# Killington - 11/11/14



## dlague (Nov 12, 2014)

*Killington*

*Conditions:* Soft MM – spring like conditions

*Trip Report:*
We were excited about our first day out.  We got there around 10 – about 30 minutes later than desired.  Temps were already in the upper 40’s at the base, but with reports of wind at the top we decided to dress like normal winter conditions that we were expecting higher up – oops!  The wind was not a factor and was only noticeable getting off the gondola.


Trails open were Great Northern to Rime, Rime (Upper and Lower), Upper Eastfall (parallel to Rime), Reason having some park features, the trail above Double Dipper and some people were skiing Down Draft to Great Northern from the cross over trail.  Coverage (except for one spot) on all of these trails was very good and though snow was soft it was not a speed killer by any means.  We felt like the conditions were playful and fun. At least we did not have to hike down the stairs


Eastfall had decent bumps that were soft and not scrapped off and were distributed nicely which allowed me to develop good rhythm without losing any speed.  I was skiing on new Dynastar Distorters that were longer than my previous ski and they performed wonderfully in the bumps having a softer front tip.  These skis are also rockers so they stayed up on the soft snow really well and skied quick.  I was very happy with them.  


On Rime, well that was a nice fast cruiser which was not bumped out at all upper.  That section was nice for fast linked turns.  Lower Rime had some bumps that were fun to catch air on and the run itself was fast and .  The only issue with Rime was the traffic which brings up my next point.


My only gripe was out of control snowboarders, not all, just some.  There probably were skiers like that too but the snowboarders stuck out like sore thumbs.  There was a large group of snowboarders that found a spot where they could drop into the trees then pop back on the trail with pretty big air – I saw many near misses.  IMO not a good idea with so many people.  My wife got cut off on Eastfall by a snowboarder who felt they needed to catch air on the very bump she was about to hit – then the asshole missed his landing and nearly launched himself into the woods.  He was followed by his friend who hit the same bump behind my wife and he too took a digger and did end up in the trees.  I was watching from below and what really got to me was the fact that they were the only ones on the trail.  Anyhow! 


Overall a great day, new gear worked out for all of us, conditions were very nice for our first day out.  I skied for free, wife and son skied with a 2 for 1 and my brother-in-law on a 50% voucher.  To top it all off – bluebird skies!  BTW - lift line was bearable with 10-15 minute wait MAX.


No trip report complete w/o "stairway" photo with my wife leading the way



My last ditch attempt to show conditions (forgot to take pic while skiing)


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## joshua segal (Nov 12, 2014)

Nice report.  How long was the lift line?


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## dlague (Nov 12, 2014)

joshua segal said:


> Nice report.  How long was the lift line?


 10-15 minutes - not too bad.


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## joshua segal (Nov 12, 2014)

dlague said:


> 10-15 minutes - not too bad.


Funny how everything is relative and subjective! Back in the days when most lifts were FG-doubles, I came up with a metric that a reasonable lift line was less than or equal to 1 minute per hundred feet of vertical served, which means that by that metric, 6 minutes would be my clip-line for "not too bad" on the North Ridge Triple.


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## dlague (Nov 13, 2014)

joshua segal said:


> Funny how everything is relative and subjective! Back in the days when most lifts were FG-doubles, I came up with a metric that a reasonable lift line was less than or equal to 1 minute per hundred feet of vertical served, which means that by that metric, 6 minutes would be my clip-line for "not too bad" on the North Ridge Triple.



I take into consideration the early season lift line inflation.  During regular season, 15 minutes would drive me crazy.  I have been to Killington on opening day day with lift lines that were crazy long past Racers Edge.


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## yeggous (Nov 13, 2014)

dlague said:


> I take into consideration the early season lift line inflation.  During regular season, 15 minutes would drive me crazy.  I have been to Killington on opening day day with lift lines that were crazy long past Racers Edge.



I just do not understand this point. Exception for the very first day of the year at Sunday River, I never ever see early season lift lines. They just don't make sense to me. Come to New Hampshire where we have longer runs, faster lifts, and no lines. This weekend I'll be at Wildcat on Saturday and Bretton Woods on Sunday.


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## Abubob (Nov 13, 2014)

dlague said:


> I take into consideration the early season lift line inflation.  During regular season, 15 minutes would drive me crazy.  I have been to Killington on opening day day with lift lines that were crazy long past Racers Edge.



Ya know, I wondered about that because 15 minutes would make me feel I should be somewhere else.


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## planb420 (Nov 13, 2014)

My wife and I also had a blast, this was the only on snow photo I got. We had so much fun under bluebird skies and amazing snow, as dlague said very playful conditions that we perfect for my wife's progression. Also sorry to hear about your experience with rude snowboarders, always hate getting a bad rep from other poor riders.


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## joshua segal (Nov 13, 2014)

dlague said:


> 10-15 minutes - not too bad.


I spoke to a friend who was at Killington at Saturday who laughed when I said I heard that the line was 10 to 15 minutes.  My contact measured it at 26 minutes and was getting 2 runs per hour. Wow!!!  My contact also reported the lines were also horrific on Veteran's Day.


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## dlague (Nov 13, 2014)

planb420 said:


> My wife and I also had a blast, this was the only on snow photo I got. We had so much fun under bluebird skies and amazing snow, as dlague said very playful conditions that we perfect for my wife's progression. Also sorry to hear about your experience with rude snowboarders, always hate getting a bad rep from other poor riders.



Wish I would have known you were there.


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## dlague (Nov 13, 2014)

joshua segal said:


> I spoke to a friend who was at Killington at Saturday who laughed when I said I heard that the line was 10 to 15 minutes.  My contact measured it at 26 minutes and was getting 2 runs per hour. Wow!!!  My contact also reported the lines were also horrific on Veteran's Day.



I was there on Veterans Day which is what this trip report is on.  I never waited more than 15 minutes.


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## joshua segal (Nov 13, 2014)

dlague said:


> I was there on Veterans Day which is what this trip report is on.  I never waited more than 15 minutes.
> 
> 
> .......


Sorry.  There are so many on going Killington threads, I'm getting them mixed up!


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## dlague (Nov 13, 2014)

No problem!


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