10 yrs ago today-killington opened

[skiadikt]

them daze is over but 10 yrs ago today, killington opened for the 1997-98 ski season. this following up the longest season & latest close ever, june 22 the previous season. so killington was closed for under 3 1/2 months. if i recall correctly, at that time the k1 was under construction so there was no access to the peak. using a bit of creativity they opened header on ramshead. melted out pretty quickly and they closed a few days later. when they finally reopened for good later in the month, once again it was on header. in addition they had snowshed open with high road connecting into the needles area with a hugely bumped panic/needles and later connecting into bittersweet. it was quite a scene.

 

[drjeff]

10 years ago today was alot colder than today Even if it was K in it's good 'ol Pres Smith beast of the east glory days of open earlier, stay open later, make more snow, use the suffix "est" the most in marketing, this years temps wouldn't have allowed an Oct 1st opening. You might have seen an old fashioned "blow out the mice" test firing of the snowmaking system last week though(would have been close temp wise and that test patch always looked real nice framed against the foliage at peak color). Ahhh the good 'ol days

 

[bobbutts]

Early October on the Peak Double in the 80's
I miss those days :'(

 

[skiadikt]

After the last few years it is hard to believe it was ever cold enough to that ...

prehistoric times before "global warming". ;-)

 

[bobbutts]

Those early October openings were (almost?) always not sustained. This time of year the average temps are not cold enough to open, it required a period of colder than normal temps. Around mid-month it looks like we'll have an important cold front pass though and bring some below normal temps. If it were the old days they would probably have their eyes on that. It is pretty unscientific to call global warming because they don't have the weather to match their earliest opening ever on any particular year. If you look at the records for weather locations around New England you'll see there is HUGE variability this time of year. On this date at Concord NH the record high is 87 (1922) and record low is 24 (1925).

 

[2knees]

Those early October openings were (almost?) always not sustained.

you are correct. They never were sustained. which made it even more impressive really. they didnt care about the costs associated with blowing snow for a few days of skiing only to have to close again. i was lucky enough to grab two october days. both on cascade.

 

[Greg]

Early October on the Peak Double in the 80's
I miss those days :'(

What I wouldn't do to rock those piles right about now...

 

[Treeskier]

I was there!

 

[MrMagic]

amazing,
great photos, we can only hope that some mtn, in the east will open in oct, i think we all need turns right now

 

[Newpylong]

Those early October openings were (almost?) always not sustained. This time of year the average temps are not cold enough to open, it required a period of colder than normal temps. Around mid-month it looks like we'll have an important cold front pass though and bring some below normal temps. If it were the old days they would probably have their eyes on that. It is pretty unscientific to call global warming because they don't have the weather to match their earliest opening ever on any particular year. If you look at the records for weather locations around New England you'll see there is HUGE variability this time of year. On this date at Concord NH the record high is 87 (1922) and record low is 24 (1925).

Negative.. as far as I remember there was only one season in the 90's where an October opening occured and they closed only to re-open later.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

I wasn't there but that weekend I did a two day backpacking trip with the UVM outing club from the Lincoln Gap to MRG then down the Jeruselam trail and there was snow above 3k feet..my first turns weren't until later that month because I didn't have a car due to being a freshman although I brought my car 2nd semester..ahhh memories..Stowe was 100 percent the week after November that year but than the great ice storm killed alot of the best tree skiing the 1st week of January..

 

[jsul]

Luv the old school photos. Any more of those photos??? Global warming has absolutely nothing to do with the current length of the ski season. It's all about the economics of running a mountain. I wish the powers that be would committ to a longer season. I wish it wasn't all bottom line profits. Nothing is better than skiing bumps when the temps are above 40 degrees.

 

[bobbutts]

Luv the old school photos. Any more of those photos??? Global warming has absolutely nothing to do with the current length of the ski season. It's all about the economics of running a mountain. I wish the powers that be would committ to a longer season. I wish it wasn't all bottom line profits. Nothing is better than skiing bumps when the temps are above 40 degrees.

One more for u

It's me jumping over the mud.

 

[WoodCore]

It's me jumping over the mud.

Nice pic! BTW did you clear the mud?

 

[Hawkshot99]

Nice pic! BTW did you clear the mud?

He is wearing white. I hope he did.....

 

[bvibert]

I was at a local fair over the weekend and the PA announcer was nice enough to inform everyone that 20 years ago on that day they had to cancel the fair due to 3-4" of snow. He tells us that as it's in the 70's, gee thanks for the kick in the groin.

 

[bobbutts]

He is wearing white. I hope he did.....

Of course.. did you catch what the T-Shirt says?

Killington Black Diamond Tour

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Of course.. did you catch what the T-Shirt says?

Killington Black Diamond Tour

I used to have that shirt..back when I was in 9th grade...wow I thought I was an expert because I made it down Outer Limits..lol..