The "good stuff" at Killington?

Here's my simplified definition of "good stuff" Narrow, steep, bumped natural snow trails. I see a lot of talk of Powerline and Jug this season and the pics I've seen are pretty impressive. So what other trails at Killington are like these? I haven't skied Killington in 3 or 4 years and while I skied there quite a bit in the 90's, I skied mostly the big name trails. So what are the other little gems at the all too often bashed K-Mart? Obviously not looking for disclosure of off-map stashes.

P.S. Pics are good!

Greg said:

Here's my simplified definition of "good stuff" Narrow, steep, bumped natural snow trails. I see a lot of talk of Powerline and Jug this season and the pics I've seen are pretty impressive. So what other trails at Killington are like these? I haven't skied Killington in 3 or 4 years and while I skied there quite a bit in the 90's, I skied mostly the big name trails. So what are the other little gems at the all too often bashed K-Mart? Obviously not looking for disclosure of off-map stashes.

P.S. Pics are good!

Click to expand...

I haven't been to Killington this year, but wanted to point out that I believe Powerline is new this year (not newly cut, but newly opened for skiing).
- Roundabout (South Ridge area) is a very narrow trail that is supposed to be lots of fun, but I've never gotten to ski it.
- Royal Flush is one of my favorites. A little narrow than some of the other trails in the Canyon area, and thankfully, no snowmaking and I assume never groomed.
- Racer's Edge is nice and narrow so it has some character, but it's pretty flat and not that long, so it isn't much of a trail
- Needle's Eye liftline looks to be a good one, but I haven't gotten to do it.
- Escapade is more interesting than it's more popular neighbor (Cascade), IMO.

If I think of others I'll post later.

The marked segment of Powerline is now regularly horrible, too much traffic....the lower unmarked but obvious part is still somewhat nice.

Roundabout is incredible, tight, lots of natural features, the trees on both sides are fully skiable, so you can drift in and out of the trail.

Racer's Edge and Heavenly Traverse are the other two tight trails, but they aren't really all that steep, but lots of fun to ski.

Interceptor has a fairly tight upper section that is always in bad shape, but the lower is usually in great shape because the upper turns so many people away. (Plus it's hard to find).

Lower Jug is steep and narrow, with lift towers to avoid too...Jug Handle is cool too, with a tree island or two in it, but it's the escape route if Lower Jug looks bad, as it's wider and gentler.

Flume starts off wide and gets narrower, with lots of rocks and other stuff in it.

Needle's Eye liftline has a ton of stumps and natural rock jumps in it, just make sure you scout your landing first. This is best when the chair ISN'T running, as people don't really notice it then.

Vertigo is somewhat narrow, as is Royal Flush. Royal Flush is always bumpy, and usually soft if it's open because of the directly South exposure.

West Glade (now Ridge Run), is a great little bump run.

Also, for lesser traveled trails, check out Valley Plunge (Ignore the rope, but watch out for downed trees), Vagabond, Northstar, Great Bear, anything on South Ridge, Old Superstar, Ovation, Thimble and Upper Needle's and Touchdown.

Another vote for Royal Flush…Northstar, Vagabond, Jug and Jug Handle…Hi-line

Upper and lower powerline..Not that steep but narrow
Jug is a great narrow trail with bumps
North Star is a great natural bump run on snowdon that I know you would love
Vagabond is another natural off snowdon
Catwalk

More will come to me

Never did it, but Catwalk looks interesting. And if you talk about K, don't forget Pico. A lot of good classic NE runs there.

Greg said:

Here's my simplified definition of "good stuff" Narrow, steep, bumped natural snow trails. I see a lot of talk of Powerline and Jug this season and the pics I've seen are pretty impressive. So what other trails at Killington are like these? I haven't skied Killington in 3 or 4 years and while I skied there quite a bit in the 90's, I skied mostly the big name trails. So what are the other little gems at the all too often bashed K-Mart? Obviously not looking for disclosure of off-map stashes.

P.S. Pics are good!

Click to expand...

Escapade you'll like. Upper Needles is good right now. We can poach thimble, thats got a little character. roundabout is fun, but it isnt steep or very long. Powerline is alot of fun, but again, pretty flat. needles liftline was great sunday but again not that steep. top part is steep but its a poach with low hanging chairs. I'll do my best to show you what i know on friday if you can pull it off.

Just dont expect anything along the lines of castlerock type stuff. They just dont have it.

andyzee said:

Never did it, but Catwalk looks interesting. And if you talk about K, don't forget Pico. A lot of good classic NE runs there.

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Upper Giant Killler at Pico

right now upper wildfire & lower vertigo have some of the better lines on the mtn but might be closed. downdraft is great. middle ovation also has some great lines. north star is also good. vagabond is a short intermediate bump run but isn't worth the bang for the buck imho. overall it's hard to find anything at killington that compares to castlerock.

2knees said:

Just dont expect anything along the lines of castlerock type stuff. They just dont have it.

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Like you said one time....They could have if they did not cut that huge thing called double dipper. They should have put a few narrow natural trails in that area..How sweet would that have been.

Thanks everyone. Certainly not looking for Castlerock type stuff; just trails with some character. I love liftines and other natural snow trails.

ALLSKIING said:

Like you said one time....They could have if they did not cut that huge thing called double dipper. They should have put a few narrow natural trails in that area..How sweet would that have been.

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so true. there couldve been 2 or 3 awesome runs cut in there. The canyon is pretty damn steep and has good elevation and exposure. the possibilities make you drool.

but NOOOOO they cut that monstrosity instead.

Greg said:

Thanks everyone. Certainly not looking for Castlerock type stuff; just trails with some character. I love liftines and other natural snow trails.

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sorry, that probably wasnt a fair comparison on my part.

To Summarize what others have said,

Good Old School Killington runs:

Escapade
Flume
Royal Flush
Vagabond
Northstar
Catwalk
Heavenly Traverse
Breakaway
Racer's Edge
The Jug + Jug Handle
Interceptor
Thimble
Old Needle's Liftline
New Needle's Line
West Glade aka Ridge Run

Going next weekend?

I hope to get up one last time, hopefully there is still some s now left after this monsoon!

kingslug said:

Going next weekend?

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Prolly Friday.

Greg said:

Prolly Friday.

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OK, that explains the sudden change in weather

Newpylong said:

To Summarize what others have said,

Good Old School Killington runs:

Escapade
Flume
Royal Flush
Vagabond
Northstar
Catwalk
Heavenly Traverse
Breakaway
Racer's Edge
The Jug + Jug Handle
Interceptor
Thimble
Old Needle's Liftline
New Needle's Line
West Glade aka Ridge Run

Click to expand...

Okay. So tomorrow is supposed to be 53-65*F based on elevation with full sun. Somebody please devise an attack plan for me. Obviously, I'd like to hit corned up bumps as soon as possible so let's focus on the areas that receive sun first.

I haven't been to Killington in years, but I do know that it's best to stick to just a few areas instead of trying to travel around the whole place. So if my goal is to hit as many of the above trails that are open as possible, as well as the good bump runs, how should I approach the day? Please be specific with lifts to ride and times. Would like to try Powerline at least once. From what I hear, Needles Liftline and Vertigo are good places to start. I hope to be clicked in before 9 am and I need to be rolling at 2:30 pm. It will be a powerbar lunch day.

OL, Wildfire first. Becareful as the new snow has not had time to corn up, it may still be sticky.