Snowcover/Base Depths: Killington Vs. Sugarbush (pics)

[PowderDeprived]

Last to close just takes money, and lots of it, but now it comes down to who has the best natural cover, and the best quality skiing.

 

[Newpylong]

What's the big deal that Sugarbush has more cover, why are you even arguing? They probably got 1/3 more natural snow than Killington did this winter...

 

[2knees]

if I remember right didnt sugar bush go head to head with killington years back to see who could stay open the longest? Killington won............. that time

a few years back nobody could've won that fight. never mind 15 years ago. those days are over. And apparently, they are even lacking in bumps this year. (a killington specialty and staple)

 

[AdironRider]

My guess is that the new owners will make an effort to try and bring Killington back to what it once was. Pass prices will go up substantially, but I bet so does the amount of snow they blow. Doesnt suprise me that ASC didnt pump out the product this year considering they did sell the place. Ski resorts dont make money after mid-winter break as it is, no use in trying to keep a couple season pass holders happy when they arent going to see any profit from a mtn they no longer own.

 

[tcharron]

Well, it's snowing at a fair clip here at Killington. At least 2 inches as of 9:30pm.

 

[2knees]

this has been a slow slide for killington though. Its not just this year. You can go back 3 or 4 years at least to see the lack of commitment, for them, to late season skiing. I would be very surprised to see anyone try to offer real skiing till memorial day in new england ever again, never mind into june. I realize bretton woods made it pretty late last year but i believe that was on a pretty flat trail. Hell, killington used to give us downdraft until june. rock skiing on the headwall and all.

 

[BushMogulMaster]

I do hope the new owners at the K will be more committed to a higher-quality spring product. We shall see.

Not to push the issue, but K-Mart is down to 160/200 trails. The Bush is still 111/111! ;-)

I'm just picking on the K folk. Wait till AndyZee posts the pic of the bare spot on Birch Run at Sugarbush we saw today! It looks as bad as my pics of K-Mart (well, not quite). But Mt. Ellen is in amazing shape compared to LP and K.

But hey... the skiing is great, and it's snowing. So who cares?

 

[PowderDeprived]

I do hope the new owners at the K will be more committed to a higher-quality spring product. We shall see.

Not to push the issue, but K-Mart is down to 160/200 trails. The Bush is still 111/111! ;-)

I'm just picking on the K folk. Wait till AndyZee posts the pic of the bare spot on Birch Run at Sugarbush we saw today! It looks as bad as my pics of K-Mart (well, not quite). But Mt. Ellen is in amazing shape compared to LP and K.

But hey... the skiing is great, and it's snowing. So who cares?

:idea: If its snowing, what bare spot on birch run?

 

[tcharron]

Ok, fine, I admit it. It's 1am, I'm drunk, and it STOPPED SNOWING.

Apparently, alcohol is the secret ingredient that causes Killing ton to get suck snow. :-D

 

[bobbutts]

The other thing to point out from those pics is that Ovation is way too wide for NE, the snow just blows off, so it's not strange for it to be bare. Since that run needs the guns to open, it does indicate that killington didn't bother with them this year on that run. The runs pictured at Sugarbush are cut more sensibly, and would most likely look covered with man-made cover or no the day that pic was taken.

 

[thetrailboss]

That's a bit of an unfair pic...Ovation hasn't had any snow blown on it this year, why didn't you take a pic of Superstar, which is actually prepped for Spring Skiing? The Natural snow on Ovation/Old Superstar there doesn't last long. I'm not denying that Sugarbush has a better snowpack, but you took a picture of a trail that was open less than 10 days this year anyway.

I agree. Some facts that need to be disclosed before one can make a fair comparison:

* No snow was blown on Ovation at Killington. A wide majority of the runs depicted at Ellen have snowmaking.

* Ovation is exposed to the S. Most of the Ellen trails depicted have a NE exposure.

* In addition, Ovation is very vulnerable to winds while most of the Ellen trails are not.

* Elevation may also be playing a role here...Ellen is situated fairly high up.

* Ellen sits 40-50 miles NORTH of Killington, which has made a difference this season.

