Killington 3/1-2/08

[ta&idaho]

Date(s) Skied: Saturday and Sunday, March 1st and 2nd, 2008

Resort or Ski Area: Killington

Conditions: soft bumps everywhere, powder and tracked powder in the trees

Trip Report: Amazing trip. Spent the weekend with my fiancee's family--including her 8- and 9-year-old snowboarder step-brothers--so I spent a good portion of the time tearing up the greens with the kids, but I still had plenty of time to enjoy the epic conditions.

By now everyone's pretty familiar with the snow conditions all over the NE this weekend, so I'll keep it short: soft bumps everywhere. Saturday I spent most of my day on the Bear and Superstar lifts. Ovation was outstanding, the Needle Express liftline was great until yardsale-faceplanted right under the lift, Wildfire had a similar vibe without the audience, and the woods beyond Devil's Den were still fresh on my last run at 4. Great day.

Sunday was epic. Snow refreshed, this time lighter and dryer. Bluebird once the clouds dissipated around 10. Amazing day. I spent all day on the other half of the mountain: Snowdon, Canyon, the K-1 Gondola, etc. The trees were outstanding (and accessible, even for a Eastern newbie not used to bushwhacking his way through dense underbrush), the bumps were soft and forgiving, and the weather was gorgeous. Definitely one of my best days of the year. Runs of the day were Big Dipper and the trees on both sides of Royal Flush, but everywhere was great.

As some of you may know, I was skeptical of the skiing when I found out I was moving East this season. I'm a skeptic no longer. This weekend was the real deal.

Here are a few pics from Sunday...

 

[2knees]

this is killing me. every tr i read is just making me drool. looks like you got around pretty well. catwalk, needles liftline, the throne. you found alot of good stuff for what i'm assuming was your first trip to kmart.

 

[reefer]

Great pics, nice short report! Don't get too spoiled. We do have great skiing here, but this has been a record snowfall season this year! Glad you are out enjoying it and experiencing New England at its finest. Should be seeing you Saturday at Ascutney!

 

[reefer]

this is killing me. every tr i read is just making me drool.

They should be....................................Best conditionds I've experienced in my short illustrious carreer (started seriously in 99/00).

 

[2knees]

They should be....................................Best conditionds I've experienced in my short illustrious carreer (started seriously in 99/00).

Rub it in rub it in. :wink:

i spent the weekend taking care of two sick children.

 

[danny p]

those are some really nice pics, looks like a true bluebird sky...

 

[skiadikt]

definitely one of the best weekends of the season and yeah trees were the ticket. bear trees like growler & devil's den were great both days. growler was like a dream. gotta hit them while you can. saturday morning was spent in the snowden trees, afternoon hit the canyon tree runs. for bumps we liked wildfire & vertigo.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

nice pictures..serious stoke..was it crowded?

 

[davidhowland14]

you think K is the real deal of NE skiing? Sure, it's big. Hit jay peak on a powder day. Then try TUX. you've just reached the tip of the iceberg, imo.

nice pics! I love shots like this one:

where the trails appear to just spill down the mountain.

 

[ta&idaho]

2knees--sorry you missed out...great weekend, as you have obviously read. the mountain was much easier to navigate than i would have guessed given all the whining about endless traverses, etc. when in doubt...follow a bearded freeheeler into the woods.

reefer--stoked for ascutney. let's hope the rain doesn't close things down too much.

grilled steeze--no crowds. even the gondola was walk on after 2 on sunday.

david howland--not sure whether it is THE real deal, but this weekend served up some great skiing. after 21 seasons in tahoe and idaho, i was bracing myself for a major disappointment this year. although the conditions haven't always been as good as this past this weekend, and although i haven't made it to jay/tux/various other places, i've reminded myself how much i love skiing for skiing's sake. if i were asked to name the biggest compliment i could give to all you easterners, i'd say you ski for the right reasons: you love it, you're willing to work for it, and you ski every day like it may rain/thaw/freeze the next day. not sure how long i'll end up staying out here, but i'll always be a more complete skier for having spent some time among you crazy AZers...

 

[davidhowland14]

sounds like you're looking at life the right way.