dlague
Active member
Date(s) Skied: December 16th, 2012
Resort or Ski Area: Killington
Conditions: Man-made Packed Powder (few areas scraped off)
Trip Report: This was our third time out this season and we were excited about going to Killington (it is our family’s early season tradition)! When we arrived at K-1 Base Lodge around 8:45, it looked very windy and cloudy (a storm was rolling in)! We were skiing on 2 for 1 vouchers that we picked up for signing up for their newsletter, so we really did not care too much!
Our initial thoughts that the day were, “This might be a tough one”. However, once all the gear was on we were ready to go. Funny how worked up you get getting dressed, boots on, etc.; it felt good to get outside! For starters, we took the Gondola to the top of Killington Peak for our first run. Amazingly, there was hardly any wind which was a pleasant surprise. Since we were with others that are trying to get their legs back from skipping a few years of skiing, we opted for a nice cruising run top to bottom on Great Northern. The conditions were nearly perfect considering relatively early season skiing.
Next we decided to take a few round trips on Snowdon Triple mixing it up on Mouse Run, Bunny Buster, Mouse Trap, the bottom section of Great Northern and the bottom section of Chute. Chute was taken to get us to Snowdon Quad for our last run before heading in for lunch. One note about Chute, there are a few short drops that obviously catch people of guard because it was all scraped off on the face of each drop. This threw us off a little since the rest of the trail is PP, we were not expecting icy patches. We were skiing this section with some speed and when you catch air on the drops, the landing got a little sketchy! Luckily, it was not a long stretch!
After lunch, another run from the top was in order and this time the winds were not so favorable up there. The top section of Great Northern got blown off and visibility (from snow blowing) made it hard since it got a little crowded towards the top! This begs a question at this time – Why do groups of skiers and / or snowboarders congregate in the middle of an intersection rather than off to the side? In any case, the middle section and the lower section of Great Northern were fine and conditions great. The winds were blocked in those areas.
Next, we opted to head over to Ramshead which turned out to be a lot of fun for just cruising around (not challenging to say the least) . Interestingly enough, there were very few skier or snowboarders there which made the PP runs really cool! Keep in mind we had others who had not been skiing for a few years. We did a few round trips and headed down Casper to Snowdon again. BTW, the conditions on Snowdon and Ramshead were really nice. I have to say Casper is a beautiful trail – relatively narrow (not too bad) and a canopy of trees.
We continued a few round trips on Snowdon again which then lead to most wanting to call it a day (winds were picking up even more). I, however, opted to continue and head over Superstar Express Quad with one of the teens. It was time to crank out a few runs on a little more challenging terrain. Superstar is on Sky Peak and this is a really fun section to ski/snowboard. This chair is fast and round trips go quickly. The top of Skye Peak had some sections that were wind blown down to ice, but the edges did good! The top there is very exposed and winds were blowing like crazy, however, once you headed down the trails it was not so bad. Most of the runs there were in great shape minus the top. However, here comes beef number two! Why do people who really cannot ski bumps go down a steep mogul trial? They scrape off each mogul sliding sideways; as a result Suparstar was not as nice as I thought it would be. In addition, that trail was tough since they were blowing snow and the winds combined reduced visibility. Overall, that section of Killington is fun and a workout!
We ended the day relaxing on the K1 Lodge with a few drinks before we headed back to NH. Overall it was a fantastic day and it got us amped to visit Sunday River, this weekend!
Resort or Ski Area: Killington
Conditions: Man-made Packed Powder (few areas scraped off)
Trip Report: This was our third time out this season and we were excited about going to Killington (it is our family’s early season tradition)! When we arrived at K-1 Base Lodge around 8:45, it looked very windy and cloudy (a storm was rolling in)! We were skiing on 2 for 1 vouchers that we picked up for signing up for their newsletter, so we really did not care too much!
Our initial thoughts that the day were, “This might be a tough one”. However, once all the gear was on we were ready to go. Funny how worked up you get getting dressed, boots on, etc.; it felt good to get outside! For starters, we took the Gondola to the top of Killington Peak for our first run. Amazingly, there was hardly any wind which was a pleasant surprise. Since we were with others that are trying to get their legs back from skipping a few years of skiing, we opted for a nice cruising run top to bottom on Great Northern. The conditions were nearly perfect considering relatively early season skiing.
Next we decided to take a few round trips on Snowdon Triple mixing it up on Mouse Run, Bunny Buster, Mouse Trap, the bottom section of Great Northern and the bottom section of Chute. Chute was taken to get us to Snowdon Quad for our last run before heading in for lunch. One note about Chute, there are a few short drops that obviously catch people of guard because it was all scraped off on the face of each drop. This threw us off a little since the rest of the trail is PP, we were not expecting icy patches. We were skiing this section with some speed and when you catch air on the drops, the landing got a little sketchy! Luckily, it was not a long stretch!
After lunch, another run from the top was in order and this time the winds were not so favorable up there. The top section of Great Northern got blown off and visibility (from snow blowing) made it hard since it got a little crowded towards the top! This begs a question at this time – Why do groups of skiers and / or snowboarders congregate in the middle of an intersection rather than off to the side? In any case, the middle section and the lower section of Great Northern were fine and conditions great. The winds were blocked in those areas.
Next, we opted to head over to Ramshead which turned out to be a lot of fun for just cruising around (not challenging to say the least) . Interestingly enough, there were very few skier or snowboarders there which made the PP runs really cool! Keep in mind we had others who had not been skiing for a few years. We did a few round trips and headed down Casper to Snowdon again. BTW, the conditions on Snowdon and Ramshead were really nice. I have to say Casper is a beautiful trail – relatively narrow (not too bad) and a canopy of trees.
We continued a few round trips on Snowdon again which then lead to most wanting to call it a day (winds were picking up even more). I, however, opted to continue and head over Superstar Express Quad with one of the teens. It was time to crank out a few runs on a little more challenging terrain. Superstar is on Sky Peak and this is a really fun section to ski/snowboard. This chair is fast and round trips go quickly. The top of Skye Peak had some sections that were wind blown down to ice, but the edges did good! The top there is very exposed and winds were blowing like crazy, however, once you headed down the trails it was not so bad. Most of the runs there were in great shape minus the top. However, here comes beef number two! Why do people who really cannot ski bumps go down a steep mogul trial? They scrape off each mogul sliding sideways; as a result Suparstar was not as nice as I thought it would be. In addition, that trail was tough since they were blowing snow and the winds combined reduced visibility. Overall, that section of Killington is fun and a workout!
We ended the day relaxing on the K1 Lodge with a few drinks before we headed back to NH. Overall it was a fantastic day and it got us amped to visit Sunday River, this weekend!
