Killington, VT: 11/11/04

[riverc0il]

i am normally the first person to beat up on ole' killington, but i gotta say that today they delivered and it was well worth the $20.00 in gas i paid to score a free lift ticket. whether or not people paying $39 a pop got their monies worth, i can not comment. but today was one of the most satisfying first days of skiing i've ever had. i met up with marc and his son and some other folks he knew for the afternoon. it was a pleasure marc! hope to make turns with you again sometime soon. one thing i learned today is that you don't stop for as many pictures when you're enjoying skiing in the company of others, so pardon me for not as many visuals as i normally have.

here's how the trails broke down: great northern was essentially top to bottom in conjunction with bunny buster (which was actually not that bad density wise, much worse my last early season at K). from the glades triple, you had rime bumped top to bottom which i was really surprised to see. top half was okay on the edges, bottom half was junk. especially irregular bumps with no (ehm) rime or reason . upper east glade (now reason i believe?) was a terrain park, not bad for this early in the season. lower east glade had decent bumps and was the best of the selection on the top half of the mountain. great northern was taking your life in your hands, and really was the only trail i got nervous about the crowd of people on. if a second way down doesn't open up before the weekend, expect this area to be a nightmare. run of the day was definitely the excellent choice softer bumps on moose trap. was delighted to see such a fine bump field this early in the season with okay lines.

snow was fairly soft down low and never softened up top, but it wasn't hard pack either. very nice snow everywhere pretty much except lower rime which had scraped sections and weird bump lines. lift lines were no more than 5 minutes on the K1 and triple, very respectable for a holiday. rock skis not needed as coverage was fine and overall, the crowd was managable except great northern.

was really surprised to see everything off the triple bumped. normally i wouldn't complain (okay, i'm not complaining at all!), but it really didn't give non-bumpers much else to do besides run the k1 all day which contributed to the great norhtern crowding issue. funniest moment was overhearing a snowboarder screaming explatives about the bumps :lol: i know bumps aren't as fun on a board as on skis, but ski the whole mountain folks!

no guns out today as it never got below freezing. packed it in by two, as did most of the crowd. i suspect the place was deserted by 3am and anyone remaining probably had the place to themselves. a few pics to follow ...

 

[riverc0il]

here are some pics:

 

[Admin]

Happy to see that riverc0il carried the ball!

It was a fun day all around, good for dusting off the cobwebs and getting out onto sticks again. Great for meeting riverc0il and other friends Jonathan & Jim (narrowly missed seeing Sharon), and to breathe the fresh air in the mountains.

As sheahunter commented in the thread chronicling Tuesday and Wednesday, the day to be there was the first day the guns were turned off. Yes, that was today. It was downright balmy at the base (52 degrees on the truck thermo as we left at 2:00 or so) which lead to some thick glop down low. Up high it softened, but nothing like down low. To call anything "packed powder" would've been overly gracious, but for the most part surfaces were a delightful light cream cheese until you got low on the hill and it became extra-milkfat cream cheese. I'd guesstimate a good 10-degree difference between the summit and base.

Like I said, it was a day to dust off the cobwebs, and to try to get everything dialed in. It wasn't until packing last night that I recalled my son breaking his poles in Utah last year, so we swung into the Basin Ski Shop and found a deal en route to the KBL (errr...make that the K1 Base Lodge -- names like the KBL and the Glades Triple Chair are going to die hard, despite what the new trail map will say). We were greeted as we were booting up by riverc0il, who was cashing in his free ticket from the Warren Miller movie. My wife Patricia had to take care of some business first, so my son Michaël and I headed up the K1 with riverc0il.

Rock skis would've been a waste. Really, the cover was pretty much wall-to-wall on the open terrain. Throwing bumps like that at unseasoned legs is downright mean. :wink: I had the lactic acid burning after only a couple of runs.

I won't reiterate what riverc0il has already written about the snow, for he was spot on. However, I'd definitely like to reemphasize his point about Great Northern, where it was urban survival skiing at its worst between the midway mark of the North Ridge Triple (née Glades Triple -- I told you that those old names will die hard) and Snowdon. I nearly got body-checked into the woods once when a rider, rather wobbly on her board, went down. I had deliberately given her a very wide berth, but her edge engaged when she fell and she shot across the trail, from left to right, nearly taking me with her. Whew!

The euphemism that the marketing department is using for this weekend's anticipated crowd is "lots of energy." I wouldn't want to endure the energy on Saturday.

