• Welcome to AlpineZone, the largest online community of skiers and snowboarders in the Northeast!

    You may have to REGISTER before you can post. Registering is FREE, gets rid of the majority of advertisements, and lets you participate in giveaways and other AlpineZone events!

Killington, 11/26

Bene288

New member
Joined
Nov 25, 2011
Messages
1,026
Points
0
Location
Albany, NY
Date(s) Skied: 11/26

Resort or Ski Area: Killington, VT

Conditions: wet packed

Trip Report:

This was my first trip to Killington, what an experience. We got there around 8:00am and had found a parking spot at the K-1 lodge. We were met by very friendly staff giving us detailed instructions on where to park. I purchased our tickets at K-1 and again, found the staff to be incredibly friendly. Must just be a Vermont thing, because I remember thinking the same thing last time I went to Snow.

We took the K-1 Gondola first. When we got off conditions looked great considering the temperature. For our first run, both on new equipment. We decided to take an easy trail down and get our legs warmed up. What a mistake that was. We took Great Northern all of the way down to the bottom. It was over skied and had quite a few bare spots. The whole time I was questioning the website's proclaimed "20-24 inch" base. Because it sure wasn't that deep on any trail I hit. Due to conditions and such heavy traffic, this simple green turned into a hard blue. I quite enjoyed all of the moguls created. However there were really way too many people to ski at my normal pace.

I found Ridge Run and Mouse Trap to be the best trails on the mountain because not many people were skiing them. Chute, Rime and Reason were also pretty enjoyable. The moguls were terrific if your legs could handle the wet snow. Again, there were quite a few thin spots. You could avoid most of them, but some dirt spots spanned the whole width of the trail. It seemed like everyone was sticking to Great Northern. It got to the point where it was dangerous to go down. Which is why we avoided it after two runs and moved on to the more advanced terrain.

I got run into 3 times by snowboarders who had a hard time stopping in such heavy snow. I ski very generously, especially when it's as crowded as it was. I stick to the edge of the trail usually. I do not understand some of these snowboarders who will try to pass you on the edge with two feet of snow between you and the ravine. I had one kid try to push me as he was passing. Unfortunately for him, I'm a solid 210 pounds, and I don't give much ground. His bindings got caught up in the basket of my pole. I gave it a swift yank and freed it up, however he had quite the spill. I can't feel bad for stupidity, I just wish some of these kids would ski and board smarter. I found many of the skiers and boarders to be very rude and oblivious to their surroundings. Two separate times, I witnessed a family make room on the rack for their skis. By this I mean they knocked over other skis and leave them laying on the ground so they can put their equipment on the rack. I sat there watching the whole thing and immediately got up and told them that they're damn lucky they weren't my skis they just touched. I do not see that happen at other mountains.

I have nothing bad to say about the terrain or the staff. I will definitely be going again when there is more terrain open. I really want to hit Bear and Sky Peak. However I would never go on a weekend. Granted only 1/3 of the mountain was open, I'm sure Killington will compare to Mt. Snow and Okemo as far as the kind of people that go there. I enjoy the smaller mountains just on that basis. Never been a fan of crowds. This was probably the first time in 3 years I've skied on a weekend. I definitely remember why I stick to the midweek slots.
 

Cornhead

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 4, 2010
Messages
2,840
Points
48
I echo your sentiments on skiing Killington on a weekday if possible. I'm sure it's even worse this time of year with limited terrain. I've only been there once, about ten years ago. It was on a Warren Miller voucher. It wasn't even on the weekend, but I guess it was close enough. It was a Friday, a couple of days after their first big snow of the season. The thing that bothered me the most was dealing with the cross trails. I would ski down a trail and hit a cross trail mobbed with people. I had to wait for a break in the traffic to continue down the hill. I knew I could ski Pico with my Killington pass, so I skied there in the afternoon. I had a great time a Pico. It was quite a contrast from Killington. I was almost expecting them to throw a blanket on my lap as I loaded the chair. I remember liking the bar there too. If you like smaller mountains, give them a try, great vibe. Slow lifts, but that's nothing I'm not used to, Greek Peak in central NY is my home hill. Sometimes I look down at the snow from the lift and think to myself, "I'm pretty sure I could walk this fast."

