Indy Magic: Opening Day 2019

My younger son wanted to go to Plattekill on Saturday. He missed Plattekill, and he told me repeatedly. He wanted to eat chili and nachos for lunch and the Plattekill lodge was the best for playing hide and seek at the end of the ski day. I admit it was a compelling argument.

I told him he would like Magic. It was just as cool as Plattekill — cool trails, cool old lifts, cool and welcoming crowd. And considering the recent snowfall, there would likely be some cool powder to ski — just like at Plattekill. And, I assured him, Magic would have chili and nachos.

My son didn’t care, but Magic is on the Indy Pass, a selling point for me. And like Catamount — our first stop on our “Indy Tour” — Magic has upped its infrastructure game, bigtime.

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Killington World Cup 2019

Mikaela Shiffrin was the overall podium winner at this year’s Audi FIS Ski World Cup at Killington, taking third place on Saturday’s giant slalom and first place on Sunday’s slalom. Attendance was 36,000 for the three-day event.

Mikaela Shiffrin
Shiffrin wins the slalom

In the afterglow of Thanksgiving celebrations, the crowd took on the bitter cold and went home smiling on Sunday, after the win by Shiffrin, who placed first in slalom for the fourth straight year.

Marta Bassino was Saturday’s winner and teammate Federica Brignone, both from Italy, placed second while Shiffrin, who came into the weekend with 61 World Cup wins took third on the giant slalom course.

Killington fireworks

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Fall Skiing at Killington

Every year, before I pull on my boots for the first time, I wonder, somewhat irrationally, can I still ski? This year, the feeling was especially strong. On the other side of 60, eventually something’s got to give, right? Maybe. I try not to think about it.

k1 Gondola

Outside of one memorable October day in the Catskills, Sunday was the earliest I’d ever opened my season. On Saturday, I traveled to the Adirondacks to honor the memory of a friend. It seemed logical to ski Killington before heading home the next day.

I’d tried to find a ski partner for the day, but came up empty. On Sunday I woke Harv-early, shut down our camp, and headed east to Vermont, as the sun was starting to rise.

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