Lots of people played "hooky" today at Killington. 

I am cooked. After 2 1/2 hours on the slopes followed by 2 hours behind a 9 horse power snow blower, my legs are shot. It was another nice powder day at Killington. And instead of sunshine, we kept getting more snow!

Today I was not in search of powder. It was a day for pure recreational skiing. The resort decided to open the Snowdon Quad and North Ridge Triple at 8:00 AM this morning to allow powder hounds to chase the goods. Having gotten my share yesterday, I took a much more relaxed approach and headed out at my normal weekday day 9:00 hour.

The K1 parking lot was totally full at 9:00 so I parked down at the Vale lot and started my day on the Rams Head Quad. Caper to Snowdon was surprisingly nice with soft powder from the quad all the way down to the junction of North Star. From the Snowdon Quad, I took the North Ridge Triple and traversed across the top of the resort to Bear Mountain.

At Bear Mountain, Bear Claw, Wild Fire, and Skyburst were relatively small soft bumps, as one would expect. The very top of Skyburst had a touch of scratch, as skiers and riders slid into the trail. But by the time you were 50 feet down the slope, you were on soft packed powder.

Bear Claw. Not tracked up much at all, with nice soft bumps.

Needles Eye... a veritable rodeo of steep, deep, bumps.

Upper Skylark. Perfect soft cruiser.

Dream Maker, Cruise Control and Needles Eye were all super fine, and very different. Dream Maker was more packed than chunked, the result of boarders going thru the terrain park. Cruise Control looked like it was groomed early in the evening. The soft snow was forming nice soft bumps, but they were a little random. They were soft enough you could basically ignore them, but by the time you got to the box at the bottom, the legs were talking.

Needles Eye, on the other hand, was unbelievable. The normal blue, yet well pitched, trail usually groomed flat for race training was a classic Killington snow day black diamond. The trail was not groomed over night. Add to that a bunch of new snow, and Needles Eye turned into a bump field with 2 foot bumps every direction you turned. And these bumps, because of their size, needed respect. You could not blow thru them like the powder puffs on some of the other trails. You had to earn your way to the lift by turning thru the bumps. It was actually quite fun!

I did a couple of runs down Skylark and Bittersweet before heading back to K1. Both were nice and soft, but by this time my legs were rubber. I headed to the K1 gondola to gain some altitude so I did not need to skate all the way to the car. I took a nice leisurely cruise down Great Northern back to the car. Another nice ski day in the books.

The weather forecast in Killington is calling for continuous snow flurries right through the weekend. With super soft snow, if you enjoy powder, you should get to Killington.

Let it snow!

On the "Chair to Nowhere" at Killington 

OMG...Deep, Steep, Traverse, Repeat...it's a March Powder day in Killington.

With Ruts and the Bagel down south (sorry you missed a good one guys) and a strange lift configuration that kept me from a planned meeting with some locals, I had to "find my own way" along the slopes of Killington today. What a shame...

By 9 AM opening, the storm had clocked in with 6 inches of new snow across the resort. Strong winds had many lifts either on hold or not operating. But that's ok... because on a powder day, if you live at a ski resort, you should get a chance to pick your places based upon local knowledge.

I generally stayed away from the "popular" trails early on, choosing instead to plot my runs on trails where lifts were not running. Killington is so big, you can get rewarded for a little effort if you know your way around. My first 4 runs required 8 lift rides. On each of the first 4 runs, I was the only one on the trail I targeted, getting fresh untracked shin deep powder each run. By that point, I was pretty cooked already, but as it was only 10:15, it was way too early to go home.

Cruise Control... totally untouched.

Needles Eye... knock knock... is anybody home?

Frozen waterfall. Not ski related, but an interesting picture from today none the less.

To tone down, I took a cruising run down Snowshed, under the tunnel to the Rams Head Quad. I figured that would be an interesting way to get back over to Snowdon and see if any of the boys were still hanging in. Caper from Rams Head was cut up, as one would expect, but the tree lines were still pretty pure, so it was fun all the same.

The Snowdon Quad provided a cool down period. From the top, a quick traverse over to East Falls was enjoyable. Neither the North Ridge Triple, the Canyon Chair, or the K1 Gondola were operating, so East Falls was pretty clean. The middle had been chunked up, but skiers right was filled with beautiful snow worthy of some sweeping turns.

The long traverse out brought me to the Snowdon Triple. It was the only really cold lift of the day, with a very strong breeze hitting the chair at the top of Conclusion. At least the wind was on my back. A little turtle move to slouch my helmet into the collar of my shell sealed the deal, and kept the lift ride bearable.

The top trails on Snowdon, including Upper Royal Flush, Mouse Run, MTS, and Bunny Buster were all getting wind blow. Drifts were forming on most trails on the right side tree line. For the most part they presented nice lines for turning, but every now and then there was a snow cornice to blow through which made things interesting. (A snow cornice caught my skis 4 years ago causing me to do a double eject and bust up my shoulder... so I respect them a lot!)

Snow is continuing to fall with additional accumulation expected overnight. Tomorrow should be another powder day at Killington.

Let it snow!

Outer Limits at Bear Mountain at Killington lit up by sunshine. 

Look... Up in the sky... it's a comet...er no ... it's a meteor...er no ... it's a UFO... er no ... ITS THE SUN! What tha....

For the first time in many weeks, Mary and I got a chance to ski in sunshine. Beautiful, radiant, warming, sunshine. And with temperatures in the low teens this morning, with winds to 20, the fact that the sun was shining brightly made the whole morning just seem more pleasant.

Ski conditions today, to use the vernacular, were "flat and fast". The thaw that took place earlier in the week has solidified into impregnable patches of hard pack requiring variable amounts of leg pressure to set a turning edge. Early morning groomed corduroy saw us doing many nice "high speed" cruising runs on Bear Mountain. Later in the day, after the surfaces had been worked over by Friday skiers and riders, we slid down trails like Superstar and Cascade wondering why we were not wearing our Bauer's. Ah.. but we take joy and great comfort in the challenge of meeting the variability of ski conditions presented in the East.

It's all the Bagels fault.

Ruts, The Bagel, and Chuckles swinging from the Sky Burst Quad.

The Bagel made his triumphant return to the Killington ski scene today after a trip to the powdered slopes of Breckenridge Colorado. And not a moment too soon either. As mentioned last week, several of us have been "chaperoning" Ruts in the Bagel's absence. It was an awesome responsibility gladly relinquished back to the Bagel. The Bagel reports that he experienced the hole gamut of conditions on his trip to Breck, just like at Killington. His first day saw -20 degree temperatures (sound familiar) with just a touch of light snow. Like we at Killington had over the last 2 weeks, he also had a nice 15 inch powder day. But never matter about that, he is back, taking his rightful place as Rut's wingman on the winter odyssey we call "Skiing at Killington".

With cold temperatures firmly locked in place for the weekend, the Killington Resort has announced that they will be turning their snow making system on once again this season. Snow making has been taking place this week on Great Northern from the peak down to Middle and Lower Chute. Tonight and for the rest of the weekend, Killington's snowmakers will be turning their guns onto Superstar to continue to build base. Killington is planning a long spring skiing and riding season this year with events on the calendar spread out through April and May. And with more snow in the forecast for the region next week, we are looking forward to many warm and sunny days of nice spring skiing on soft snow.

Let it snow!

Light snow falling around the Birch Ridge Inn at Killington. 

OK...this is New England. Home of the phrase..."If you don't like the weather..wait a minute!" And certainly that has been the case at Killington this week.

Snow late last week was followed by several blue bird days. Early this week temperatures rose into the low 40's and we were greeted with several days of damp and dreary weather. Yesterday, temperatures plunged into the 20's, locking the early week dampness into the snow pack. Last night and today, we have been enjoying virtually continuous light snow fall, resulting in 2 plus inches of light powder accumulation on the previously frozen tight snow pack. And with cold air in place for what looks like a week or more, and snow flurries firmly in place in the forecast, the ski season in Killington is poised to extend well into the spring.

