Killington 10-26-16

[Ride Delaware ?]

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.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Congrats on getting an October day in. I've had an October day in Vermont at Stowe and Killington, Bridger Bowl, Big Sky and up near hazleton on the side of the road. Bonus skiing...since anything before Xmas is bonus right lol. Thanks for taking the time to write up the report...been awhile since there was a report on here!!!

 

Opening during the middle of the week sure makes a big difference in terms of crowds.

[Ride Delaware ?]

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.

[JFskiDan]

nice to see pictures of snow.  

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

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.

Yeah last season was kind of bad for me only 42 days I think. You're so different than me with when you ride. I guess I'm more of a morning person.

[Ride Delaware ?]

Yeah last season was kind of bad for me only 42 days I think. You're so different than me with when you ride. I guess I'm more of a morning person.

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.

[Johnny Law]

Sickbird ! Way to go after it hard

[guitar73]

nice stuff! 

[Ride Delaware ?]

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

[RidgeRacer]

Nice TR Ride....I'm jealous

Edited October 28, 2016 by RidgeRacer