B
beswift
Guest
Date Skied: Wed., Jan. 19. 2004
Resort or Ski Area: Killington
Conditions: Crunched Ice, Packed Man-made, scratchy natural
Trip Report: Tuesday, I tried to beat the returning Holiday trafffic and drove up to Rutland from Cape Cod for skiing. Despite the usual assortment of threatening hotheads and hazardous loonies on the hi-way, I made it up and back without mishap. Yesterday was clear, frigid and windy. Today, it was cold and it snowed ghtly the whole trip back to the Cape. Since I got a superb work-out cross country skiing Monday, I didn't feel compelled to leave the warm and comfort of my car or motel room tuesday. However, since I like to break the trip up with stops, I took a detour from Woodstock and checked out Suicide Six. I found it similar to the Blue Hills Ski Area i.e a steep short face and trails off to the sides of the main chair lift. On such a cold day, the lot and lodge were quite empty. These are the kind of days that you want to check out these small areas. You can take a lot of quick runs, warm up in the Lodge and actually have a fun day of skiing. I stopped at Pico, talked to some of the staff and investigated the conditions there, too. IMHO this is a hidden jem of a ski area. It was so cold Tuesday that they didn't run the Summit High Speed Quad. That meant that you could ski Killington on their ticket (a considerable savings). Of course when you buy a Killington Ticket you also buy a Pico ticket. Nevertheless, you can often avoid the mob scene at Killington, by going to Pico and skiing for less. The Parking lot there had less cars than Suicide Six !!! Although they only advertise 11 trails, their skiing is top-to-bottom on a pretty impressive Mountain. Forty Niner was well groomed with good cover. They should have all their snowmaking trails open this weekend. Now, today (moron that I am) I decided to ignore these facts and ski K-mart. In the morning It was still Cold and breezy on Killington Peak!!! In fact the wind at the summits picked up during the day. It certainly was a Gore-tex day. The skiing was pretty good considering the derth of Natural this year. Most of the skiing was gratis of manufactured snow, but I was able to venture onto some naturally covered trails. I skied down Escapade, Ridge Run, and Skye Hawk and didn't destroy my bases. They were blowing snow on Superstar all morning. When they stopped the trail offered good skiing on new Man-made. The small glades section which lies to the skiers right at the lower end of the trail provided some excellent skiing as a matter of fact. It all went well for me, Upper/Lower Cascade, Mouse Trap, Bunny Buster, Skye Lark, Vertigo, and Wildfire. There weren't any bump fields to speak of, though. Outer limits was a disaster area. There are bumps on the skiers left as usual, but they were just too icy to attract skiers. (I'm not even sure if it was open as I only saw one boarder having a tough time of it coming down) The top of Superstar didn't see any new blown snow, but it was a negotiable bump field if you like negotiating between sheets of ice. Nevertheless, I must say that they are well prepared for skiers. The >>Freestyle<< Parks have been set up on wildfire. :blink: and However, paying skiers seemed to be in great demand there today. The K-1 lodge was never crouded. I even got a chance to ride the Skyship solo with a gal!!! :wink: The Gondola presented a welcomed asset as that ravine it travels had some piercing winds as usual. At the end of the day, the wind at the top of Superstar was so strong it was difficult unloading from the Quad.
Resort or Ski Area: Killington
Conditions: Crunched Ice, Packed Man-made, scratchy natural
Trip Report: Tuesday, I tried to beat the returning Holiday trafffic and drove up to Rutland from Cape Cod for skiing. Despite the usual assortment of threatening hotheads and hazardous loonies on the hi-way, I made it up and back without mishap. Yesterday was clear, frigid and windy. Today, it was cold and it snowed ghtly the whole trip back to the Cape. Since I got a superb work-out cross country skiing Monday, I didn't feel compelled to leave the warm and comfort of my car or motel room tuesday. However, since I like to break the trip up with stops, I took a detour from Woodstock and checked out Suicide Six. I found it similar to the Blue Hills Ski Area i.e a steep short face and trails off to the sides of the main chair lift. On such a cold day, the lot and lodge were quite empty. These are the kind of days that you want to check out these small areas. You can take a lot of quick runs, warm up in the Lodge and actually have a fun day of skiing. I stopped at Pico, talked to some of the staff and investigated the conditions there, too. IMHO this is a hidden jem of a ski area. It was so cold Tuesday that they didn't run the Summit High Speed Quad. That meant that you could ski Killington on their ticket (a considerable savings). Of course when you buy a Killington Ticket you also buy a Pico ticket. Nevertheless, you can often avoid the mob scene at Killington, by going to Pico and skiing for less. The Parking lot there had less cars than Suicide Six !!! Although they only advertise 11 trails, their skiing is top-to-bottom on a pretty impressive Mountain. Forty Niner was well groomed with good cover. They should have all their snowmaking trails open this weekend. Now, today (moron that I am) I decided to ignore these facts and ski K-mart. In the morning It was still Cold and breezy on Killington Peak!!! In fact the wind at the summits picked up during the day. It certainly was a Gore-tex day. The skiing was pretty good considering the derth of Natural this year. Most of the skiing was gratis of manufactured snow, but I was able to venture onto some naturally covered trails. I skied down Escapade, Ridge Run, and Skye Hawk and didn't destroy my bases. They were blowing snow on Superstar all morning. When they stopped the trail offered good skiing on new Man-made. The small glades section which lies to the skiers right at the lower end of the trail provided some excellent skiing as a matter of fact. It all went well for me, Upper/Lower Cascade, Mouse Trap, Bunny Buster, Skye Lark, Vertigo, and Wildfire. There weren't any bump fields to speak of, though. Outer limits was a disaster area. There are bumps on the skiers left as usual, but they were just too icy to attract skiers. (I'm not even sure if it was open as I only saw one boarder having a tough time of it coming down) The top of Superstar didn't see any new blown snow, but it was a negotiable bump field if you like negotiating between sheets of ice. Nevertheless, I must say that they are well prepared for skiers. The >>Freestyle<< Parks have been set up on wildfire. :blink: and However, paying skiers seemed to be in great demand there today. The K-1 lodge was never crouded. I even got a chance to ride the Skyship solo with a gal!!! :wink: The Gondola presented a welcomed asset as that ravine it travels had some piercing winds as usual. At the end of the day, the wind at the top of Superstar was so strong it was difficult unloading from the Quad.
