RUMOR...Killington Opening This Weekend!

[andyzee]

Guess it didn't take long for the beast to get de-clawed.

 

[mister moose]

We want to get going as soon as we can, but this weekend doesn't look good for making snow down to the bottom of K-1. Temps too warm.

Tonight:low around 23. North wind around 8 mph.

Thursday: high near 33. North wind around 6 mph.

Thursday Night: low around 20.

Friday: A chance of snow. Cloudy, with a high near 33.

Friday Night: low around 24.

Saturday: A slight chance of snow showers before 2pm, then a slight chance of rain showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 40. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Looks pretty cold to me.

Where's the Beast?

 

[mondeo]

I was out on Lower Chute at 5:30 tonight looking at the back hoe that's up there installing the fan gun. It was 31F in the parking lot. The sky is clear and the humidity is plenty low enough to blow snow right to the bottom for the next 14 hours. Nothing was set up to blow snow below the bottom of the Glades triple. Killington isn't even trying.

I wonder if that has anything to do with it. If I understand correctly where they're putting that thing, installing the fan gun and making snow on their T2B route might not work well together?

 

[Tin Woodsman]

Wow - skiingsnow comes out of this thread with more credibility than Tom Horrocks.

Bad start for the Beast.

Asking customers to put up with a little trucking is Beastly. Claiming you need to wait until you can go T2B, despite the fact that temps seem acceptable, is not Beastly at all. More Leastly.

 

[millerm277]

I wonder if that has anything to do with it. If I understand correctly where they're putting that thing, installing the fan gun and making snow on their T2B route might not work well together?

Agreed. On the other hand....they could just as easily shift down one trail, and still be able to do T2B, if that was the real reason. (Mouse Run).

A little snow won't cause a problem (hell, there's been some natural snow there recently), but I could understand not being able to get the fan gun in place if the ground becomes snow-covered, so not making snow on BB does make sense in that light....but they've got other options. On that same note...they probably planned this months in advance, to be ready for late October snowmaking. Who really would have thought there would have be skiing in the Northeast on October 14th? I believe everyone was expecting Halloween at the earliest....ski areas probably were too.

 

[drjeff]

Granted it's just the beginner hill for some rails and hits, but Mount Snow will be opening this Saturday after a couple of nights with 9 fan guns running down in the base area. Fan guns rule!

 

[2knees]

not to be a dick, but whats the big deal over who opens first, for a few days, on half a run? Congrats to sunday river. Killington people confuse me.

 

[millerm277]

not to be a dick, but whats the big deal over who opens first, for a few days, on half a run? Congrats to sunday river. Killington people confuse me.

Nothing really. Bragging rights and PR. First to T2B is a bit more interesting.....but really, I care much more about who opens enough terrain for me to actually consider the drive ski there. (Something in the neighborhood of more than 2 runs. Or, at Killington: Glades area, and all of the snowmaking terrain on Snowdon.

 

[bigbob]

Couldn't snow be made on east fall to the runout. I think this would be a shorter distance to cover, no problems with the on going construction. Then the K 1 could be used, terrain would be for advanced snow riders, keeps the gapers at bay.

 

[skiadikt]

Come on Tom!!! You guys gotta go for it and you gotta go now!! You guys have a longer window this year compared to last year with similar temps. Last year snowmaking wed, thu, warm fri with a bit of melting, snowmaking back sat and open sun. That's 3 days, interrupted too. This year you got wed, thu, fri, up top the whole time with good temps at night for lower. Snowmaking temps at night sat 22*, sun 26*, mon 26*, tues 28* according to nws at mid mountain...

Sure it's going to warm up, but it doesn't look that bad!

what have you done with skippy?

 

[SpinmasterK]

I'm trying to decide who has less credibility? Highway Star or Tom Horrocks?

I think it's pathetic that Killington management refuses to talk straight. This Horrocks marketing blitz is yet another example of their steady stream of half-truths.

Straight talk! If you have specific questions, ask! Feel free to email me thorrocks@Killington.com or call me on my cell 802-770-8985.

 

[Bostonian]

So the question should be do I go to SR or Mt Snow to get some early turns in, since K has seemed to have dropped the ball?

 

[Highway Star]

Couldn't snow be made on east fall to the runout. I think this would be a shorter distance to cover, no problems with the on going construction. Then the K 1 could be used, terrain would be for advanced snow riders, keeps the gapers at bay.

I heard a rumor saying they were thinking about making snow on Lower East Fall + Canyon runout and running the canyon quad too......

 

[Highway Star]

Straight talk! If you have specific questions, ask! Feel free to email me thorrocks@Killington.com or call me on my cell 802-770-8985.

:dunce:

 

[jerryg]

So the question should be do I go to SR or Mt Snow to get some early turns in, since K has seemed to have dropped the ball?

May depend on whether Snow is running a lift. They did this last year, but there wasn't a lift running.

 

[drjeff]

I heard a rumor saying they were thinking about making snow on Lower East Fall + Canyon runout and running the canyon quad too......

Takes a heck of a lot more production to cover the pitch of East Fall(and have it stay covered for more than just the first couple of hours of traffic) than the longer, flatter route through Snowdon.

 

[ski_resort_observer]

With temps in the 50's next week and the ground not frozen making snow now would be just throwing their money away plus SR, which obviously doesn't mind spending the money, has already won the marketing contest for opening early.

IMHO SR is motivated by their "someday bigger" stigma as we all know their real vert is around 1700. Kmart has a huge image problem to repair so apparently they chose to save the money rather than work on that at this time. They have all ski season to do that. I can't argue with that logic but you guys can. :lol:

 

[Highway Star]

Takes a heck of a lot more production to cover the pitch of East Fall(and have it stay covered for more than just the first couple of hours of traffic) than the longer, flatter route through Snowdon.

I can't recall the difference, but I think last time we talked about this, Lower East Fall was slightly easier (due to the elevation and snowgun density).

But I'm just repeating what I heard......

 

[skiadikt]

I can't recall the difference, but I think last time we talked about this, Lower East Fall was slightly easier (due to the elevation and snowgun density).

But I'm just repeating what I heard......

the problem is spillway through the runout and yeah with all that traffic a steep trail like east fall would need a ton of snowmaking. it was so simple when there was just upper cascade but them's the old daze ...

 

[WWF-VT]

With temps in the 50's next week and the ground not frozen making snow now would be just throwing their money away plus SR, which obviously doesn't mind spending the money, has already won the marketing contest for opening early.

IMHO SR is motivated by their "someday bigger" stigma as we all know their real vert is around 1700. Kmart has a huge image problem to repair so apparently they chose to save the money rather than work on that at this time. They have all ski season to do that. I can't argue with that logic but you guys can. :lol:

Thanks for one of the more intelligent posts in this thread