Superstar Update

machski · Feb 17, 2018

Anyone who skis Killington regularly, how goes the Superstar build this year? We're half way through February and the end of February is often the end of the Snowmaking season for them.

Thanks

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Scruffy · Feb 17, 2018

I was there Wed. and Thurs. Lots of snow and big mounds on top and at the final pitch. The only problem I saw was they groomed the shit out of it. Barely a bump left at all; just a slim line on the extreme skiers right near the woods on the lower pitch. Good thing Outer Limits was open Thurs. Saved my trip.

ALLSKIING · Feb 18, 2018

Not as much as other years but I'd be shock if they were done. I expect them to start again soon.

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skiur · Feb 18, 2018

Supe will get it's snow, they seem to be blowing a bit more than other years on ovation this year, will be nice to still have that option a bit later in the spring.

bdfreetuna · Feb 18, 2018

skiur said:
Supe will get it's snow, they seem to be blowing a bit more than other years on ovation this year, will be nice to still have that option a bit later in the spring.

I agree, although if Lower Ovation isn't open it's not nearly as interesting of an option. Don't get me wrong, Upper Ovation is great, but lower Superstar kind of sucks while Lower Ovation is pretty awesome.

CoolMike · Mar 21, 2018

Killington seems to think they have enough snow now on Superstar. They were blowing snow during the long storm last week but even with temperatures in the teens and low 20's all week they haven't been blowing snow. They mentioned something about a huge spine of man made snow on their conditions report on Monday so that makes me think they are done snow making there.

Looking at the webcam only the size of the glacier on the top of superstar is much smaller than years past.

Can anyone who has seen it around this time in the past few years report back on the depth compared to prior years?

I'm hoping to get 2-3 nice days in on Superstar in May. If I'm lucky I'll be able to go earlier in the spring and get some runs on Skylark / Skyhawk and Ovation as well but I would be content just lapping superstar in the middle of May with a T-shirt on.

Thanks!

mister moose · Mar 21, 2018

Several photos and discussion at

http://www.killingtonzone.com/forum...sid=932f5958dff971a5b1395125b5204c2e&start=15

ALLSKIING · Mar 21, 2018

I believe they are done....they blew more on the head wall trail then the top this year. The spine is huge and with a cold spring I would think they have a good shot at June 1st again.

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drjeff · Mar 21, 2018

mister moose said:
Several photos and discussion at

http://www.killingtonzone.com/forum...sid=932f5958dff971a5b1395125b5204c2e&start=15

Given your years of experience with late season KIllington, if we have a "normal" next 10 weeks or so (whatever "normal" is these days

) in your opinion will June lift served be happening at K this year with what they have on Superstar now??

CoolMike · Mar 21, 2018

Thanks for the link and photos to Killington zone. I was somehow unaware of that website. The glacier up top is definitely smaller than prior years but it does look like the spine of snow is bigger or even a lot bigger than at least last year and maybe the year before that. I think 3 years ago there was a ridiculous amount of snow there if I recall. That year I was sure they would make June 1 but the May was super hot and melted it all out by the 20th or so.

From a snow preservation standpoint there are two things going on here. Putting all the snow in one spot is best for preservation under ordinary circumstances since the outer snow insulates the inside of the giant mount of snow. The trouble is that when you need to start pushing the pile around to stay open it melts out pretty fast since your covering up thawed and melting ground every day. Hopefully putting more snow on the steeper, more North facing pitch will help with the preservation of the snow a little as well.

Cheers!

Smellytele · Mar 21, 2018

Last year even with the glacier at the top that was the part that melted out and you had to walk down the first 200 feet through mud and rocks. Then even set up ropes so you could hold onto them as you walked down.

Jcb890 · Mar 21, 2018

Smellytele said:
Last year even with the glacier at the top that was the part that melted out and you had to walk down the first 200 feet through mud and rocks. Then even set up ropes so you could hold onto them as you walked down.

I enjoy riding Superstar in the Spring and don't mind dealing with some mud, but once it melts out up top and you have to walk down, I'm out.

CoolMike · Mar 21, 2018

I agree for the most part. My favorite part of superstar is climbing the glacier and bombing down the first pitch. You build up some fun speed and can playfully bounce through the moguls in the flat middle section. The S-curve pitch and larger moguls I tend to just pick my way down - often its too crowded there and is relatively steep for a bump run.

mister moose · Mar 21, 2018

drjeff said:
Given your years of experience with late season KIllington, if we have a "normal" next 10 weeks or so (whatever "normal" is these days ) in your opinion will June lift served be happening at K this year with what they have on Superstar now??

Short answer - throw a dart.

