Killington, Vt. 9/30/00

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Finally skied Sept to make it all 12 months that I've skied in the east (not in a row (yet), July and August courtesy Tuckerman's)! <BR> Killington made snow overnight Thurs on Upper Cascade. In years past this would mean opening day, but with the loss of the old Killington double chair with its mid-station, upper Cascade is no longer lift-serviced by itself. Sadly, K has fallen into the Sugarbush p.r. ploy of 'make some snow and stick an employee on it for a photo op'. Presumably they will open up the Glades chair for a real opening day within a couple of weeks (though it's not easy getting skiers to it- you go pickup truck> Canyon Chair> Glades Chair and back). <BR> Anyway, I saw said photo-op on the website Friday and, knowing it would be cold enough for the snow to stay put for another day or two, went up today and, sure enough, you could see a patch of white up there from the access road! Unfortunately they wouldn't let you take skis on the Gondola with the Mt. bikers and leaf peepers, so had to hike up the old K2 liftline to the snow. The snow patch was maybe 300 ft long. Not bad conditions, typical first-day manmade over meadow grass, with a fairly solid line down the middle and some 'give' to the snow/grass on the sides. Hey, how bad could it be- it's Sept. skiing! Though the temps are rising, it might hold out for another day or so. <BR> Even though I spent 4 hours of driving and a couple more hiking to get Sept tracks, the diehard award for the day goes to the guy who was getting back to the parking lot with his skis at 10am having driven *5* hours from Cape Cod, only to be heading right back home again! When I was up top I had the snow to myself (except for a few curious bikers/ hikers) though I saw a couple of boarders going up as I came down. <BR> Here's to a great season!