Great Northern "Killink Bypass" under the guns

Great Northern "Killink Bypass" under the guns

It is not mid winter. There is limited terrain open. There are snow guns pushing out water with consistencies varying from "light fluff" to "5 alarm fire hose". There are ski teams race training everywhere. There are herbs and herbettes(is that a word?) playing hooky from work. There are lift lines. Can I say anything else bad...

Now for the good...

There is skiing on real snow! There is clean fresh air. There are beautiful blue skies with thin wispy clouds. There is that great feeling of being on top of the mountain. There is the crunch of snow under the skis. There are the tight turns under the chair lift. There are the sweeping turns on Upper Great Northern (or West Glade if you have skied at Killington for years). There is the feel of new ski boots. There is camaraderie in the base lodge. There are new people to meet on the chair lifts and in the gondola. There are lots of happy people all over the resort with smiling faces. There was a late breakfast at Johnny Boys with good friends.

In otherwords.. it was just a great morning to take a few runs skiing at Killington.

Now for the conditions...The resort today was basically skiing from the K1 Gondola, the North Ridge Triple, the Snowdon Triple and the Snowdon Poma. Upper terrain on the mountain was in great shape, with nice mid winter quality snow in most spots. Thinness will easily develop down the middle of each trail as skier traffic wears the surface, but skiers right and left on all the trails I skied on where nice soft snow with plenty of coverage to make some nice carving turns.

From the peak we were for all practical purposes limited to skiing Rime and Great Northern to the North Ridge Triple. Ski race training was taking place on Upper East Falls. Snow guns were going on sections of Great Northern, especially at the high traffic merge spot at Killink.

Lower sections of the mountain, other than the last part of Lower Bunny Buster, still had snow making operations ongoing when we skied down off the peak. Snow guns at the lower elevations were very wet with considerable body sliming taking place as we passed under the guns. Surfaces near the snow guns were also very wet, as one would expect given the high water content being expelled by the guns.

Crowds at the mountain in the early hours was solid. Many ski teams were on the mountain either officially training, our out for some runs. The hooky factor also seemed pretty high with people taking the day off from work to make a few turns.

All in all, it was a pretty morning to be out on the mountain. Hopefully there are many more to come in the next few weeks.

Where ever you may be this weekend....Let it snow!!!