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Throwback Report- Killington 4/1-4/2, 2017

ss20

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A minute from the Alta exit off the I-15!
If I were to pick the best ski weekend I'd ever had, it would be this one.

Saturday was a 14" spring powder day. Snow was dense enough to stick to EVERYTHING, putting the mountain completely in play. The trees were off-the-charts. I remember hooting and hollering through the Stairs multiple times for first tracks. Then it was an assault on the off-piste and off-the-map. I met up with a fellow named Jake who skied with me a bit. I showed him the easy stuff to find before losing him over by Bear. No friends on a powder day!

Sunday was 50 degrees and bluebird skies. Everything that had any sort of pitch had moguls. Grooming was irrelevant after the first hour. I distinctly remember riding up the Skyeship gondola looking at Needle's Eye at 10am, seeing wall-to-wall low angle bumps. I also remember doing all the stuff at Bear...and I mean ALL of it. Hit everything from Wildfire to Devil's Den. Went into the Canyon where the rock below the Downdraft intersection was almost totally buried. Again, everything in the Canyon was bumps. Soft, fresh powder bumps. Not a hint of scratch underneath no matter where I went. For a quick break I distinctly remember buying a Powerade at the Waffle Hut, and riding up the old Snowdon Triple, just at peace with life and how every choice I had made had let up to that weekend. Makes all of life's problems seem frivolous.

That weekend I skied bell-to-bell. Saturday and Sunday. Did something incredible like 60+ runs that weekend.

I was on Icelantic Keeper SKNY skis. 95mm underfoot with a stupidly large shovel. Best skis I've had in crud, tanked their way right through. I've only seen two other pairs. They've been retired a couple years now after the edge blew out at MRG. I do miss hearing "wow those are some cool looking skis" on quite literally every single lift ride :lol:.
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One of the glades at Bear. I believe it's Centerpiece. All the glades at Bear are criminally underrated. Outer Limits and Devil's Fiddle are always on people's list of most challenging trails...just imagine the same setup...legit 1,200 vertical double-diamond pitch...now just add trees :wink:
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Morning bumps on the Fiddle. Totally covered in this picture, but the sun baked it and iirc it was closed the next day.
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Looking up Needle's Eye.
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Looking down Downdraft into the Canyon.
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Tonyr

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Looks like a great weekend of skiing. One of the best ski experiences that I've ever had was at Killington as well over Presidents week in the 2018/2019 season. The whole mountain was in play that weekend too.

I have to agree that Bear mountain glades are totally underrated. Devil's Den, Centerpiece along with Julio and Anarchy on the main peak are some of the best expert tree skiing trails that you'll ski anywhere. I happen to think that Centerpiece is the toughest run at Killington.

Tony
 

ss20

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 13, 2013
Messages
3,919
Points
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Location
A minute from the Alta exit off the I-15!
Looks like a great weekend of skiing. One of the best ski experiences that I've ever had was at Killington as well over Presidents week in the 2018/2019 season. The whole mountain was in play that weekend too.

I have to agree that Bear mountain glades are totally underrated. Devil's Den, Centerpiece along with Julio and Anarchy on the main peak are some of the best expert tree skiing trails that you'll ski anywhere. I happen to think that Centerpiece is the toughest run at Killington.

Tony

The top part of Devil's Den is the hardest at K, imo. It is no longer on the map and has been permanently roped off the past couple years. There's a few cliffs that depending on snowpack have a little bit of mandatory "air". There is serious potential to do some crazy stuff in there but I've only seen people's tracks off the insane stuff. The technical aspect is that most of the route you have only two routes down and impenetrable brush on either side of you.

I agree Killington's trees are some of the best. As far as quantity I don't think they can be beat when you include off-the-map stuff.
 

Tonyr

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My take is that Killington and Jay have the best on the map glades. Stowe's side country is unbelievable, if your counting that Stowe's glades are tough to beat.
 
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