Killington: April 20, 2007 (AMAZING Spring Day)

[2knees]

Kmart 420

Date(s) Skied: 420

Resort or Ski Area: killington

Conditions: sunny, corn to soft to glop. bumps

Trip Report: Met greg at needles quad around 10ish. took a run on vertigo then down bittersweet and over to k1. heavenly traverse to powerline. they groomed it out totally so it had little appeal. kinda like a semi icy hallway. continued down lower west glade. groomed out. down racers to royal flush. Nice run, but those bare spots are gonna be real big by saturday afternoon with the sun it gets. sclepped over to the snowdon quad, which in this snow, was no easy feat. met powhunter and took a run down northstar. smashed moguls. tiny little bumplets. oh well. there is a big ole tree down on northstar now.

From there we did an escapade/flume combo. Escaped was smashed down also but nice snow. Flume was funky but fun. where the sun had gotten it, the bumps were sweet, but we all were thrown at one point when the corn snow turned instantly to flash frozen. Powhunter took a A+++ crash on that. Think its on video too. sorry steve. :smile:

schlepped back over to ss quad and took a run down supe. headwall was nicely corned up, the meadow was, well, the meadow. ducked into the line that starts under the quad and falls away to skiers left. big sweeping troughs and still a bit firm underneath but fun fun. from there, met up with trailboss and went back to vertigo where the bumps were simply magnificent. soft, perfect lines and well yeah alot of dirt in place but nice. Vertigo headwall was real good too, just a little poach and a small rock garden to deal with.

great day. and i own the gaper move of all time now.

 

[thetrailboss]

Date: April 20, 2007

2006 Trip Report #: 54

Resort: Killington

Conditions: VC/SC/WS

Weather: Sun and clouds. Some wind. Temps in the 50's.

Trip Report: Blue skies. Soft snow. Good company. No crowds. Simply amazing. These last few weeks...err months...have really erased the memories of our first few weeks. Got to the mountain at 12 noon, booted up to the smell of charcoal and barbecues, and then hiked over to Superstar to meet Greg, powhunter, and 2knees. Once again I scored a great spot in Bay 2. :beer:

The guys were itching to head back to Needles Eye, so I joined them. First run was down 4-Way to Skyeway and then down Needle's Eye to Vertigo. Some great soft snow and bumps forming. The next run I took a detour down the Needle's Eye Liftline (to complete it for my black diamond tour at K-mart :wink: ) . It was doable, but getting thin in places and a bit bony. From here, we did two or three more runs down Vertigo, once hitting the upper part, which was good. Greg got some good pics and movies of us in those bumps that seemed to get deeper and deeper as the afternoon went on.

Needle's Eye is great, but I really dig Killington Peak and the longer steeps and terrain there. The snow was getting a bit too soft in places, and I had told Greg about Catwalk and how cool it is. So we headed down Bittersweet to K-1. Nice bumps on Bittersweet.

We began our hike up Catwalk to see that the snow was coming out of the trees...and fast. At the top we took some pics and peered down the trail...what a nice one to have at K-mart. Greg said it reminded him of Rumble. The snow was just softening up and it was great. There were a few rocks poking up here or there, but the drifts were deep and the bumps were soft. Very nice.

We skied down to Big Dipper to find some wind damage and soft, buttery snow on top. Lower Big Dipper got too soft and sticky in a hurry, making turns tough. So we ducked onto Double Dipper and enjoyed that snow. Let's put it this way folks: there is a TON of snow in the Canyon. NO bare spots to be seen anywhere!

Greg had to go home at this point, but I had the better part of two hours to ski my favorites, so I delayered and headed back up K-1. Did Downdraft to Cascade and then down Flume. Upper Downdraft has some rocks showing...take care. Cascade and Flume were great.

Next run was another Catwalk run down to Heavenly Traverse and over to Ridge Run. Heavenly Traverse was...interesing. Some big drifts that made for interesting dips and dives Worth the Black Diamond rating. Ridge Run was pretty mellow and sticky. Looked like it had been groomed down at some point recently.

I hit the North Ridge/Glades Triple and then did a spin down Upper Powerline and the unofficial lower part. Both were sticky, but nice. Then decided to duck onto Racer's Edge with the intent of skiing either Conclusion or Highline. Instead, I ducked down a buttery Royal Flush. Better hit it soon folks...will not be making it much longer because those grass patches are beginning to spread.

