Date(s) Skied: Friday, December 15, 2006
Resort or Ski Area: Killington
Conditions: Variable SC, Bumps, Some Thin Spots
Trip Report: So the big debate last night was where to go: Killington or Pico. I had decided that if the summit would open, I would be there. Like Burke, Pico had been saying all along that it would be top-to-bottom. And then came the rains.
So they were going on four trails....well, three runs in all honesty off of the lower mountain. So I left here in the air, talked to a friend who lived in Killington (who said "Pico is crappy") and decided to K-mart it one more day.
Got to the mountain at 12:30pm or so after hearing the :roll: weather report. The summit was in the clear and the weather was mild and not bad at all. Had lunch and got ready. I was dragging a bit...it's been a long week and I have been sick, so I was worn. But the K-1 ride got me stoked again.
They blew A TON of snow on Cascade...and it will be opening soon after they get some more cold weather. Rode up the gondi with a nice family from Connecticut. This Dad has got it made.....has his wife and kids stoked on skiing. Good deal.
First run was down Downdraft Headwall. Not bad, though skier's left featured literally a cornice from snowmaking. The rest of it was decent. Surface was not quite corn but not ice. Headed down a softer East Fall and headed back to K-1 with legs burning. Second ride up the K-1 was with some 20-something girls...who obviously had not been skiing much before. When the trail map came out, I asked, "are you lost?"
"Yeah. Where are we?"
"K-1 Gondola. Some good skiing up here....not too tough, but not easy."
"Well, we've been skiing before....like five times. Looking for some mellow blue terrain."
So I suggested that they hit North Ridge for a few spins. I did not see them walking down the trail, so I assume that they are OK. My next run was down Cascade Headwall to Lower Great Northern. I scoped out Powerline and decided to give it a try.
Powerline is quite reminiscent of Burke's Shoot:
This is a great shot of the Shoot and Powerline is the same. A bit narrower, but similar.
It had some snowmaking whales on it, but overall it was nice. A nice change from the wider boulevards. It had some odd-shaped bumps, but was doable. Once you got below the power transformer (which is one-third down the trail) it widens a bit and was better.
So I was happy. A new trail...nothing to sneeze at. OK, it isn't really new, but who cares. Better than nothing.
From here I headed to the Poma and took two spins. First was down a nice Mouse Run....which had not really been hit that day. Second run was kind of a loss since the Poma broke down. So I hiked over to Chute and skied that. It was not bad. Thin in spots, but the upper part had some nice double fall line stuff.
I cut down Great Northern and then headed over to Superstar. I had been skiing for an hour or so and was getting tired because of the bumps and snow. I did a spin down the Skye Lark/Bittersweet run they had going, which was not bad for the first half and then monster bumps on the bottom.
So I was tired. Still getting over the cold and the clouds were rolling in. So I went for a change of pace and to satisfy my curiosity by taking three spins down at Snowshed. The snow down there was nice and it was not too busy. But it was sad to see half of the slope grass and to see the snowmaking compressors silent.
After a little bit down here, I headed back to KBL intending to head to the car, but I decided to do a hail mary. So I rode one more ride up K-1. I chose the car that Trey and his buddies had just been in....if you know what I mean
I got to the top and headed down Great Northern to FIS, which was not too bad. Headed down to the Highline, intending to hit it, but the upper part was really thin and sketchy, so I took a spin on the Poma and headed back to Highline....figuring I would give it a go. It was OK. The bumps were really not so good...bad slopes and bad lines, but heck, better than grass. I picked my way down and called it a day.
In hindsight, I probably could have done as much at Pico. I heard that there were 43 people there all day! But the Powerline and variety of terrain at Killington drew me for another day.
Final word: pray for some cold weather at least and some snow preferrably. The trails are getting thin in spots. Folks will be walking from KBL to Superstar soon.
Resort or Ski Area: Killington
Conditions: Variable SC, Bumps, Some Thin Spots
Trip Report: So the big debate last night was where to go: Killington or Pico. I had decided that if the summit would open, I would be there. Like Burke, Pico had been saying all along that it would be top-to-bottom. And then came the rains.
So they were going on four trails....well, three runs in all honesty off of the lower mountain. So I left here in the air, talked to a friend who lived in Killington (who said "Pico is crappy") and decided to K-mart it one more day. Got to the mountain at 12:30pm or so after hearing the :roll: weather report. The summit was in the clear and the weather was mild and not bad at all. Had lunch and got ready. I was dragging a bit...it's been a long week and I have been sick, so I was worn. But the K-1 ride got me stoked again.
They blew A TON of snow on Cascade...and it will be opening soon after they get some more cold weather. Rode up the gondi with a nice family from Connecticut. This Dad has got it made.....has his wife and kids stoked on skiing. Good deal.
First run was down Downdraft Headwall. Not bad, though skier's left featured literally a cornice from snowmaking. The rest of it was decent. Surface was not quite corn but not ice. Headed down a softer East Fall and headed back to K-1 with legs burning. Second ride up the K-1 was with some 20-something girls...who obviously had not been skiing much before. When the trail map came out, I asked, "are you lost?"
"Yeah. Where are we?"
"K-1 Gondola. Some good skiing up here....not too tough, but not easy."
"Well, we've been skiing before....like five times. Looking for some mellow blue terrain."
So I suggested that they hit North Ridge for a few spins. I did not see them walking down the trail, so I assume that they are OK. My next run was down Cascade Headwall to Lower Great Northern. I scoped out Powerline and decided to give it a try.
Powerline is quite reminiscent of Burke's Shoot:
This is a great shot of the Shoot and Powerline is the same. A bit narrower, but similar.
It had some snowmaking whales on it, but overall it was nice. A nice change from the wider boulevards. It had some odd-shaped bumps, but was doable. Once you got below the power transformer (which is one-third down the trail) it widens a bit and was better.
So I was happy. A new trail...nothing to sneeze at. OK, it isn't really new, but who cares. Better than nothing.
From here I headed to the Poma and took two spins. First was down a nice Mouse Run....which had not really been hit that day. Second run was kind of a loss since the Poma broke down. So I hiked over to Chute and skied that. It was not bad. Thin in spots, but the upper part had some nice double fall line stuff.
I cut down Great Northern and then headed over to Superstar. I had been skiing for an hour or so and was getting tired because of the bumps and snow. I did a spin down the Skye Lark/Bittersweet run they had going, which was not bad for the first half and then monster bumps on the bottom.
So I was tired. Still getting over the cold and the clouds were rolling in. So I went for a change of pace and to satisfy my curiosity by taking three spins down at Snowshed. The snow down there was nice and it was not too busy. But it was sad to see half of the slope grass
and to see the snowmaking compressors silent.After a little bit down here, I headed back to KBL intending to head to the car, but I decided to do a hail mary. So I rode one more ride up K-1. I chose the car that Trey and his buddies had just been in....if you know what I mean
I got to the top and headed down Great Northern to FIS, which was not too bad. Headed down to the Highline, intending to hit it, but the upper part was really thin and sketchy, so I took a spin on the Poma and headed back to Highline....figuring I would give it a go. It was OK. The bumps were really not so good...bad slopes and bad lines, but heck, better than grass. I picked my way down and called it a day.
In hindsight, I probably could have done as much at Pico. I heard that there were 43 people there all day! But the Powerline and variety of terrain at Killington drew me for another day.
Final word: pray for some cold weather at least and some snow preferrably. The trails are getting thin in spots. Folks will be walking from KBL to Superstar soon.
