Popular Post Ride Delaware ? Posted October 23, 2018 Popular Post Report Posted October 23, 2018 Today marked the earliest day I’ve been on snow by 4 days. As usual, my wife and I got a later jump on the day than we had hoped, but we were still able to get on snow, and that’s all that really matters. We rolled into the Killington parking lot about 12:15 to t2b snow guns running on Superstar despite 36 degree temperatures. Seeing SallyCat’s post, I was afraid it would be busy, but the crowds had mostly dispersed. We snagged our lift tickets for $59 ($6 cheaper than last year), and hit the gondola. Please keep in mind that Killington has switched to RFID, so that price doesn’t include the $5 rechargeable lift card. The temperature at the top was 29 degrees, and the snow guns were still running full tilt. They have finally moved some guns to Great Northern off of the gondola to start connecting to the NRT so you don’t have to hike down. If they get another 24 hour window this week, that should be skiable, but they only had a dusting down while we were there. The hike down was shorter than I remembered. It’s a little more work, but truth be told, it’s worth it to be riding on October 22nd. As is expected this time of year, all open terrain had snowmaking in progress. Our first run was down Rime. This was the only open section where the guns were relatively dialed in. I stayed mostly to skiers right, but no snow stuck to my goggles and the snow on the ground was fairly dry. However, below Great Northern was a different story. The snow continually coated the goggles and the snow was very wet. A decent bump line formed outside the snow gun radius and provided for some fun turns however. Next we decided to hit Reason to East Fall. While Rime only had every other snow gun running, Reason and East Fall had them all going. The difference in snow quality was obvious immediately. Every gun on those trails was running wet and made it difficult to see and turn. Reason only had 2-3 features at the bottom near Great Northern. I would imagine that they will add a couple more for the weekend as they are able. We ended up doing 9 runs, most of them on Rime. Overall, it was great to be back on snow. They had decent base depths and should be able to weather any small warmup. I would expect traffic on the stairway to be one way by the weekend. It wasn’t the best early season day I have had at Killington, but when you put into perspective that it is October 22nd, you realize that it’s all pretty good. The hike back up the stairway was very manageable and definitely worth the product they were putting out. It was a good start to what hopefully ends up being a great season. FYI: Snowdon Six Pack and it’s associated trail work and tunnel work seems to be significantly behind schedule. Since that is the early season route to the bottom, it may need to be altered. They can’t make snow there right now, so I wonder how that will effect their next moves. 10 2
Ride Delaware ? Posted October 23, 2018 Author Report Posted October 23, 2018 SallyCat may have beaten me to the mountain this year, but I snagged the “first separately posted trip report” of the season... 1
GrilledSteezeSandwich Posted October 23, 2018 Report Posted October 23, 2018 12 minutes ago, Ride Delaware ? said: SallyCat may have beaten me to the mountain this year, but I snagged the “first separately posted trip report” of the season... Congrats did you drive all the way up there from DE for one ski day?
Ride Delaware ? Posted October 23, 2018 Author Report Posted October 23, 2018 Congrats did you drive all the way up there from DE for one ski day?Not at all. I had patrol training this weekend, so it worked out that we could do it on the way.
GrilledSteezeSandwich Posted October 23, 2018 Report Posted October 23, 2018 (edited) 6 minutes ago, Ride Delaware ? said: Not at all. I had patrol training this weekend, so it worked out that we could do it on the way. Your wife must have a job with a pretty flexible schedule. Edited October 23, 2018 by GrilledSteezeSandwich
theprogram4 Posted October 23, 2018 Report Posted October 23, 2018 that looks awesome. damn i want to ride
Ride Delaware ? Posted October 23, 2018 Author Report Posted October 23, 2018 SallyCat wanted to wait out the snow guns, but that’s a catch 22. With borderline temps like that, it would have hardened up. It was fun. It’s all about mindset, and I was in the right one. 1
RootDKJ Posted October 23, 2018 Report Posted October 23, 2018 Great report RideDE. Love October snow.
