# Killington 4/19/2006



## BeanoNYC (Apr 20, 2006)

*Date(s) Skied: * 4/19/2005 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM

*Resort or Ski Area: * Killington, VT

*Conditions: * Spring Varied.  Corn Snow, Hardpack Groomed, Mashed Potatos

*Trip Report: * Well, I arrived to a rainy and desolate access road the evening of 4/18.  It was sad to see the area lacking of it's usual "buzz."  Many restaurants and pubs closed.  Since my wife was kind enough to take the trip with me, I was looking forward to going out to a nice dinner at The Garlic, but alas, they had fallen victim to the spring season and we settled for Casey's Caboose.  (Not the best place for a Vegetarian; The wife not me) 

I awoke the next morning to a really nice day.  Mid 50's, no wind and bluebird skies.  As the day progressed the temperature rose to the mid 60's.  The parking lot at K1 was nearly empty; I booted up and waited to get first chair on the K1 gondola.  My first run was Great Northern>East Fall and down to the Canyon Quad.  Great Northern was in decent condition and groomed with hardly any bare spots.  The blue portion of East Fall was groomed with great coverage.  The black portion of East Fall was ungroomed with some nice soft bumps.  Coverage was limited especially at the end of the run by the Canyon Quad.  

I made my way back up the Canyon Quad and would make the rest of my time at K1/Snowdon making a few loops on Great Northern, East Fall, Lower third of Chute, Mouse Trap et all.  It was a short walk from the end of, what I think was, Bunny Buster back to the K1 Gondola_ Side Note: Cascade was open and bumped up.  I didn't ski it as the bumps were still a bit bulletproof.  Coverage, did look good, though._

Having had enough of that side of the mountain, I decided to walk over to the superstar quad and get some time in on what was left of Skye Peak.  I wish I had hit it sooner.  I made a few loops from the top of Skye Peak to all the jumble of trails (4 way Skylark, bittersweet, skyehawk panic button, High Road.)  It all had very nice coverage and nice corn.  From time to time, you would encounter a bare spot, but all-in-all it was good skiing.  Some might be interested to know that the black section of skylarke was turned into a terrain park with minimal coverage.  Now, on to superstar.  The top of the trail was in bad condition.  The only way from the top was to navigate a series of monster-sized bumps (please don't sue me for copyright infringement monster cables) in about a 5 foot path.  The other way to superstar was to take skyehawk and hang a left.  By the time I got to superstar the bumps were nice and soft.  It seemed to me that the middle of the run was groomed at some point, not too long ago. 

I made two runs down superstar, feeling like a hero on the soft bumps, made a final few runs off the trails from Skye Peak and called it a season.  I picked my wife up at the hotel and we made our way to Foxwoods, finally settling in at Mystic, CT for the evening.  Nice time there too!

Now for the pictures:

_ Edit: Clarification_

A very groomed Great Northern






East Fall Looking Good





Black Portion of East Fall





"Which way to go?"  East Fall by Canyon Quad





From the Superstar Quad





Looking good from the top of Skye





From the top of Superstar


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## ALLSKIING (Apr 20, 2006)

Nice...Glad you got out one last time. Thanks for the pics.


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## andyzee (Apr 20, 2006)

Thanks for the report and pics, at least you got the last day of lift service for Killington Peak and the Canyons area.


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## BeanoNYC (Apr 20, 2006)

andyzee said:
			
		

> Thanks for the report and pics, at least you got the last day of lift service for Killington Peak and the Canyons area.



Yeah, I noticed that on the Killington web site today.  The liftie at K1 told me that Sunday was the last day for the gondola.  There were some bare spots, but there is no reason to close that side of the mountain.


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## ga2ski (Apr 20, 2006)

Thanks for the great trip report and pix. I plan to hit K on Saturday.


