Killington 2016-7
Today, Oct. 26, 2016, Weds., I kicked of the 2016-7 season.
I would have gone yesterday, but when they changed plans to open at noon, I changed my mind. The trip had two nice surprises. First, the two worst stretches of road were repaved over the summer. The second was that despite the fact the trees were past peak, the color on the hillsides was still amazing. It was especially beautiful when the sun rose and illuminated only the mountain tops with lively iridescent colors.
At the mountain there was an illusion of total snow cover, and people had poached many of the trails. Superstar was covered T2B with guns that blasted all day. It looked skiable, but I was told that 1) it would not be open to the public until after the race and 2) They have a commitment to have a 5 foot base by the time the race happens.
,
As for the skiable/lift serviced terrain: 1) The guns ran all day on upper and lower Rime. Reason was nice, but you still had to rejoin Lower Rime, so you couldn't avoid snowguns. They were running guns all day on Upper East Fall, but it was not opened.
The crowd wasn't bad - perhaps a minute at the peak times.
The snow was reasonably good. The problem was, it was virtually impossible to see anything (because of the snow guns), so one had to sense the terrain with one's feet. That kept speeds down and added a stress dimension. I quit after about 20 runs.
Every year, when I put on the skis and make the first turns of the season, I always wonder: Will the magic still be there? It was!
With the additional snowmaking tonight, I think Killington can withstand an extended thaw, so we won't have the shut down this year, like we did last year.
I would have gone yesterday, but when they changed plans to open at noon, I changed my mind. The trip had two nice surprises. First, the two worst stretches of road were repaved over the summer. The second was that despite the fact the trees were past peak, the color on the hillsides was still amazing. It was especially beautiful when the sun rose and illuminated only the mountain tops with lively iridescent colors.
At the mountain there was an illusion of total snow cover, and people had poached many of the trails. Superstar was covered T2B with guns that blasted all day. It looked skiable, but I was told that 1) it would not be open to the public until after the race and 2) They have a commitment to have a 5 foot base by the time the race happens.
,
As for the skiable/lift serviced terrain: 1) The guns ran all day on upper and lower Rime. Reason was nice, but you still had to rejoin Lower Rime, so you couldn't avoid snowguns. They were running guns all day on Upper East Fall, but it was not opened.
The crowd wasn't bad - perhaps a minute at the peak times.
The snow was reasonably good. The problem was, it was virtually impossible to see anything (because of the snow guns), so one had to sense the terrain with one's feet. That kept speeds down and added a stress dimension. I quit after about 20 runs.
Every year, when I put on the skis and make the first turns of the season, I always wonder: Will the magic still be there? It was!
With the additional snowmaking tonight, I think Killington can withstand an extended thaw, so we won't have the shut down this year, like we did last year.