At the K-1, I took another run down Catwalk and this time did Downdraft. Wow. Amazing. The snow was perfect...not too soft. Downdraft was great...I was skiing far skier's right and getting some nice, flat, soft snow. Carved some nice buttery turns.

Last run was down...you guessed it: Catwalk to Downdraft and then down Cascade Headwall. Outstanding. The Cascade Headwall was fantastic....more slicing and dicing that soft snow.

So the last few weeks have been stellar. Catwalk is a real gem....love that narrow stuff and the nice bumps and turns. It is worth the hike because of the terrain, challenge, view, and most importantly, the SOLITUDE! :beer:

 

[loafer89]

Now I know why it was so quiet on the board today, you guys where out having fun skiing, how dare you:lol:

Good to see you had funand good snow/weather.

Any idea of a Killington closing date? Might they go well into May?

 

[Greg]

I merged up the threads and won't bother creating a new one, but will add my comments here.

The Killington Friday 420 was a rousing success!

I left the house a bit after 5 am and got to the access road shortly after 8 am. 3 hours to the Big K, not bad! Stopped at Johnny Boys Pancake House for a gigantic breakfast. I hadn't eaten so I needed that. Then up to the mountain. First run at 9 am on a groomed, but sweet Superstar. Then on to Needles and skied a bunch of trails over there including Needles Liftline which needed some more time to soften. Great trail though.

Met up with 2knees around 10:15 and then with powhunter a bit after 11. Finally met trailboss shortly after noon. The others touched on the trails we hit. Vertigo had sweet bumps and we spent much of our time there. I really enjoyed my final run with Trailboss down Cat Walk. Kinda Rumble like (the wide section) with less pitch. Awesome run! Wish it was longer.

Split around 2:45 and got home a bit after 6 pm. Not bad with the Hartford traffic. Great bluebird, calm, warm day. Loved thrashing the bumps with you guys. And great to get some turns in with Trailboss this season, if even only for a few hours.

Day 34, and that's the curtain call for me, folks. FANTASTIC season!

The video is 90% done. Looks like I have to add in Steve's crash on Flume.

And Pat - you definitely win the gaper award today. The fact that you tooled that dude just standing there was bad enough, but watching you struggle to get yourself organized was simply classic! Happy 420! .

 

[2knees]

And Pat - you definitely win the gaper award today. The fact that you tooled that dude just standing there was bad enough, but watching you struggle to get yourself organized was simply classic! Happy 420! .

that whole sequence was just ridiculous. i shoulda been wearing jeans and rear entry boots.

 

[Greg]

Some pics (click to enlarge):

thetrailboss on Catwalk




Greg on Catwalk


Killington


Killington Peak Zoom


All pics here:
http://forums.alpinezone.com/gallery/showgallery.php/cat/732

 

[Greg]

Video!

High Res:
Killington - 4/20/2007 (31 MB)

YouTube:

 

[2knees]

nice video greg but you should've left in your spread eagle almost into steve's stomach. :smile:

 

[Greg]

nice video greg but you should've left in your spread eagle almost into steve's stomach. :smile:

That was the lamest spread attempt ever and I certainly wouldn't want to infringe upon your gaper status... :lol:

 

[powhunter]

nice video greg but you should've left in your spread eagle almost into steve's stomach. :smile:

Yea whats up greg...also you didnt put my epic crash in your vid.....I need video analysis so I can be more "stylish" in future faceplants... Was up at ktown sunday met up with the trailboss and did some hits with him...it was another great spring day...anyone up for next sunday??

steve

 

[Greg]

Yea whats up greg...also you didnt put my epic crash in your vid.....I need video analysis so I can be more "stylish" in future faceplants...

Ha! You know, this idea just came to me, but perhaps I'll put together a video of all the season's best bobbles and crashes. You Steve, will likely be the star!

 

[roark]

Ha! You know, this idea just came to me, but perhaps I'll put together a video of all the season's best bobbles and crashes. You Steve, will likely be the star!

How'd it compare to Pat's dart like faceplant (man I wish I'd seen that!)

 

[Greg]

How'd it compare to Pat's dart like faceplant (man I wish I'd seen that!)

Unfortunately, I don't have the lawn dart on video. Steve's crash sort of looked like a rag doll rolling down the trail...:lol: