Ride Delaware ?

Who skinned up and skied the gnar at Blue?

The kids grow up so quick. Where does the time go? Have you gone every Root Friday since it was born?

I've got a friend who was on patrol there. Everything is in flux. No offense taken. The bridge still keeps me up at night.

I've never been to Killington on a weekend with only the NRT. I try to avoid that at all costs. That's the huge bennie to K-Mart. Once they open, they stay open all week. I just delay my trip a day and the whole line disappears. It also doesn't help that it's a holiday week. Regardless, I'm glad you got out there. It's definitely worth it for this early. It's the price you pay to ride 3 weeks earlier than anyone else. Thanks for the pics and way to go out and get it.

I don't see it being worth it, but plenty of places blow for show early on...

I've never had my car broken into in the bottom lot...

Root Friday? I've heard that K-Mart has pulled hoses from the Skylark side so they can pound Superstar from both sides. Guns are already back on at the bottom, so I am guessing that with a low in the upper teens tonight, they will get plenty accomplished. I've heard it's about 2' deep at the base, so they should add considerable depth tonight. I still doubt the public with have t2b skiing by Thanksgiving. If so, it will be limited and before all the North Ridge area is open...

It really doesn't look good for anywhere in the Northeast. JLaw might have some real forecasting, but there looks to be a pattern change coming for New England the week of Thanksgiving. Before that, it's just some small shots of cold air here and there. Looks like tomorrow and Saturday should be cold enough for some snowmaking in New England. Killington has had all it can do to keep the North Ridge trails open. With no Locke lift this year, SR can't get in the game without t2b either. They may have a shot this weekend on Sunday, but from the looks of a patrol friend's skinning the other day, they have some serious ground to make up before that happens.

I have an inside source there that said they were considering making the mountain a motor cross venue...

The window is actually very small in the 15 day forecast. If temps don't drop the week before Thanksgiving, I think options will be real limited. Killington won't have much more than the NRT area and may still be downloading just because of all the capacity being used for the WC race. I've heard that SR may try an opening next Monday. Without the Locke triple this year, they are way behind schedule. It is really going to depend on what kind of production they get Friday night through Sunday morning at the lower elevations. Other than that, you may see a WROD at Wildcat or Bretton Woods, but unfortunately, I don't see many other options with the current temps. Sugarbush may open, but that's only because they have the ability to download. Most of the resorts haven't even begun to make snow. Steaux had some snow on the ground, but without a good push this weekend, it may be awhile for them as well.

Bolton has some awesome glades. I would love to get back there in an average snow year. Most of those were cut by locals. It's not really illegal to cut glades in VT as long as you aren't in a state or national forest. You just can't clear cut. Look at how much Magic cuts every year. Killington has done some massive trimming the past couple years.

I'm surprised employees don't receive free dependent passes. We receive one per dependent per each year accrued.

If it gets all the kids season passes, then it really is worth whoring yourself out... I can't help but think how much more business Elk could bring in if they just put us in charge...

It was looking promising, but I'm not seeing anything to be excited about. I think K-Mart will be puckering its buttle...

Imagine what could be done with the place if they would do something with the place...

Typically, with good snowmaking weather, it would be a week to two weeks after opening. They typically have snowmaking on the t2b route at the same time as the NRT area. This wasn't the case this year. My guess, as I stated in my first report, is that they are using that water to bury Superstar for the WC race. I think they are maxing out between that and Bittersweet.

I'll try to make this shorter than yesterday's report. I was pretty much resigned to snowboarding alone today, but I went out to have drinks last night with some friends from patrol, and one of them was interested in splitting a 2 for 1 with me down at Killington today. I had a couple things to do this morning, so I picked her up at about 10 AM and hit the road. The road was clear and we rolled into the KBL parking lot around 11:15. We booted up in the parking lot, snagged our tickets, and were on the gondola just after 11:30. The parking lot seemed to be a little less crowded than yesterday, but the lack of crowds was much more evident on skiable terrain. There was even less of a lift line today than yesterday and the trail was never crowded. The weather was much nicer yesterday. Temperatures were very similar today vs yesterday, but with the storm approaching, the wind had kicked up and the top of the mountain was in a cloud. They added Upper East Fall to the lineup today to give us some new terrain. There were still guns going on Rime and Upper East Fall. Rime was in better shape today than yesterday. They had groomed it overnight and reduced the bump line. With the reduced crowds, it was much easier to build some speed and cruise on it. Although almost everyone was sporting a slight glaze on their jackets, most of that seemed to be coming from 3-4 guns just above the bottom of the lift. Reason had received some new snow overnight, but it still had the same setup as yesterday. It looked like they had pulled the guns out on the trail to hit skiers right where the features were, so skiers left was day old crusty snow. It was still fun, but not the same surface as yesterday. Lastly, Upper East Fall opened and it had been groomed overnight. Usually it is opened without grooming, so this was a treat. They had the guns going on skiers left, but the side to hit was skiers right where there were no visibility issues and some slight blow over. We hit up 10 runs in about two hours until my friend was ready to go. The natural snow started to fall as we were leaving. Speaking of fall, I took my first "fall" of the season. With the snow starting to fall, and temps rising ever so slightly, the correct conditions were finally made to glaze the bottom of my board. Right as I got off the lift to take my board off for the hike up the stairway, my board stuck and i went forward. I twisted a bit and was able to land mostly on my hip. I slightly dinged my helmet on the snow, but no damage was done. My friend had never encountered the stairwell before, and while she wasn't a huge fan, she agreed that it was well worth the product that we were able to enjoy today. Overall, today was not quite as good as yesterday, but it was still an excellent day to be on the snow with a excellent product. I couldn't have been happier with my first October experience. I couldn't imagine finding a better way to find amazing views, time with friends, and a physical activity I love for $27.50.

Today was completely different, but just as good. Report to follow later.

Typically I try to get there at lift opening, but the GF didn't particularly want to, and we assumed that it wouldn't make a huge difference with snowmaking ongoing all day.

I remember your side of the road trip report. That was so long ago. I kind of miss when you would really go out and get it.

I've wanted to get an October day in for years. This year I finally accomplished that goal. All the pieces seemed to fall into place for an October day this year. I had a wedding to attend in New Jersey this past weekend. The girlfriend drove down from NE for the wedding and had taken a couple extra days off after it. We had considered going to Delaware, but with the temps trending towards snowmaking weather, we decided to go to Vermont to see what would happen. She would also be closer to home. My educated guesses were correct, and Killington started making snow early on Sunday. Temps were marginal to start, but they got better as the days progressed. Monday morning they announced that they would open to season pass and express card holders for a customer appreciation day on Tuesday at 9. We considered buying express cards in order to attend, but temps actually rose throughout the day and they had to turn the guns off. They posted at 7 PM that they would be delaying the opening and that it could be as late as Wednesday. They made the call to open at noon, but we didn't see the cost benefit to buying an express card that we might not use more than once. We decided that Wednesday, the opening to the general public, would be the day for us. We woke up at a decent hour, packed her belongings for the trip home, and hit the road around 9:30. It had been snowing on and off since Sunday, and there was some slush on the roads. We decided to eat some breakfast at the Rochester Cafe before we started our day on the snow. We arrived at Killington at 11:30 to a decent, but not overwhelming amount of cars, and booted up in the parking lot. Lift tickets were $55, but I had a 2 for 1, so we both rode for $27.50. The lady at the window said they had about 500 customers so far. I didn't know what that meant in terms of crowds, but we were about to find out. We loaded the K-1 gondola at 12 PM. Guns were going t2b on Superstar in preparation for the World Cup on November 26. They brought in extra air compressors to make snow on both areas at once, but I'm guessing that they stretched their water thin and weren't able to concentrate as much on the NRT area. They had guns going on Rime and Upper East Fall. They usually have guns going on Snowdon for the connection to the base and guns going on Upper Great Northern so that it is ski down from the gondola to the NRT. Since this wasn't going today, it was going to be a hike on the Stairway to Heaven to and from the NRT. There was plenty of traffic going both ways on the stairs, but it didn't take as long as expected. We got to the top of the NRT in less than 5 minutes with the guns still ablaze and a bunch of people hanging out at the top of the lift. We strapped in and headed down Rime. It was under constant assault from the snow guns, which were slightly wet, but since the temps weren't too cold, it wasn't freezing upon body contact. The slush could easily be wiped off the goggles. The trail had plenty of people on it, but it was pretty well spread out. I only had two close encounters and they were both during the first two runs. The snow was incredibly soft and creamy, but not slushy. It was a super fun surface to ride on. The nicest bonus, which I had never really encountered before, was that there had never been a time where the temps had gone above freezing since they started snowmaking. That meant that there was no icy base underneath and everything was very edge able. Lower Rime had a fun bump run forming on skiers right which was a nice change of pace. The base was 12"-18" and growing. There was never more than a 3-4 chair lift line despite the amount of people on the trail. The snow guns were loud, but it was worth the noise. We only had one or two singles hop on with us the whole day. They even had a DJ spinning some tunes. Great vibe all the way around. After a couple runs on Rime, we decided to go down Reason, which is the early season terrain park trail. They had 8 features set up on skiers right down the whole trail. The base was maybe 8" because they weren't running the guns during the day, Im sure that its getting some love tonight. Lots of jib honks were sessioning the park and seemed to be very happy with the set up. We rode on skiers left and it was an enjoyable run. The snow was soft and easy to edge. it was much flatter with better visibility, so we were able to do a little cruising on that trail. As the day wore on, it became visibly less crowded. By 2:30 there were only 20-30 people on the trail at once. Since the gf had to drive home, and it was our first day, we decided to call it after 10 runs at 2:45. We followed the line of people up the Stairway to Heaven to download down the K-1. The hike up took about 5 minutes, and by 3:00 PM we were on the gondola headed down. Temps at the base were hovering around 31 while the temps at the top were in the low 20's. They were getting decent production. Overall, my first October day was one of my best early season days ever. The lack of crowds, good coverage, and soft snow was more than I could have expected. They should be able to blow snow into tomorrow before the warm front comes through. I am sure they turned the guns back on in the park and are adding to the base. They may even add East Fall tomorrow. They park a groomer at the top and will probably groom Rime and Reason tomorrow before opening. Im going to try to go back down tomorrow. It should be less crowded, and if it is half as good as today was, it will be well worth it.

We use black jackets. 95% of places use red and black. I would stick out like a sore thumb...They wanted to open this morning at 9 to pass holders and express card holders, but due to warmer than expected temps yesterday, they didn't get the base down that they were hoping for and had to turn the guns off for a brief spot in the afternoon. They were able to get good production last night, groomed a little, and were able to open today at noon with hiking TO AND FROM the NRT. With the late opening, we decided to save some money and our time and will hit it tomorrow for the first day open to the general public. K-Zone members said it was good, but that it was thin in some places.

Trying to decide if I shell out $99 for an Express Card to go opening day, or wait until Wednesday and Thursday for general public opening...

I'll post pics. Not sure if I'll go Tuesday or Wednesday, or both...

Snowmaking to begin at Killington sometime on Sunday. Insider knowledge says they are pushing for a Tuesday opening at the latest...