Date: April 5, 2007
2006 Trip Report #: 51
Resort: Killington
Conditions: Powder, 10-13 inches in places, drifting snow.
Weather: Snow, snow, clouds and some wind. Temps falling into the 20's.
Trip Report: Who knew that there could be a powder day in April? And who knew that it could be this good at Killington? This, by far, was my best day at Killington in my years of skiing. Deep powder, no crowds, and great terrain.
I was getting :roll: when I got stuck behind a bus climbing up the access road, and then had to stop at the red light on the access road....for NO cars to enter the intersection :blink: It was still snowing up there and snowing hard. I pulled into the closest bay to the Gondola, and scored parking spot #3 in the lot!!!! That put me 30 yards from the gondola or so. :beer:
Headed into KBL, found a table, ate my sandwich and headed out not sure what to expect.
Gondi lines were slim, and slim all day. A 30 second line for a solo skier or rider.
First run was down Great Northern, for a warm up, before diving down Double Dipper. My legs were a bit stiff on the first run and my feet cramped a bit, but Double Dipper was all mine and was great. I could not believe the snow....and that I had it all to myself. I decided to head back to the Gondi to grab another run...hoping that the ride would allow me to relax and get ready for the next run. It worked...my legs were fine the rest of the day.
Next run was down Great Northern, to Upper East Fall, and then down Lower East Fall. The upper part had been groomed in the AM and was nice...a good warm up. Lower was tracked out and crowded, as normal. I panicked a bit when I heard an out-of-control boarder sliding down behind me and into the very far side of the trail... :roll: Only one I saw all day. I decided to duck onto Lower Cascade instead of Spillway. It was untracked, but nice.
So that led me to charge down Cascade, which was sensational compared to my last visit in January when it was glare ice. I found great powder on the sides and some nice bumps. The lower headwall was so nice.
Well, you can see the pattern. Hit all the steep diamonds on Killington Peak. These trails are so much fun when they are like this and when there is so little traffic.
After a break at KBL, I headed down Downdraft thinking it would be thin. I was so wrong. Deep pow and great bumps. Only one other skier. He didn't really like sharing the trail, saying that it was getting tracked out. Upper and Middle was great, but the last spillway onto Double Dipper was getting skied off fast. Well worth the gamble.
My next choice was to go over to the other side to check out Cruise Control, which I heard was "very nice" in the morning. So I took K-1 to the top and then Escapade down to Great Eastern and then down Dream Maker to Northbrook Crossover. This whole trip was an ordeal with high winds and blowing/falling snow from the trees--leading to near whiteout conditions at times. I had to stop and put on my neck gaiter. It was nasty on this side...K-1 had been pretty sheltered and was great. I was :x for leaving, but heck, I had not been on this side in a while.
I skied Lower Cruise Control, which was only decent, and jumped on Skyeship. I skied Needle's Eye to Cruise Control. The former had some nice pow bumps, but the dump out onto Cruise Control was pretty bony. Upper Cruise Control was nice and smooth, but the lower part was choppy. No problem. Just hopped onto Skyeship and went over to Superstar to see what was going on. Skyelark, top to bottom, was amazing.
While in KBL, I saw that Ovation and Old Superstar were open. So I went to check them out, on another gamble. Nivis Walk foreshadowed fabulous conditions. I rounded the corner and passed Upper Ovation, which looked really nice. Old Superstar took the run of the day award. Largely untracked deep powder that was amazing. I was so
that I had to do this three times in the afternoon. I cut over to Lower Superstar, which was dodgy thanks to ice.
Next run was down Upper Ovation, which was more tracked out than Old Superstar, but it was nice. No thin cover at all. The headwall was a no-go, so I had to cut over to Lower Superstar, hugging the skier's left in order to avoid the ice. Nice chowder on that side...some mini-avalanches at times!
While riding up the lift, I scouted out some nice snow on Skyehawk. So I decided to check it out in a bit. Did another run down Old Superstar, but this time cut over High Road to Skyelark. Wow. Amazing. I did hit Skyehawk from Launchpad, and found some deep, drifted, untracked snow on skier's right that was out of this world! It was only about 150 yards worth or so, but amazing. So I followed it down to Lower Skyelark.
Decided to do one more spin down Old Superstar to see how it was...it was coming down to the last two runs...really wanted to do Flume, but it looked thin from K-1. So I did Old Superstar, to find it was a bit more tracked out, so I decided to gamble once more and go for broke. I cut over to Bittersweet via High Road and then tucked it to K-1. Escapade/Flume it was.
I got to K-1 at 3:56 and disembarked at the summit. I headed down a sketchy Upper Cascade and then cut over to Escapade expecting thin cover. I was ready to take it easy. Instead, I found great chowder and bumps. Thin cover areas were easily avoided. I jumped from pow bump to pow bump, coming down the headwall and then peering down Flume. It was now or never. So I entered into the trail and found more great snow and bumps. It was amazing. Nice and soft...no bottoming out at all. What a way to end the day. The lower part was thin in places, but easily navigated. It ended too soon. I pulled into K-1 at 4:10 sucking air and worn from the amazing afternoon.