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## riverc0il (Apr 20, 2006)

Nice report.  With the K1 going down, a skin up to Canyon land would be quite fun with an assist from Superstar, that area looks to have really really sweet coverage!  though $39 is a bit much for 11 trails and 1 lift.


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## kcyanks1 (Apr 20, 2006)

andyzee said:
			
		

> Thanks for the report and pics, at least you got the last day of lift service for Killington Peak and the Canyons area.



Wow, I can't believe they are closing that so early when they still have snow and are operating other parts of the mountain.  While Bear Mtn is totally separate and would possibly entail keeping open another base lodge, especially if the connection trails are closed, I'd think that if they have enough snow they'd keep Killington Peak open as long as they plan to keep Superstar open.  Disappointing that there lack of effort for late season skiing is going this far.  I didn't take advantage of the May skiing until around 4 or 5 winters ago, but have gone on 3 different occasions in May, and had a lot of fun each time.  I even once drove 3.5 hours each way alone to ski in a light rain.  I wouldn't be surprised if I was the only non-season's pass holder that day.  Amazing that now I'm going to be longing for an opportunity to do something so many (except people on this board) would view as crazy


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## andyzee (Apr 20, 2006)

kcyanks1 said:
			
		

> Wow, I can't believe they are closing that so early when they still have snow and are operating other parts of the mountain. While Bear Mtn is totally separate and would possibly entail keeping open another base lodge, especially if the connection trails are closed, I'd think that if they have enough snow they'd keep Killington Peak open as long as they plan to keep Superstar open. Disappointing that there lack of effort for late season skiing is going this far. I didn't take advantage of the May skiing until around 4 or 5 winters ago, but have gone on 3 different occasions in May, and had a lot of fun each time. I even once drove 3.5 hours each way alone to ski in a light rain. I wouldn't be surprised if I was the only non-season's pass holder that day. Amazing that now I'm going to be longing for an opportunity to do something so many (except people on this board) would view as crazy


 
Last year was my first skiing in May, went to May 30th and it was great. Killington had closed on the 15th and we had to hike for turns. Guess if we want to go into May this year we'll have to do the same. Bear may be worth checking out.


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## Tyrolean_skier (Apr 21, 2006)

Beano, too bad you did not post at www.killingtonzone.com that you were going to be around or we could have met you.  We had a Bay1 BBQ going that day and you could have joined us for some food and drinks.  I've been here in Killington since last Friday and I have seen the snow disappearing pretty fast.  I did quite a few runs on Outer Limits this past weekend and as long as you had a ride at Bear then it was quite accessible and enjoyable.  I got a chance to go over there again today and found the path to there lacking in snow in many places.  I also hiked today to the Canyon area and skied Double Dipper.  The hike was a bit tough but the snow on that trail was sweet.  It is a shame that we no longer have lift access to the Canyon area because the snow on those trails is still great.  So sad to see the changes day to day.


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## Vortex (Apr 21, 2006)

Beano thankx for the report. Was there enough snow at the top of Superstar to plow over the dirt patch.  Last year they did that the last weekend I was there so the weekend had better coverage.


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## andyzee (Apr 21, 2006)

Bob R said:
			
		

> Beano thankx for the report. Was there enough snow at the top of Superstar to plow over the dirt patch. Last year they did that the last weekend I was there so the weekend had better coverage.


 
Play it safe, get up there this weekend!


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## riverc0il (Apr 21, 2006)

you know, the headwall of superstar raises a really interesting point... why focus on superstar for late season skiing?  of course, they did not always focus on superstar but that is the current focus.  why not canyon?  download on K1 if needed but then they would have two lifts spinning instead of just one. :-?


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## andyzee (Apr 21, 2006)

riverc0il said:
			
		

> you know, the headwall of superstar raises a really interesting point... why focus on superstar for late season skiing? of course, they did not always focus on superstar but that is the current focus. why not canyon? download on K1 if needed but then they would have two lifts spinning instead of just one. :-?