With Mary in Boston with her mother all week, and a looming tax deadline, I have not had the opportunity to get out on the slopes this week. Chef Frizzie did ski Killington yesterday and today. Predictably, yesterday was very crunchy, the result of Tuesday nights grooming of the frozen surface created by the previously mentioned dampness. This morning, after another grooming cycle, and a full night of light snow, Chef Frizzie reported that ski surfaces were much softer. Not up to the powder conditions of last week, mind you, but rebounding nicely from earlier in the week. And, as light snow continues to fall, they should only keep getting better.

Let it snow!

Ruts and Suzy...wheres the Bagel? 

It may have been a wet storm down south, but it was a powder day at Killington! Depending upon the location anywhere from 3 to 8 inches of light to medium weight fluff greeted skiers and riders this morning as they trekked out on the mountain. And it was Glorious!

I was on Ruts duty today, as the Bagel is still recovering from his trip out west. A bunch of us have been chaperoning Ruts while he has been out of view of the Bagel. I turned my back on him for a minute this morning and he found our friend Suzy on Bear Mountain. Suzy is a great skier, so she stayed with Ruts and I this morning on our excursion around the powder covered mountains of the Killington Resort.

Most of the primary trails today had been groomed flat prior to the snow storm. This week was a Canadian School Break week, so the resort has been keeping most of the terrain flat to accommodate our guests from up north. The flat terrain set the mountain up nicely for it's powder coat, yielding run after satisfying run ranging from freshies to soft powda bumps.

The Stash, Bear Claw, Skye Burst, Dream Maker, Cruise Control, Needles Eye, Bitter Sweet, Sky Lark, and Superstar were all soft and sweet. Early runs were on 3 to 6 inches of fresh powder. By 10:30, the freshies had transitioned to soft powder bumps. Bumps on steeper terrain self organized with a little more regularity. Shallower terrain had more random bumps, but they had an ephemeral quality if you hit them head on, given the softness of the snow.

On the Killington Peak side of the resort, the Canyons was superb. East Falls, Down Draft, and Cascades were covered in soft bumps. I did catch a small bush on the side of the trail on Down Draft (I was skiing way left on the tree line in untracked powder at 11:45) which gave me a toss. But other than that, we did not discover any other snow snakes hiding in the pow all day.

With pairs of shot legs, we retired to K1 just after noon. Ruts was heading back to his house, unaccompanied and unchaperoned, for his afternoon nap. The bagel missed a good one today.

Let it snow!

Looking down to the Roaring Brook Umbrella Bars at the K1 Base Lodge from the top of East Falls 

Keeping her streak alive, once again today Mary skied at Killington without having to worry about sunscreen.

With a brief respite from the mountain to attend to weekend inn guests, Mary and I headed back out to ski this morning right at 9:00. Temperatures were in the low 20's. Winds were blowing towards 20 MPH. To cap it off, for most of the time this morning, the resort was capped with a moist, cold, cloud that created a soft gauze like patina of ice crystals on our goggles. Ah... skiing in New England! But the snow surfaces were GREAT and gravity leads you down hill... so what's a little visibility issue between friends. In the words of our friend, Billy Mac... "Point em down hill you chicken sh..!"

The Welcome Moose at the front door to the Birch Ridge Inn buried in snow.

We started our day in the K1 Gondola headed towards Killington Peak. The cabin was thick with french accents, as it is school break week in Montreal. Many of our canadian friends are making their annual ski trek to Killington with a good mix of adults and children of all sizes.

