Date(s) Skied: December 8, 2006
Resort or Ski Area: Killington
Conditions: P/PP/Crud. Weather: STRONG WINDS, Cold temps. Snow.
Trip Report: My schedule was a bit crazy this week, so I decided at the beginning of the week to wait until Friday to get my turns. Glad I did.
I got a later start than I would have liked....getting to the mountain about 12:30 or so. The climb up Route 100 to Route 4 revealed snow flurries and wind scoured ground. I had just heard on the radio that Mt. Washington was clocking 90 mph winds.
So I was a bit worried...
KBL was pretty packed and the lifts were running. The building was crammed with racers and I squeezed into a table and got ready.
I got out and decided to hit Superstar Quad and that run first. That was a mistake. Those 90 mph winds? Yeah. That was the top of the lift and the run. Any new snow was now in Portland, ME thanks to that wind. The trail was not too fun...ice and frankensnow. I got down OK and in once peace, but I was completely covered in ice and snow.
No problem. Headed over to Snowdon Quad and rode up. Good move. For the rest of the day, this side of the resort was more sheltered. Did a recon run down Mouse Run and found some good crud on the sides. Though the gaper snowboarder who almost clocked me to get some "mad air" on the Great Northern-Mouse Run intersection made me :angry: . Back to the goods....the wind and good conditions meant that the Poma was where it was at for now. I did about four or five runs on the Poma, as did other folks. Found good crud and pow on skier's right of Bunny Buster. The IM75's love crud and today was a good first day, considering a bad head cold and getting back onto the boards. I popped some nice turns on the side of the trail and once the lines got too long on the Poma, I headed over to North Ridge.
North Ridge was another good spot. Spent many runs hitting Double Dipper (where I found some drifted pow) and Great Northern (crud on the sides). Rime was a bit bony. Once the racers cleared Upper East Fall, I hit it. Pow and crud galore. I did at least three runs here.
I headed down to the Poma and hit Mouse Run and from here, I headed back to the base, took a short break, and then rode up K-1 to the top to scout out the upper mountain terrain. Cascade and Downdraft looked icy, so I opted for a cruise down Great Northern and down East Fall. I noticed that Lower East Fall was open and largely untracked. I peered down through the fog to see what it was...saw some poles marking obstacles, so I decided to do one more run off of the triple and then to charge down Double Dipper and then East Fall Upper and Lower. No regrets. Run of the day. Some nice soft snow and good pitch made for great, steep skiing. The waterbars were a bit nasty, but doable. The runout was like 3 inches of groomed snow on bare ground, but it worked....
Took one more run off the K-1 down East Fall and called it a day. Nice hero snow on East Fall wiped away any :roll: about the first, windy run. Looking forward to Sunday...assuming this nasty cold disappears.
Resort or Ski Area: Killington
Conditions: P/PP/Crud. Weather: STRONG WINDS, Cold temps. Snow.
Trip Report: My schedule was a bit crazy this week, so I decided at the beginning of the week to wait until Friday to get my turns. Glad I did.
I got a later start than I would have liked....getting to the mountain about 12:30 or so. The climb up Route 100 to Route 4 revealed snow flurries and wind scoured ground. I had just heard on the radio that Mt. Washington was clocking 90 mph winds.
So I was a bit worried...KBL was pretty packed and the lifts were running. The building was crammed with racers and I squeezed into a table and got ready.
I got out and decided to hit Superstar Quad and that run first. That was a mistake. Those 90 mph winds? Yeah. That was the top of the lift and the run. Any new snow was now in Portland, ME thanks to that wind. The trail was not too fun...ice and frankensnow. I got down OK and in once peace, but I was completely covered in ice and snow.
No problem. Headed over to Snowdon Quad and rode up. Good move. For the rest of the day, this side of the resort was more sheltered. Did a recon run down Mouse Run and found some good crud on the sides.
Though the gaper snowboarder who almost clocked me to get some "mad air" on the Great Northern-Mouse Run intersection made me :angry: . Back to the goods....the wind and good conditions meant that the Poma was where it was at for now. I did about four or five runs on the Poma, as did other folks. Found good crud and pow on skier's right of Bunny Buster. The IM75's love crud and today was a good first day, considering a bad head cold and getting back onto the boards. I popped some nice turns on the side of the trail and once the lines got too long on the Poma, I headed over to North Ridge. North Ridge was another good spot. Spent many runs hitting Double Dipper (where I found some drifted pow) and Great Northern (crud on the sides). Rime was a bit bony. Once the racers cleared Upper East Fall, I hit it. Pow and crud galore. I did at least three runs here.
I headed down to the Poma and hit Mouse Run and from here, I headed back to the base, took a short break, and then rode up K-1 to the top to scout out the upper mountain terrain. Cascade and Downdraft looked icy, so I opted for a cruise down Great Northern and down East Fall. I noticed that Lower East Fall was open and largely untracked. I peered down through the fog to see what it was...saw some poles marking obstacles, so I decided to do one more run off of the triple and then to charge down Double Dipper and then East Fall Upper and Lower. No regrets. Run of the day. Some nice soft snow and good pitch made for great, steep skiing. The waterbars were a bit nasty, but doable. The runout was like 3 inches of groomed snow on bare ground, but it worked....
Took one more run off the K-1 down East Fall and called it a day. Nice hero snow on East Fall wiped away any :roll: about the first, windy run. Looking forward to Sunday...assuming this nasty cold disappears.
