Killington: Squeeze the Juice

I love Killington and whenever I can get a day there I feel privileged. Last Saturday was one of those days and it was as good as any spring skiing I’ve experienced in years.

Superstar

There are still two Indy Pass hills open in the east; Jay Peak in Vermont and Black Mountain of New Hampshire. And Camelback, in Pennsylvania, is very near to me, and making a heroic effort to stay open until May in spite of its southerly location. So I did have options.

I just had Saturday to ski and I just couldn’t justify a six hour back-and-forth to Jay or Black Mountain. I drove to Killington, which is still four hours, in each direction, for me.

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West Mountain: Last Indy Standing

It’s almost time to throw in the towel. Open ski resorts in the east have been dropping like flies. On the second weekend in April, in New York, my options were down to the ORDA hills and West Mountain in Queensbury. West is on the Indy Pass, it was an easy call to go check it out.

Getting to West is easy, it’s right off of the Thruway. Their spring hours were 10 AM to 4 PM so we weren’t required to get up early.

We took our time, stopped at a Stewart’s for breakfast on the way, and arrived at their Northwest Lodge around 9:50 AM. There were just a handful of cars ahead of us.

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Magic: Steeps, Trees, Bumps and an Indy Vibe

Every year when we re-up our Indy Pass, Magic Mountain is high on my list of destinations. Every visit has been magic. Our fondness for the place lined up nicely with last week’s weather and our patrol schedule.

Red Chair

We made plans; my son logged in and made reservations Thursday night. Friday night we got our gear together and set our alarms- not all that early though. We weren’t on a mission for first chair or anything — just a relaxed day at a great hill.

When Junior and I pulled into the parking lot on Saturday at 9 AM, the place was hopping. We knew it would be busy, given the fresh snow and Presidents’ week.

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