Killington Conditions

[snoloco]

By my count I had 29 runs today.

OL Chair -> Fiddle
OL Chair -> OL
OL Chair -> Wildfire
OL Chair -> Bear Claw
OL Chair -> Devil's Den
OL Chair -> Centerpiece
OL Chair -> Growler
OL Chair -> Fiddle
OL Chair -> Devil's Den
Skyeburst Chair -> Thimble to Needle's Eye
Stage 2 -> Skyewalker to Roundabout Glade
South Ridge -> Jug to Falls Brook

Lunch break

OL Chair -> Ridgeview
South Ridge -> Breakaway
South Ridge -> Cascade
Canyon -> Lower Dipper
Canyon -> Downdraft
Canyon -> Big Dipper
Canyon -> Upper/Lower Ridge Run to The Throne
Canyon -> Pipe Dream
South Ridge -> Jug Handle
South Ridge -> Anarchy
Superstar -> Somewhere to Skye Lark
Superstar -> Upper Needle's to Needle's
Needle's -> The Stairs
Needle's -> Vertigo
Needle's -> Cruise Control
Needle's -> Great Eastern to Home Stretch to Valley Plunge
Skyeship -> Dreammaker Headwall to Dreammaker to Grizzly

I started at Bear Mountain because they now open the OL chair at 7:30 on Saturdays. The white knuckle drive up East Mountain road was worth it. I saw a Tesla that clearly didn't have good tires and couldn't get up the hill, and a pickup truck that had slid off into the snowbank.

It turns out I made the right call because they didn't open any other lifts until 8:30, even though their normal opening time on weekends is 8. Obviously wind delayed certain lifts and they can't control that, but not opening the lifts that weren't on wind hold at 8 seemed like an unforced error. That was my only real disappointment from today. Once all the lifts were open, the mountain seemed to absorb the crowds well, both in the lift lines and on the trails.

Despite the crowds and lift delays, I thought it was an awesome day, and I was very satisfied with my run count given that I was mostly riding fixed grip lifts and skiing a lot of glades, some of which I had never been in before.

Pictures below:

Devil's Den

Devil's Fiddle

Thimble

Needle's Eye

Breakaway

The Jug

Undisclosed Location

Cascade

Double Dipper

Anarchy

Vertigo

Valley Plunge

Dreammaker Headwall

Best eastern day this season by far.

 

[Brownski]

Looks like a great day.

 

[Brownski]

That was my only real disappointment from today.

Is Mydisapointments.com available? Might be an opportunity there?

 

[snoloco]

Killington voters pass $47M TIF bond, approve new town hall - The Mountain Times

Development of the town’s water system set to begin this summer By Polly Mikula On Town Meeting Day, 75% of Killington voters approved Article 5, giving the town authorization to proceed with water and road infrastructure projects that will support […] Read More

mountaintimes.info

The entire future of Killington was riding on Tax Increment Financing, or TIF being approved by voters. This 47 million dollar bond will be paid off by taxes on the new units constructed in the proposed base village, and not increase taxes on existing residents. The bond will fund a public water system on the Killington access road, which is known for having wells that are tainted by chemicals. If you've stayed in a hotel or condo on the access road, then you would have likely been told to drink bottled water. That will soon become a thing of the past.

The access road itself is also being upgraded to remove a steep grade at the intersection with Route 4, being rerouted at Snowshed and Ramshead base areas to go under the base area instead of over it. The pedestrian walkways are also being upgraded, with pedestrian crossings and bus pullouts being added, to improve utilization of public transit, and reduce the number of days when the resort parking lots are completely full.

With the water and road improvements, construction of the new village can begin, which will provide much needed lodging units to an area that has a severe lodging shortage. Any hotel rooms within 30 miles get booked weeks in advance. It's the biggest thing holding back Killington from gaining more skier visits, as they are too far away from population centers to be within day trip range.

The local workforce isn't being left out of the picture either, as workforce housing is going to be constructed at the intersection of Route 4 and Killington Road.

On the mountain, the village will be a catalyst for many improvements. Replacement of the Ramshead and Snowshed Lodges, and lifts at those base areas is now immanent. Expect to see a replacement of the Superstar lift too, and upgrades to snowmaking. This also makes the Killington/Pico interconnect far more likely to be a reality. Expect to see more things to do in the short off-season as well.

I think it's going to be an exciting decade ahead for The Beast, and I can't wait to see everything come together.

 

[gorgonzola]

WTFnF?!?

 

[snoloco]

Well today was unfortunately not all that good, though I'm told it was better than Killington was on Saturday.

They got a couple inches overnight which helped, but it was an icy or death cookie base below, and there were strong, gusty winds throughout the day. Despite the wind, all lifts remained open, and crowds were light.

I found my best luck with low angle terrain on northern facing aspects, that was not windswept. This meant Rime and Reason/Upper East Fall on North Ridge, Header and Swirl on Ramshead, the blue trails on Snowdon, Great Eastern to Route 4, and the Snowshed terrain. Superstar with active snowmaking was really good if you could deal with the wind blowing the freshly made snow in your face.

Cascade looked good but had a death cookie base.

Header

Top of North Ridge

Solitude

 

[snoloco]

To demonstrate the intensity of the wind...

Sorry for the vertical video. YouTube requires videos of this length to be uploaded as shorts, which are always oriented vertically. I didn't know that when I recorded it.

 

[greymoose]

To demonstrate the intensity of the wind...

Sorry for the vertical video. YouTube requires videos of this length to be uploaded as shorts, which are always oriented vertically. I didn't know that when I recorded it.

I was at Mount Snow yesterday. Similar conditions, including the high winds and large number of death cookies.

 

[snoloco]

Another hard, fast, and windy day at Killington. Needle's Eye, Rime, and Header were my favorites. Also, Lower Ovation was groomed for the first time this season. Worst part of the day was having to walk back out from Bear due to a power outage.

 

[tirolski]

Another hard, fast, and windy day at Killington. Needle's Eye, Rime, and Header were my favorites. Also, Lower Ovation was groomed for the first time this season. Worst part of the day was having to walk back out from Bear due to a power outage.

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How far was the hike outta Bear?

This is worth a listen if ya haven’t heard.

Ski waxing
Snowmaking/grooming evaluations
Killington TIF-Village.