Post-Blizzard Killington, 2-15

[Cambridge Kate]

Walked out the door this morning at 6 am to make the drive to post-blizzard Killington. The slush and rain that had pooled in the street last night had frozen solid. My tires were encased in about 6" of solid ice. The rest of the car was similarly coated. It took a half hour to get the doors open, windshield wipers working, load the gear, and rock the car back and forth to free it from the ice. Then I was on my way. Sort of.

I-93 was shut down in New Hampshire due to several truck accidents. I took 111 through the heart of Nashua to take 3 North instead. By this time it'd been 2 hours since I'd stepped out the door of my house. I was still at least 2 hours away from Killington. The windshield wipers were only sorta working so that I could see if I scrunched over to one side where there was a clear streak through the dried sludge. I-89 north was relatively untouched by New Hampshire's always-reluctant snowplows, so traffic crawled along at 40-50 mph. Eventually I reached rt 4 which was similarly challenged, coupled with people who were terrified to be on the road, as well as one car which the owner had not found it necessary to clear of snow, so that great slabs flew back at me as we drove along.

After 4.5 hours (2 hours longer than usual) I arrived at the entrance to Bear Mountain. It was snow-covered and uphill in sinister curves. I figured it'd be a test of the new Nokian tires. They did admirably. However, there were many cars going the other way. Hmmm. Sure enough, when I reached Bear, it was closed. The wind was howling, treetops whipping around, snow whirlwinding across the empty parking lot. The lone attendant said Ramshead and Snowden were open.

Twenty more minutes of driving got me to Ramshead.

One run, and I knew it had all been worth it. The skiing was superb. Two feet of fresh packed powder. My Nordica skis danced, they came alive, floated over the fluff piles, it was wonderful. An hour later the gondola opened, and all of Killington Peak was available - untouched, steep, thrilling.

Best day I've ever skied at Killington.

If you can get out this weekend anywhere in New England, I urge you to do so. The skiing is perfect. (The driving, a little less so.)

CK

 

[liquidfeet]

Wow. And I was at work. Oh well...........

 

[Cambridge Kate]

a few pix

I only stopped long enough to take 2 photos....

 

[Sheena]

Wow. great pictures! the conditions look fantstic!

 

[cyn]

Mt Snow 2-16

It looks like CK called it right this time in going to Killington.
My husband and I skied Mt Snow Friday to try and beat the holiday week crowds.
Like Killington, the winds were wicked, gusting to over 40 mph at times. We parked as usual at Carinthia and were informed by one of the employees that the Carinthia lift was the only one running because of the high winds, and that it was possible no others would open that day. We talked briefly about heading out and driving 2 more hours to Killington, and then decided to stay put.
It wasn't bitter cold - about 11F - but with that wind chill, the lift rides were brutal.
It didn't look like they'd done much grooming on any of the runs, and we stuck to the edges where there was still a bit of fresh powder. At around 11am, they opened the main lift to the summit, and there was a huge line of people who'd obviously been there a while waiting for it to open. We skied down to Sunbrook on the other side, which wasn't half bad, but the lift was closed, so we took the Bear Trap lift back upto the top.
At about 1 pm, they opened one lift on North Face. Chute and Fallen Timbers were open, but they hadn't made any effort to pack down the fresh snow they'd received, and the wind had blown most of it into the trees, particularly at the top, where it was bare and icy. Chute had powder mounds from the end of the top ice down to the bottom. Fallen timbers was less powdery, but skiable.
My husband brought his Volkl AC 4s and kept telling me how effortlessly they floated through those mounds. I was on my beloved Elan Magfire 12s and they were fine in the smooth powder, but a huge drag in the mounded up stuff. Maybe it's me, I don't know. But I think I demo some softer skis if I have the chance.