# Killington  3/15/2014



## dlague (Mar 17, 2014)

*Killington*

*Conditions:* PP, Powder Bumps

*Trip Report:*

While we have skied Killington on both ends of the season, we never skied there with all lifts spinning.  So as you can imagine, we were like kids in a candy store.  We arrived to near 40 degree temps at the Skyeship Lodge.  Once we got our lift tickets we geared up and headed to the lift line waiting in ra!n.  That was a bit of a bummer but we hoped for snow at higher elevation which was the case.  In fact, it snowed pretty hard at times. Unfortunately, the new snow was a little sticky at times.  Overall the day was awesome with really good conditions just about everywhere we skied with soft bumps forming on many blue trials, harder bumps covered by softer snow on the few black trails we skied and the groomed trails seemed pretty fast.  The approached the Killington by pods.

Once up the Skyeship Gondola we headed over to Bear Mountain and saw two seemingly large lines so we made a run from Bear Mountain Quad where my son and I skied Outer Limits while my wife headed down Bear Claw.  Surprisingly, there were some scrapped off spots from time to time on Outer Limits but it skied very well and definitely got the blood flowing.  We then decided to work out way to K-1 Lodge but on the way we found Skyelark to be really busy however the soft piles of snow made the tail fun to ski but we would avoid that trail for the rest of the day.  Our son took a uncharacteristically serious digger catching his backside downhill edge and hinging to the snow (glad it was soft).  He was a little freaked out and it ultimately changed things for the day. 

After lunch at K-1, we wanted to take the gondola up but the line was long so we opted for a couple of runs from Snowdon before heading over to Ramshead for a couple of runs  (my son wanted to go to the park there).  We also skied a mellow glade (Twister which was fun).  That area does not have much going on though and everything there was groomed.  

We made our way over to the gondola again to find an even longer lift line so we opted to take the Snowdon Triple and head over to North Ridge where we made a couple runs before we eventually made our way over to Launch Pad and then Superstar.  I was hoping to get a run in the Canyon area but my wife was not up for it!  However we did finally make it onto K-1 Godola and made our way to The Jug but somehow ended up at Sunrise Village.  We took the lift there to get to Bear Mountain Lodge where we chilled for a bit to some good tunes and a Long Trail.

Now we were ready to head back to Skyeship Lodge to head home and we found out how far it was.  We too the Skye Peak lift and skied a combination of Great Eastern and Home Stretch but our quads were on fire by the time we got to the bottom.  I tried to get my family to go for it one more time but they were cooked.

Overall it was a fantastic day, where we traversed the entire resort skied varying terrain and we really could not find any trail that poorly (to be expected with 2ft of new snow and a couple inches for fresh that day).  I would have liked to have skied some more glades and a couple more advanced trails but we will be back and we can attack the trails from a different perspective.

Crazy Snow


Snow Gun Nursery (complete with baby snow guns)


Twister


Conclusion


Outer Limits


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## steamboat1 (Mar 17, 2014)

Sounds good, glad you had a good time. It takes awhile to learn your way around the mountain. Love that shot of Conclusion you put up. That was my last run Wed. afternoon & it had at least a foot of snow on it with very few tracks. There is no need to ride the K-1 gondola to ski everything on K peak unless you want to ski Cascade/Downdraft headwall or Catwalk. Pretty much everything else is accessable from either the Canyon or North Ridge chairs. I avoid the gondi as much as possible, even when there is no line. Skied K 4 days during the week last week & only rode the gondi one time. It really is a great mountain when you learn your way around & is even better during the week when no one is there.


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## billski (Mar 17, 2014)

Thanks.  Sno conditions helpful.  Word of the week might be "wax"


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## dlague (Mar 17, 2014)

steamboat1 said:


> Sounds good, glad you had a good time. It takes awhile to learn your way around the mountain. Love that shot of Conclusion you put up. That was my last run Wed. afternoon & it had at least a foot of snow on it with very few tracks. There is no need to ride the K-1 gondola to ski everything on K peak unless you want to ski Cascade/Downdraft headwall or Catwalk. Pretty much everything else is accessable from either the Canyon or North Ridge chairs. I avoid the gondi as much as possible, even when there is no line. Skied K 4 days during the week last week & only rode the gondi one time. It really is a great mountain when you learn your way around & is even better during the week when no one is there.



We are looking forward to another trip there, wrong turns can bring you to an entirely different part of the resort and the top of Skye Peak can be a bit confusing if you were never there.  We visit K twice early season once or twice late season and once in the middle of the season.


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## dlague (Mar 17, 2014)

billski said:


> Thanks.  Sno conditions helpful.  Word of the week might be "wax"



I wonder if things hardened up on Sunday with colder temps.  The snow had moisture and it was a little warmer on Saturday!


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## steamboat1 (Mar 17, 2014)

dlague said:


> I wonder if things hardened up on Sunday with colder temps.  The snow had moisture and it was a little warmer on Saturday!



Probably down at Bear. That always softens up first. Even on Tues. before the snow the lower part of Skye Peak was spring skiing. I highly doubt anything in the Canyon softened up enough Sat. to cause conditions to change.