I've always wanted to give big K another try, definitely on a weekday, but haven't gotten around to it. Maybe I'll hit them up this Spring, I've already got plans to ski Sugarbush this Winter. I'd like to try to get to Magic too, haven't been to either of them. I'm curious to see if Killington will have the same attitude towards staying open late as they did opening early this year.
 

Bene288

New member
Joined
Nov 25, 2011
Messages
1,026
Points
0
Location
Albany, NY
I echo your sentiments on skiing Killington on a weekday if possible. I'm sure it's even worse this time of year with limited terrain. I've only been there once, about ten years ago. It was on a Warren Miller voucher. It wasn't even on the weekend, but I guess it was close enough. It was a Friday, a couple of days after their first big snow of the season. The thing that bothered me the most was dealing with the cross trails. I would ski down a trail and hit a cross trail mobbed with people. I had to wait for a break in the traffic to continue down the hill. I knew I could ski Pico with my Killington pass, so I skied there in the afternoon. I had a great time a Pico. It was quite a contrast from Killington. I was almost expecting them to throw a blanket on my lap as I loaded the chair. I remember liking the bar there too. If you like smaller mountains, give them a try, great vibe. Slow lifts, but that's nothing I'm not used to, Greek Peak in central NY is my home hill. Sometimes I look down at the snow from the lift and think to myself, "I'm pretty sure I could walk this fast."

I've always wanted to give big K another try, definitely on a weekday, but haven't gotten around to it. Maybe I'll hit them up this Spring, I've already got plans to ski Sugarbush this Winter. I'd like to try to get to Magic too, haven't been to either of them. I'm curious to see if Killington will have the same attitude towards staying open late as they did opening early this year.


Yes, the way the trails connect can be dangerous in high traffic conditions. The area where Mouse Trap, Bunny Buster and Great Northern meet is referred to by the Killington staff as "The Bowling Alley". Perfect name for it. I was coming down Mouse Trap and was met by a string of 10-12 snowboarders sitting down at the gut of the trails. For myself and other seasoned skiers, it was no problem getting around them. However, a beginner coming down Great Northern could run into an unexpected and dangerous situation with the way people were stopped. Again, I'll have to go midweek with lots of terrain open to give a full review. I was just talking with my mother about Magic, never been there. Just checked out the map, looked decent. Prices looked even nicer. I've never done Greek Peak either, I've heard their resort is real nice though.
 

180

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 29, 2004
Messages
1,952
Points
48
Location
mahopac, ny
I can't believe anyone could complain about Killington's product this weekend. The most skiing almost anywhere. They were generous with natural snow trails and I am thankful for it. It's always crowded at the major intersections no matter what time of year. Many of us have no choice, but to ski on the weekends.
 

WoodCore

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 15, 2007
Messages
3,259
Points
48
Location
CT
I had a great day at Killington on Saturday!! Arrived at the K1 base around 7:20am, got some rock star parking right behind the Gondi, booted up and hit the mountain right at 8. We skied straight through from 8am until 1:30 and after logging around 20,000 feet of descent retired back to bay 1 for a some snacks and cold brews,

Skiing was great and was really impressed with the amount of snow Killington had made! Plenty of variety and the coverage on the routes that had seen the snowguns was more than adequate. Some natural snow trails where open and actually skied well despite the thin coverage. Great Bear is one natural snow trail that comes to mind, kudos to K for dropping the ropes and letting me decide what I wanted to ski.

Crowds where manageable until about noon time but became increasingly dangerous thereafter. Never really any long lines at the lifts but the trails were interesting to say the least.


Here's some pics.....


IMG_00651.JPG




IMG_00691.JPG




IMG_0076.JPG




IMG_0081.JPG




IMG_00821.JPG




IMG_00852.JPG




:popcorn:
 

Bene288

New member
Joined
Nov 25, 2011
Messages
1,026
Points
0
Location
Albany, NY
I was real surprised about the lift lines. They do keep them moving at Killington. Never waited more than 5 minutes at any lift.
 

