At work, we read CD's report from Wednesday, and couldn't wait for the weekend, knowing all that new snow would probably be gone by Saturday. Not so! <BR> <BR>Saturday morning was 34 degrees, the summits were in the clouds, and it was snowing at higher elevations, with a mix of rain and wet snow in the valleys. My friend from work bailed out because it was raining at his house, but a 1/2" of snow on my deck made my decision easy. From the time I arrived at 11AM, until I left at 2PM, it never stopped snowing on Killington Peak. <BR> <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/8/1651.jpg" ALT="Killington Peak in the clouds, from Snowdon"> <BR> <BR>I made 5 runs on Superstar, which had 3"-4" of new sticky snow on top of bumps that had set up solid, but not rock hard. This new snow quickly got scraped off the sides and piled up in the troughs and on the tops of the moguls. Conditions basicly sucked, but it was the best (& only) lift-served skiing in the East. I'm not complaining, mind you. It wasn't too bad, once you got down the headwall. In fact, some of the flatter middle section was fun, where the smaller bumps actually benefited from the new snow. <BR> <BR>It was still ski-on ski-off on the Superstar quad. The snow on the last pitch at the bottom narrows to about half the width of the trail, but they've still got a few days to a week before it will require walking. <BR> <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/8/1652.jpg" ALT="3-4" hide the mud at base of Superstar "> <BR> <BR>There was a little wind at the top of the headwall, and a 1' drift formed in the lee of the snowpile there. The bumps on the headwall, and most of the way down, were firm. Once you were below the headwall, there was no wind, and it was quite a workout. So even at 34 degrees, it felt pretty warm. The bumps on the last 200' softened a little after noon. <BR> <BR>The new snow tempted many skiers & riders to venture off onto the grass, with mixed results. I saw a couple good headers as snowboarders hit an unseen rock under the thin cover. I couldn't resist. I talked to one skier coming back from the direction of Skylark/Bittersweet, and he said it was "a little rocky at the bottom, but really nice up top". I decided to risk my ski bases, and followed some ski/board tracks from the top of the lift over to Ovation. It wasn't bad grass skiing, a nice break from the scratchy bumps on Superstar. A good 4-5" covered the upper part of the trail. On the grass this was plenty of cover, but of course it wasn't enough to cover any rock bigger than a walnut. Staying to the left side of Ovation, it was pretty good, as long as you used caution on the waterbars. I bailed out at the first opportunity to get back to Superstar, before hitting any substantial rocks. <BR> <BR>Bottom line: I'd go back tomorrow, if the sun comes out. <BR> <BR>PS: Pat, thanks for the ticket!
Killington 5/18/02
- Thread starter Lftgly
- Start date
"A little rocky at the bottom, but really nice up top?" I think that was me. <BR> <BR>Bittersweet was an interesting melange of boulders, grass, and waterbars. Sky Lark and Sky Hawk were the best, especially where some old snow was left underneath. Middle Ovation was good, but the waterbars were taller. For our last run we skied off the back and looped around under the Sky Peak Quad from Bear. Got a couple dozen sweet powder turns before having to cut back on the very rocky work road. <BR> <BR>Had more fun than many days in Jan this year <IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/clipart/happy.gif" ALT="
">
">