So just want to get these facts out there...it appears they may have been already, but wanted to be fair.

 

[awf170]

I agree. Some facts that need to be disclosed before one can make a fair comparison:

* No snow was blown on Ovation at Killington. A wide majority of the runs depicted at Ellen have snowmaking.

* Ovation is exposed to the S. Most of the Ellen trails depicted have a NE exposure.

* In addition, Ovation is very vulnerable to winds while most of the Ellen trails are not.

* Elevation may also be playing a role here...Ellen is situated fairly high up.

* Ellen sits 40-50 miles NORTH of Killington, which has made a difference this season.

So just want to get these facts out there...it appears they may have been already, but wanted to be fair.

Facts?!

Ovation's exposure is NW and Mt. Ellen's is NE which gives Mt. Ellen a very slight advantage.

The base of ovation is 2,500 ft. The base of Mt. Ellen is 1,500 ft.

 

[tcharron]

Facts?!

Ovation's exposure is NW and Mt. Ellen's is NE which gives Mt. Ellen a very slight advantage.

The base of ovation is 2,500 ft. The base of Mt. Ellen is 1,500 ft.

The crux is. If the snow isn't there in the first place, the jury must acquit.

Ok, so it worked for OJ, maybee not Killington.

 

[millerm277]

The crux is. If the snow isn't there in the first place, the jury must acquit.

Ok, so it worked for OJ, maybee not Killington.

Bascially, to sum it up...

I think Sugarbush probably has a better snowpack than Killington right now, but it K is not as bad as those pics depict. Killington has the capability to be open later than anyone else, but ASC is selling it, and they really don't care as they aren't the ones operating it next year.

 

[thetrailboss]

Ovation's exposure is NW and Mt. Ellen's is NE which gives Mt. Ellen a very slight advantage.

I checked Google Earth and I did mispeak. Ovation, in my mind, faced further south than it does. It is oriented to the NW. However, this still is a problem because NW winds scour its slopes.

The base of ovation is 2,500 ft. The base of Mt. Ellen is 1,500 ft.

Right. I said elevation may be an issue because most of the trails depicted on Ellen are pretty high up....my comments were directed at the upper half of the mountain.

 

[PowderDeprived]

Almost 1/2 of the trails at M/E depicted didn't have snowmaking, and these trails range from Northridge to Summate. There are even wide open Natural cover trails at South right now that are normaly chewed up by the wind that have great cover.

 

[andyzee]

I also had the opportunity to ski these two fine resorts on back to back day, the day at Sugarbush I skied with Mr. MogulMaster. I somehow saw things a bit differently :

Mr. MogulMaster on what, up to this point, he called the run of the day:

Oops, don't look back :

One of my favorite Sugarbush runs, Lower FIS:

And Lowere FIS again:

 

[andyzee]

The following day I went to Killington and saw this:

Royal Flush was closed, guess too many bare spots:

Bottom line, season is winding down for both. Normally I would be sad, funny this year I'm not. The season was so good for me that I would have no complaints if it ended today, but it's not, I still expect one more good storm . BushMogulMaster and ski_resort_observer, it was a pleasure meeting and skiing with you both this past Saturday and I hope we get to do it again soon!

 

[skiadikt]

andy, i'll throw the flag on the royal flush pic. that was probably taken this morning after we had received 4" overnight. the flush was closed saturday afternoon. we were about to duck the rope when 'the man' in red came skiing by. he told us he had just closed the trail because they were tired of sledding bodies off it and 'thanked' us for not skiing it. when we took the canyon chair up a bit later we saw why it was closed. the lower half was 50% bare. we said we 'could' have done it but our skis would have paid a mighty price. even my crew led by the dirtadikt herself, reluctantly agreed that the patroller had made the right call.

i'm sure the bush probably has a bit more nat at this point, but i'm also sure that all photographers showed fotos that skewed the results towards their bias. other than the fact the k-mart was bailed out by the snow from late january on (essentially saving would have been a miserable season), the mtn's efforts this year were the poorest i've seen in over 30 yrs.

 

[andyzee]

but i'm also sure that all photographers showed fotos that skewed the results towards their bias.

You think?