Killington, 24-4-04

  • Thread starter Thread starter Anonymous
  • Start date Start date
A

Anonymous

Guest
Woke to pouring rain at 6am on Saturday. Very scary when you have to put your faith in the weatherman who claimed "that it would clear out and be sunny in the 50s". Regardless, decided to head out on the 3 hour drive to K-mart due the need for a fix in this rapidly ending ski season. The rain stopped shortly after departure, but the clouds were still lingering when I arrived at Killington around 10:15am. Was shocked and disappointed to see that Superstar was groomed! Geared up and headed up. Temps were cool and the snow somewhat weird. Bumps on the headwall were not entirely user friendly yet. Skyelark/Bittersweet route was OK, but the coverage is getting thin. Don't know what effect this week's forecasted rains will have on it. The first couple of runs on Superstar were decidedly average as the sun was still in hiding and due to the grooming there were no bumps, execpt on the headwall and some really ugly zippers on the skier's left. Fortunatley, after lunch things did indeed clear out and get beautiful. Far and away the best skiing was Superstar from 2-4 pm as the bumps formed up nicely. Was very disappointed to see the lift close as the skiing at that point was amazing spring bumps!! Partook of the usual post Superstar Long Trails and chips while sitting in the sun. Definitely felt that there was less snow on Superstart than one would normally see at this time of year. I suspect that they will OK for this weekend, but shortly thereafter walking will be required just above the last pitch as the snow didn't look particularily deep there. I didn't venture up the KI gondy as there weren't running the Glades triple so one was forced to ski all the way to the bottom with walking required in several places. I thought that it was rather cheap of Killington to run this lift and not advertise the amount of walking required. East Fall looked good, but the walk out of the canyon didn't look like a lot of fun. All in all another great day skiing spring bumps on Superstar, albeit one that required patience initially while waiting for Mr. Sun to show up.
 
Thanks for the report, Anonymous ! <BR> <BR>We "plan" to possibly head there on may 8 weekend. Do you think Skyelark/Bittersweet could still be skiable this year or probably not ? <BR> <BR>(as we're not all some moguls junkies) <BR> <BR>Sad for the walking soon required in the trail... it's quite early for that, isn't it ?
 
With a weather forecast like this: <BR> <BR><A HREF="http://www.intellicast.com/Local/USLocalStd.asp?loc=usvtct13351&seg=LocalWeather&prodgrp=Forecasts&product=Forecast&prodnav=none&pid=none" TARGET="_top">http://www.intellicast.com/Local/USLocalStd.asp?loc=usvtct13351&seg=LocalWeather&prodgrp=Forecasts&product=Forecast&prodnav=none&pid=none</A> <BR> <BR>I find it hard to believe that anything other than Superstar will be skiable on the 8th. I fear that even the big S might require some walking at that point, which would be awefully early compared to years past. Weather permitting I hope to ski Killington this coming weekend. If I do I'll post a report. <BR> <BR>P.S. Forgot to mention in my previous post that Skyehawk was open and was it's usual, best avoided, three moguls wide with dirt in between the moguls state.
 
Oh boy ! <BR> <BR>I've just seen the link (thanks) and ok, I can guess that there will only remain the Superstar ! (and may be even in bad shape)
 
As in the early season analysis of Killington, it just seems so obvious that the Glades triple should be extended or some cheap surface lift put in so that the K1 Gondola can be used as an access/transport lift. <BR> <BR>This is the way late spring skiing works at Squaw Valley and Whistler (and sometimes Mammoth), and is routine even mid-season in many European areas, as I saw first hand at Brevant/Flegere.
 
Hey you all, don't take a look to the photo gallery of Silverton. (april 23) <BR> <BR>It could cause some suicides or moves in the west. <BR> <BR><A HREF="http://www.silvertonmountain.com/gallery/album15?&page=1" TARGET="_top">http://www.silvertonmountain.com/gallery/album15?&page=1</A>
 
anonymous' analysis of the bumps on skiers left is right on for when we where there last week... crappola deluxe....the widespread grooming that apparently took place between thurs and the weekend is interesting... the bottom of the headwall skiers right was clearly groomed pretty recently in regards to last week... not something we expected to see... it would appear that the even more extensive groom that A speaks of is taking place to try and lure more recreational people... but again, if they would just build the moguls themselves and keep them super tight and had done so as late as say april 10th or so , those rutted out junk bumps on skiers left would not exist... but clearly it's gonna get to a point where they can pull the cat on the soft snow surface... but i think this is the latest they have ever dragged before... we are heading up for wed thurs and fri ... this should be interesting <BR> re : tony c: as usual good comments.. i have always found it curious why more resorts don't employ less costly , surface tow rope type lifts to access less popular advanced terrain.. ( parks , pipes, steeps )... in loon's case, a simple trail edge tow rope of about 1500 feet long to access their park and pipe would bleed a large amount of traffic off their main lift...it certainly is nice having the superstar lift ( new seat pads to boot!) to ride now... but it does seem rather absurd to have K spinning the k1 at this point to access , what is basically junk... the mysteries of some ski area management decisions continue to mystify me
 
Back
Top