Killington - 3/8/09

[ta&idaho]

Date(s) Skied: Sunday, March 8, 2009

Resort or Ski Area: Killington

Conditions: some slush and some sun

Trip Report:

On Sunday we decided to take advantage of $55 "Deal Grabber" tickets on our way back to the city. We were worried about rain, but we ended up getting a mix of overcast skies, a little fog on top of the main peak, and a fair amount of sun. The snow was holding up surprisingly well. Some of the more exposed runs were closed (Devil's Fiddle was such a blast last year I had no idea it was pretty much a solid slab of rock underneath...ain't coming back this year without a monstrous storm), but most of the mountain was open and offering fantastic spring conditions.

We parked in the Snowshed lot and spent the day working our way over to Bear Mountain and back. Corn cruisers and slushy bumps everywhere.

The early fog lifted off from most of the mountain, providing some nice slushy bumps under beautiful spring skies:

Outer limits was outer limits...

Incredibly young kids rippin' it up in a mogul competition on Needle's Eye:

Some nice easy, slushy bumps to restore the ego after watching eight-year-olds put us in our place:

Coverage holding up fine in the trees to the right of Superstar, which empty into a nice little drainage chute:

Killington gets a bad rap, as far as I can tell. I skied here the first weekend in March last year, and it was empty, and once again this year, it was empty. For being 4.5 hours from the city, its a pretty solid mountain. Definitely a blast in the spring.

 

[SkiDork]

Nice pics. I was actually the starter for the mogul comp you photographed. It was the EQS B Central Regional championship. And it did have a selection of some pretty hot skiers for their age.

 

[carbonXshell]

That's a great picture from the top of OL

 

[2knees]

damn fine pics. ol looks sick.

 

[andyzee]

damn fine pics. ol looks sick.

But does it have soul?

 

[2knees]

andy, only you can answer that question. It was you who claimed they lost it. it was you who claimed they found it. i have no say, interest or stake in this debate. nice of you to include in me in your quest though.....


btw, thats a nice vid of you skiing trees at sugarbush. found that one on youtube.

sick, man, just sick.

 

[mondeo]

This is going to be some good bait for HS's least knowledgeable Kmart shopper award, but I'm stumped. What trail is that?

I agree that they get a bad rap for being crowded. I never wait for more than a minute or two for a lift, unless they have ice or wind holds on a significant number of lifts.

 

[ta&idaho]

This is going to be some good bait for HS's least knowledgeable Kmart shopper award, but I'm stumped. What trail is that?

That's the bottom of Skyeburst, I think.

 

[mondeo]

That's the bottom of Skyeburst, I think.

Bottom of Skyeburst was closed last weekend. Bittersweet, maybe?

 

[Geoff]

Bottom of Skyeburst was closed last weekend. Bittersweet, maybe?

You are standing at the intersection of Skyeburst and Bear Claw. I was just on that today and it was sheet ice with a tiny bit of sugar snow on skier's left.

Viper Pit would be to your left and has a fence across it this week for the event. The new lift would be 100 feet to your right.

You are looking down lower Wildfire in the distance. Looking at a trail map since they rename that stuff every year, that section of terrain that goes into Wildfire and left onto what used to be called Anti-Venom below Viper Pit is now part of Bear Claw.

 

[mondeo]

You are standing at the intersection of Skyeburst and Bear Claw. I was just on that today and it was sheet ice with a tiny bit of sugar snow on skier's left.

Viper Pit would be to your left and has a fence across it this week for the event. The new lift would be 100 feet to your right.

You are looking down lower Wildfire in the distance. Looking at a trail map since they rename that stuff every year, that section of terrain that goes into Wildfire and left onto what used to be called Anti-Venom below Viper Pit is now part of Bear Claw.

I thought that might be it, but the hills in the background threw me off and Wildfire seems too flat. I guess I never actually look at anything other than the snow in front of me.