# The Beast is Back - Killington 11/2/2008



## andyzee (Nov 2, 2008)

*Date(s) Skied: *Sunday, 11/02/2008 

*Resort or Ski Area: *Killington, VT

*Conditions: *Man made snow temps in the upper 20s - 30's.

*Trip Report: *This is the first time we've been to Killington since my wife broke her ankle on Thanksgiving of last year and it felt nice to ski there again as well as see the look on her face. 

We stayed at a friends condo not far from the mountain. With the change in time, I woke up early. Wife was still sleeping so I went to the mountain to see how things looked. I got there at 7:00 am to see guns blasting. I decided to sit on the deck and snap some pics. As I sat there one of the ambassadors opened the door and invited me in. I went in and tried to connect to the internet via their network, no luck, guess they didn't have the Internet connection up yet. Beginning of my trip report and pics would have to wait. 

While I sat there, the guy that let me in came by and informed me that they were planning on trying to open at 8:30 as opposed to the planned 10:00 am. I immediately called to my wife and told her and friend to get ready. I dropped by the house to encourage the two women to hurry up, suicidal  We did manage to get to the mountain by about 8:45, gondi was still not running. Me and V ran inside to get our tickets came back out and booted up and grabbed our skis, Gondi started loading at 9:01 am. We ran up ran into some Zoners, and grabbed what must have been the 5th or 6th car going up. 

Snow was being blown all over the place and not too many people to be seen, sweet!  We got to the top came down Great Northern, nice conditions. Down Rime, good stuff! Get to the lift no lines, is this really opening day at Killington? We did a few runs of the North Ridge triple, sweet snow, blue skies and I got my baby back, who could ask for more. She was still a bit over cautious, can't blame her, so we skied to about 12 and called it a day, I'm glad she got the first day under her belt and I'm looking forward to a whole season with her 

Conditions were pretty good for the time we skied, but Rime was getting a bit scraped off when we quit. All in all though I have to give Killington credit for doing a great job of opening up. I complained about the price and still thing that the $65 is a bit high for what was open, but on the bright side, it wasn't crowded all day, so well worth it. 

I do hope Killington is going back to there old ways of early season opening and late closing, miss those days. Don't have a season pass this year cause of wife's injury, but they keep this up, we're back next year! Pics to follow.


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## andyzee (Nov 2, 2008)

First gondi to the peak, notice the crowds:







Vee having some trouble avoiding the crowds:






Is this place open yet, where is everyone?











Lower Bunny Buster @ 9:30:






2nd gondi ride up, probably around 10, the crowds are coming now!


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## andyzee (Nov 2, 2008)

Lower Bunny Buster @ 10:48:






Typically, it looks like this when there's such limited terrain (11/19/2005):






But, at 11:32, looking like this:






2:30, Gondi line:


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## RootDKJ (Nov 2, 2008)

great pictures andyzee!


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## powhunter (Nov 3, 2008)

Thanks for the report Andy!!! Glad the wife is back!!  Hope its less crowded today!!!  ;-)

steve


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## bigbog (Nov 3, 2008)

*...*

Nice crowd control Zee!


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## Greg (Nov 3, 2008)

Well done report. Nice job!


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## andyzee (Nov 3, 2008)

bigbog said:


> Nice crowd control Zee!



I think it was the franks and beans I ate the night before.


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## Marc (Nov 3, 2008)

Damnit Andy, I wish I'd been there skiing with you.


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## ALLSKIING (Nov 3, 2008)

Thanks for the pics Andy....How did V do on her first day out?


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## andyzee (Nov 3, 2008)

ALLSKIING said:


> Thanks for the pics Andy....How did V do on her first day out?




Very cautious, but that was expected, other then that, she was ok. I'm glad she got the first day under her belt, it's all down hill from here


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## ski_resort_observer (Nov 3, 2008)

Looking goooood!


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## bvibert (Nov 3, 2008)

Nice job Andy.  Glad to see Vee back out on skis! 

Looks like there was good coverage.  Was there any seeded bumps? :dunce:


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## severine (Nov 3, 2008)

Wow, not bad at all!  Glad that Vee is back out on the slopes with ya, Andy!


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## andyzee (Nov 3, 2008)

bvibert said:


> Nice job Andy.  Glad to see Vee back out on skis!
> 
> Looks like there was good coverage.  Was there any seeded bumps? :dunce:



No bumps  Just happy there was snow. :-D


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## Vortex (Nov 3, 2008)

Nice shots.  Looks like it was busy at times and wide open at others.  good job here.


