Killington Conditions

Got to love Killington ... so excited they misspelled their own name:



Snowmaking begins at Killington:


Twitpic courtesy of Killington

Will the Big K open Saturday?

lifts start turning saturday....from reliable source.

FIS reporting over a foot at Kmart above 3000 feet.



And a more detailed report in the morning.

SMS from Fujative:  "Fresh Canvas."

"Not bad."  - PDQ

About 12" of fresh. Pretty light. Solid day, lots of poaching.

Soft Packed powder up top, groomed runs were nice. Lots of guns going up high today. They had to shut them off down lower around 11 or so because temps were rising. Snow on the lower mountain was very granular. A few very styrofoamy runs that recently were blown but guns no longer going. Eastfall has some nice bumps forming on man-made packed powder.

Killington Base Lodge Cam

Five inches of snow in the report.  When shot was in motion it looked like snowmaking was in progress.

Txt from skimore:

Brilliant marketing IMO:

Friday, October 12, 2012

KILLINGTON SEASON PASS APPRECIATION EVENT - SATURDAY OCTOBER 13, 2012

Exclusive to Killington Season Pass and Express Card holders, we will be running two lifts and one trail for Saturday October 13, 2012. Killington Express Card holders will be charged $25 for use of the Express Card. No day tickets will be sold.

If conditions permit, this event will extend into Sunday, October 14, 2012. Operating hours for Sunday will be determined by Saturday evening.

The K-1 Express Gondola and the North Ride Triple Chair will operate from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Skiers and riders will use the Peak Walkway to access the one open trail, Rime.

Rime will be open with advanced terrain only and early season conditions exist. Terrain will not be groomed. Snowmaking will be in progress as temperatures permit. Walking, removing equipment and downloading are all required. There will be no terrain park features.

The K-1 Lodge will be open for guest services and restrooms. The Roaring Brook Umbrella Bars will be open with light fare and drinks.

Damn I'm jealous. How much is the cheapest Killy pass again? (jokes... not about to shell out for that.) Intense FOMO right now for sure though.

WOOT!

From Killington this morning:

Gore take note....    I agree Harv great marketing, good for the pass holders and stoke for the season for the rest of us.

I like it because:

• It creates cache or clubiness for passholders.

• Somebody on the fence between say a Kmart or Okemo(?) pass might decide to go for Kmart. (Wonder if Kmart SOLD any passes today?)

• Conditions might not be ideal, and nobody will complain. Passholders have already paid so it's a bonus. No day ticket customers getting cranky.

• Might not be enough terrain to handle demand if it was open to all.

• Definitely created a buzz.

Not sure it would work for Whiteface, Gore, Belleayre because:

• They don't have the budget to blow snow that is likely to melt.

• Being public they'd probably get a bunch of grief for it, they way Tony Lanza did when he was doing crazy things.

• If they waited until late November to do it they'd piss people off and be leaving money on the table.

concur w/ da Harv.  On all accounts....

Be real interesting to see how long any goodwill created by KMart's action will last w/ the pass holders..  Probably as long as any yankee fan's cheering for A-Rod once he feebly swings and misses for yet another K in a run scoring playoff situation!!

And not for nothing but Yankee fans have way more reason to gripe!!!

Def a very good move though!  

I'll be there for the man made on Monday. Hiking for some natural tomorrow first, though.

Skied yesterday if anyone's interested. Conditions were pretty good, crowded, but manageable... I predict a clusterf@%# today and tomorrow, though, especially if they don't get a ski route to the base open...

http://skiequalsmc2.blogspot.com/2012/11/killington-november-9th-2012.html

Wow, I was expecting them to have more than what they are offering after skiing there on Monday. Looks like today they are offering Rime, Reason, and one route to the base with walking required. I just got back from Sunday River and they have 3.5 distinct routes top to bottom including decently pitched Right Stuff. Killington got a massive jump but they need to cover a massive amount of acres to get early season on North Ridge AND go top to bottom. Plenty of elbow room at SR today as well, both lifts ski on. I wonder if K can keep top to bottom open with the warm up happening through Monday?