# Killington 10/31/11



## Zand (Oct 31, 2011)

*Date(s) Skied: * Monday 10/31/11

*Resort or Ski Area: * Killington, VT

*Conditions: * Mid-winter, low 30s to start and warming into the 40s, sunny

*Trip Report: *

Awesome day at Killington. Would've considered it awesome in January, nevermind October. Light to moderate crowd... a very short wait at times on the triple, but usually ski on. 

Rime: Seemed to carry most of the crowd today. Firm early, then loosening up along the sides as the day went on and temps went up. A short bump line (as in 6-8 bumps) on skiers right just after the GN crossing. A few slick spots because of the crowd, but very very good for Halloween.

Upper East Fall: Ungroomed whales, complete with water bars and other funky stuff. Snow was very firm and slick. Hoping to find bumps in there somewhere but never did. Therefore only hit it a couple times.

Reason: 5 boxes/rails set up along it. Never seemed to be that many people using it.

Upper Dipper: Don't know if they blew snow on it or not but it felt like all natural snow, and groomed. Made for an EXCELLENT surface as long as you watched out for the thin spots. Snow was so soft.

Powerline: Opened around noonish... got flattened out pretty fast, so nothing really special about it.

West Glade/that section of GN: Was pleasantly surprised to see the ropes drop, and boy was it great to ski that first pitch. Perfect skier packed natural. Expected to see some bumps later on, but never did. Tons of fun regardless. GN was pretty slick, seemed like it only had a night of snowmaking. The narrow section back to the triple was a bit rocky.

Also did some poaching after reading on K-Zone (and having it confirmed today by a ski patroller) that they're not busting people for ducking ropes. First poach was Royal Flush to Racer's Edge to Highline. Was psyched to hit Royal Flush, but it was just too sticky to have fun on. Racer's was rocky, especially at waterbars (took a nice core shot in there). Highline was also very sticky, however a little more tracked out than Flush so a little more doable.

Next poach was Downdraft (actually skied the top part with a ski patroller who just said "looks nice, let's go" when he skied up lol). Deep snow... knee deep at the waterbars. A bit thick, but not as sticky as Flush. Definitely a leg burner this early on. Runout had a single track pack which made it easy to get down without poling. A few rocks, but not too bad.

Third poach was Ovation to Superstar. Bear Trax was actually groomed, which actually didn't help as it was very thin and rocky. Launch Pad was "groomed" by a snowmobile, leaving a packed surface that had better coverage. Ovation was off the charts, fields of shin deep powder EVERYWHERE. Didn't see any tracks going over the headwall, so decided not to risk it and hit lower Superstar. From the crossover to the last tower it was rocky and unmowed, so not a ton of fun. After the last tower, the last few hundred vertical feet were mowed and untouched knee deep powder all over the place. And this is Halloween.

Last one was the last run of the day (therefore never had to use the stairs), a simple GN/Mouse Trap/Bunny Buster run. GN was groomed and pebbly. Mouse Trap was thick and had a lot of rocks under foot. BB was groomed as well, and very thin. Would've taken a better run but I was spent.

Absolutely fantastic day. Thank you to Killington for finally going back to your roots, glad to see it be a special place for skiing again.


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## WJenness (Oct 31, 2011)

Sounds like a hell of a day for Halloween.

Glad you got out!

Can't wait to get some time in myself... sigh.

-w


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## Zand (Oct 31, 2011)

A couple cell phone pics (having a Droid makes this much easier than in the past ) First one is Cascade from the K1, second one is Ovation.


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## powhunter (Oct 31, 2011)

Nice report!  Ya didnt rip da fiddle???   Was GN open top to bottom??  Cant wait to get up there tomorrow

Steveo


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## Zand (Oct 31, 2011)

powhunter said:


> Nice report!  Ya didnt rip da fiddle???   Was GN open top to bottom??  Cant wait to get up there tomorrow
> 
> Steveo



Nothing is "open" top to bottom. Nothing outside of the North Ridge is open. For the time being, ski patrol has decided to allow people to poach whatever they want without going after them. So consider whatever you want to ski open. They groomed a couple trails to the bottom, probably just so it's easier to pull machinery up the hill.

And no, DF would make for a LONG walk back lol. Can't imagine how rocky it is with only a foot of snow as well. 

And just a warning, East Hill Rd is closed at the bottom. Found that out the hard way as I went up on the Access Road and tried to leave on EH Road only to drive all the way down and find it closed.


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## thetrailboss (Oct 31, 2011)

Ovation:  looks good.  Cascades: not so much!


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## Zand (Oct 31, 2011)

thetrailboss said:


> Ovation:  looks good.  Cascades: not so much!



Just high grass... not as bad as it might look. Not as good as Ovation obviously, but definitely skiable.


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## powhunter (Oct 31, 2011)

Happy as shit they are opening more stuff up...Lapping Rime gets pretty lame unless there  is a bump line..But adding powerline and West Glade makes it so much better, coupled with the fact the nazis are looking the other way..Superstar???  LOL  Thats such a effin blatant poach!!


