Killington 11-21-16

[Ride Delaware ?]

I'm spending Thanksgiving this year with the girlfriends family in Maine, so I decided to come up a little early to get a few days in on the mountain.

 

I left a housewarming/le-laf viewing party Sunday morning and headed north. I hardly hit any adverse weather until I hit Killington. Green grass and clear roads turned to slushy messes with 3-4" of snow on the sides. The drive between Killington and Sugarbush had limited visibility at times, but the roads were clear until the Granville Gulf. Similar to Rutland/Killington, the Mad River Valley was green, while halfway up the access road, the snow started to accumulate quickly. There were a couple inches on the ground when I arrived.

 

After a long drive with its tense moments, I decided to watch the football game and not rush out the next morning. I woke up around 8, took my time getting out of bed, and left the Bush around 10:30.

 

I arrived at Killington just after 11:35 to packed parking lots, new traffic routes due to the World Cup, venue construction crews, and 21 degree temps. I booted up and headed over to the ticket window where I found someone willing to split a 2 for 1 with me. I boarded the gondola right at noon. There were some patrons poaching down to the bottom, but the majority were still downloading.

 

Killington advertised 10" of snow, and while I believe it, it was tough to tell. There were some very strong gusts overnight, and still some moderate gusts during the day. Great Northern was open down to East Fall and Rime, so for the first time this year, I didn't have to hike both directions. The snow was soft and didn't seem too crowded. There were lines at the lift, but I hopped in the singles line and never waited more than 2 minutes.

 

The trails were much more crowded than the lift. Every race team in New England seemed to be there. Couple that with the World Cup and the holiday weekend, and there were plenty of people. The trails weren't too congested, but you had to deal with racers training on an open slope and groups of racers huddling in intervals down the trail to talk to their coach.

 

The same trails (plus GN) I had ridden on 3 weeks ago were still the only trails available. The base was deeper than last time, but also considerably firmer. Upper Rime was in excellent shape. The snow was soft and flat and easy to cruise on. Unfortunately, the race teams knew that as well. Reason was probably the secret of the day. The park had limited features due to the natural snow, but it kept most people off it, and skiers left was soft and deep all day. East Fall was like a glacier at the entrance, but it became a mix of soft bumps and ice further down. Lower Rime was a disaster. It had some bumps on skiers right, but most of if, especially where it funnels to the lift, was glare ice.

 

I ended up doing 11 runs in just over two hours. I hiked the Stairway for what I hope is the last time this season. Killington passed their snow test with the course, but they still blew snow on Superstar to add some cushion. They also blew on Skylark to create a training trail since the racers can't use the course for a week before the race. They had begun shifting that capacity to Snowden to get t2b. Guns were running about halfway up, but the guns on middle GN were still silent. I expect that they will turn them on tonight as they begin to ease off Skylark.

 

All in all, not a bad day for day #3. Easily worth $30. Might check out Bretton Woods tomorrow for t2b on a high speed if I wake up early enough.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[tnt]

Nice report.  Pics make it look pretty nice....

 

Snow Shark 4th picture down, cresting the surface on the right side.....

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Nice report and pictures..how long was the drive from sugarbush to Maine. I remember Burlington to sugarloaf taking about 5 hours..to the Portland area much quicker.