Killington 3/25-3/26/18

Got to skyeship shortly after noon for a half day. Bounced around between all the mountains to see where the best snow was. Found all the south facing stuff wasn't softening up and was very stiff. This took Bear and Flush out of the equation. Did sample Growler...coverage is good but just too risky to ski when it's that tough to turn.

Julio, Juanita, and Anarchy were in good shape. All of them have that crap spot at the bottom that was thin but they were great otherwise. No melt/freeze going on that high on the north facing trails so the snow was packed but soft. Somewhere and Skyebits were also pretty nice.

Double Dipper had soft bumps. Unfortunately after a sunny start, a cloud moved over and gave me flat light the entire run so it was tough to see. Then it came back out when I hopped on the Quad. Vertigo Headwall was very slick but soft bumps below.

Hit a few groomers along the way...Superstar, Skyelark, Bittersweet, Skyeburst, Wildfire, and Needles Eye off the top of my head. Some slick spots and lots of people flying around being a busy Sunday afternoon but mostly in great shape.

Finished the day with a 3K vert run from Peak to Skyeship. Fun going from good packed powder up top to potatoes at the bottom. Was hoping the soft bottom of Great Northern meant a soft Valley Plunge but that ended up being very stiff so bailed out down Touchdown which was also ugly.

Back at it tomorrow. Probably will spend more time at Snowdon and maybe Bear will soften up in the afternoon.

Thats a cool run down to skyship base..interesting house they built along the way.

I did the same thing with Valley Plunge last week. Glazed over from the sun.

Vertigo Headwall yesterday was left side bumps and right side slick. I took the right side and ended up halfway off the trail before that little drop. Not the most elegant descent !

bdfreetuna said:

I did the same thing with Valley Plunge last week. Glazed over from the sun.

Vertigo Headwall yesterday was left side bumps and right side slick. I took the right side and ended up halfway off the trail before that little drop. Not the most elegant descent !

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Yeah most of vertigo Headwall actually wasn't bad but there was on the spot just below the lip of the steep pitch that was all ice. Just stood there thinking if I lose my feet I'm gonna ragdoll down this whole thing lol.

I was at K Friday-Sunday this weekend. Hit pretty much everything.

Julio skied AMAZING all weekend. Outer Limits was pretty after 10am on Saturday. It never really softened up today. The Canyon has been skiing awesome...snow is fresh and crisp like it just fell yesterday. The less-skied woods have a lot of needles and crap on top of the snow but the snow is nice wherever you go. Southern exposure areas (looker's left of Snowdon, Bear) are the worst spots on the hill but anything that doesn't bake in the sun then freeze overnight has no indication of any freeze/thaw cycles.

Ovation is skiing surprisingly well. The masses can ski Superstar all they want...hoards of people on it all day, each day.

Crowds were minimal Friday and Sunday. Saturday was surprisingly busy. 10 minute wait for the Skye Peak Quad in the singles line...though we were done with that crap till next December??

Canyon trees were off the charts...and I'm not just talking about Double Dipper and Anarchy :grin:


Looking forward to soft spring bumps! So long trees!

While I'm in for lunch I'd like to report that I skied juggernaut from k peak to bear base in 19 minutes this morning. Is that good?

Today was as mint as spring days get. 35 degrees, not a cloud in the sky, no wind, and lots of snow. Started right after 9 with groomed and cold East Fall and Cascade. Both solid and fast but fun warmups.

Always been curious and with the hard packed and fast snow of the morning, figured there'd be no better time to check out juggernaut. With the conditions the way they were I barely had to skate...maybe one or two short areas. But yeah...lots of meandering and I was half expecting a bear or moose to come wandering out. I thought it was a pretty cool experience and let's you really appreciate the nice day. But not something I'd want to do every day. Lots of good woods back there too...only problem is they would suck getting to on a powder day.

Anyway, finally ended up at bear and enjoyed some soft groomers. Hit Skyeburst, wildfire, and outer limits...all groomed and pretty much pristine at that point. Headed back over to the basin via Skyelark which was a return to winter...bumpy and scraped.

Hit the ROTD next which was highline. The whole bottom pitch was total cream cheese...some of the best spring snow I've ever skied. Headed up to low rider which had a lot of bumps...not a fan of lots of moguls in the woods but at least the snow was good.

Headed for Squeeze play next...pretty much all wet snow which was fun until you got to the stream with no way across. Probably should put a warning up about that at the top. Yeah there's a thin cover sign but some of those Rams Head skiers might fall in if they're not careful. Also grabbed a run on header which was nice and soft.

Back to the peak, hit catwalk which was pretty solid but some soft snow to turn in. Over to the Throne which was the perfect kind of soft. Fun run and not too many bare spots yet. Hit Double Dipper next which some some reason was soft yesterday afternoon but not today in the sun.

Quick lunch at the peak then hit highline a couple more times. Headed to Superstar next which was scraped quite a bit and frankly full of idiots. That chair is like a magnet for people over their head.

Headed back to bear next...at that point it was 2:30 and was hoping growler was soft but was still frozen solid. Bailed out onto OL which was skied off by that point. Wildfire was funny...at the top it was mid Winter packed powder but then after the turn under the chair suddenly spring skiing. 2 different seasons on one trail.

Wanted to get a few more glades in as today was probably it for me before the rains come this week. Hit nowhere to Skyebits...not too bad...thin towards the bottom. Over to Julio next...wish I skied it more this weekend. It's in fantastic shape. Even the bottom is covered pretty good. Not nearly as nasty as the bottoms of anarchy and Juanita. Perfect packed powder in all those woods.

Hit Chop Chop next which was almost too soft and definitely thin on cover. Tough run...especially coming from a perfect Julio. But also not as good as the throne.

Finished up with some woods between Northstar and Patsy's. Never realized how well maintained all the woods are pretty much everywhere between chute and Rams Head. Fun run...a little frozen where the sun had gotten in.

Wish I could've stayed up one more day. Today was one of the best spring days I've ever had and tomorrow looks like more of the same. Such a fun mountain on days like today...different seasons on each run so just pick what kind of snow you want and go for it.

Heading up to Lake Placid next weekend. Hoping to get a day at Whiteface and a day at Gore. Weather looks like crap but if it stays warm till Monday it would be nice to get a soft whiteface.

Zand said:

ore glades in as today was probably it for me before the rains come this week. Hit nowhere to Skyebits...not too bad...thin towards the bottom. Over to Julio next...wish I skied it more this weekend. It's in fantastic shape. Even the bottom is covered pretty good. Not nearly as nasty as the bottoms of anarchy and Juanita. Perfect packed powder in all those woods.

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I think over my three day weekend I skied it at least 10 times. It was my ROTD Saturday and Sunday. Crazy good snow in there. Such a nice glade when there's snow and the rocks are mostly covered at the bottom.

^ for some reason reading that increases my sense of satisfaction on being one of the first 3 people down Julio / Juanita in knee deep powder after the last blizzard

Well done Zand ... I can even appreciate your decision to ski Juggernaut given it being the 2nd day and waiting for the hill to warm up

bdfreetuna said:

^ for some reason reading that increases my sense of satisfaction on being one of the first 3 people down Julio / Juanita in knee deep powder after the last blizzard

Well done Zand ... I can even appreciate your decision to ski Juggernaut given it being the 2nd day and waiting for the hill to warm up

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It's something you have to try once, especially when the conditions are fast. Required no poling and a couple areas of skating (maybe not even necessary, just wanted to keep speed up not knowing if it was about to get flatter). I know I've done a hell of a lot more skating and poling on each run down East Bowl lol.