Killington 12-3-16

[Ride Delaware ?]

A good friend of mine is getting married, and the best man decided that he would most enjoy a winter getaway at a mountain larger than Blue. After some debate, we decided that Killington was the most central location that would have decent conditions this time of the year. After going to 4 different breweries, we finally rolled into our house rental around 9 PM. After a couple inches of rain the previous two days, we were skeptical about conditions, but the upslope machine was cranking, and snow was falling at elevation.

 

After staying up late drinking, we got to the mountain about 9:30 to find the parking crew already parking customers in the Vale lot between K-1 and Ramshead base areas. We got a shuttle ride up to the lodge, scored our 2 for 1 tix, and headed for the Gondola. The queue was about halfway filled, but the line was moving quickly. We were on the lift by 9:50. It was frustrating to see so many people at the mountain, and only the Superstar, Gondola, and NRT lifts running. The snow guns were running all over the mountain, but they weren't quite to the bottom with the higher humidity. It was in the low 20's at the top with steady snowfall.

 

We decided to do some laps on the NRT so we could avoid waiting in line at the Gondola. There was a 5 minute line at the NRT, but it was better than a full gondi at the base. After doing some runs on Rime, East Fall, and Upper Great Northern, we decided to head to the bottom. As we headed down Bunny Buster, we noticed that the Snowdon Quad was finally loading with no lift line. We decided to do some laps on that. As we did a run down Mouse Run, we noticed that the Snowdon triple was finally running as well. All of those lifts should have been running at opening, but for some reason, they weren't. Once they were all open, the lift lines spread out and most lifts were ski/ride on.

 

The trails were in great shape. Roughly 5" of snow had fallen. Combined with resurfacing on all open terrain, the snow was in great shape despite the crowds. There was amazing snow all over the mountain. I was shocked at how well it skied after the rainfall earlier in the week. I was also shocked at how well it held up with the crowds. Unfortunately, while the lift lines were relatively empty, the trails were a mad house. There were 24 open trails, but they all still funneled through Snowdon, so the area around Bunny Buster, Mouse Trap, and Great Northern was a complete cluster. It was icy and crowded at that intersection, but just below it they spread out. After some excellent laps on the quad, we headed back to the NRT to do some more laps before heading to the bottom. We were able to duck the rope and ride right to the Vale lot to save some time on our return.

 

As we were leaving, they were turning off the upper mountain guns and moving them down the mountain as the temps dropped. They had Ramshead, parts of Skye Peak, and parts of Snowshed lit up. I'd expect a new base area by the weekend and a decent chunk of new terrain.

 

Overall, it was one of the busiest days I have ridden with the amount of people on the terrain available. However, it was also one of the best early season days I have had. It was also awesome riding with 8 very good friends. I logged some serious vert on 16 runs and left quite happy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[RidgeRacer]

I'm freaking jealous man. nice!

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Way to get after it!!!

[tnt]

nice!