tuesday 1/30 report

[skiadikt]

visibility is not over rated. at the bell, the mtn had a veil of fog (which slowy lifted) hanging over it but no freezing whatever. much better than yesterday. mtn reported 2". whereas yesterday, they might have over reported, today seemed like they under reported or we were finding a lot of yesterday's alleged 5". morning skied like a powder day to us. light turnout. 9-1:30 shift.

at the bell highline with new snow on top of the groom skied beautifully. the main snowdon line very good, though the fan gun on trap was putting out some rather wet snow. upper chute>GB quite nice. will call GB co-rotd along w escapade where it seemed like there was a good 4-5". same on downdraft though the underlying ice was more evident there. LEF had enough loose snow to kick around on top of the flat & firm surface.

everything at bear skied well, the big surprise being how well upper WF skied. shorty was good under the guns as was dream. on the other hand, stash with double barreled wet guns going was challenging. speaking of challenging, thimble had lots of ice floes under that new snow. wrotd. needles skied very well. lower stich good. supe, lark & bitter were ok. a bit more skied off by the time we got there. old supe & ovation closed. enjoyed the low road bumps.

took a trip through the timberline park. lots of rats in there. monstrous and scary. wouldn't throw a parade for the woods yet. snowdon trees were ok, skiable but there's plenty of ice underneath so you have to tread lightly. got shut out on dipper by patrol earlier. open on our return around 1:30 and really not worth the effort. lots of ice underneath. maybe if you were first.

[Big Bob]

Went to Loon today, I- 93 was a skating rink with cars and trucks in the ditches. The freezing mist moved from VT to NH, seemed to let up after lunch. Place was pretty empty, gondola was almost walk on. Surface was a mix of fresh snow and frozen granular, steeper sections got a little slick, but was easy to find snow to turn on. We will treak over to Killlington tomorow, hopefully the clouds will part.

[DES]

Went to Loon today, I- 93 was a skating rink with cars and trucks in the ditches.

I was stuck for an hour and 25 minutes to go from mile marker 16 to 18 on my way to Cannon on 93N. Just a couple minutes earlier and I would have been past it before the pile-ups happened. Hardscrabble runs made up for the drive!

[KingsFourMan]

visibility is not over rated. at the bell, the mtn had a veil of fog (which slowy lifted) hanging over it but no freezing whatever. much better than yesterday. mtn reported 2". whereas yesterday, they might have over reported, today seemed like they under reported or we were finding a lot of yesterday's alleged 5". morning skied like a powder day to us. light turnout. 9-1:30 shift.

at the bell highline with new snow on top of the groom skied beautifully. the main snowdon line very good, though the fan gun on trap was putting out some rather wet snow. upper chute>GB quite nice. will call GB co-rotd along w escapade where it seemed like there was a good 4-5". same on downdraft though the underlying ice was more evident there. LEF had enough loose snow to kick around on top of the flat & firm surface.

everything at bear skied well, the big surprise being how well upper WF skied. shorty was good under the guns as was dream. on the other hand, stash with double barreled wet guns going was challenging. speaking of challenging, thimble had lots of ice floes under that new snow. wrotd. needles skied very well. lower stich good. supe, lark & bitter were ok. a bit more skied off by the time we got there. old supe & ovation closed. enjoyed the low road bumps.

took a trip through the timberline park. lots of rats in there. monstrous and scary. wouldn't throw a parade for the woods yet. snowdon trees were ok, skiable but there's plenty of ice underneath so you have to tread lightly. got shut out on dipper by patrol earlier. open on our return around 1:30 and really not worth the effort. lots of ice underneath. maybe if you were first.

I was just thinking recently how much I miss that trail, it was one of the best cruisers on the mountain back in the day. I nice long winding interesting blue with a decent pitch. Especially when it started from the peak before the decapitation of Rams Head.

[skiadikt]

visibility is not over rated. at the bell, the mtn had a veil of fog (which slowy lifted) hanging over it but no freezing whatever. much better than yesterday. mtn reported 2". whereas yesterday, they might have over reported, today seemed like they under reported or we were finding a lot of yesterday's alleged 5". morning skied like a powder day to us. light turnout. 9-1:30 shift.

at the bell highline with new snow on top of the groom skied beautifully. the main snowdon line very good, though the fan gun on trap was putting out some rather wet snow. upper chute>GB quite nice. will call GB co-rotd along w escapade where it seemed like there was a good 4-5". same on downdraft though the underlying ice was more evident there. LEF had enough loose snow to kick around on top of the flat & firm surface.

everything at bear skied well, the big surprise being how well upper WF skied. shorty was good under the guns as was dream. on the other hand, stash with double barreled wet guns going was challenging. speaking of challenging, thimble had lots of ice floes under that new snow. wrotd. needles skied very well. lower stich good. supe, lark & bitter were ok. a bit more skied off by the time we got there. old supe & ovation closed. enjoyed the low road bumps.

took a trip through the timberline park. lots of rats in there. monstrous and scary. wouldn't throw a parade for the woods yet. snowdon trees were ok, skiable but there's plenty of ice underneath so you have to tread lightly. got shut out on dipper by patrol earlier. open on our return around 1:30 and really not worth the effort. lots of ice underneath. maybe if you were first.

I was just thinking recently how much I miss that trail, it was one of the best cruisers on the mountain back in the day. I nice long winding interesting blue with a decent pitch. Especially when it started from the peak before the decapitation of Rams Head.

for sure. perhaps the best true intermediate run on the hill. loads of fun if you can catch it before the park build on nat snow. another sleeper on rams is swirl which can be a quilty pleasure ungroomed on nat snow.

[MrsG]

In the old days when we skied all day, we’d go to Timberline late in the day and the lifties would tease us about getting tired and skiing Rams! This was when the lift went to the top! And yes, Swirl was another great. Before being changed to a KMS trail, we’d head there first thing on a powder day;).

[jimmywilson69]

yeah the decisions made in recent times at Ramshead have largely ruined a great beginner/intermediate trail pod. This coming from someone who has skied Killington WAAAAAYYY Less than many here.

[Skivt2]

Yes and what the bike trails did to squeeze play was also a travesty.

[KingsFourMan]

I get why they did it but we lost some nice turns off the summit with that decapitation. Timberline, Header and Swirl from the top but especially Vagabond from the top. That basically cut that great blue trail in half. Between the decapitation, and the loss of the rest of Timberline to the park, Rams Head is pretty much a no fly zone for me which was a big part of why they decapitated it in the first place.

The loss of Rams Head peak and lower Sunrise Mtn were both huge losses and completely changed Killington.

[newpylong1]

The loss of Northeast Passage sucks and certainly changed the mountain, but if one retrospectively looks back at the decision it's easy to see how it was inevitable. Look at how late they get Stage 1 and Sunrise open today, now drop that down to Route 100 with considerable more acreage. Late January if ever? Even then it would only be Sun Dog to Noreaster, none of the stuff they used to cover off Hawk's Nest. With a new lift, considerable more development on the east side of the resort, (instead of focusing on the Basin), and serious changes in snowmaking and maybe it would be a different conversation.

If you listen to some of the things Otten has said I think some concessions were made at the top of Rams Head as far as proximity to the Longtrail to get approval for the interconnect. That said, the decapitation was foolish. Concessions aside (if that is true), they wanted to reduce the effects of wind on the lift (by removing the top) and they wanted to provide a family pod as absolutely cheaply as possible. The same could have been accomplished by lowering the lift going up Upper Header and closing that trail (due to overhead clearances). Timberline and Swirl could have been regraded off the summit to the point that they would be similar in difficulty to the present trails below them. Then there was always the green Horn trail for true novices.

It would be amazing to see a replacement lift go to the top again and all of this work done to right the wrong but I wouldn't hold my breath. I am not sure if that acreage was "given back" or not - I know the interconnect plans showed a lift going up there but more from the Pico side. Also now the Poma blocks Swirl coming off the top, so they would need to go around that.

Looking at the true summit off K Peak does get me hot and bothered about that move. I don't think any other major resort has ever abandoned as much acreage as K has.

[asher2789]

im happy theres no lift to the top of rams. saves pow for those who are willing to earn their turns. unless now thats also a violation of killington policy these days with the new risk manager

i ride park (badly tbh), and ive always thought timby is a terrible trail for it. too flat. if you screw up on one feature, you have to pass at least a few before you have speed for another feature. in the spring when park riding is most appealing to this aging body and the trees are too sticky to be fun, getting speed even with fresh wax to hit the jumps is a challenge. even straight lining it im casing some of them. also, its goddamn f*** moronic to mix park rats with beginners. ramshead should remain a beginner/low intermediate pod and nothing more. maybe a teeny tiny park would be acceptable, like keeping reds and perhaps the trail where lil stash is, for beginner park riders to get a taste of park riding without having to leave the pod. easy street should not have features on it!

it will never happen but i think snowdon is a much better area for park trails and the peace park should be moved back to dreammaker as it was in the first year of its existence, but with size options for the jumps and other features so its doable for intermediate park riders and yet still challenging for aspiring pros. the current set up of dreammaker only gets used by a minority of skiers/riders because the features are beyond the ability level of most.

and can we please for the love of god have a proper superpipe?!

[KingsFourMan]

Agree that lower Sunrise was probably inevitable given how much warmer it is now but that was a great area back in the day with it's great access from points south, parking steps from the lift, totally chill base lodge, outdoor fireplace, fun, interesting, uncrowded terrain, and access to the BBS back when it was a great burger and beer joint. It was like an outpost and was the place to be on crowded, windy, or brutally cold days.

Between these two losses - Rams Head, and lower Sunrise Mountain, for me Killington went from a 6 mountain resort to a 4 mountain resort.

[Captain Hafski]

And now, for something completely different: An actual Report for Tuesday 01/30/2024 !

Afternoon Report: Same sh*t, different day. Groomers continue to improve with the new snow, additional grooming, and non-weekend traffic. The nats continue to get worse day by day, but many are still skiable if you are a glutton for punishment like some of us. Visibility best I've seen it in a while, though cloudy with occasional strips of fog. Great skiing temps.

Opener Upper Chute good and Upper/Lower Great Bear decent [boring, flat, edgeable groomed run].

Ridge Run pretty good especially hard left.

Escapade very good with a recent groom. Flume very slick with pockets of snow to be found. Runout is OK. Lower Cascade decent.

ROTD: Upper / Lower Wildfire. Similar to yesterday, Upper WF with somewhat recent groom underneath is good. Lower is flat and fast but still one of the best groomers on the hill. Heard OL was decent so got suckered in. Pretty decent actually. Though it is quite slick, the underlying surface was put down after the really big reigns we had, so not as porcelin like as other places on the hill. A fun run actually. Shorty OK except for wet guns in places. Skyeburst TTB OK as well.

Panic OK. Lower Needle's Eye good but I took Stitchline TTB. Recently opened with about 10 tracks on the first pitch [on top of glare ice]. Not real good. All but 2 of the 10 bailed out so I had third tracks on the second pitch and as a result, was a bit better than pitch #1. Lower pitch was the best, very skied in as it's been open for a couple of days, and fun.

Bittersweet in good shape. Highline was very good and closer on Vagabond -> Woods cutout to Caper good as well.

Decent day for what it is.

[skixc2]

Took advantage of the 50% NH tickets to have a day at Killington yesterday. Skied nearly all day, slowly moving from Bear across to Snowdon with about 25 runs. I'd agree with most of the reports above, though I found the conditions somewhat better than the average sentiment here appears to be.
The best trails were the ones groomed recently with fresh on top, or woods trails if you were one of the first ones in after they opened.
Specifically ROTD:
- Growler
- Cascade
- Big Dipper
The worst trails were those with glare ice on which all the powder had been pushed off
Specifically WROTD:
- Double Dipper (dangerous, IMHO)
- Outer Limites
- Great Bear (which, admittedly, I did at the very end of the day)

They were opening things throughout the day, and as a result I missed some that I would have liked to have tried, like Vertigo and Stichline in Needles or the whole "Royal Flush Ridge"

[Killington_Lover]

Man I hate waiting in those Ramshead lines every weekend. I just want my mostly flat cruisers. It must not be that popular with those damn kids and their menacing behavior. I especially despise seeing families enjoy those stupid obstacle courses. We should do like Vail and take resources away from that for sure.