Killington, 5/23/15 - 5/24/15

  Unwilling to hang up my skis and admit ski season is over, I decided to spend Memorial Day Weekend  lapping Superstar at Killington. Knowing the temperature was forecasted to drop below freezing early Saturday morning, Sugarbush picked up 2-5" of snow at elevation, I decided to sleep in a little leaving Binghamton at 6:30.  Four hours and 250 miles later I was on the chair heading to the top. Things had softened up nicely by then, but it remained quite cool throughout the day. I decided to forgo my recent ski outfit of a pair of shorts and a tank top for ski pants and a fleece top.

  The crew at Killington had done a great job bridging the gap in the snow that had developed just above the bottom drop. They also rebuilt the landing strip leading to the chair at the base. Their effort throughout the year to produce the "Superstar Glacier" at the top had paid off too allowing continuous top to bottom skiing on Memorial Day Weekend! Kudos to K's management and staff, quite an accomplishment.


View from the top Saturday Morning


Remnants of the glacier


The narrow bridge constructed to connect the dots.


Weird seeing green mountains as a backdrop.




Your's truly sharing a lift ride with the late Spring legend Radio Ron.

https://youtu.be/L396ctWaFmY
Radio Ron in action yip, yip,  yip

  I hemmed and hawed on whether to head for home, or find a cheap place to stay and ski Sunday. I share the lift with a guy who sold me a pass for $20, stay it was. I found a place on rt 7 for $49 tax included. I picked up a pizza and settled in hoping to watch some NBA playoffs. There was no ESPN to be had on my Dish TV at the motel, I could watch on my phone however. Turns out the game was a did, so the point was moot. I yanked my liners out of my boots, cranked up the heat, pulled a chair up to the register and propped my liners upsidedown to dry. I got up early, stopped for breakfast, and pulled into the lot right as the lift began to spin.

  The night was 15° warmer than the previous, so no firm conditions right off the bat. The single groomed swath in the center of the trail was peel away corn bliss first thing in the morning.







  I saw a guy skiing the same ski as mine, Volki RTM 84's. I have an issue with the box rails being broken by the bindings, right at the edge of the bindings, fore and aft. I saw him stopped mid trail, I figured I'd stop and tell him to keep an eye on his skis for similar problems. I love the skis, and I am hopefully getting a replacement by Volkl. I ended up skiing the morning with the guy, a Boston resident who grew up in Rome NY. We shared Snow Ridge stories, pretty cool. We skied hard all morning, then split up when we both broke for lunch. After lunch I hooked up with a fellow Alpine Zone member, chuckstah, we had never met, and I was afraid he was a young hot shot who wouldn't want to ski with a tired, fat old man like me. Turns out we were of similar ages and abilities. We skied together until I could take no more, around 3 o'clock. Things were pretty congested in the afternoon, especially in the narrow choke points. I had a collision with a guy Saturday who was skiing the woods skier's right at the bottom drop. He hit the lip and got air right into me. It was a glancing blow, he did manage to hit my helmetless head with something, elbow perhaps? It did ring my bell a little. I think I'll wear my helmet in the Spring from now on.


Even the dogs were chillin at the base.



  I'm very pleased Killington has recommitted to staying open late. I've skied 6 days there over the last 5 weekends. With BOGO's , discounts, and one free ticket from a friend, I paid $144 for those six days, $24 per day. The most expensive day was $54, but there were 3 lifts spinning. I'm planning on skiing June 1st, it will be a free day, but the weather this week may prevent them from opening, warm and rainy. If they do open, skis will have to be carried on the lift, and there will be quite a bit of walking involved. If this was my last weekend, it was a glorious one.

I have to say when I saw the original pics of the glacier I thought June would be a slam dunk.  It seemed with significantly less snow last year they made it until 5/18 (?) and while we had maybe 7-10 days of hot weather, I'd remembered more heat last spring.

I agree, Killington is awesome.

Very cool report Cornhead. Thanks for it.

Yeah, last year Skyelark had more snow on closing day than it did last week, yet it was closed. It was open last week with grass skiing / hiking required. There were some crevasses at the bottom. Maybe that's why? They were shushing people back onto Superstar last year. It was nice alternating runs between the two, a lot less work skiing Skyelark.

Nice report. Way to get after it.

I am always impressed with your endless drive for the corn harvest. I agree with you about how it is great to see Killington back to its' beastly self.

They did an amazing job there! We were tempted to go up but, the kids were itching to head to Maine for the weekend. So cool you got a pic of Radio Ron. I know that on the other forums people were asking about him. Somebody should do an interview with him!

Great pics and TR.

Cornman.  FEW have your dedication my man !! Good on ya .

W

I knew my last day was the previous Sunday but my kids are planning on going up Monday...Why did June 1st have to fall on a Monday...the only day I HAVE to work

P.S.  That last Picture is pretty Awesome

This week's Summer like weather, and accompanying thunder storms, forced K to pull the plug, probably easier to hike up than take the lift and hike down to what's left. Kudos to K, the Beast is back! Already looking forward to my return in November, possibly October.