Mary at the junction of Skye Burst and Bear Claw

Mary at the junction of Skye Burst and Bear Claw

If you took this week off to ski, and you had the right clothes, you were rewarded in coming to Killington. With the exception of snow (there's a good word for this winter) that fell on Monday, the rest of the week has been characterized with brilliant sunshine and a near cloudless azure/blue sky.

Conditions on the mountain are flat and incredibly fast. If you are using your own equipment, a good tune at a local ski shop is in order. While there is limited visible ice on the ski trails of Killington, much of the resort is covered in a white styrofoam hardpack. I had my skis tuned last week. They are performing flawlessly this week, with nary a sideslip on any of my high speed turns. If you have the chance, get your skis tuned and you will have a lot more control on the trails under this winters conditions.

Relative to the mountain, the typical trails including the Stash, Bear Claw, Lower Wildfire, Sky Burst, Outer Limits, Cruise Control, Needles Eye, Bittersweet, Skye Lark, Superstar, Ovation, FIS, Cascade, Great Northern, East Fall, Bunny Buster, Chute, High Road, Low Road, Snowshed, and the trails at Rams Head are all flat and fast with a packed powder surface over hardpack. The terrain park in Dream Maker is now in play with a selection of rails and boxes at the start followed by massive ramps and jumps. While lower Dream Maker leading the the Superpipe is not open, the terrain park is still a lot of fun with the way it is set up.

If you are looking for some bumps, the only ones visible were on Upper Wildfire where snow making operations burried the trail last week. They may or may not be there this coming weekend depending upon the mountains grooming schedule.

Natural terrain is sketchy at best, although some can be negotiated with care. Tracks were visible on West Glade and Royal Flush after the fresh snow on Monday, however, I value my equipment (and body) too much to venture onto these trails right now with the thin cover.

Be observant of exposed steep terrain. Early in the week there were some high winds which scoured some exposed ridge lines. Upper Dream Maker is a prime example of a trail that had it's hardpack polished to a high gloss sheen by the wind.

The resort operations team deserves all kinds of kudo's for the work they have been doing day and night on the resort. Strategic snow making, and great grooming, have left a very nice snow product for all of us to enjoy. The resort has done all this without much help, except for cold temperatures, from Mother Nature. It is a testament to the current art of snow making and snow farming. With a warm up coming with temperatures predicted to reach the high 20's, it should be a nice weekend for casual skiing and riding at Killington.

Let it snow!