 
My guess, money. The K1 itself would cost more to run and then yeah, they would have to run a second lift.


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## riverc0il (Apr 21, 2006)

but they might not need to blow as much snow would be my thought?  covering that headwall must be a night mare, and then stock piling snow just to cover up bare spots?  ick.


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## BeanoNYC (Apr 21, 2006)

Bob R said:
			
		

> Beano thankx for the report. Was there enough snow at the top of Superstar to plow over the dirt patch.  Last year they did that the last weekend I was there so the weekend had better coverage.



Yes, I forgot to mention that.


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## Vortex (Apr 21, 2006)

I plan on going to K on the 29 for a few hours in the morning.  BW this weekend.  thankx Rich


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## skijay (Apr 21, 2006)

Awesome pictures.  I wish I did go yesterday, but I got so much accomplished with yard work in time for this weekend's rain.


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## 2knees (Apr 21, 2006)

riverc0il said:
			
		

> you know, the headwall of superstar raises a really interesting point... why focus on superstar for late season skiing?  of course, they did not always focus on superstar but that is the current focus.  why not canyon?  download on K1 if needed but then they would have two lifts spinning instead of just one. :-?



Superstar has been the focus since around the time they replaced the double and its midstation with the k1.  You cant download the gondola because there is no midstation.  Thats been part of the problem with the early season skiing.  They need top to bottom now since they no longer truck people up and have no midstation or 2 lift system to get people down.  But it is a shame.


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## Zand (Apr 21, 2006)

I think K should install a lift from the base to the base of the Canyon Quad. Use it just early and late season. Then they can have skiing off both the Canyon Quad and Glades Triple. Intermediates could ride up the Canyon Quad, play in the Glades, and then ride the Canyon Quad back down to avoid the blacks.

Either that, or do it the smart way and move spring skiing to Bear Mountain on Outer Limits.


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## andyzee (Apr 21, 2006)

Zand said:
			
		

> I think K should install a lift from the base to the base of the Canyon Quad. Use it just early and late season. Then they can have skiing off both the Canyon Quad and Glades Triple. Intermediates could ride up the Canyon Quad, play in the Glades, and then ride the Canyon Quad back down to avoid the blacks.
> 
> Either that, or do it the smart way and move spring skiing to Bear Mountain on Outer Limits.


 
Couple of problems with that.

1. An extra lift would cost money. Something ASC doesn't have
2. Bear Mountain is good for now, they blew more snow on it this year, but under normal circumstances, it is warmer there due to the fact that it gets more sun and is at a lower elevation.


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## kcyanks1 (Apr 21, 2006)

Zand said:
			
		

> I think K should install a lift from the base to the base of the Canyon Quad. Use it just early and late season. Then they can have skiing off both the Canyon Quad and Glades Triple. Intermediates could ride up the Canyon Quad, play in the Glades, and then ride the Canyon Quad back down to avoid the blacks.



The old Killington double with the midstation might have provided the best early/late season option.  You then have the peak at over 4000' feet and skiing down Cascade (and perhaps Downdraft) to the mid-station, and downloading to get to the base.  I think that's what they did pre-Superstar days, but that was before my time as far as May skiing goes.  Not good for the intermediates, but I think most people who want to ski at that point in the season probably can deal with Cascade, and they currently use an expert trail in Superstar anyways.  Cascade is probably a little harder, though it doesn't quite warrant that big warning sign that Killington puts on top of all their double diamonds.


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## loafer89 (Apr 21, 2006)

I was seriously considering skiing at Killington tomorrow, but based on the weather and conditions, I decided against it, plus I am still tired from 3 days of skiing last weekend in Maine.

