Killington - December 10 - watch out for that thin cover

[bdfreetuna]

It was cold, I didn't take any photos. Today was packed powder and powder leftovers in the morning, some trails got kind of skied off later in the day.

This is just a heads up for anyone going before the next snow.

North Star will cause your skis damage. Be careful on natural snow trails right now. While they do have nice snow, there is no base. I wish I brought my rock skis today. Also be careful on Racer's Edge, it's a disaster right now. Better yet don't ski it. Which means also don't ski the upper left trails on Snowdon (MTS, Upper Royal Flush, High Line -- even though these are the BEST trails on the mountain right now) because you have to exit via Racer's Edge and you will ski rocks.

I took so many base shots today along with edging rock on enough occasions I've decided to dedicate this whole report to this fact. Fortunately the damage could have been a lot worse, not that I'm happy with the damage that did occur (only day 4 on these skis) but the possibility of taking a ski-wrecking edge shot is quite real out there.

Do not try to ski woods up there either unless you hate your skis. I ducked into Patsy's as it was well tracked out (though CLOSED) and it was dicey.

However I did far more damage and skied more rock on trails that were open but shouldn't have been.

 

[Savemeasammy]

I'll bring my rock skis on Monday for guilt-free turns!


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[ss20]

Ditto 100%. Very busy, pretty chilly. Cascade under the guns was a blast. I also tried the trees and regretted it. Racers Edge was a clusterf when I did it first thing in the morning, can't imagine how it turned out in the afternoon. Scratchier groomers than I expected. I did poach Header and it was low-angle untracked sweetness. Vagabound and the Snowdon naturals have the best snow.

Killington patrol was too busy with sleds today to care about pulling anyone's pass. Really stupid poaches out there...and I mean really stupid. Conclusion (which is a rock face) was swamped all day. Multiple poachers on it every time I rode the triple. Big Dipper looked more skiable but still not fun.

I saw a dude on Atomic Vantages in line for the poma and thought of you and knew you were going to Killington or Pico. I should've said hi. I was on the Icelantic Keeper SKYN's with the brownish jacket.

 

[bdfreetuna]

Wasn't me, I saw one other guy on Vantage 90s today. I didn't take the poma today though.

Man I saw the WORST injury maybe I've ever seen today riding up the Snowdon quad. There was a crowd of about 10-12 people in a circle around a girl. The girl was lying on the ground, her head facing up but downhill from her body. Her eyes were a blank gaze. I thought she was possibly dead, then I saw it. Her leg was bent 90 degrees at the knee.. in the wrong direction.

Absolutely horrible, she must have been in shock. When I was near the unloading station at top I saw a ski patrol going down pretty fast with the sled. Then when I finished my run over by K-1 I saw her coming down on the sled, still looking like she was in total shock, expressionless.

Vagabond was pretty good. It was a mixed bag today, for sure.

 

[Tin]

Damn, if you say it is boney, it must be. That is brutal. Would this 6-8" snow fall help the woods much?

 

[joshua segal]

Hmm. On Weds. Dec. 7, North Star was an absolute delight - and Patsy's was skiable but not much fun. I can imagine that North Star might have been worn out by traffic, but can't imagine that Patsy's became unskiable.

 

[bdfreetuna]

Patsy's was skiable if you didn't mind taking roots to the core and rocks to the edge. Maybe if you straight lined it you could thread the needle and avoid everything. I was about as careful as I could be in there but 2/3 of the turns I had to make required scratching something.

Tin I think if the woods weren't poached as much the snow in there now would make a good base. However the poaching exposed rock and root especially as the ground wasn't really frozen before the snow. The snow in the woods (and natural trails) hasn't had a chance to set up.

BTW there is now a mountain bike trail with berms going between Patsy's and Vagabond. Kind of interesting to ski for a bit; you can access it easily from Patsy's or Vagabond.

 

[Tin]

Patsy's was skiable if you didn't mind taking roots to the core and rocks to the edge. Maybe if you straight lined it you could thread the needle and avoid everything. I was about as careful as I could be in there but 2/3 of the turns I had to make required scratching something.