WJenness

Active member
Joined
Oct 18, 2007
Messages
3,024
Points
38
Location
Lowell, MA
I had a great day at Killington on Saturday!! Arrived at the K1 base around 7:20am, got some rock star parking right behind the Gondi, booted up and hit the mountain right at 8. We skied straight through from 8am until 1:30 and after logging around 20,000 feet of descent retired back to bay 1 for a some snacks and cold brews,

Skiing was great and was really impressed with the amount of snow Killington had made! Plenty of variety and the coverage on the routes that had seen the snowguns was more than adequate. Some natural snow trails where open and actually skied well despite the thin coverage. Great Bear is one natural snow trail that comes to mind, kudos to K for dropping the ropes and letting me decide what I wanted to ski.

Crowds where manageable until about noon time but became increasingly dangerous thereafter. Never really any long lines at the lifts but the trails were interesting to say the least.


Here's some pics.....


IMG_00651.JPG




IMG_00691.JPG




IMG_0076.JPG




IMG_0081.JPG




IMG_00821.JPG




IMG_00852.JPG




:popcorn:

Looking at your pictures, I'm shocked by the snow loss between Saturday and Sunday.

Sunday looked VASTLY different. I didn't take many pictures, but I will post what I did.

-w
 

Cornhead

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 4, 2010
Messages
2,840
Points
48
I can't believe anyone could complain about Killington's product this weekend. The most skiing almost anywhere. They were generous with natural snow trails and I am thankful for it. It's always crowded at the major intersections no matter what time of year. Many of us have no choice, but to ski on the weekends.
He wasn't complaining about the product, just the crowds, pretty unavoidable this time of year, anywhere. I was playing pinball at Whiteface Friday, I knew what I was getting into. I'm no authority on Killington, only skied there half a day, ten years ago, but I can't say I've had to stop and wait for gap in traffic on a cross trail to continue down the hill anywhere else I've been. I thought I had the right of way? I guess Killington is the Hunta of VT (just to piss some more people off). I'd avoid skiing there on a weekend at all cost also. I give Killington a lot of credit for their early season efforts, looked awesome on Wednesday. Geez, I was ridding a motorcycle yesterday without a jacket on, and it's almost December. Third time I've broke it out of storage for a ride.

Sorry for those who can only ski weekends. That's why I saved all my vacation time for Winter.:wink:


I've never done Greek Peak either, I've heard their resort is real nice though.
Greek's alright for what it is, close to home, relatively cheap season pass, night skiing, some lake effect snow. You kind of loose perspective when you are so familiar with a place. I don't think I'd go out of my way to ski there however. It's weird because I really like places that are "retro", but anything "retro" about Greek, just seems dumpy to me. They have invested in a new hotel / indoor water park, mountain coaster, and zip lines if that's what your looking for. The hotel is beautiful, it's across the street from the hill. We've been promised a new lift for the last two seasons. Appears they believe it's wiser to spend money elsewhere. I guess, when / if, the economy turns around, and they can throw some money at their ski related infrastructure, it would be pretty nice, for central NY. The terrain is O.K., they only have 900ft of vertical. Even Greek can be crowded on the weekends. It's what makes it possible to ski all the times it's not, just like anywhere else.

Nice pics WoodCore, that last one does look a little scary. Nice bumps on the one before that. That's cool that they dropped the ropes on some natural trails too, I thought 180 was referring to allowed poaching when he spoke of them being "generous".

Come on Winter, motorcycle rides are fun, but enough already. I'm ready to ski!
:popcorn:
 

xwhaler

Active member
Joined
Nov 26, 2007
Messages
2,943
Points
38
Location
Seacoast NH
I was also at K on Saturday. Mouse Trap and that funnell area was pretty nuts with crowds around 11am. I watched one guy straight line the bump field at about 40 mph and almost took out some kids learning to ski who ended up going where they shouldnt.

We found the best snow to be up high on Rime & East Fall.
The 2fers worked out well, have one more will likely be back 12/10.

This was my first time skiing K in close to 20 yrs. I went once as a young kid but didn't remember any of it.
Looks like some nice steeps into the ravine off the K-1 gondola; would be fun to return on a powder day.
 

Bene288

New member
Joined
Nov 25, 2011
Messages
1,026
Points
0
Location
Albany, NY
I hit Mouse Trap right around lunch time and it was pretty open. I'm hoping they get some more natural snow before the 2 for 1 vouchers run out on the 16th.
 
Top