Killington, VT: 3/10-11/12

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Killington, VT: 3/10-11/12

jimvdak
This post was updated on .
Killington is an entirely different mountain when you're skiing with someone who calls this mountain home. Last season, I took a trip up there with my ex and we saw maybe a quarter of the mountain, mainly scared of taking a wrong turn and ending up on Outer Limits...But this time, my friend and personal mountain guide showed me all Killington has to offer! (without going outside my comfort zone)

After getting off to a late 5am start on Saturday morning, grabbing coffee and heading North, we get word from her friend as we're turning onto 7 North that Killington was reporting 5" of fresh powder. We were both skeptical until we got there and it was still snowing.

Wind stayed calm all day with intermittent snow showers throughout the morning, and temperature hovered around the freezing mark.

Started the day on the K-1, then she showed me Skye Peak and Bear Mtn via Gateway and The Stash. Although neither of us do terrain parks, The Stash was a really awesome site to see!


I think this one was taken from the top of Skye Peak

We ended the day lapping the Snowdon quad and found some bumps on Upper Chute and Great Bear. My friend being on a board wasn't too fond of the bumps, but I was having a blast! The bumps on Chute were icy in the troughs, but the bumps were soft.  Then heading across Vista towards Ramshead, I found Vegabond, a intermediate trail with no snowmaking or grooming and I fell in love! The bumps were fun and I lapped it several more times while my snowboarding friend avoided it like the plague


Top of Vegabond <3

(Insert drunken time at Wobbly Barn here)

Day 2 it seemed like every peak had its own weather pattern going on, which apparently is more common than I would have thought. A majority of the upper mountain blues were windblown and icy in a good number of places. Bear Mtn, however, softened up pretty quick in the day. My friend advised me that it's always the warmest spot on the mountain Bear Claw was super soft and carveable; pure spring skiing.

Later, my friend met up with one of her friends and we parted ways. She wanted to hit the blacks and double blacks whereas my legs were giving out and I headed for the easier Ramshead Mtn. Ramshead was a little crowded, but once I got the pace of the crowd I was able to avoid most of it and spend the remainder of my day cruising down a blue under the sun.


Top of Ramshead mid-afternoon


Evening up my goggle tan...

More pictures from my friend's iPhone..(tried to put them in some sort of order..)








Top of Bear Mtn, home to Outer Limits and my alternative, Bear Claw ;-)
*~It is better to go skiing and think of God, than go to church and think of sport.~*  -Fridtjof Nansen
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Re: Killington, VT: 3/10-11/12

Funky Polak
This post was updated on .
Glad you had a good time. Same as you, a lot of folks are a bit intimidated by vastness of Killington until they get to know the place. Vagabond is a gem that holds powder longer than most.
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Re: Killington, VT: 3/10-11/12

Cornhead
  Nice TR, thanks. My buddy was a Killington a couple weeks ago while I was in the Mad River Valley. He wanted me to come down and ski with him and his friends, but I was happy where I was. I wish I had done it, they got 10" one night when we only  got 4". It's been ten years since I've been, and always wanted to hit it again...on a weekday.
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Re: Killington, VT: 3/10-11/12

Adk Jeff
In reply to this post by jimvdak
Nice TR Jim.  From your pics it doesn't appear very crowded at all.  Vagabond looks great - nice snow, narrow trail with character, small bums, no skiers - almost the opposite of many skier's stereotypical view of Killington.
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Re: Killington, VT: 3/10-11/12

jimvdak
Jeff- Yeah Vegabond was great! Not too many people venture that way and it's narrow and tucked into a corner so it holds snow pretty well..spent a good part of my afternoon there. never expected to find a trail like that at Killington. The parking lots were packed, but the crowd was spread pretty thin on the mountain..Thanks again for the coupon!
*~It is better to go skiing and think of God, than go to church and think of sport.~*  -Fridtjof Nansen