Dates: 4/6 + 4/7 2013
Resort: Killington
Conditions: Firm groomed hard pack in a.m to loose granular / semi-corn in p.m.
Was I dreaming?
No, even my dreams are not as perfect as this past weekend at K-ton.
First, how cool was it to walk behind Bear Lodge at 8 a.m. and see whole racks of Hart F17's lined up by the participants in the Bear Mountain Mogul Challenge. Much has been written in forums about the demise of Hart but I guess there's a population of mogul runners from 8 - 80 who simply aren't listening.
The whole weekend was ride and run; no lines, no problems, traversing Bear to Skye to Killington and back like kids run amok. Due to lighter traffic, all the popular trails held up better throughout mid-day. By later afternoon there was definitely some shiny ice on Superstar and Panic Button, but Double Dipper ran from firm to comfortable, and much tossed up crud on Bearclaw and Skyeburst.
Saturday was blue skies, high 20's in the a.m., quickly warmed to mid-30's, and only the slightest breeze.
Sunday was a bit warmer all day, but mostly overcast all a.m., which kept it firm. Sunday p.m. defied the local forecast and went full-on sunny with variable winds of 10 - 15 mph.
Wildfire was about the only trail that was too deeply bumped and rutted - but that's says more about my skills than the conditions. I wobbled my way down and didn't feel so bad when I heard a patroller go past, grunting, "Yeh, it's firm, yeh." By late Saturday p.m. though I saw dudes exploding mounds, smashing top to top, gasping for air at the bottom . . . gonna take alotta conditioning to try such a thing.
Wish I had a dollar for every time I overheard someone say, "And to think this time last year there were only 4 trails open, but everything's open today!"
Good times.
Resort: Killington
Conditions: Firm groomed hard pack in a.m to loose granular / semi-corn in p.m.
Was I dreaming?
No, even my dreams are not as perfect as this past weekend at K-ton.
First, how cool was it to walk behind Bear Lodge at 8 a.m. and see whole racks of Hart F17's lined up by the participants in the Bear Mountain Mogul Challenge. Much has been written in forums about the demise of Hart but I guess there's a population of mogul runners from 8 - 80 who simply aren't listening.
The whole weekend was ride and run; no lines, no problems, traversing Bear to Skye to Killington and back like kids run amok. Due to lighter traffic, all the popular trails held up better throughout mid-day. By later afternoon there was definitely some shiny ice on Superstar and Panic Button, but Double Dipper ran from firm to comfortable, and much tossed up crud on Bearclaw and Skyeburst.
Saturday was blue skies, high 20's in the a.m., quickly warmed to mid-30's, and only the slightest breeze.
Sunday was a bit warmer all day, but mostly overcast all a.m., which kept it firm. Sunday p.m. defied the local forecast and went full-on sunny with variable winds of 10 - 15 mph.
Wildfire was about the only trail that was too deeply bumped and rutted - but that's says more about my skills than the conditions. I wobbled my way down and didn't feel so bad when I heard a patroller go past, grunting, "Yeh, it's firm, yeh." By late Saturday p.m. though I saw dudes exploding mounds, smashing top to top, gasping for air at the bottom . . . gonna take alotta conditioning to try such a thing.
Wish I had a dollar for every time I overheard someone say, "And to think this time last year there were only 4 trails open, but everything's open today!"
Good times.
