killington vt feb 10-11

[cyn]

We decided to drive up to Killington for the weekend, because we figured it would be waaay too crowded over next week's holiday. We'd also received a 20% discount offer for American skiing company pass holders and decided to take advantage of that. After hours of looking for a place to stay (everything reasonable was already booked, and we weren't into paying $300 per night) I found a motel-style room at the High Ridge condo complex. It was smallish, but fine - clean and comfortable.
We got started early Saturday, and were at the main parking lot by 7:15 am. Despite that, the lot was already pretty full and we had a good trek to the lodge. Here's a tip: Sunday, we parked at the Snow shed base and it was MUCH less crowded. That's definitely the way to go.
It was cold when we started out - about 5 at the base with partly sunny skies. The snow was surprisingly good, and we had packed powder on most runs until the crowds started showing up in late morning and scraped the runs down to ice.
The infamous "Outer Limits" run was not completely bumped out, so we made sure to do a run on that before it got too crowded and icy. Bear Mountain and Snowdon were pretty good, with plenty of snow. Speaking of snow, it started snowing at around lunchtime, and intensified as the afternoon wore on, leaving what looked to be about 3 inches of fresh for Sunday morning.
Sunday was sunny and a bit warmer. It did not seem as crowded as Saturday, either. We skied until about 2:30, and then started our 5-hour drive back to Rhode Island.
So, all in all, a great trip, and we felt we really got in tons of skiing. The only small bummer was Saturday night. We decided to eat at a restaurant that was participating in the American Skiing Company's pass holders' discount program. When we sat down, we were informed that the discount only applied to Friday and Sunday nights - not Saturday. I hate being nickeled and dimed like that.
Cyn

 

[Cambridge Kate]

Killington sounds better than Sunday River was....

You called it better than I did. I was at Sunday River for the weekend. I can't say anything good for the conditions. I thought for certain they'd be making snow like mad, given the extended cold snap. But it seems that (according to a patroller I talked with) they had made some bad decisions in purchasing electricity for the winter and could not afford to make the snow. So.... it was dust on crust, and mostly it was crust.

I'm glad to hear that K-ton got the snow though. I'm thinking I will take Thursday off to ski the new snow that should start falling sometime tonight. Maybe the glades will finally be skiable.

btw, I've found that Bear Mountain and Ramshead are the two least-crowded parking areas. Since I drive from the east on rt. 4, Bear is the obvious choice. But if you are on the access road, just keep going until it doesn't go any farther. You can walk right over to the Ramshead lift from your parked car.

Was Devil's Fiddle open, off to the far side of Outer Limits?

CK

 

[cyn]

Hi CK
Thanks for the parking tips! Too bad about Sunday River. Like you, I thought for sure they'd have great coverage. Do you know anything about Sugarloaf these days?
Devil's Fiddle was not open, but I have to give them credit - almost everything else was, and it was obvious they'd made tons of snow everywhere - not just in a few places. Super Star was pretty decent - bumps down one side, whales farther down in the middle, and a narrow groomed strip from top to bottom, which got wrecked by lunchtime from all the traffic. Ditto for Outer Limits. Glad we skied those early. Actually much of our best skiing Sunday was at The Glades, where there was quite a bit of powder and practically no traffic.
We're taking off on Thursday, too. We're heading to Mt Snow because that's the closest decent skiing for us. Real, fluffy, natural snow! Can't wait. Have fun at Killington.