Killington Conditions

[lukoson]

Skiing was a bit tuff today. Very foggy and crowded. A bit icy on superstar but edgeable. There is plenty of snow. We didn’t duck any ropes.

 

[MarzNC]

21 skiers and snowboarders rescued from Killington's backcountry Saturday

Officials said 6 of the missing people were juveniles.

www.mynbc5.com

The story is getting more confusing.

February 5, 2024

More than 20 skiers had to be rescued from the Killington, Vt., backcountry. But how did they all get lost?

Christopher Campanella set out for the slopes early that Saturday morning, ready for a day of snowboarding at Killington Ski Resort.

www.boston.com

 

[PA Ice]

MarzNC thanks for posting. The first responder mentioned, Dave Coppock, was my next door neighbor and my ski hero growing up in the suburbs of Philly. Instead of going the college route, if I recall, he went to Vt. out of high school then to Bozeman and then back to Vt. ….. the world is small at times.

 

[gorgonzola]

Anyone ever done the Pico / Killington traverse? Conditions permitting I'm thinking about giving it a go early March and looking for beta, don't want to end up like these folks lol

 

[MarzNC]

MarzNC thanks for posting. The first responder mentioned, Dave Coppock, was my next door neighbor and my ski hero growing up in the suburbs of Philly. Instead of going the college route, if I recall, he went to Vt. out of high school then to Bozeman and then back to Vt. ….. the world is small at times.

Not sure it's the same Dave Coppock. Turns out there is more than one Dave Coppock associated with Montana.

January 31, 2024

Rescue Inc.'s new North Team leads Killington rescue

A recently formed partnership between Southern Vermont's non-profit ambulance service and disaffected members of a Central Vermont search and rescue squad was crucial in rescuing nearly two dozen skiers and snowboarders who wandered off the main trails at Killington and found themselves on the...

www.benningtonbanner.com

" . . .
Coppock, 68 and a retired carpenter, was doing unaffiliated search and rescue until he joined the newly formed Killington Search and Rescue team in 2013, and in that decade, he assisted in the rescue of hundreds of people lost or hurt in the forests around Vermont's second-highest peak.
. . ."

Found a Dave Coppock who was a track coach at Montana State, who retired in 2017. Bet he loved skiing Bridger Bowl.

Dave Coppock - Women's Cross Country Coach - Montana State University Billings Athletics

Dave Coppock retired in June of 2017 after his 28th season as head coach of both Yellowjacket cross-country teams and eighth season as the MSUB track and field head

msubsports.com

 

[westcoastben]

Went bell to bell, sort of, today at K with my 10 year old. Lots of coverage with soft snow everywhere. The only crisp groomers were found first thing in the morning, but everything held up nice until some spots skied off in what seemed like predictable spots. The boy coaxed me into lots of new territory (for us) today, including Outer Limits, Devil’s Fiddle, Vertigo, and Downdraft. All of these were excellent with soft moguls. Really nothing to complain about from the day, including decent lines (we rocked the singles line all day). I finally talked him into Great Eastern at 3:00 and it really was great. Everything was edgeable today with almost spring like conditions but without some of the heaviness that can crush the legs. If I didn’t have to do ski club advisor stuff we probably would have hit 30 runs, but we got a solid 22 in amongst the standing and waiting around for high schoolers. Can’t wait to go back!

 

[snoloco]

After roasting two other resorts for having inexcusable operational failures on a busy day, it's time to comment on the place I actually skied at.

Today was my best day this season. The whole mountain was open, including all glades. I skied a lot of terrain that I hadn't been on all season. Not only did I ski open to close, but I went the whole day with no breaks. While all the parking lots filled up, I've definitely seen the mountain get more crowded, and I was mostly successful at avoiding lines.


Twister

Swirl

Escapade

Royal Flush

Big Dipper

Cascade

Upper Ridge Run

The Jug

Breakaway

Anarchy

Old Superstar

Superstar

Juanita

Skye Hawk

Vertigo

Ovation

Roundabout Glade

Thimble

Valley Plunge

North Star

View from the true summit

Last run on Catwalk

Lift count:

7 Superstar
5 Snowdon Six
5 Canyon
4 Ramshead
4 South Ridge
2 K1
1 Needle's
1 Skyeship 1
1 Skyeship 2
1 Skye Peak Express

31 total

 

[Kleetus]

Awesome last couple days Friday and today. Pow day Friday. Leftovers today. Not super busy. Everything in play with great coverage. Canyon is especially good and everything there was a ROTD both days. Yesterday was like a Warren Miller movie skiing deep pow for a few hours with light crowds and untracked every run. It's the January and February we never had and conditions paralleled skiing out west.

Top overall picks:

-Royal Flush Friday with all the fresh
-The Throne
-Lowrider
-Patsy's
-Downdraft
-Escapade to Flume
-Groomed Cascade and East Fall today
-Ovation, all of it (RARE)
-Old Superstar and Superstar
-Southridge terrain today

One more day tomorrow. Tempted to go to Pico as I know it's awesome but K was so good today tough not to go back.

 

[snoloco]

Superstar, Upper and Lower Skye Lark, Lower Bittersweet, Upper Ovation, and Skye Hawk were open today. Walking is required on Ovation and Lower Skye Lark, and Skye Hawk requires a cut through the woods. Very good for a May ski day. I also hiked up to the canyon area for a run on Double Dipper.

Lower Superstar

Upper Superstar

Bittersweet

Hiking up Launch Pad

Top of South Ridge

After hiking to the top of South Ridge, I cut across on Home Run.

Passed on Cascade

And Downdraft

Opted for Double Dipper

One small break in coverage at the top.

Rest of the trail was great

This is as far as you could go before needing to walk to the runout.

Portions of the runout required walking.

Other parts were still covered.

Back to civilization:

 

[D.B. Cooper]

Maybe a stupid question, but do they make snow on Superstar 24x7 whenever it's cold enough? Or do they stop at some point in the season?