Killington - 5/12/05

[skijay]

Resort: Killington

Date Skied: 05/12/05

Conditions: Lots of sun, cool, hard pack to slush.

Trip Report:
I was so anxious to go skiing at least one more time this season and I picked today to do it. Let me start by saying on Wednesday it was 80 degrees at the summit according to the guy in the ski shop. I left my house at 7am and it was 60 degrees. I knew it would be cooler at Killington so I packed a fleece and a windbreaker. I had EMS fleece gloves and a winter hat. As I approached Greenfield, MA it was cloudy and windy and the temperature started to drop. By the time I was around the Putney exit the sky was blue and cloud free

I got out of my car around 9:30am. The temperature read 36 degrees. Lots of sun! I was not prepared for the temperature. I started the day with my Salomon 1080 skis. Superstar was empty, as seen in the pictures taken around 10am or so. To get to Superstar you have to walk down from the summit about 25 feet. I chose the Skylarke trail (I think it was a couple different names). This had coverage from summit to lift. There was a wind and the snow was like you would have in the winter, hard! As I went down the trail the snow softened up. I did enjoy the 1080 skis, but I have been on snow blades for 5 seasons and this was my first time on skis, so I was sort of a newbie! I did a couple of runs and decided that I wanted to go with my Salomon snow blades. I went back and forth from skis to blades. I did not do Superstar, as I came up alone and there was not a lot of people doing it that I saw from the lift.

One trail, Bittersweet (I am not sure of name), was a fun run with a few bumps, but you had to walk through a few patches of grass to get to parts of the trail.

Overall I had a good 3.5 hours. I only took a few pictures.

Superstar from the Lift:

New skis:

More of Superstar:

Other parts of Killington:

Looking down Superstar:

From the base area: (Superstar on right), the Skylarke way down (middle), and part of Bittersweet (left):

A parting shot:

 

[Vortex]

Thankx for the info. I don't like the walking part, but does not seem like I have much of a choice. Is there still a big pile of snow at top of Superstar? Maybe they are waiting to move it for the weekend, with all the festivities. (hope)

 

[JimG.]

Thankx for the info. I don't like the walking part, but does not seem like I have much of a choice. Is there still a big pile of snow at top of Superstar? Maybe they are waiting to move it for the weekend, with all the festivities. (hope)

Bob, you only have to walk about 10 steps tops. The angle of Skijay's pic makes the walking look much longer than it really is.

Skijay, since there weren't more than 50-75 folks out there all day, I figure we must have seen each other at least once. What did you have on? I was wearing black North Face bib pants and a dark blue windstopper fleece.

 

[thetrailboss]

Good to hear you got your new skis! Enjoy!

Walking=typical Killington Spring Skiing :roll:

 

[Vortex]

Thankx for the info. I don't like the walking part, but does not seem like I have much of a choice. Is there still a big pile of snow at top of Superstar? Maybe they are waiting to move it for the weekend, with all the festivities. (hope)

Bob, you only have to walk about 10 steps tops. The angle of Skijay's pic makes the walking look much longer than it really is.

Skijay, since there weren't more than 50-75 folks out there all day, I figure we must have seen each other at least once. What did you have on? I was wearing black North Face bib pants and a dark blue windstopper fleece.

That is good news. Thankx for the update.

 

[awf170]

i dont understand why they dont make a lot more snow up top because this walking thing seems to happen every year, you would think they would make a giant pile for reserve... any way skijay what is the difference between skiing on snowblades and regular skis, i no theres a difference and what is it exacltly... also why do u skiblade instead of regular ski how is it more fun. Just curious about them because i never talked to anyone before who used them

 

[eatskisleep]

Awesome photos!

 

[skijay]

JimG...I was wearing black ski pants, blue Northface shell. I was on the skis in my pictures or red, white and blue Salomon Snowblades.

awf170...I was a skier up to about 5 seasons ago when I tried snowblades and loved them. I went from a 203cm ski down to a 90cm blade. I found that the blades were better on my bad knee. That is why I started to blade. I am on my 4th pair on snowblades and after purchasing a pair of Head brand with traditional ski bindings and found out how much I dislike them I decided I wanted to give skiing a try. I wanted something close to the feel of my Salomon minimax 99.9cm blades. The closest to the feel was the Salomon 1080 ski, which I purchased last month and tried for my first time at Killington. It most likley is not the best way to get used to a pair of skis, especially after not having anything longer than 100cm strapped to my boots for 5 seasons.

After doing a couple of runs in the conditions on Thursday, I felt more comfortable on the blades. A good pair of snowblades grip better on the ice and manuever great in almost all conditions. There are drawbacks such as you do not get the speed that you would on a ski.

I am sure during the 05-06 season I will enjoy the 1080 skis and use the Snowblades less.