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## SkiDork (Nov 3, 2008)

Andy thanks for taking Ty up and back.  She had a great time!


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## mondeo (Nov 3, 2008)

bvibert said:


> Looks like there was good coverage. Was there any seeded bumps? :dunce:


 
Silly question. Killington only seeds bumps for competition and training.


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## andyzee (Nov 3, 2008)

SkiDork said:


> Andy thanks for taking Ty up and back.  She had a great time!



Believe it or not, it was a pleasure  Thanks for letting us stay at your place.


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## Greg (Nov 3, 2008)

mondeo said:


> Silly question. Killington only seeds bumps for competition and training.



You missed his sarcasm...


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## andyzee (Nov 3, 2008)

Greg said:


> You missed his sarcasm...




Lot of that going around lately  Killington is au natural.


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## roark (Nov 3, 2008)

Great day, good to see everyone. I never did see Steeze pull off the Misty Crotch grab tho.


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## GrilledSteezeSandwich (Nov 3, 2008)

roark said:


> Great day, good to see everyone. I never did see Steeze pull off the Misty Crotch grab tho.



I had a shovel in my car..I should have built a big booter..I never did see AndyZee but I heard he skis really slow..:lol::lol:

If there is one thing I should have done is have my edges sharpened..they were uber dull from last season and while it wasn't icy..there were a few slick spot that I wasn't comfortable carving with no edges so I just did the Blue mountain ski patroller shuffle skid..still fun though..It's hard to believe that less than 24 hours ago I was skiing..I'm glad I got it in before it melts away//


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## bigbog (Nov 3, 2008)

*....*

Yes Andy, great to see Vee out and having a good? time....!


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## powderfreak (Nov 3, 2008)

Good stuff, Andy!  Nice report and man you are a lucky guy to have a wife that wants to hit Killington on opening day.

Glad to see the southerners are making some turns, too!

-Scott


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## GrilledSteezeSandwich (Nov 3, 2008)

My favorite thing was asking the ambassadors at the top of the Ganjala how to get to Outer Limits..lol


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## zook (Nov 3, 2008)

i'm jealous... can't wait for my first turns 

great pics and thx for the report


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## andyzee (Nov 3, 2008)

zook said:


> i'm jealous... can't wait for my first turns
> 
> great pics and thx for the report



Holy crap! Zook, how you doing? Welcome back! When you want to go skiing with us?


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## dawn-ski (Nov 3, 2008)

I was there as well,great pictures! What an opening day.....


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## zook (Nov 4, 2008)

> Holy crap! Zook, how you doing? Welcome back!



yeah - it's that time of the year again  



> When you want to go skiing with us?



Hopefully it will be soon


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## andyzee (Nov 4, 2008)

zook said:


> yeah - it's that time of the year again
> 
> 
> 
> Hopefully it will be soon


 
We're both looking forward to it, probably be doing the Catskills more this year.


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## kingslug (Nov 4, 2008)

Guess I missed a good one. Couldn't have made it anyway with a blown water pump..soon though.


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## ski_resort_observer (Nov 4, 2008)

Nice article in the Rutland Herald via the Times Argus about kmart's opening day
http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081104/NEWS02/811040351/1003/NEWS02


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## Johnskiismore (Nov 4, 2008)

It's good to read some positive news coning from Killington!


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## andyzee (Nov 4, 2008)

Well, at least Killington is aiming for a couple more days. I see Sunday River is already closed.


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## GrilledSteezeSandwich (Nov 5, 2008)

andyzee said:


> Well, at least Killington is aiming for a couple more days. I see Sunday River is already closed.




Sumday bigger is closed..weak..I can't believe they can't keep away the humid mild weather..


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## WJenness (Nov 6, 2008)

GrilledSteezeSandwich said:


> Sumday bigger is closed..weak..I can't believe they can't keep away the humid mild weather..



When they opened they announced it would only be for the weekend.

It's still up in the air if they'll open up again this weekend or not.

-w


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## Vortex (Nov 6, 2008)

I know a bunch of us are going up to the river  this weekend no matter what.


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## WJenness (Nov 6, 2008)

Bob R said:


> I know a bunch of us are going up to the river  this weekend no matter what.



I'd be up there to... except my mother and brother are moving to South Carolina on Sunday... Helping them get packed / ready to go trumps skiing for this weekend.

-w


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