Killington - 12/17/16

[Jcb890]

What a day!

A drive that is normally 3 hours long took 4, but it was well worth it. I awoke to a driveway covered in snow and dealt with the bad roads and slow traffic. Unfortunately I didn't plan for that, so we got there at 9 instead of 7:30 for first chair like I had hoped. I'm not sure exactly how much snow fell at the mountain, but it seemed like quite a bit. One observation I had was that the mountain needed that natural snowfall. I still saw some grass and sticks and some thin cover in spots. It snowed pretty steadily until around 1 or so I think it was.

I started off from Ramshead at around 9:45 am and headed over to the K1 Gondola. There was a decent sized line, but it didn't take too long in the singles line. From the summit I went down Bear Trax and followed a couple of snowboarders who ducked some ropes and wound up on Wildfire (Bear Mountain) which was un-groomed, un-touched and appeared to have around a foot of fresh fluffy snow. The trip was worth it just for that. I didn't get any photos sadly. People were ducking ropes left and right and it looked like Ski Patrol dropped some ropes as well.

After that I worked back over to Ramshead and met up with my wife for some runs over there. The snow on Ramshead stayed nice and soft all day in most spots. I did notice some of the steeper trails were getting windblown and ski'd off by early afternoon. Superstar was pretty nice, but by the time I rode it around 1 pm, the snow was getting a bit windblown and ski'd off. Some turns were soft, some were pretty icy.

All-in-all a great way to spend 1 of our M.A.X. Pass tickets and some amazing early season weather.

 

[SkiRay]

Did it rain at Killington?

I thought it rained yesterday?

Hoping this week stays cold and that real snow falls.

 

[prsboogie]

I thought it rained yesterday?

Hoping this week stays cold and that real snow falls.

Check the report date.


Sent from my iPhone using AlpineZone

 

[Jcb890]

This was for Saturday, I apologize for being a day late. I was just too tired to type up a report when we got home Saturday evening. It didn't rain at all while we were up at Killington, but I did notice it began to rain lightly while driving home.

 

[dlague]

This was for Saturday, I apologize for being a day late. I was just too tired to type up a report when we got home Saturday evening. It didn't rain at all while we were up at Killington, but I did notice it began to rain lightly while driving home.

Sounds like the run on Bear Mountain was awesome. BTW I rarely get a trip report out on day of. After skiing, apres ski and then the drive generally roo tired. Nice report!

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[nkLottery]

WE WERE THERE! Our crew left Rhode Island at 4am and made a 5+ hour trek to Killington on largely unplowed, untreated roads. It was nuts -- the kind of poor condition drive I'm used to making on the way home. We parked at Bear Mountain and it was well worth it. Dead crowds over there and great snow. Skyeburst was all that was open to start the day but we were on Wildfire by the end of the day. We ripped Superstar and Skye Lark a few times, rode the Canyon area down East Fall (riding Fast that day) and Cascade a few times. Stopped by North Ridge for a few runs but never made it to Snowdon.

Highlight of the day: we hit the High Traverse from top of the Canyon to check on the status of The Jug. They dropped the rope! We rode the top (Blue) section of The Jug, bailed on to Escape and then poached Breakaway, which was Boot Deep at times. Didn't know how conditions would be from there on out as we knew we'd have to take the long long run down Bear Cub... it was fine if you don't mind hopping a few creeks on the way back to Bear Mtn base.

The drive back was a piece of cake by comparison to the drive up.

All in all a fantastic December 17 at Killington with great fresh snow, free refills and light crowds wherever we seemed to go.

 

[Jcb890]

Sounds like the run on Bear Mountain was awesome. BTW I rarely get a trip report out on day of. After skiing, apres ski and then the drive generally roo tired. Nice report!

Sent from my SM-G930P using AlpineZone mobile app

I don't get out on many powder/fresh days because we pretty much just ride on weekends. That Wildfire trail on Saturday was honestly the best run I have had in years. I've never been able to be on a trail that's been completely untouched and ungroomed yet for the season. It still had natural small rock drops and dips, I won't go so far as to say some of them had pillowy tops, but it was close... just pure awesomeness!