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## 4aprice (Mar 17, 2014)

Stayed in Rutland (Rut Vegas) Saturday night and talked to some boarders who were up at K.  They indicated it was pretty crowded up there and your report seems to verify that.  Think I made a good choice with Magic and Bromley (no crowds).  Be up at K and Pico the 29th.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ


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## FingerPicker (Mar 17, 2014)

I thought it was going to suck with the colder temps on Sunday, but the snow Saturday blended very nicely and Sunday turned out to be a fantastic day!  I thought I was going to head home early, but I skied just about bell to bell and soft bumps & trees all day long.  Big Dipper was especially nice.  The snow combined with sunny weather put Sunday in my top 5 days out of 50 skied at K this season.  Bear was nice, but not nearly as nice as the other side.


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## chuckstah (Mar 17, 2014)

I skied K both Saturday and Sunday.  Although both were great days, things did firm up a bit on Sunday.  The couple of inches late Saturday did indeed help. You did not notice much difference until skiing south facing steeps like Royal Flush. Best weekend of the season for me,  but Thursday at Pico was my best day of the season (so far) with 25 fresh and zero lines.


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## Wavewheeler (Mar 17, 2014)

It was probably one of the most crowded Saturdays there, considering the storm. I'm glad I don't do weekends. I'm looking forward to checking out the conditions this Wed-Thursday. Supposed to be in the 30s,  more snow and I'm hoping not too windy. Got the goggles ready.

 I love the idea of all lifts and trails open!  Haven't seen that in a few years. Not since I went up there after a huge storm in 2009. So looking forward to hitting the trails!  

Heading up tomorrow night and will keep you all posted.


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## steamboat1 (Mar 17, 2014)

Wavewheeler said:


> It was probably one of the most crowded Saturdays there, considering the storm. I'm glad I don't do weekends. I'm looking forward to checking out the conditions this Wed-Thursday. Supposed to be in the 30s,  more snow and I'm hoping not too windy. Got the goggles ready.
> 
> *I love the idea of all lifts open! *
> 
> Heading up tomorrow night and will keep you all posted.


During the week Bear Quad, Needles Eye Quad, Snowdon Triple & poma are closed (poma is sometimes open for racing). The Canyon chair runs Mon., Wed., Fri. They do sometimes open the Bear & Needles Quads on Fri.


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## Wavewheeler (Mar 17, 2014)

steamboat1 said:


> During the week Bear Quad, Needles Eye Quad, Snowdon Triple & poma are closed (poma is sometimes open for racing). The Canyon chair runs Mon., Wed., Fri. They do sometimes open the Bear & Needles Quads on Fri.



Thanks for that info. It's to be expected of midweek. I really like the Canyon chair too so will make sure to hit that on Wed. They are indicating it might be quite windy on Wed-Thursday. I don't know what it takes to shut the gondolas down but I am hoping if that happens then the chairs will run.

Once I was there midweek and they closed the Skyeship due to mechanical problems and opened up the Needle Eye Quad. Whatever happens I'm still sure it will be great skiing. Worth it to go midweek for no crowds.


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## steamboat1 (Mar 17, 2014)

Wavewheeler said:


> Thanks for that info. It's to be expected of midweek. I really like the Canyon chair too so will make sure to hit that on Wed. They are indicating it might be quite windy on Wed-Thursday. I don't know what it takes to shut the gondolas down but I am hoping if that happens then the chairs will run.
> 
> Once I was there midweek and they closed the Skyeship due to mechanical problems and opened up the Needle Eye Quad. Whatever happens I'm still sure it will be great skiing. Worth it to go midweek for no crowds.



I to like the Canyon Quad & miss it when it's not running. In fact last Mon. I never left the Canyon Quad all day. I was doing laps on East Fall, Double Dipper, Downdraft, Cascade & Escapade all day. Quite a workout. Would have added Royal Flush, The Throne & Big Dipper but they were closed. Forgot to add I did a run down Northstar & upper Chute into Great Bear to.


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## Wavewheeler (Mar 17, 2014)

I'm going to be sure to hit the Canyon area on Wednesday. I can bribe my daughter with lunch up at the new Peak Lodge and she likes the trails off the North Ridge Triple.

 Fortunately she's good about splitting up and letting me do my thing. I definitely want to hit some of those blacks! Usually she heads down to Snowdon and we meet at the Gondola at some point to ski together after I get all my craziness out of my system.


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## steamboat1 (Mar 17, 2014)

Wavewheeler said:


> I don't know what it takes to shut the gondolas down but I am hoping if that happens then the chairs will run.



The K-1 gondola very rarely has windholds. Stage II of the Skyeship gondola is a different story though. I hope you enjoy your days at K. I won't be there this week but most likely the following week for a few days or more.


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## Wavewheeler (Mar 17, 2014)

Well, I guess we will play it by ear. The one time I was there when they closed the Skyeship they opened the Needles Eye Quad. 

 Regardless we will enjoy ourselves. It's just wonderful to be out and skiing!  Will let you all know how it goes on Wed evening.


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