Killington Conditions

snoloco · Nov 26, 2022

Today didn't get off to a good start when they made me park in an area with no shuttle buses, resulting in a half mile walk in ski boots, but...

They were making lots of snow despite the sub-par temps.

I watched the World Cup from the grandstand for the first time (totally worth it)

I skied some more on a bluebird afternoon.

And took in the sunset on my last run.

I'll be back tomorrow to do it all again, hopefully without the half mile ski boot walk I never wanted.

Ripitz · Nov 26, 2022

That looks like a fun day Sno, with a little bit of everything.

snoloco said:
hopefully without the half mile ski boot walk I never wanted.

Could be worse. I walked 5.5 miles in ski boots once.

snoloco · Nov 26, 2022

The website says they have free parking at Ramshead, Snowshed, the Vale Road lots, Skyeship, Pico, and the Access Road, and that all have shuttle service beginning at 6:30am. I arrived around 7, wanting to park at Ramshead and take the shuttle to K1 from there. They had the lower part of Great Northern open so you could ski back at the end of the day.

What happened was they bait-n-switched and said that Ramshead was now permit parking only, even though the website said it was free with a shuttle. I tried to go to Vale Road only to find the whole thing blocked off because they wanted to fill the upper part of the access road first, so that's where I got sent. In the half hour it took me to boot up and walk up, I did not see a single bus come up that part of the access road. I did see many buses turn right on Vale Road which was useless since they weren't letting anyone park there. There's also no trail to ski back on. I had to ski back on the snowbank because it was easier than walking. How anyone who has ever skied a day in their life could think that was somehow more desirable than Vale Road, which has a ski-back trail is beyond me.

Despite having had the World Cup for 6 years, they literally always find a way to screw up the parking situation. If you arrive early, like they recommend, you expect to be able to park in any of the free lots, but they don't let you, and from my experience send you to less desirable spots first. I heard from people who arrived later that they were able to park in Vale and Ramshead without issue, so they really just screwed the people who showed up early, which is especially insulting because they literally tell you to arrive early on the spectator information, yet they were totally unprepared.

Ripitz · Nov 26, 2022

Insulting? Settle down bro.

snoloco · Nov 26, 2022

If you tell people to arrive early, then you'd better be prepared for people to arrive early. I'm not sure why that's so controversial.

snoloco · Nov 27, 2022

Yesterday's attendance was announced at 21000. I think that smashes previous records. I'm here again this morning.

MarzNC · Nov 27, 2022

A Ski Diva from NJ and her kids are attending the Kton World Cup for the first time. She's never taken them to Kton before but has made the drive to ski at other resorts in the northeast in recent years. Did well finding a parking space this morning. Below are just her notes related to arriving early and getting a spot in the stands.

8:00am
Good morning! We ended up parking in the starship base area - I hope this is a good spot! On a bus to the base now.

8:45am
Secured prime spots at the top end of the bleachers (non VIP) and enjoying the nice weather and festive atmosphere! The crowd is not as bad as I expected - maybe most people are coming later.

10:00am
About 30 min before the start the stands start to fill. Still glad we came early. And have tickets for the stands. General admission is kind of just a standing crowd. Brought breakfast, devices, and everything to keep warm.

tirolski · Nov 27, 2022

snoloco said:
Yesterday's attendance was announced at 21000. I think that smashes previous records. I'm here again this morning.

Watching slalom race now on the tube.(NBC)
Course is getting beat up due to temps.
Should be interesting.

tirolski · Nov 27, 2022

tirolski said:
Watching slalom race now on the tube.(NBC)
Course is getting beat up due to temps.
Should be interesting.

A dang tie.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1596940806836916228

snoloco · Nov 27, 2022

I thought today was overall better than yesterday. I parked at Snowshed this time and took the shuttle up. I mostly skied North Ridge which had better conditions. I skied before the first race run, and between the runs, but only did one run after the second run so I could get back to my car because the r*in started literally minutes after the race finished. Here's some pictures:

Sunrise and snowmaking