Sharon
New member
After 2 days of great skiing at Mad River Glen (TR to be posted) we had to vacate our friend's home so she could have other guests. My dear friend and musician extraordinare, Rick Redington, had his usual gig in Killington and urged us to come down to see him. He even set us up with great digs at the Killington-Sherburne Inn. Going to Killington from Mad River Glen is serious culture shock...and I'm not even talking about the skiing. The culture is just so very different, the people, attitudes and the ambience. Jax is a far cry from the Hydeaway. Well, the show was good and we stayed out too late. The snow started while we were out. Not much sleep was had before it was time to get up and get it.
We hadn't planned to ski on Monday, but with over 7" of snow in the forecast, it was a no-brainer. Pam was coming down with a cold and wasn't feeling so great in the morning. She almost bailed on skiing, but woke up and smelled the coffee and got herself in gear once she looked out the window at the new fallen fluff.
We didn't think it would be worth $81 to ski at Killington that day, especially since we only wanted to ski in the morning and start driving home to spend the New Year with our loved ones. Pico's $49 lift ticket was much more appealing, and was well worth every penny.
We pulled into the parking lot at 7:45 and parked in the front row. We were on the lift at 8. If Pam was feeling better we might have been on the first chair, but she was draggin-ass and I was patient as possible, being as good a friend as I could be on a powder day.
The express lifts were so fast and hardly a wait to get on. There were not many people there. We skied right over to the Summit Express and were at the peak in no time. We took our first run in KA which had a base of ice bumps covered with an 7-10" blanket of fresh snow. We only had to share it with another couple who caught up to us, though I was trying to stay ahead of them, while also trying to wait for Pam. She was working really hard in the deep snow and told me that I didn't need to wait for her. I told her I'd wait, but after a few minutes, I could wait no longer and decided that the "no friends on a powder day rule" was in effect. This took the pressure off her and relieved me to rip up as much fresh powder as I could. I lapped Pam twice, all the while finding fresh snow. The Patrol was dropping the rope on Upper Giant Killer as I was coming up the lift. I was the third person on it, and it was pretty sweet.
There was evidence of a very icy hard base on the steeper slopes. Chute was open, and there was plenty of fresh snow to track on it, but the icy base was most evident on this run. The glades had plenty of fresh snow until I got done with them. After 2+ hours of tracking that area up, I caught back up to Pam and I suggested we go check out the Outpost.
We went down to the base, back up the Golden Eagle express. We skied over towards the Outpost to find the lift not running. I decided to pole over. Pam looked at the slog and being a bit sick and not energetic opted to meet me at the lift. Well, the slog was like 3 minutes of a minor uphill herring bone that was well-worth the effort. The first run I got to had just 2 tracks on it, so I took what was left. It was quite clear that this was worth the effort.
I met up with Pam at the base and a Mtn Ambassador, Steven, joined us on the lift. He concurred that the Outpost was well worth the effort and the 3 of us went that way for a few laps of fresh untracked snow. We had first tracks on the runs furthest over. I could have spent all day tracking that out. It was great that the lift was not running. By 12:30 it was time to think about driving home. I felt quite satisfied with the amount of fresh snow I had skied that morning. We were both toast after 3 days of skiing and Pam was ready to get home and nurse her cold. I wanted to get home to spend New Years with my loved ones.
Here are my pix
http://tinyurl.com/2e7r56
We hadn't planned to ski on Monday, but with over 7" of snow in the forecast, it was a no-brainer. Pam was coming down with a cold and wasn't feeling so great in the morning. She almost bailed on skiing, but woke up and smelled the coffee and got herself in gear once she looked out the window at the new fallen fluff.
We didn't think it would be worth $81 to ski at Killington that day, especially since we only wanted to ski in the morning and start driving home to spend the New Year with our loved ones. Pico's $49 lift ticket was much more appealing, and was well worth every penny.
We pulled into the parking lot at 7:45 and parked in the front row. We were on the lift at 8. If Pam was feeling better we might have been on the first chair, but she was draggin-ass and I was patient as possible, being as good a friend as I could be on a powder day.
The express lifts were so fast and hardly a wait to get on. There were not many people there. We skied right over to the Summit Express and were at the peak in no time. We took our first run in KA which had a base of ice bumps covered with an 7-10" blanket of fresh snow. We only had to share it with another couple who caught up to us, though I was trying to stay ahead of them, while also trying to wait for Pam. She was working really hard in the deep snow and told me that I didn't need to wait for her. I told her I'd wait, but after a few minutes, I could wait no longer and decided that the "no friends on a powder day rule" was in effect. This took the pressure off her and relieved me to rip up as much fresh powder as I could. I lapped Pam twice, all the while finding fresh snow. The Patrol was dropping the rope on Upper Giant Killer as I was coming up the lift. I was the third person on it, and it was pretty sweet.
There was evidence of a very icy hard base on the steeper slopes. Chute was open, and there was plenty of fresh snow to track on it, but the icy base was most evident on this run. The glades had plenty of fresh snow until I got done with them. After 2+ hours of tracking that area up, I caught back up to Pam and I suggested we go check out the Outpost.
We went down to the base, back up the Golden Eagle express. We skied over towards the Outpost to find the lift not running. I decided to pole over. Pam looked at the slog and being a bit sick and not energetic opted to meet me at the lift. Well, the slog was like 3 minutes of a minor uphill herring bone that was well-worth the effort. The first run I got to had just 2 tracks on it, so I took what was left. It was quite clear that this was worth the effort.
I met up with Pam at the base and a Mtn Ambassador, Steven, joined us on the lift. He concurred that the Outpost was well worth the effort and the 3 of us went that way for a few laps of fresh untracked snow. We had first tracks on the runs furthest over. I could have spent all day tracking that out. It was great that the lift was not running. By 12:30 it was time to think about driving home. I felt quite satisfied with the amount of fresh snow I had skied that morning. We were both toast after 3 days of skiing and Pam was ready to get home and nurse her cold. I wanted to get home to spend New Years with my loved ones.
Here are my pix
http://tinyurl.com/2e7r56