Killington, VT 11/7/99

JSpin

New member
<I>(Note from the Administrator: This report was originally posted on 11/8/99. Due to our move to new servers, the date and time attributed to this post is incorrect.)</I> <BR> <BR>I hadn't planned to ski this weekend, but my friend Chris was up <BR>from New Hampshire and was planning to head down to Killington for his <BR>first day. My friend E was also interested in going, so I couldn't turn <BR>down the chance to ski with friends. We left Burlington (rather dark) <BR>and early under overcast skies and blustery conditions; temps felt like <BR>they were in the 30s. As we crested on I-89 near Williston, snow <BR>showers were visible in the mountains ahead, and by the time we hit <BR>Richmond, we were surrounded by swirling snow. Although the intensity of <BR>the snow sometimes approached moderate, it wasn't sticking to the ground <BR>initially due to the temperature. As we climbed into the higher <BR>elevations of the interstate, the snow began to accumulate in a light <BR>dusting on the road and surrounding surfaces. As we approached <BR>Killington, snow had accumulated to around a dusting at the base of the <BR>access road, and may be 1/4 to 1/2 inch at the Killington Base Lodge. <BR>We pulled into the parking lot at 7:50 A.M., and the lineup at the K-1 <BR>gondola was just starting to load. <BR>Tickets were still holding at $25, and the mountain ambassadors <BR>were reminding everyone to bring their goggles, because the guns were <BR>blasting. At the top of the gondola, snow accumulation was maybe an <BR>inch as we hopped onto the truck and sped towards the Glades area. <BR>Today's trail options were all of Rime, and all of East Glade. Guns <BR>were going everywhere except the upper half of Rime. The natural snow <BR>that had fallen was much lighter than the previous storm, although it <BR>was difficult for me to gauge since there was only an inch or so, and it <BR>was mixed with manmade on all the trails. We missed first tracks by a <BR>mile, but there was still some untouched snow mixed in around the snow <BR>guns as well as in the "off trail" brush to the skier's right of lower <BR>Rime and lower East Glade. I found this snow to be around 3-4 inches <BR>deep, fairly heavy, but light compared to some manmade I've skied <BR>(perhaps the natural supplement helped). I'm going ot go with around <BR>10-11% water content for my educated guess. I bet the first tracks of <BR>the day were pretty sweet though (relatively speaking). <BR>The temperatures stayed cool, so the snow stayed packed powder <BR>until around 10:00 A.M. when some slick spots started to form. The lift <BR>line was under 5 minutes for the time we were there. It snowed lightly <BR>during the morning, and was beginning to clear a little when we left <BR>sometime after 10:00. The guns were going on Ram's Head (I think the <BR>Header trail?) so there should be more terrain open soon if temperatures <BR>are good. <BR> <BR>J.Spin
 
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