Sunday, March 24th report

[eagle628]

Not sure why the groomers can’t be used to clear the lots. There was one in the skyeship lot around 7pm tonight pushing snow around.

Very hard on the tracks, cleats, and ice spikes to have a solid surface underneath, particularly an abrasive one, when turning. Not saying it can't be done in a pinch, but between the limitations of the machine off snow and the fact that they're all going to be in high demand on the mountain at the same time, not really something you can reliably plan on using.

[ozzy]

Over at Pico parking was nearly as much of a $h!t show as it sounded like at Killington. All the aisles in the lot were down to one lane, cars were parked up alpine drive, on both sides of the road to the fitness center and in every corner and made up spot in the lot. I don't know if anyone ever parked out on Route 4 or if they were actively preventing that. I did hear of stories of people giving up and going home.

On the mountain everything skied amazing - Summit Glades, Sunset Woods, Upper Pike, Birch Glades, Brich Woods, Bronco, Doozie all A+.... too many to list. It was the longest line i think i've ever seen for the summit chair, but once they got the corrals set up properly and were directing the lift line it became more manageable.

I also think there is truth to the comment above about people taking longer to get down in all the bumps = shorter lines.

Rumor was swirling around that they actually closed the upper part of the Killington access road for a while. Any truth to this?

My kids and I rolled in at 9:29, not even an hr after lifts began and had to park on Alpine Dr. Wasn't that bad as we were like 20 cars up. My wife got there about 40 mins earlier and got a spot in the back of main lot.
The attached pic is of summit chair at ~10:15. I snapped this probably 2/3 of the way down the line. Like you said, the corral wasn't built yet and there was single and double riders going up the quad.
By 11 things were much, much improved as there was someone organizing the both express lifts. By 11:15 ole tried and true outpost double came online and helped elevate pressure off the express lifts and LPT.
I didn't take a pic, but I should of, but if you stand on the knoll where Birch and 49er meet up with Pike, you can see like 80% of the lot. To me it looked rather organized. Everything was goung in the same direction. Obviously the main problem was the sheer volume.
I did see people both dropping off kids/family members at 9:40 and/or down right leaving.
By noon you could of easily gotten a close spot in the main lot. At 1 I went back to move my car closer and parked second row. I drove up alpine drive to see where the cars ended and I turned around at alpine terrace. There were still cars past that.
It took them a bit to get things sorted out, but I thought things ran smoothly after the first two hrs of operation.

ROTD: zipper lines on upper Pike that I had to stop multiple times to get the snow off that was caked onto my face.
Follow up was zipper lines on B slope headwall. Never saw left/right moguls like that on that trail.
Regardless, Saturday was the day. We skied 130-4 after digging out and everywhere was soo deep.

[Stormchaser]

Stream beds were deep!

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[180]

Another amazing day. Early first run down Flush before the crowds and then into the woods... Afternoon sunshine in the Canyon was spectacular. Dipper Ropes and Anarchy Ridgeline!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/jVUmWGe94y2ioRvc6

[Big Bob]

Not sure why the groomers can’t be used to clear the lots. There was one in the skyeship lot around 7pm tonight pushing snow around.

Bear lot was plowed by the groomer from the looks of it this morning. Was kinda of rough, but was usable. Sugarloaf does their lots with the groomers after big dumps.

[jimmywilson69]

Aren't all of the lots at K gravel? I know parts of snowshed are paved but just the main travel ways.

[newpylong1]

Gravel is still not great for the cats either. There a reason they park them at the snow line early and late season, because the trip from the barn over the junk is a lot of wear and tear.

A chained loader with a 12 foot snow pusher is pretty unstoppable though.

[Mister Moose]

The aftermath, Sunday morning.

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