Last Friday, I enjoyed a splendid early season day at Killington. Conditions were good, terrain was abundant for the date (open trails from Skylark to Rams Head) and the weather was perfect – one of those days I like to call no weather – due to the comfortable conditions. I met up with Vinny, Dennis and Mark to celebrate Mark’s birthday on the slopes.
We rode the K1 Gondola to the summit and skied down Great Northern towards North Ridge. The guns blasting along upper Great Northern were putting out sticky snow, and the passengers in the first few gondolas of the day wound up in a multi-skier pile up at the start of their first runs.
After working through the hazard zone, we hit the North Ridge area to East Fall. At the bottom of East Fall, we decided to skip ahead and hit the Snowdon bubble chair for a few laps on High Line. High Line was a bit firm at first, but it loosened up with each run. After a few of those we made our way to Superstar, which had opened to the public on Thursday afternoon.
Superstar started out firm, especially in the steeper spots, but loosened up nicely after a few runs. It was fun to see a bit of blue-colored snow from the recent World Cup races peeking out from below the surface. I enjoyed some blissful cruising on the less steep portion of Superstar. I was in that fun zen-zone for a while; my favorite part of skiing.
After a few laps on Superstar, we moved to Old Superstar, a 100% natural snow, bump field. The bumps were mostly soft, and it was a joy to ski 100% natural snow at this point in the season. After a run or two back on Superstar we went over to Skylark, which was in great shape, especially on the sides of the trails. Conditions were great across the eastern boundary of the open terrain.
Dennis and Vinny left us for a few runs before lunch. It’s a fact, they are outstanding skiers — among the best on the mountain, any day they are out there. Mark and I went back to the gondola and enjoyed a few runs before lunch on North Ridge, in the Canyon and on Snowdon.
We met up for lunch, celebrated Mark’s birthday and then headed out. Mark went to meet up with his wife, and I hung on for a few runs with Vinny and Dennis. We did a nice woods run off of Snowdon — Dennis was good to stay with me, guiding me through a few tricky spots. After a few more runs with Dennis, I kicked back a bit for a few solo runs to wrap up the day and take in the scenery.
Heading west out towards Snowdon from Killington Peak, I took in great views of Snowdon, Rams Head and Pico from the trail. I love the scene from the top of Royal Flush, with its clear view towards Superstar and Killington Peak.
It was a great day on the mountain. Fun with friends, and I almost skied from opening to close. Killington’s app is fun for tracking the day, and I was pleased with my total runs and vertical feet for my second day of the season. After last night’s rain and today’s snow the mountain should be skiing well this week.
Steve Aaron is an avid skier, hiker and cyclist armed with a camera. Steve’s landscapes have appeared in Backpacker Magazine, Hudson Valley Magazine, NY Newsday and the Albany Times Union. Every August, Steve publishes a wall calendar featuring landscapes from the Catskills and Shawangunks. For more information on the calendar, join Steve’s mailing list.
I skied Killington hundreds of times starting in their early 1980s…
I can remember Killington, when we had the old gandala, and where they had to put straw down to walk on with your skis on, to get you from one patch of snow to the next patch of snow In the springtime… In those old days, it was an adventure and you did feel like a ski pioneer… I started my son David Starchild Koehler, who became a ski instructor at Killington, when he was four years old… I started my daughter Sharon skiing when she was three years old… The most skiing I did In one year, which is all logged, was all in the northeast, which was 57 times in the 1993/1994 season…
“Dreaming”
Great pictures and report. Looks like mid winter. Thanks
It sure was a great early season day. We’ll have many more ski days together! It was great skiing with you.
Awesome. Great pics as always. Curious what you shoot with?
Nice report. If Royal Flush and Old Superstar were skiing well, then, this is a good December. Temps look to be cold for awhile.
Thanks for the preview. I’ll be there Thursday and Friday. I hope the rain before the new snow didn’t change the conditions too much. Nice pictures as always too!
I did notice the pics were of better composition and quality, sounded like a fine day!
Thanks for the comments. These photos are from my phone – iPhone11 with Photoshop Express editing. I usually have an Olympus Tough TG-6 with me on the slopes.
Was just there today only conditions are terrible …bare or ice take your pick …be aware …be careful and families stay with your kids
To give an idea for folk experienced with this mountain Ramshead …a signature easy blue perfect for holiday family crowd is completely bare …like zero snow …superstar is a block of ice.