Killington 4/13/12

Rochester Mark had planned to return east from his epic western ski trip in time for the best of the spring skiing. (See his trip reports....hopefully he'll post more about the skiing in British Columbia and Utah). He had purchased the Price Chopper book and hadn't used any of the coupons yet since he had been away skiing for 5 weeks. Sadly, we know what happened to the snow this year in NY, and Mark missed those warm days in the sunshine at Gore a month ago while he was away.

On Tuesday I heard that 19" of snow had fallen at Killington, I decided to text him to see if he wanted to catch a day of spring skiing. Sure enough, he was all over it and suggested Thursday or Friday. I was able to get Friday off and also texted my friend Sparks who also missed the early spring skiing that ended about a month ago.

The weather forecast made me giggle: Cold overnight and warming up into the 50s with cloudless bluebird skies throughout the day.

The plan was set for a Power Road Trip

Sparks and I Left Ithaca around 5:30am. Met Mark in Syracuse and he drove Sparks and I to Killington.

Arrived 10:45 and we were on the K1 Gondola by 11:15.

Skied every possible trail in the Canyon starting at the Cascade/Downdraft headwalls over to East Fall and then working our way east, ending with a fabulous run down Escapade/Flume.




Each time down, the Canyon run-out, Spillway, became less and less skiable. We were able to ski all the way down to the K1 5 times before the snow melted out and the walk from the snow to the Gondola got longer and longer. So we headed over to Skye Peak. For a couple of runs before lunch.

Ovation was super and the natural snow skied beautifully.

The steep pitch of Skye Hawk also held the natural snow and skied well. A marked trail off of lower Bittersweet called Skye Bits  caught our attention. It was labeled black diamond and led into the woods. So we dropped into the trees, only to find it was unskiable with downed trees across a narrow glade. So we bailed out onto Lower Skyelark. Wishful thinking I suppose. That silly adventure is dedicated to Rick Beardsley.





After lunch with some Gore friends on the deck of KBL we headed back up the Superstar quad.

On Skyelark, I had a joyful reunion with Russ, Jay and Mark M, some of my beloved Gore pals.  There were a good number of Gore regulars who took advantage of the perfect spring skiing. It was so great to ski with the gang from Gore again!

Overall, Killington wasn't all that crowded and no lift lines. The conditions were excellent with temps in the 50s. All open trails skied exceptionally well, though you still had to keep your eyes peeled for rocks, which were sometimes difficult to avoid. Our goal was to ski until the lifts closed, but our legs gave out an hour early, though I squeezed out two more runs anyway. My mind wanted to keep skiing, but my body was done. I made it until 4:20 when my body said no more. Mark quit before 4 and moved the car over to the Superstar lift parking area and set up our tailgate space. It was nice to be able to almost ski to the car and have a lawn chair and a cold beer waiting. We celebrated the day until the lifts stopped turning and our Gore friends were getting ready to head home. The journey home was the hardest part. But with 3 of us, we managed just fine and got home good n tired around midnight with a whole weekend ahead to rest with that feeling of satisfaction from a great day on the mountain with friends.

Nice TR, I wish I could have made it this weekend, but it wasn't in the cards. I am planning a Killington, Jay Peak combo next weekend to ring out my lift served season. I expect Killington to be back to two trails by then, supposed to be 83 degrees Monday. If Superstar and Skye Lark are in as good shape then as they were last weekend, it'll be worth it. I hadn't skied Killington in ten years, skied it twice in one week, Monday the 2nd, Friday the 6th. Damn, I wish I could have hit it this week.

What a great day! Even with all the great times I had on my trip out west, like everyone else the early ending to the ski season wasn't sitting very well. Almost like there was something that still needed to be done. I had literally just put my ski gear away when I got an email from PDQ about Killington. I was totally unaware of the snow they had gotten and my mind had turned to Florida and a music fest I'm going to next Tuesday. It took a few back and forth messages but we finally decided on a day trip on Friday. Good choice! I got to ski with PDQ, something I hadn't done since Febuary and chase the spring skiing blues away. It won't quite make up for missing the April skiing at Whiteface and Gore (in my mind right up there with a powder day) but it took a lot of the sting out of it. Thanks PDQ and Sparks, it was a blast!