At Killington Peak we observed the crowd. Most headed down Great Northern towards Cascade, North Ridge, and parts north on the resort. Seeing that, we headed south on Blue Heaven to Bear Trax across the top of the resort to Bear Mountain. Trees at the peak were thick with rime ice, the product of the moisture in the cold cloud condensing on the tree branches. At the end of our traverse, we made our descent down Bear Claw to lower Wild Fire. Snow surfaces were for the most part soft, although due to the cold temperatures they were a little firmer than last week. A quick boost up the Skye Peak Quad set up our next run down the Stash. Light fluff covered the surface, as there had been minimum skier and rider traffic when we entered the area at 9:20. We exited via the Viper Pit and lower Skye Burst, both of which were groomed flat and once again reasonably soft.

For the rest of the time on the south side of the resort we did loops on Cruise Control, Needles Eye, Bitter Sweet, Sky Lark and Superstar. Lower Sky Lark was probably in the best shape it's been in all season, with nary a hint of hard pack down it's fall line. Superstar was soft rollers. The lower headwall was trying to develop a few bumps, but as there was light skier traffic the bumps were failing to organize.

Our last few runs of the day were off the Snowdon and Rams Head Quads. We hit Snowdon at around 11:45 after being on the south side of the resort for 2 1/2 hours. I lead Mary down Frolic to Timberline on Rams Head, taking a peak at North Star and Vagabond along the way. (Vagabond had nice regular bumps on it on Friday when I was skiing with Ruts. But bumps are not Mary's friends, so I could only look upon it in anticipation of another day.) Timberline is set up with a terrain park with numerous features. Most are rollers caped in a ramp, or some kind of rail. It was a nice, though exhilarating, break from the steeper terrain to the south.

After a quick boost up Rams Head, we finished with a simple run down Caper to Great Northern ending up at the Bay 1 parking lot about 20 feet from the car. On the ride home we had the quintessential Northeast skier conversation... Is it better to have a warmer February and a colder March? February, as the record books will show, was warmer than average, though still plenty cold to support copious amounts of snow. It's all up to March to stay cold (and give us a little more snow) to keep the snow surfaces nice through Killington's long spring skiing season. We voted for a colder March!

Speaking of voting... tomorrow is Town Meeting day in Vermont. In Killington we are having a Town Informational Meeting tonight. Voting is to take place tomorrow from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM at the Killington Town Offices. If you live in Killington....Go Vote!

Let it snow!

Bumpalicious Lower Superstar Headwall 

Bumpalicious - not sure it is a word... but it is my word of the day.

Over a half a foot of beautifully soft snow covered the Killington Resort in the last 24 hours. And the skiing is just fantastic! I had the utmost pleasure to be on the mountain today for 4 hours. If I did not have other commitments, I might still be there.

I started my day off the Rams Head quad due to where I parked my car. After a quick run down Caper and a boost up on the Snowdon Quad and North Ridge Triple, I caught up with some friends. The Skye Peak Quad was down, so we did loops through Snowdon and Ram Head, playing in the soft and supple snow. The last vestiges of corduroy were quickly obliterated, replaced by mound after mound of soft bumps on every trail we skied. Temperatures were in the upper 20's and low 30's. The snow flowed with every turn like very thick molasses. Not melting and turning to slush; but keeping a firm yet pliable consistency that responded beautifully to each carving turn.

After the boyz took off for Lunch around 11:30, I stayed out and did some steeps. To get over to Superstar, I took East Falls and the run-out to the K1 base lodge. East Falls had not seen a huge amount of traffic, as the Canyon Quad was not running. But it was developing nice, regular, bump lines down either side and in the middle. It was a beautiful spring skiing warmup!

On the Skye Peak side of the mountain, Superstar, Skylark, Bittersweet, Needles Eye, and Cruise Control were all nice little bumps. Upper Skye Burst was virtually untracked. I should have ventured all the way to Bear as the Bear Quad at Outer Limits was running, but I decided to stay on the northern side of the resort.

Just before 1:00 I headed back to my car to meet Mary at Sushi Yoshi for a very satisfying chinese lunch. What a great ski day!

We hope you get a chance to get up to Killington and enjoy the great snow!

Let it snow!