It is sad to see Killington closing so early with such sparse snowcover, they used to take great pride in the length of the season at Killington. This is a picture from my first ski day there in June on June 1st 1994 which was day #235:-o :







The old Killington double had the mid-station at 3450', so it was easy to make snow on a short trail (Upper Cascade) and open with only 18 hours of snowmaking. October 1st 1993:


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## ALLSKIING (Apr 21, 2006)

That is some really good cover for June..WOW


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## loafer89 (Apr 21, 2006)

Killington did experiment with other early season trails, I have heard that they offered October skiing on Snowshed in the 1970's and I skied Header on Rams Head in October of 1997.


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## loafer89 (Apr 21, 2006)

ALLSKIING said:
			
		

> That is some really good cover for June..WOW


 
Spring 1994 was very cold, in fact there was a frost on the night of May 31st and Superstar was frozen solid first thing in the morning:-o 

Check out the cover on Snowshed in this picture from *April 26th, 2003*:






Nearly edge to edge


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## kcyanks1 (Apr 21, 2006)

loafer89 said:
			
		

> Killington did experiment with other early season trails, I have heard that they offered October skiing on Snowshed in the 1970's and I skied Header on Rams Head in October of 1997.



Wow, that's interesting.  Snoshead seems to make no sense.  it starts at a slightly lower elevation than Superstar or K-Peak, and hardly rises at all.  I guess it's less trail to cover, but back then they had the K-Peak chair with the midstation, and I can almost imagine that covering that short stretch of Cascade wouldn't be too much more difficult.


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## kcyanks1 (Apr 21, 2006)

loafer89 said:
			
		

> The old Killington double had the mid-station at 3450', so it was easy to make snow on a short trail (Upper Cascade) and open with only 18 hours of snowmaking. October 1st 1993:


 
<pic snipped>

That is some amazingly thin coverage there.  Did the rest of the trail look so thin?  While I hate (but understand) the new philosophy of a shortened season, I can understand why they wouldn't open if the trail were that thin the whole way down.  (At least it appears thin to me in the pic.)


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## riverc0il (Apr 21, 2006)

ah, yea.  lack of mid-station, forgot about that simple fact!


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## loafer89 (Apr 21, 2006)

kcyanks1 said:
			
		

> <pic snipped>
> 
> That is some amazingly thin coverage there. Did the rest of the trail look so thin? While I hate (but understand) the new philosophy of a shortened season, I can understand why they wouldn't open if the trail were that thin the whole way down. (At least it appears thin to me in the pic.)


 
Cover on the trail was actually very good:







The picture of the mid-station was taken later in the day after alot of skier traffic had gone by already. The things to consider with these pictures is that it is October 1st and the sun angle is still high and strong, the ground is not yet frozen, and they only had a snowmaking window of less than 24 hours.


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## kcyanks1 (Apr 21, 2006)

loafer89 said:
			
		

> Cover on the trail was actually very good:
> 
> <pic snipped>
> 
> The picture of the mid-station was taken later in the day after alot of skier traffic had gone by already. The things to consider with these pictures is that it is October 1st and the sun angle is still high and strong, the ground is not yet frozen, and they only had a snowmaking window of less than 24 hours.


That does look a little better.  Still thin, but as you said, it is October.  I've never skied in Oct., and still have my old skis from 4 years or so ago, so I'd go for it.  How long does it take them to make enough snow now that they open top to bottom?  It's a at least a few solid days of snowmaking if not a week, right?


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## loafer89 (Apr 21, 2006)

I have not skied in October at Killington since 1999, but I would imagine that it would take 2-3 days to cover top to bottom terrain from the start with ideal snowmaking temps/weather.

Killington never indended to stay open with these early October openings, but they tried to provide the best possible conditions when they did open, which usually lasted for 2-3 days before it warmed up again and the snow melted.

Still it was neat to ski with peak fall foliage surrounding you.


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## ga2ski (Apr 22, 2006)

It was fun to ski this past october 29th on natural at k.  Wierd to ski in the woodd while the leaves were still falling.  Normally when I skied in October is it was manmade on the trails.  It is really nice to see the colors contrasting with the white.


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