Tin I think if the woods weren't poached as much the snow in there now would make a good base. However the poaching exposed rock and root especially as the ground wasn't really frozen before the snow. The snow in the woods (and natural trails) hasn't had a chance to set up.

BTW there is now a mountain bike trail with berms going between Patsy's and Vagabond. Kind of interesting to ski for a bit; you can access it easily from Patsy's or Vagabond.

Thanks for the input. Pico for me Thursday and I'm hoping with the lack of traffic and tonight's snow (and crossing the fingers for some up) the upper mountain hardwoods will have enough coverage.

Sounds like K was pretty packed. When we were skiing Racer's, Highline, and Flush in October/Nov they were closed but sounds like they were in better shape then. I'm all for opening trails but crowds + thin cover doesn't mix.

 

[bdfreetuna]

Thursday I wouldn't hesitate to get after Upper Pike and KA glades if I were you.

 

[Zermatt]

Pico was really nice early this morning when they opened the upper mountain for the first time. Really good coverage up high (except Giant Killer). Everything got skied today. 6-10" of new snow would go a long way for coverage.

 

[bdfreetuna]

Nice thanks for the update billo.

I was just talking to my wife about what's the plan pre-January. We hadn't really budgeted our Ski VT passes and other deals stuck to our fridge until really beginning in January. But now December is shaping up to be mid-winter conditions in Northern VT.

The plan was to early season Killington on the Express card. But I think we could do without the Killington crowd next weekend. Pico is looking promising. Also looks like 12-18" of snow up there between now and next weekend.

IDK if you guys are like me and dedicate 2/3 of your brain towards skiing and planning skiing in the winter.. but it becomes almost an obsessive compulsive disorder for me.

 

[Savemeasammy]

Pico was a poachfest today. Everything got skied whether it was open or not. The benefit is that the base is packed nicely for new snow to fall on top. Giant Killer is the only real exception. It was really, really thin. It was one and done thin...


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[thetrailboss]

Wow. Sounds like a shit show. Sorry to hear about the (new) skis.


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[Zermatt]

Pico was a poachfest today. Everything got skied whether it was open or not. The benefit is that the base is packed nicely for new snow to fall on top. Giant Killer is the only real exception. It was really, really thin. It was one and done thin...


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Fine with me if they want to pack down the snow. I was doing laps on the Summit Glades and barely saw anyone. Some really great coverage and snow quality in places. Lower Giant Killer was ok.

 

[Savemeasammy]

Lower Giant Killer was ok.

You mean except for the open water across the trail, right?! I saw a few people who didn't avoid who had to take off their skis to scrape off the resulting ice chunks.

Summit Glades was very good. The reserved section of Summit Glades was a waste of time. My favorite was KA, although the cover wasn't as good.


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[bdfreetuna]

Nice thing about Pico is it gets time to recover over the weekdays, as well as generally less traffic on the trails, it tends to hold up better and ski fresher given the exact same weather as Killington.

One of a few reasons I usually pick Pico over K mid-season.

 

[Zermatt]

You mean except for the open water across the trail, right?! I saw a few people who didn't avoid who had to take off their skis to scrape off the resulting ice chunks.

Summit Glades was very good. The reserved section of Summit Glades was a waste of time. My favorite was KA, although the cover wasn't as good.


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Yep, I missed the cut around and skied over the open water on GK, wasted 10 minutes trying to get the ice off my skis.

 

[Savemeasammy]

They probably should have marked the water - along with a crapload of other obstacles out there like the DEEP water bar at the bottom of Upper KA! But I was glad to see they had such a liberal policy on opening runs. Although I don't know why they didn't bother to drop the rope on Upper Pike - it was miles better than Giant Killer which was open.


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[joshua segal]

Early season, there is way too much to mark - and there is an inherent assumption that one will take a slow run to check out any trail before going too fast to notice a water bar in a timely fashion.

 

[slatham]

I guess that's why natural trails are often closed even if "technically" they have enough snow - if the base isn't established, then the snow that is there will get skied off and no base established. Those trails would have skied awesome today (and probably for some time) if they had been allowed to sit and consolidate vs. getting skied off to rock and root.

I hope that girl is OK. I hate hearing things like that. Be careful out there....