FINALLY got out today. Skied Killington, and it was sooooo good to get out!
So as well all know, things are different this year. Killington has a parking reservation system in place to regulate crowd size. You pull up, show your reservation to an attendant, and park. That was fine. We arrived half an hour before the lift opened, so we got a good spot not far from the lift (no shuttle bus,
@ilovepugs ). Then we did what's the new normal: booted up in the car. Seriously, Divas-who-do-that-on-a-regular-basis, I don't understand how -- or why -- you do that instead of booting up in a nice, warm, dry lodge. It is NOT FUN, especially when it's really cold and windy and kind of precipitating little icy pellets, like it was today. I am not a fan.
Anyway, I guess it's because only limited terrain is open and everyone is concentrated into a few trails on the mountain, but there were a heck of a lot of people there, particularly for a Monday. The lifts were pretty backed up early in the day. People were far too close together for my taste and no one was telling them to spread out. It got better later on, but at first it was a bit much and I was a bit freaked out. I will say, however, that everyone was wearing face coverings, so kudos to people playing by the rules.
The conditions were pretty good, too. There was some ice but coverage was impressive, especially considering we didn't get the big dump they got in New Hampshire and Maine. It's all pretty much man-made, and it's early season.
One thing that surprised me, though, was the number of cars in the parking lot from out of state. As you know, Vermont has strict quarantine mandates in place. To be fair, you can't always tell from a license plate where people are living. Many could be holed up in their second homes, riding out the virus for the duration. And yes, others may have done their due diligence and quarantined for the required amount of time. And while I'm not the border patrol, I have strong suspicions that not all of these people are playing by the rules. Then again, as long as they're behaving themselves....... Nonetheless, there were a LOT of cars from MA, CT, NY, and NJ. Just a lot of people, in general -- more than I thought would be there.
But hey, I'm glad I finally got out. This is the latest I've started my skiing in many years, so I have a lot to make up for. Tomorrow I'm skiing Okemo.