Powder and powder and no lines at all. No crowds on the trails. As I said, best day at Killington I've ever had. :beer:
2006 Trip Report #: 51
Resort: Killington
Conditions: Powder, 10-13 inches in places, drifting snow.
Weather: Snow, snow, clouds and some wind. Temps falling into the 20's.
Trip Report: Who knew that there could be a powder day in April? And who knew that it could be this good at Killington? This, by far, was my best day at Killington in my years of skiing. Deep powder, no crowds, and great terrain.
I was getting :roll: when I got stuck behind a bus climbing up the access road, and then had to stop at the red light on the access road....for NO cars to enter the intersection :blink: It was still snowing up there and snowing hard. I pulled into the closest bay to the Gondola, and scored parking spot #3 in the lot!!!! That put me 30 yards from the gondola or so. :beer:
Headed into KBL, found a table, ate my sandwich and headed out not sure what to expect.
Gondi lines were slim, and slim all day. A 30 second line for a solo skier or rider.
First run was down Great Northern, for a warm up, before diving down Double Dipper. My legs were a bit stiff on the first run and my feet cramped a bit, but Double Dipper was all mine and was great. I could not believe the snow....and that I had it all to myself. I decided to head back to the Gondi to grab another run...hoping that the ride would allow me to relax and get ready for the next run. It worked...my legs were fine the rest of the day.
Next run was down Great Northern, to Upper East Fall, and then down Lower East Fall. The upper part had been groomed in the AM and was nice...a good warm up. Lower was tracked out and crowded, as normal. I panicked a bit when I heard an out-of-control boarder sliding down behind me and into the very far side of the trail... :roll: Only one I saw all day. I decided to duck onto Lower Cascade instead of Spillway. It was untracked, but nice.
So that led me to charge down Cascade, which was sensational compared to my last visit in January when it was glare ice. I found great powder on the sides and some nice bumps. The lower headwall was so nice.
Well, you can see the pattern. Hit all the steep diamonds on Killington Peak. These trails are so much fun when they are like this and when there is so little traffic.
After a break at KBL, I headed down Downdraft thinking it would be thin. I was so wrong. Deep pow and great bumps. Only one other skier. He didn't really like sharing the trail, saying that it was getting tracked out. Upper and Middle was great, but the last spillway onto Double Dipper was getting skied off fast. Well worth the gamble.
My next choice was to go over to the other side to check out Cruise Control, which I heard was "very nice" in the morning. So I took K-1 to the top and then Escapade down to Great Eastern and then down Dream Maker to Northbrook Crossover. This whole trip was an ordeal with high winds and blowing/falling snow from the trees--leading to near whiteout conditions at times. I had to stop and put on my neck gaiter. It was nasty on this side...K-1 had been pretty sheltered and was great. I was :x for leaving, but heck, I had not been on this side in a while.
I skied Lower Cruise Control, which was only decent, and jumped on Skyeship. I skied Needle's Eye to Cruise Control. The former had some nice pow bumps, but the dump out onto Cruise Control was pretty bony. Upper Cruise Control was nice and smooth, but the lower part was choppy. No problem. Just hopped onto Skyeship and went over to Superstar to see what was going on. Skyelark, top to bottom, was amazing.
While in KBL, I saw that Ovation and Old Superstar were open. So I went to check them out, on another gamble. Nivis Walk foreshadowed fabulous conditions. I rounded the corner and passed Upper Ovation, which looked really nice. Old Superstar took the run of the day award. Largely untracked deep powder that was amazing. I was so
that I had to do this three times in the afternoon. I cut over to Lower Superstar, which was dodgy thanks to ice. Next run was down Upper Ovation, which was more tracked out than Old Superstar, but it was nice. No thin cover at all. The headwall was a no-go, so I had to cut over to Lower Superstar, hugging the skier's left in order to avoid the ice. Nice chowder on that side...some mini-avalanches at times!
While riding up the lift, I scouted out some nice snow on Skyehawk. So I decided to check it out in a bit. Did another run down Old Superstar, but this time cut over High Road to Skyelark. Wow. Amazing. I did hit Skyehawk from Launchpad, and found some deep, drifted, untracked snow on skier's right that was out of this world! It was only about 150 yards worth or so, but amazing. So I followed it down to Lower Skyelark.
Decided to do one more spin down Old Superstar to see how it was...it was coming down to the last two runs...really wanted to do Flume, but it looked thin from K-1. So I did Old Superstar, to find it was a bit more tracked out, so I decided to gamble once more and go for broke. I cut over to Bittersweet via High Road and then tucked it to K-1. Escapade/Flume it was.
I got to K-1 at 3:56 and disembarked at the summit. I headed down a sketchy Upper Cascade and then cut over to Escapade expecting thin cover. I was ready to take it easy. Instead, I found great chowder and bumps. Thin cover areas were easily avoided. I jumped from pow bump to pow bump, coming down the headwall and then peering down Flume. It was now or never. So I entered into the trail and found more great snow and bumps. It was amazing. Nice and soft...no bottoming out at all. What a way to end the day. The lower part was thin in places, but easily navigated. It ended too soon. I pulled into K-1 at 4:10 sucking air and worn from the amazing afternoon.
Powder and powder and no lines at all. No crowds on the trails. As I said, best day at Killington I've ever had. :beer:
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