Advice on groomers & best way to kill vert at K

[jamski]

First time poster here. My backstory is I was lucky enough to grow up in Boulder CO with Dad teaching me to ski in Summit County (mainly Keystone and Vail), then went to college in Seattle in WA state and skied the Cascades (Baker, Crystal, Stevens) through my 20s. In '03 when I was 33 I blew out my knee (ACL/MCL) in Sun Valley ID. Soon after I got married, took a job here in CT (ESPN), had kids and didn't boot up for 10 years. Last year we signed up the kids for their school program under the lights at a little local hill (Ski Sundown), I volunteered as parent helper, and it immediately rekindled my love of mountain. Few things better than skiing with your kids. After about 5 times up I started looking for a bigger hill. After visits to Mohawk and Butternut realized I needed bigger. Did some research and all signs pointed to Killington.

Starting on Valentines Day last year I did 6 consecutive Thursday's at K to end the season (no kids, all solo). The last day was one of the best all-time days I've ever had (April 4, 2013). Everything was perfect - great cover, warm/bluebird, no lines and - the point of this post - most of the runs were groomed. See at this age I've realized I do not like to ski bumps. More like in order for me to not get hurt I avoid them. Ditto with the glades/trees. Also, to keep myself motivated skiing solo, I fire up this cool little iPhone app called SkiTracks, which measures your vertical drop. My friends back West and I compare days and they didn't think 30k vert was possible out East here and I proved them wrong, dropping 31k on 4/4/13. This year my friends and I are back at it, talking coast-to-coast trash about who can get the most vert in a single day. So for these reasons I'm looking for wide & steep groomers. Easy vert killers. So my questions for you K veterans here are:

-Any specific days of the week they groomed more than others?
-Are there any online daily reports which post which runs will be groomed?
-Any other advice on the best way to kill vert at K or other areas in VT?

On the epic 4/4/13 day almost the entire mountain was groomed, including Outer Limits, Double Dipper, Superstar. My main route was redundant up/down Sky Peak Quad in the AM, and Superstar in the PM. Attached is a screenshot of the SkiTracks app, and the route taken.

Last Nov. on Black Friday I purchased 4 single-day lift tickets at K- and with my work schedule allowing it- I'm looking to time it and use on days when the conditions are good and the mountain is groomed. Eyeballing next week’s forecast Wed is looking as a possible first time up.

Sorry for the long narrative here I haven't made a post like this online in a while. Thanks for any replies in advance.

Cheers- JT in CT

[iRock]

-Are there any online daily reports which post which runs will be groomed?

http://www.killington.com/winter/mounta ... atus=5%2C6" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[tyrolean_skier]

Welcome to the forum jamski.

Be aware that today I skied runs that were supposedly groomed but they still had little mounds of the fresh snow that I had to contend with (recovering from ACL surgery).

[PinnacleJim]

Not sure I get the desire to rack up vertical feet. That said, the Superstar Quad is the place to rack them up. FWIW Epicmix shows I did over 29,000 at Keystone Thursday and I wasn't really trying for a big number as I skied lots of trees and bumps. Just a long day with no lines.

[tt431]

Groomers = Okemo
Vertical = Whiteface

[Nikoli]

Superstar, or cascade on the right day.

[CAPBOY]

Paging Atomic1.....

[biged]

40 lift rides need to take superstar, needles eye quad or spq.
40k vertical k1 and spq midweek, weekend after 8:45 the k1 messes the numbers game. Weekend ski to miss the crowds stay away from snowden, rams and snowshed, lifts to slow or to many people. Good luck, the 40 lifts is a hard number to get.

[skiersleft]

Groomers = Okemo
Vertical = Whiteface

+100

[skiadikt]

Paging Atomic1.....

the myth the man the legend. mr "40" ...

we prefer tree days where it's quality over quantity but 30k is easy. we can do 40k on flat fast days. but if you're into verts, best way is to lap the skye peak hsqs - supe, needles & spq. usually lots of groomed stuff. once you hit the fixed grips in snowdon & canyon or the k1, you lose time.

[jamski]

I can only get up 10-15 times per season so I'm sure you guys skiing 2-3/week have legs and know the best routes to easily kill 30k vert. A buddy of mine in Sun Valley did 50k in a single day last week. For me it's all about groomers, no lines and fast chairs so need to time it right with the conditions. Looking like I'll take my first crack at K on Tuesday so hope the cats are busy Monday night. Okemo and Whiteface are now on my radar too. Thanks for the replies. -JT in CT

[Stache]

First hour today, (before class), perfect conditions, perfect grooming, almost no people on Panic>Needles and Cruise Control.
Snowshed4 to High Road (423.4' @ 51.2 mph) to Needles4 then Panic>Needles (923.6' @54.8 mph), Cruise (992.2' @ 49.8 mph, Needles (948' @ 48.0 mph), Cruise (942.0 @ 42.3 mph), Needles (947.1 @ 65.1 mph), Needles (957.6 @ 48.7 stopped to take photos), then Bittersweet>HighRoad>Snowshed>work (1135.9' 39.1 mph)..
1Snowshed4 and 7 Needles4.
8 runs in 59:59 for 6,298 vert. Max speed 65.1 mph.

[Stache]

Prolly couldn't do it all day but....
6,300 x 6 hours = 37,800.

[Stache]

Skiing with my daughter on Sunday 01-05-2014: