Opening schedule for the rest of the mountain

snowforme · Post by **snowforme** » Nov 3rd, '23, 17:36

Here's a question for those of you who know the mountain better.

Based on previous years, what should I expect to see open by next Friday (Veterans Day) and the weekend that follows? North Ridge only or top-down skiing? I'd be driving with my kids for 7.5 hours, so I'd need to set some expectations, as they've skied Killington several times with everything open.

The weather doesn't look too lousy for snowmaking. Any sense of how things have played out in the past and how they're likely to play out this year would be appreciated!

p.s. Jealous of those who already got out today...

daytripper · Post by **daytripper** » Nov 3rd, '23, 19:32

I would not expect much more next weekend. They may get the loop from the peak on GN so you don't have to walk down the walkway but you will still have to walk up it. Maybe upper east fall gets added or upper downdraft.

snowforme · Post by **snowforme** » Nov 3rd, '23, 20:25

Thanks. That’s really helpful.
So, either Snowdon lift would be (way) too optimistic at this point.
Upper Downdraft would be great though. That’s a fun stretch of mountain.

iRock · Post by **iRock** » Nov 3rd, '23, 21:35

If you're really asking if it's worth it... kids and a 7.5 hour drive day... no it's not going to be worth it... no matter what's available.

wtf021 · Post by **wtf021** » Nov 4th, '23, 06:01

Depending on the kids age, it isn’t worth it next weekend if the drive is 5 minutes. Give it a few weeks. The first or second weekend in December it starts to open up a bit.

rogman · Post by **rogman** » Nov 4th, '23, 07:30

Based on the forecast I would not expect any expansion in the foreseeable future. Warm temperatures prevail all week with a slight cool down next Saturday and Sunday. We may see some high elevation guns then, perhaps not. IMO the situation is dire for the World Cup. However, if anyone can pull it off, it’s Killington’s Mountain Ops. They need some help from Mother Nature stepping up with some cold weather, though. At this point it’s reasonable to expect all resources to be diverted to the course until/unless FIS pulls the plug. We may be skiing North Ridge until Thanksgiving. Other areas may be lucky to get open at all.

newpylong1 · Post by **newpylong1** » Nov 4th, '23, 08:26

Agreed, for better or worse the clock is ticking for the WC. They'll have one good 24hr window Tuesday night into Wednesday night the rest looks pretty warm in the 7 day. They'll hammer SS and resurface North Ridge and that's likely it. Maybe something going on GN, Upper Double Dip, Downdraft HW or UEF if there is capacity but not enough to get anything else open.

Captain Hafski · Post by **Captain Hafski** » Nov 4th, '23, 09:06

Regardless of whether or not it's worth it for snowstorms, my weather app is showing at least a 4 day <32 degrees window coming in a few days? Anyone else seeing this?

That should lockup WC cover and I am hopeful for Snowdon TTB from it.

snoloco · Post by **snoloco** » Nov 4th, '23, 09:13

I don't see top to bottom being in the cards for next weekend. Great Northern and UEF are reasonable goals. They are further along on Superstar than they were on this date in 2022, 2021, or even 2019.

Post by **spanky** » Nov 4th, '23, 09:40

My standard metric for drive time to ski is I shouldn’t be spending more time behind the steering wheel than I would be on skis.

Coming from the NY Metro area, that puts the Catskills in the day trip range and Killington in the weekend trip range. Sugarbush is pushing the limits of 2-day weekend range for me (12+ hrs of driving and 12+ hours of skiing in a ~48 hr period is rough).

So, is it worth it? From a monetary or time perspective, hell no. But, considering we’ve been off skis for 5+ months (~7 for me) and you’ll be making memories with your kids, I think the answer is obvious. If Killington is open, it’s worth it.

Will you regret going more than you’d regret not going?

newpylong1 · Post by **newpylong1** » Nov 4th, '23, 11:25

Captain Hafski wrote: ↑Nov 4th, '23, 09:06 Regardless of whether or not it's worth it for snowstorms, my weather app is showing at least a 4 day <32 degrees window coming in a few days? Anyone else seeing this?

That should lockup WC cover and I am hopeful for Snowdon TTB from it.

Not seeing that, even at elevation.

https://www.mountain-forecast.com/peaks ... casts/1291

skiadikt · Post by **skiadikt** » Nov 4th, '23, 12:26

for skiing next weekend at best all i see is a NR resurface and maybe GN down to the glades. as for 7.5 driving, think it'll be a disappointment for the kids if they've skied the mtn with everything open. you're skiing essentially one, short, crowded trail. and yeah gonna be nip & tuck for WC. they'll hit every window as hard as they can at least on supe. lot of hitting & running ...

guess we have the battle of the forecasts. fwiw have little faith in either mountain-forecast or snow-forecast. use the government's noaa forecast at 3400' and that's a bit more optimistic. there's a 12 hr window overnight sunday into monday morning. marginal but w lows around 25-26. they'll take any production they can get. then from wednesday morning into friday. not great w lows 26-27 and remaining rather constant through thursday before getting up to 32 overnight thurs>fri. we'll see. here's the wed>fri forecast:

: k forecast.jpg (52.37 KiB) Viewed 1963 times

snoloco · Post by **snoloco** » Nov 4th, '23, 12:38

Do you have a link to that forecast?

skiadikt · Post by **skiadikt** » Nov 4th, '23, 12:59

snoloco wrote: ↑Nov 4th, '23, 12:38 Do you have a link to that forecast?

overall forecast:
https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.p ... 4961481611

here's that wed>fri hourly
https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.p ... eadDay.y=7

snowforme · Post by **snowforme** » Nov 4th, '23, 15:19

Thanks everyone. Very helpful.

It looks like the final call will have to come very late.

The kids love skiing, generally enjoy long car rides and can’t wait to get the season started. We live in the the DC area and know that otherwise we will have to wait until December (when for the latter half we will be at Mammoth and elsewhere in CA.) We might sneak an early Mid-Atlantic day or two in in early Dec but that’s the earliest with the schedule we have.

Re expectations, the problem is that they’ve in the past skied Killington only in February, March and April, when the experience is wildly different.(This would be their first Nov-Jan visit.) They don’t mind a little walking if they’d get to do Upper Downdraft, for example, or lap the park. The 11yo will ski pretty much anything and enjoy it, including out West, and even the 8yo finds his way around the gnarly parts of Alta, Snowbird, Mammoth etc. And clearly I love the snow (and VT) enough to contemplate this craziness.

Anyway, back to weather and then webcam watching.

KillingtonZone.com