Remember the cobwebs? We had a little water leak in a line in the basement over the summer, and unbeknownst to me Patricia's boot liners were saturated. She discovered this while booting up at the K1BL, and decided to wander along the access road rather than ski. I also have some very sore feet from the first day in new boots, and probably drove riverc0il and my son nuts with my incessant whining and tinkering with the settings. I think that I'll have to get the half size larger liners.

By 1:30, with surprisingly few verts under my belt, my legs finally screamed, "uncle" and we packed it in. Many of my photos are markedly similar to riverc0il's, but I'll post a few different ones here. riverc0il, thanks for the company -- I look forward to the next chance to make some turns together.

The new season is underway!

 

[salida]

good work guys, looks like a lot of fun!

-porter

 

[Max]

Great reports. I'll be in Ste-Anne this Sunday; I hope it won't be as crowded as this. Though my perception of what crowded has changed last August at Turoa:

 

[hamdog]

geezus! look at all those people! (and not just in the one Max posted)

i thought opening days were designated to advanced experts only........for the safety of eveybody else on the hill.

i don't know how you guys do it.......... what a mess!

 

[joegm]

great photo's.. they really capture the mood...thanks for sharing

 

[Sharon]

I was there too! But I got there at 12:30 and skied until 3:30. Still busy, but not overly crowded, though we often had to wait for the masses at the Great Northern crossing from Rime/Reason to pass before continuing down to the triple.

It was soft up top and softer below. Bump skiing like it was spring, but only to open up the season. I skied about 8 runs up top and then the final descent on Gr Northern at 3:30. I had a stellar run down Mousetrap where the bumps were superb and my friends watched as I nailed the zipper line before their eyes with legs aching. I was all set to do another run from the top, but I had to retrieve a pair of teleboots I was borrowing for the next day before my friend took off. Once down at the parking lot, there was not enough motivation to go back up and do it again and it was probably good to be done with great runs under my belt before my legs get too tired.

I was not at all sore the next day, which was most suprising. Seems as though my hiking/trampoline/skier's edge regimen has paid off.

 

[Ryan]

Like a bunch of people here I was there as well on Thursday and Friday and all of these reports about Great Northern being a shooting gallery are true. It was insane. There was a nice piece of open ground off the Poma though. We ran that a bunch when the crowds picked up.

I did see one thing that made me pretty upset. There were 5 snowbaorders sitting pretty much shoulder to shoulder across the entrance to an intersection, with there backs to traffic. They all just pulled up together, stopped and sat down. There were small gaps on the outside edges before the dirt and on small gap in the middle in which to thread between them. I (although not polite) yelled at the bunch to move on or get hit as I cut through one of the gaps but it was apparently not taken seriously because one of them got run over by a skier who missed the gap about 3 seconds later.

What wouls posess someone to sit in an intersection with crowds like that pouring through???

 

[Admin]

I (although not polite) yelled at the bunch to move on or get hit as I cut through one of the gaps but it was apparently not taken seriously because one of them got run over by a skier who missed the gap about 3 seconds later.

Darwin's theory of natural selection is illustrated yet again.

 

[Patrick]

As mentioned in the last, but not the least of my pet-peeve from my K report of Nov. 20th...

Pet-Peeve of the Day:
(...)
Boarders that sit in the middle of the trail with is back turn at you. Man, is that brave or stupid, especially when you consider the skier traffic Great Northern near the open Snowdon trails (ie Mouse Run)

This was getting crazy and dangerous (for them), I decided to head for a few runs on the poma where I meet Ryan and Ryan.

 

[Ryan]

That was precisely why we were on the Poma to begin with. Speaking of Poma Lifts and Snowboarders... Has anyone else ever sat and watched a group of snowboarders try to catch a ride on a poma lift. I swear 50% of the time one grabs on and the poma starts, the boarder is lifted off the ground and lands on his/her face. IF it did not slow the line down so much it would be a truly entertaining way to pass a lift line wait. It is painfully obvious that Poma's were not designed with boarders in mind. With that said why do they not have "no snowboards" signs for the poma?

