dlague
Active member
Resort: Killington
Conditions: (thin PP over ice/very HP)
Being that his was going to be out first day out and all using new boots, we decided to ski for a few hours. Initially, my wife was hesitant due to the rain the day before but come Saturday morning SHE was the one getting everyone going much to my surprise. I have procrastinated with getting everything ready this season, so there was a last minute frenzy getting the Thule rack on the truck with skis/snowboards loaded, loading boot bags, quick hit with wax and edge sharpening and getting everyone out the door!
On our way there was a certain type of excitement that made the ride seem like forever! However heading up Killington Rd, we were all ready. Knowing how full the K1 Lodge parking lot might be, we made an ill-fated decision to park at Snowshed. Why not, the lift is operating there and few cars parked there. Well, it turns out the trail connecting to Superstar from there was not opened yet. So we had to take the shuttle since our gear was all unloaded and we were dressed ready to go. I was a little bummed and scratching my head thinking “Why open Snowshed up if there was no way to get to the rest of the mountain that was open?”. Ahhhh! Terrain for beginners – that’s why!
Once at K1, we headed over to the gondola and with the line there we decided on the Snowdon Triple! Forgot how slow this chair is, but that was ok! On the way up we noticed a lot of scraping sounds and noticed it looked firm and fast. On our first run (Bunny Buster), we could link up a few turns but the edges just were not gripping at all. Basically frozen PP with a dusting. Next, I wanted to go down infamous Chute so we went up on Snowdon Quad to see where people can ski at 76 MPH. BTW, on this day there were zero people skiing top speeds. The trails were fast for sure but stopping quickly was not happening and if you lost an edge you were going slide a ways! Chute was like the first run. I would like to say it was skied off but it was basically frozen from the rains the day before then dropping below freezing that night and since then.
Enough of Snowdon and up to K1. While on the gondola, others were saying that the run off Superstar Quad were in pretty good shape. Conditions up top seemed pretty good but we all decided to head over to Superstar Quad and headed down Great Northern and on to Mouse Trap and Bunny Buster. Mouse trap had some nice bumps but snowmaking was in progress and stayed to skiers left. Lower Bunny Buster was nice and slippery so stayed closer to the edge there as well. Time for a couple of beers before hitting Superstar Quad.
We ended up lapping the Superstar Quad for four runs before calling it quits. The first run was mellow and just a cruising run down Skylark, High Road and Bittersweet! My wife bagged it for the day while I took three fast non-stop laps with my boys. We went down Superstar headwall twice which had good bumps but spaced to far apart in the middle with lots of icy troughs. The sides were better. Skylark was in real good shape with fun bumps spread here and there. The lower part of Skylark was very fun with random bumps and fresh man-made!
Overall, it was a good first day! Legs were definitely not ready for the season even though the head was! We skied conservatively due to the frozen HP. Two trails that looked pretty good but I never got around to were Highline and East Fall. I felt like a kid in the candy store – too little time and no way to try all trails since we were there for just a few hours. Friday's conditions report, claimed that the snow was wet and colder temps were returning but not to sweat it since their awesome snowmaking team would lay a blanket of snow on all trails. Not so much on the Snowdon side!
Trip was courtesy of “The Drift” Newsletter 2 fer!
Sorry no pics phone died!
Conditions: (thin PP over ice/very HP)
Being that his was going to be out first day out and all using new boots, we decided to ski for a few hours. Initially, my wife was hesitant due to the rain the day before but come Saturday morning SHE was the one getting everyone going much to my surprise. I have procrastinated with getting everything ready this season, so there was a last minute frenzy getting the Thule rack on the truck with skis/snowboards loaded, loading boot bags, quick hit with wax and edge sharpening and getting everyone out the door!
On our way there was a certain type of excitement that made the ride seem like forever! However heading up Killington Rd, we were all ready. Knowing how full the K1 Lodge parking lot might be, we made an ill-fated decision to park at Snowshed. Why not, the lift is operating there and few cars parked there. Well, it turns out the trail connecting to Superstar from there was not opened yet. So we had to take the shuttle since our gear was all unloaded and we were dressed ready to go. I was a little bummed and scratching my head thinking “Why open Snowshed up if there was no way to get to the rest of the mountain that was open?”. Ahhhh! Terrain for beginners – that’s why!
Once at K1, we headed over to the gondola and with the line there we decided on the Snowdon Triple! Forgot how slow this chair is, but that was ok! On the way up we noticed a lot of scraping sounds and noticed it looked firm and fast. On our first run (Bunny Buster), we could link up a few turns but the edges just were not gripping at all. Basically frozen PP with a dusting. Next, I wanted to go down infamous Chute so we went up on Snowdon Quad to see where people can ski at 76 MPH. BTW, on this day there were zero people skiing top speeds. The trails were fast for sure but stopping quickly was not happening and if you lost an edge you were going slide a ways! Chute was like the first run. I would like to say it was skied off but it was basically frozen from the rains the day before then dropping below freezing that night and since then.
Enough of Snowdon and up to K1. While on the gondola, others were saying that the run off Superstar Quad were in pretty good shape. Conditions up top seemed pretty good but we all decided to head over to Superstar Quad and headed down Great Northern and on to Mouse Trap and Bunny Buster. Mouse trap had some nice bumps but snowmaking was in progress and stayed to skiers left. Lower Bunny Buster was nice and slippery so stayed closer to the edge there as well. Time for a couple of beers before hitting Superstar Quad.
We ended up lapping the Superstar Quad for four runs before calling it quits. The first run was mellow and just a cruising run down Skylark, High Road and Bittersweet! My wife bagged it for the day while I took three fast non-stop laps with my boys. We went down Superstar headwall twice which had good bumps but spaced to far apart in the middle with lots of icy troughs. The sides were better. Skylark was in real good shape with fun bumps spread here and there. The lower part of Skylark was very fun with random bumps and fresh man-made!
Overall, it was a good first day! Legs were definitely not ready for the season even though the head was! We skied conservatively due to the frozen HP. Two trails that looked pretty good but I never got around to were Highline and East Fall. I felt like a kid in the candy store – too little time and no way to try all trails since we were there for just a few hours. Friday's conditions report, claimed that the snow was wet and colder temps were returning but not to sweat it since their awesome snowmaking team would lay a blanket of snow on all trails. Not so much on the Snowdon side!
Trip was courtesy of “The Drift” Newsletter 2 fer!
Sorry no pics phone died!