CoolMike said:
Thanks for the link and photos to Killington zone. I was somehow unaware of that website. The glacier up top is definitely smaller than prior years but it does look like the spine of snow is bigger or even a lot bigger than at least last year and maybe the year before that. I think 3 years ago there was a ridiculous amount of snow there if I recall. That year I was sure they would make June 1 but the May was super hot and melted it all out by the 20th or so.

From a snow preservation standpoint there are two things going on here. Putting all the snow in one spot is best for preservation under ordinary circumstances since the outer snow insulates the inside of the giant mount of snow. The trouble is that when you need to start pushing the pile around to stay open it melts out pretty fast since your covering up thawed and melting ground every day. Hopefully putting more snow on the steeper, more North facing pitch will help with the preservation of the snow a little as well.

Cheers!

There's too many factors to contemplate - average temps in May, amount of cloud cover, rainfall, wind, fog, all contribute. Then there's unforeseen snow distribution, and the grooming plan. I agree that spreading snow over bare ground eats it fast, but their usual MO is to spread enough to the lift for the 3 day weekend and do that once a week. At some point they give up on that and you walk.

Given the low mound I think walking will occur earlier this year. Upper to mid connection should stay strong. While heights on some whales are impressive, the overall height is not record setting to my eye. I see problem areas developing below tower 4 if they don't add to it. They may have blown more on the upper roll-over, which might hold off the rope walk one week.

When you get to May 10-25th the melt rate becomes jaw dropping. Anything can happen in any given year.

We'll do well to make Memorial Day this year. June 1st is a bonus.

ss20 · Mar 21, 2018

No, it's not as big of a spine as in year's past...however...there's quite a few factors working in our favor.

1. Looking ahead through April 1st things look cold-seasonable. Some rain? Yes. Some temps above freezing? Yes. But no early blowtorch this year like 60 degrees and 2 days of rain.

2. Natural snow depth is so great it looks like there won't be bare ground for a while. Once bare ground is present on the sides of the trail meltage increases significantly.

You really can't predict what the glacier will look like more than a week away (or once May hits, more than a few days). But April 1st will come and I bet it'll still look mid-winter.

mister moose · Mar 22, 2018

ss20 said:
No, it's not as big of a spine as in year's past...however...there's quite a few factors working in our favor.

1. Looking ahead through April 1st things look cold-seasonable. Some rain? Yes. Some temps above freezing? Yes. But no early blowtorch this year like 60 degrees and 2 days of rain.

2. Natural snow depth is so great it looks like there won't be bare ground for a while. Once bare ground is present on the sides of the trail meltage increases significantly.

You really can't predict what the glacier will look like more than a week away (or once May hits, more than a few days). But April 1st will come and I bet it'll still look mid-winter.

1. Doesn't seem to matter. Some years we have seen a big March or April warm-up and we still had a late closing.

2. Natural snow melts so fast it's almost a non starter when you're talking June 1 goals. It's mostly gone by 3rd week in April, or sooner. It's never there to slow the exponentially higher melt rate in May.

3. April 1st usually looks mid winter. Some years not so much, but it's a better than even bet. We've had dry powder days on April 16th.

Here's some interesting data points for Killington:

Date	Hours Daylight	Sun altitude at noon	Average Temp
4/1	12:45	51.1º	46º
5/1	14:10	61.6º	59º
6/1	15:13	68.5	70º

You can see how much the duration of the sun and the angle of incidence of the sun increases each month. From April 1 to May 1, the angle of incidence of the sun on a north facing 30º slope increases 50%. That's a lot. Factor in the duration of the day, the added air temp, and the higher angle of incidence, and as I said the melt rate in mid May is very rapid. A cool cloudy May is far more important than a cool cloudy April. But regardless of prior weather, by late May the rate of shrinkage is so rapid that for lift served it's always looking dicey.

Equally important is the weather cycle. Some years we get endless strings of cloudy rainy week-ends, and other years we get strings of sunny weekends. That's what really counts from a skiing point of view. Spring skiing on Superstar after all is about soft corn snow and bands on the deck. Not so much about rain soaked moon crust.

SIKSKIER · Mar 23, 2018

I did notice they had many land guns setup from mid trail up.

skiur · Mar 23, 2018

SIKSKIER said:
I did notice they had many land guns setup from mid trail up.

They are done blowing, hoses were being removed the other day. Less snow than other years, let's hope for a cool spring.

JDMRoma · Mar 23, 2018

skiur said:
They are done blowing, hoses were being removed the other day. Less snow than other years, let's hope for a cool spring.

looked like a shit ton of snow there today, I think were all set !

Zermatt · Mar 23, 2018

Memorial Day weekend 1996 or 1997 I was skiing Canyon Quad area in the woods with something like 25+ open trails.

Same year, I think, we were skiing Superstar on June 16th. Skipped school, went home with a nice sun burn and bloody elbows from falling on the sharp snow crystals.

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