since cd posted the closing day report, figured i'd chime in with the opening day. started out as a cloudy overcast day. pulled into kbl parking lot at about 7:30 and was surprised by how good a parking spot i got. perhaps they're late announcement would keep the usual opening day crowd down. got on the k1 singles line by about 7:50. crowd did not seem as rowdy as usual. stood there and stood there. an ambassador came by and said the delay was because they were getting grooming equip off the hill. you'd think they'd have taken care of that already. crowd now getting restless & rowdy. finally at about 8:25 they started loading. first run down to the north ridge triple. yeah i remember how to do this. i think it was on my third trip up, the thing just sat there. finally it started moving again and they began unloading one chair at a time. out of there. as i passed the hordes waiting to jump into royal flush decided to get to the car and get my fatties. this was going to be no ordinary opening day. back on the k1 and headed for the aforementioned flush. pretty cut by now but absolutely some of the best snow EVER on that trail. then over to the snowden quad and a shot down northstar. had to duck the rope but i wasn't alone on that. it was going to be a day where anything goes. not totally tracked yet and again some of the sweetest snow on that trail. the usual rock zones were nowhere to be seen. we're not talking utah light but good pow that prevented you from bottoming out. next up to escapade & cascade. launch pad open. wound up doing ovation, superstar & skye lark over there. surprisingly lark was half groomed. hit northstar again and by now it was forming some nice bump lines. again better than it normally is mid-season. called it quits at 1 after a final run down east fall. waterbars made that a bit challenging. while i never hit the trees, i heard they were amazing as well.
while this was certainly the greatest opening day & october skiing EVER at killington. in my 30 years there, there have been only a handfull of days that may have been better than that ANYTIME. the crowd was non-existent. many times i was the only skier on a given trail. the snow did not get pounded as it usually does on a mid-season pow day. in addition, the usual ice base was not there. absolutely incredible.
while this was certainly the greatest opening day & october skiing EVER at killington. in my 30 years there, there have been only a handfull of days that may have been better than that ANYTIME. the crowd was non-existent. many times i was the only skier on a given trail. the snow did not get pounded as it usually does on a mid-season pow day. in addition, the usual ice base was not there. absolutely incredible.