Ride Delaware ? Posted October 23, 2018 Author Report Posted October 23, 2018 I may not get out again until the week before Thanksgiving, so I’ll take it when I can get it, hiking be damned. 2
SallyCat Posted October 23, 2018 Report Posted October 23, 2018 2 hours ago, Ride Delaware ? said: SallyCat wanted to wait out the snow guns, but that’s a catch 22. With borderline temps like that, it would have hardened up. It was fun. It’s all about mindset, and I was in the right one. Great report and pics! I did go back down around 1:30 and did about five runs that were really fun. I saw a ton of people walking back to the gondola and figured that it would be less crowded than the morning, which it was. Looked for you and your wife but was never confident enough that it was you to shout out. DId you have some sort of writing/logo on the back of your jacket? Keep in mind I'm barely more than a novice skier, so the poor visibility and bumped-up terrain were really challenging. I figured time on snow can't be a bad thing even if it's difficult, and I liked that the variable surface made me really have to work on staying forward (as opposed to starting out the season being lazy/sloppy on groomers). But I also didn't want to get hurt, so I was pretty tentative. I was super jealous of all the good skiers ripping around with such confidence! 1
GrilledSteezeSandwich Posted October 23, 2018 Report Posted October 23, 2018 Thanks RideDE and SallyCat for the reports.
indiggio Posted October 23, 2018 Report Posted October 23, 2018 (edited) 5 hours ago, Ride Delaware ? said: SallyCat wanted to wait out the snow guns, but that’s a catch 22. With borderline temps like that, it would have hardened up. It was fun. It’s all about mindset, and I was in the right one. It's the East, just ski it! Edited October 23, 2018 by indiggio 1 1
GrilledSteezeSandwich Posted October 23, 2018 Report Posted October 23, 2018 10 minutes ago, indiggio said: It's the East, just ski it! He’s more of a Sally than Sally lol. 1 1
SallyCat Posted October 24, 2018 Report Posted October 24, 2018 5 hours ago, GrilledSteezeSandwich said: He’s more of a Sally than Sally lol. I am proud to be a Sally and all my doors are Sallyports. I pass through them the same way I ski and bike: with enthusiasm, a limited skill set, and an elevated blood-alcohol level. 4 1
Ride Delaware ? Posted October 24, 2018 Author Report Posted October 24, 2018 Just a plain blue jacket. Sorry we didn’t meet up, but if you’re ever in the Sugarbush area this winter, send me a PM before you go. 1 1
SallyCat Posted October 30, 2018 Report Posted October 30, 2018 Did a write-up for the Lady Site. https://www.theskidiva.com/october-skiing-is-it-worth-it/ 5
GrilledSteezeSandwich Posted October 30, 2018 Report Posted October 30, 2018 48 minutes ago, SallyCat said: Did a write-up for the Lady Site. https://www.theskidiva.com/october-skiing-is-it-worth-it/ Nice write up although you post that it was surreal to go skiing without a flake of snow on the ground and that’s the way it is 80% of the time here in PA 1
Schif Posted October 30, 2018 Report Posted October 30, 2018 Great write up Sally! Very well written. Looking forward to more like that over the coming season! 1
SallyCat Posted October 30, 2018 Report Posted October 30, 2018 4 hours ago, GrilledSteezeSandwich said: Nice write up although you post that it was surreal to go skiing without a flake of snow on the ground and that’s the way it is 80% of the time here in PA True, Indiggio said the same. I guess because it's October and seems so early. Everyone's still enjoying the foliage, etc. The snowless skiing in PA is usually in January. 2
Ride Delaware ? Posted October 31, 2018 Author Report Posted October 31, 2018 I wouldn’t want a winter without natural snow, but I would rather have snowboarding with no snow off the trail than no snowboarding at all... 1
RidgeRacer Posted October 31, 2018 Report Posted October 31, 2018 Nice write up Sally. You should defintely trademark WROF (white ribbon of fun). 1
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