84 or 91- 20 minutes either way)

 

[Greg]

Don't be so worried about poaching!! One of things about K, is that often times trails are not closed because they are not ride-able.

Not that worried about it. But why is it closed if it's still skiable? And Catwalk is about as blatant a poach as you can get. "Just climbing these stairs to check out the view, everybody. Don't mind me." :lol:

 

[mondeo]

agree. seems like the turn came late 90's. and you're right about the vicous cycle.

1998, maybe? Like Moseley's gold medal run?

Everyone focused on the air. Nobody really cared about his turns, which is a shame, being as good as they were. And then 4 years later, everyone was upset when he came in 4th because of the dinner roll while the top 3 finishers had better turns and were faster.

I think we do it to ourselves, too, with the elitism. Ask a bumper, and they'll tell you the most difficult discipline is bump skiing. Well, if it's that hard, how many intermediates are going to try it? And as they get better, they'll just be frustrated in the bumps because they flounder while they're competent on the groomers. And then there's the myth of it being hard on the knees. I don't know how many people I've heard on the chairlift talk about how their knees can't take it or that it's just too hard.

 

[icedtea]

But why is it closed if it's still skiable?:

Paging SPINMASTERK!!!

Tell them you were just going to check out the peak on this glorious beautiful day in VT!

 

[Geoff]

Remember that the audience that Okemo and Killington is catering to, or at least was before the market tanked, were the baby boomers who had enough disposable income to buy that ski condo or come up for a vacation. In the 1970's and 1980's they had the knees to do bumps all day long and that's what they wanted (and what Killington gave them). Now most of that market wants and demands groomed cruisers. That's why we have places like Bretton Woods, Stratton, Okemo, etc. delivering that product.

Killington is catering to the audience that buys day tickets, just like always. The vast majority of day ticket customers are intermediates who never skied bumps. That's never changed. The customer base is very different from when Killington was all bumped up in the mid-1980's. The age group that was bumpers in 1985 is now either on a snowboard or on twin tips in the park. You didn't see many people skiing much over the age of 50 in 1985. The population on the hill is much older now. So what you're seeing at Killington is terrain parks & half pipes for the younger generation and groomed steeps for the older crowd. Bumps don't sell enough day tickets to justify dedicating all that many acres to them.

Killington has never sold one ski condo in the history of the resort. Period. The end. Killington sells day tickets and season passes. Today, a Texas private equitiy company called E2M owns the land at Killington in a corporation called SP Land. POWDR, the resort operator, could give a rat's ass about a village at the moment since that is not going to create a penny of income for them in my lifetime. If something actually does get built, POWDR has a small interest in the project. I'd be shocked if the SP Land accountants created books that ever gave a penny to POWDR for the project since it's going to be dragged out forever and SP Land is forking over large dollars every year in taxes and endless approval cycles.

 

[Glenn]

What's up with groomer hate? Some of my fovorite runs this season where ripping down some fresh cord early in the AM, arcing huge super g turns and feeling like I could reach out and touch the hill.

I like all types of terrain. One of my favorite parts of skiing though is the speed.

 

[drjeff]

I think the Killington bump hayday was still going strong in the 90's. What I don't get is why there isn't a new breed of bump skiers out there. In the late 90's we saw the advent of shaped skis, allowing almost anyone to be able to carve pretty early on. Around the same time tree skiing and on map glades became popular and that's where the more advanced skiers seem to spend most of their time. It seems the brutal grooming became the norm as a result. Now with so few good bumps, less and less people know how to ski them so the mountains continue to overgroom. Vicious cycle really.

Mid 90's also borught the onset of the terrain park and the continued growth of the 1/2 pipe. That's the segement of this industry that's experiencing the rapid growth and that's where ALOT of the younger skiers are headed nowadays - park 1st, then maybe into some bumps or gates. Then *if* Mom and/or Dad went to the hill with little Johnny or Sally that day, Mom or Dad will often want buffed cord 12 lane wide groomers to make their 5 to 10 runs tops on that day while the kids are in the park with their friends.

As long as the parks/pipes are as popular as they currently are with the younger crowd, you're going to have a TOUGH time getting a sizeable base of the younger crowd into the bumps instead of the parks/pipes. That means that you'll then either need to get that younger skier/rider out of the park/pipe and into the bumps, which won't be an easy task by any means.

 

[bvibert]

What's up with groomer hate? Some of my fovorite runs this season where ripping down some fresh cord early in the AM, arcing huge super g turns and feeling like I could reach out and touch the hill.

I like all types of terrain. One of my favorite parts of skiing though is the speed.

Not groomer hate. Sure it can be fun to rip some turns on fresh groomers, but there's plenty of those, no need to groom everything.