 

[NHpowderhound]

Darwin loves you. :lol:
((*
*))NHPH

 

[hamdog]

Ryan says: ....why do they not have "no snowboards" signs for the poma?

for the same reason they don't have "no beginners" signs at the top of
terrain parks. they probably should, but they don't. one more important
than the other....i think. an "experts only" sign doesn't say anything
about beginners not being allowed, so it's ok for beginners to ride through
the terrain park and "hit" the jumps. and it's ok for snowboarders to
attempt the poma......even though there's not even an "expert
snowboarders only" sign.

most boarders do eat it when taking off on the T-bar or J-bar, but only
because it's rather difficult to ride without your back
foot strapped in (even for the experianced). it's doable, but awkward. the
first thing most likely to happen is catching their front edge when the lift
whips you out of the loading area. the next most likely thing for a
boarder to end up on his face is just catching an edge, period. when
there are ruts and such to navigate over, through, around, etc and the
board goes the way it wants, it's difficult to keep your balance......seeing
we're only sliding on one foot and sideways. the "sitting" is not very
comfortable either. not designed with snowboarders in mind, that's for
sure.

now, if they let you keep your rear foot strapped in, it would be a
different story........for those who are atleast novice ability. since the lift
has to go between your legs, and one leg should be free if someone were
to fall, the rider has barely half the control he/she would have if they had
both feet strapped in. beginner snowboarders will always have difficulty
with this lift.

the secret: if they don't let you keep your rear foot strapped in, once you
get going, strap in the rear foot. (this is kind of difficult to do while riding
the lift). when on leg gets tired from riding one way so incredibly slow for
a long time, hop around and ride switch for awhile. hang on to the
rope/seat with your arms instead of "sitting" on it. keep arms and back
straight in this case. and then rotate methods. or ride the chair.

 

[Patrick]

I agree with what you are saying Hamdog about warning signs. I was there in that poma line (where I meet Ryan), and it was pathetic. The fact that it was a "detachable" poma didn't help either.

The guys working the switch would pull it once you had NO forward momentum and sliding backwards from the hill, then BANG, he'd pull and you would fly off the ground.

The worst part about some falling boarders, is that they would try again, and again, and again, and again. We are talking the same person here, after 5 or 6 tries, they would finally give up.

 

[hamdog]

5 or 6 times? geez louise! 3 should be the rule (skier or snowboarder).
3 strikes, you're out. go try the chair after that. IMO

getting air on a poma: both feet strapped in, slide sideways, poma slows
you down, then pop off your edge, poma picks you up, and in the air you
go. there's a shot in one of the earlier snowboard magazines this season
where some rider is doing that. looks like fun, but still kinda dumb. oh well.

 

[woodi7259]

I remember seeing boarder at mont sainte anne last year riding a T-bar. I don't think I saw any falls and that one ripped just about anyone off the ground. I'm pretty sure they kept both feet strapped in and rode with one person on a t-bar with the bar positioned differently then it would be for a skier. That was a fun line...Real steep at the top you were basically getting lifted almost strait up by the bar at the end. There were really some good lines over on that side of the mountain though.

 

[Ryan]

In everyones defense I will agree with Patrick... the liftie was less than helpful and I swear he was aiming for MAX airtime. He would wait until any give boarder had a slight backward slide, then pull the release. I saw one younger boarder get a good 2 feetin the air and fly maybe 15 feet forward. Not an easy landing to stick without being strapped in. On skis you could just wait at the top of that mini ramp for the next person to get up a bit and then he would just hold out the poma and grab the release as you went by. This worked well because you never stopped and viola, no lift off.

Thing is everyone knows that a poma, especially a detachable one, is not designed for snowboarders. end of story.

 

[joegm]

not to be a chop buster or anything but if i was there and saw the lift person not timing that poma lift pull correctly ( whether intentional or not ) i would have taken the time to go and speak to the operations manager....i would have no patience at all for such nonsense... when i go there it is to ski as much as possible and not be wasting time with some jack ass who is either inept or is screwing around.... it just becomes a questions of whether you want to take the time to search out a manager....for something like that nonsense, u can bet your ass i would have... next time do everyone a favor and say something

 

[Patrick]

not to be a chop buster or anything but if i was there and saw the lift person not timing that poma lift pull correctly ( whether intentional or not ) i would have taken the time to go and speak to the operations manager....

To be fair to the lifties (I check where they were from), they probably didn't know any better. They were foreign worker from countries not know for the skiing at the beginning of the ski season, so they need to learn somehow (it's not like their getting the big $$$)?

They would pull the lever once there were sure that you were ready, unfortunately I prefer taking the detachable poma with forward momentum and NOT dead stopped or backtracking because he didn't pull it at the right time.

I did airtime (and probably needed a cup too ouch!!!) the first time I took the poma that day.