It was a long day, up at 3:30 am and then arrived back home around 8:30 pm. Came home to ~7" of snow in the driveway so I had to use my car like a plow, but managed to get into the garage and then the rain and warmth overnight helped melt a bunch of it so yesterday I was just pushing around slush.

 

[nkLottery]

It was a long day, up at 3:30 am and then arrived back home around 8:30 pm. Came home to ~7" of snow in the driveway so I had to use my car like a plow, but managed to get into the garage and then the rain and warmth overnight helped melt a bunch of it so yesterday I was just pushing around slush.

Sure was a long one... up at 330 myself and back to Rhode Island around 10pm. Crazy enough it actually got up to 50+ degrees back in Rhody while we were in Winter Wonderland in Vermont... everything melted back home! Perfect scenario. Glad you had a fantastic day up there

 

[Jcb890]

WE WERE THERE! Our crew left Rhode Island at 4am and made a 5+ hour trek to Killington on largely unplowed, untreated roads. It was nuts -- the kind of poor condition drive I'm used to making on the way home. We parked at Bear Mountain and it was well worth it. Dead crowds over there and great snow. Skyeburst was all that was open to start the day but we were on Wildfire by the end of the day. We ripped Superstar and Skye Lark a few times, rode the Canyon area down East Fall (riding Fast that day) and Cascade a few times. Stopped by North Ridge for a few runs but never made it to Snowdon.

Highlight of the day: we hit the High Traverse from top of the Canyon to check on the status of The Jug. They dropped the rope! We rode the top (Blue) section of The Jug, bailed on to Escape and then poached Breakaway, which was Boot Deep at times. Didn't know how conditions would be from there on out as we knew we'd have to take the long long run down Bear Cub... it was fine if you don't mind hopping a few creeks on the way back to Bear Mtn base.

The drive back was a piece of cake by comparison to the drive up.

All in all a fantastic December 17 at Killington with great fresh snow, free refills and light crowds wherever we seemed to go.View attachment 21293View attachment 21296View attachment 21295View attachment 21294

Hell yeah!

The drive up was a bit hairy at times. Like you said, we often see this kind of snow and drive heading home, but not often does it hit like this where its been snowing all night and then into the morning. It made the drive up suck, but the conditions more than made up for that drive! Also like you said, nothing seemed to be plowed or treated in the morning for whatever reason. Driving home was just a little rainy... much nicer than the drive up, that's for sure.

Bear Mountain was the place to be I think. I went up with my wife and mother who are more beginner/intermediate ability, so we had our home base over at Ramshead. The snow stayed great over there all day though, so no complaints.

I wish I had payed more attention and mapped my runs out a bit more because I couldn't find my way back to Wildfire later when I tried to do it a 2nd time. Like you said, Bear Mountain had very little crowds, even compared to the rest of the mountain which wasn't all that busy. I never waited in line at any lifts other than the K1 Gondola.

Did they drop the rope on Wildfire later in the day? It looked like Ski Patrol was dropping ropes left and right all day. My highlight of the day was Wildfire early in the AM which was absolutely fantastic!

 

[nkLottery]

Did they drop the rope on Wildfire later in the day? It looked like Ski Patrol was dropping ropes left and right all day. My highlight of the day was Wildfire early in the AM which was absolutely fantastic!

Honestly I only saw the rope dropped when I did a Bear mtn run after 3pm. So it wasn't dropped for long. There were staffers all over the mountain monitoring things / opening terrain actively from open to close which was a great testament to the spirit of Killington

 

[Jcb890]

Honestly I only saw the rope dropped when I did a Bear mtn run after 3pm. So it wasn't dropped for long. There were staffers all over the mountain monitoring things / opening terrain actively from open to close which was a great testament to the spirit of Killington

I noticed that as well and had the same feeling. The stoke was high all across the mountain on Saturday. Everyone I talked to, from skiers/riders to staff seemed to be in a great mood and pumped with the snow falling.