Killington 11-12-19

[Ride Delaware ?]

Unfortunately, we had to head home today from VT, but the silver lining is that Killington happens to be on the way and is still the only mountain open in New England. The storm had dropped 6” at Sugarbush, but the conditions report seemed to indicate that the storm underperformed the further south you got, but since options were limited, we went for it anyway.

 

We got a later start than we had hoped, but considering we had to clean up the townhouse and pack the car, it was to be expected. Route 100 was dicey and completely snow covered from Sugarbush to the intersection of Rt. 100 and 107 just outside of Pittsfield. It cleared up there until you got to the access road. Overall, it was a slow drive, but there were no close calls, so I’ll take that.

 

All the parking lots at the K-1 are only accessible via Vale Rd, but luckily there were far fewer people today, and we could park in the main lot just below the ticket booth. The only downside to having the parking so far from the front of the lodge, and having to walk around the gondola garage, is that parking lot booting is a must. There is no drop off at the lodge. I always PLB, but for the snobs out there who like the finer things in life, I’m sure it’s a hassle. The snow guns were going t2b including the lower fan guns on Superstar, and the mercury showed a balmy 23 degrees at the base. We had reloaded our One Pass cards the night before, so straight to the lift we went.

 

In stark contrast to Sugarbush, there were only about 2” of new snow on the ground. We were told that there was a decent amount of freezing rain, which was obvious from some of the cars in the parking lot, but luckily it never got warm enough for it to “straight rain” and effect the base. Also much different from yesterday, was the lift line situation. Every single lift all day was ski on, no gondolas were completely full, and my wife and I never shared a quad chair with another guest.

 

We noticed on the first gondola ride up that there was definitely some wind today. It wasn’t an uncomfortable amount of wind, but considering the temp at the top was only 12, it made it chillier, but still quite manageable with proper layering.

 

We started the day out with a pleasant t2b run off the gondola. Conditions were firmer than yesterday due to the precip, but Killington did a great job grooming and nothing was unedgable. Our second run was down Downdraft, which I had skipped yesterday. It was man made bumps, but there was enough traffic that there was enough snow to push around and it was surprisingly enjoyable. After that, we basically alternated between Rime, Reason, Double Dipper, Upper East Fall, and t2b runs. Double Dipper was the other trail I didn’t do yesterday. It was definitely thin. They clearly only made enough snow to give it bare bones cover and then let the natural snow fill it in. However, it had the most edgable snow, so every downside did have a silver lining. I know that Killington is in expansion mode, but it shouldn’t be that obvious. All of the original trails except Downdraft, Great Northern from the gondola to Rime, Upper East Fall, and Reason, need to be resurfaced. Rime is the primary early season trail and it is really thin and down to the ice/hard pack base. Great Northern to Bunny Buster is just getting thin. It was obvious that they wanted to get t2b, and it’s not bad for November 12, but it is also obvious that it doesn’t quite have the depth they prefer to have on it, especially in 2-3 specific spots. They were running the Snowdon Triple and Snowdon 6 Pack today, while also blowing snow on both, so I expect they will open this weekend with the temps they have until then.

 

Overall, today was a B-. If it had been all snow, it would have been a top 5 early season day. We took 7 runs off the quad today and 3 t2b. The thermometer in the car registered 19 nearly 2.5 hours later. I would have liked another run or two, but we have a 7.5 hour drive ahead of us, so we made the smart call and headed out. Not to mention, it was only my second day and my wife’s first, so it was also smart not to push too hard too early.

 

It was significantly colder, so I didn’t take as many pics, but as usual, they are below.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

The moguls look good.  Nice that you and your wife got some days off work.