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## Zand (Oct 31, 2011)

powhunter said:


> Happy as shit they are opening more stuff up...Lapping Rime gets pretty lame unless there  is a bump line..But adding powerline and West Glade makes it so much better, coupled with the fact the nazis are looking the other way..Superstar???  LOL  Thats such a effin blatant poach!!



Hell, the ski patrollers and ambassadors were both happy to tell you which trails were the best to poach . That's how I found out that Ovation was so good, a patroller and another guy on the chair were talking about ducking the ropes and the patroller says "heard Ovation was pretty good, but I didn't tell you that." And like I said, I was standing at the top of Downdraft contemplating it and a patroller skis up and says "looks pretty good" and then lifts the rope so we can hit it.


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## JerseyJoey (Nov 1, 2011)

Good seeing you yesterday. Haha..


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## powbmps (Nov 1, 2011)

Great report Zand.  

Snow on Ovation looks pretty damn good.


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## Nick (Nov 1, 2011)

Great report, can't wait to get out there!


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## jimmywilson69 (Nov 1, 2011)

Zand said:


> A couple cell phone pics (having a Droid makes this much easier than in the past ) First one is Cascade from the K1, second one is Ovation.



thanks for the poach pics.  Ovation looks super nice, I love that trail!


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## Zand (Nov 2, 2011)

JerseyJoey said:


> Good seeing you yesterday. Haha..



Did I meet you or were you just there? Chatted with a few people who said they peruse the boards occasionally but didn't recognize any of them.


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## ALLSKIING (Nov 2, 2011)

As noted in Powerhunter Tue trip report....We got blasted for skiing GN....The guy stated "Its the new rule" ...Lame


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## Zand (Nov 2, 2011)

ALLSKIING said:


> As noted in Powerhunter Tue trip report....We got blasted for skiing GN....The guy stated "Its the new rule" ...Lame



Sounded like it was just a snowmaker though. And maybe they were mad that you were skiing a trail they set the guns up on. Maybe they'll be less strict about heading down via the Superstar area.


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## Ski the Moguls (Nov 2, 2011)

Zand said:


> Sounded like it was just a snowmaker though. And maybe they were mad that you were skiing a trail they set the guns up on. Maybe they'll be less strict about heading down via the Superstar area.



I hope all the open talk of poaching, both here and on KillingtonZone, has not _caused_ K to get more strict!? Is this something we should keep to ourselves -- like unmarked lines through the woods?


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## Black Phantom (Nov 2, 2011)

Ski the Moguls said:


> I hope all the open talk of poaching, both here and on KillingtonZone, has not _caused_ K to get more strict!? Is this something we should keep to ourselves -- like unmarked lines through the woods?



Killington management has issued a directive to all ambassadors and ski patrol that they will issue a $50 voucher good resort wide for all tickets/passes clipped for ANY violations of the code. This includes the skiing/riding of closed trails.  They will also be prosecuting known offenders to the fullest extent of the law.


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## riverc0il (Nov 2, 2011)

Just wanted to pass along some wisdom that I have gained regarding poaching.... don't post and brag about it. It encourages others to do the same. Eventually, the amount of poaching will reach critical mass (or something bad will happen, see last year's death at Cannon on a poached trail) and the ski area will crack down and the fun is over. Hey, go nuts. But it really isn't a great topic for discussion on a forum. Just my opinion. But I'm glad you guys are not actively discussing poaching at my favorite mountains, I'll say that much....


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## skiersleft (Nov 3, 2011)

riverc0il said:


> Just wanted to pass along some wisdom that I have gained regarding poaching.... don't post and brag about it. It encourages others to do the same. Eventually, the amount of poaching will reach critical mass (or something bad will happen, see last year's death at Cannon on a poached trail) and the ski area will crack down and the fun is over. Hey, go nuts. But it really isn't a great topic for discussion on a forum. Just my opinion. But I'm glad you guys are not actively discussing poaching at my favorite mountains, I'll say that much....



The Institution is not one of your favorite mountains? Your first ski day of last season was there as well as your first this season. That's got to count for something!


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## riverc0il (Nov 4, 2011)

skiersleft said:


> The Institution is not one of your favorite mountains? Your first ski day of last season was there as well as your first this season. That's got to count for something!


In October, I just go where ever it snows the most that is relatively close. Last season I went to Stowe first and then only drove to Killington because it was raining at Stowe. This season, I originally planned for Cannon on Friday and changed plans because Cannon only got 1-3". So in both cases, Killington was a fall back option of last resort. That has got to count for something.

:razz: :dunce:


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## skiersleft (Nov 4, 2011)

riverc0il said:


> In October, I just go where ever it snows the most that is relatively close. Last season I went to Stowe first and then only drove to Killington because it was raining at Stowe. This season, I originally planned for Cannon on Friday and changed plans because Cannon only got 1-3". So in both cases, Killington was a fall back option of last resort. That has got to count for something.
> 
> :razz: :dunce:



You don't choose The Beast, 
The Beast Chooses You.


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## karenmcgraw (Nov 22, 2011)

Being the largest ski resort in the eastern part of the United States Killington is one of the best place to go skiing, the place has plenty of lifts, tree runs and terrain parks that is perfect to fully enjoy your skiing experience.


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