State of Superstar May 11, 2024

[ozzy]

Here's an oldie. Closing day of the 97-98 season

[jimmywilson69]

Interesting so what was it 1997 that was super deep into June?

[skiadikt]

Interesting so what was it 1997 that was super deep into June?

yes they went til june 22 in 1997 which was "probably" the greatest season ever at killington. interestingly that was the 1st season of asc ownership, so they came in w guns blazing before they crashed & burned.

i've attached my video which compares memorial weekend '97 to 2007 (the last season of asc). by 2007, late season was no more and memorial was a graveyard. in the video i juxtaposed trails back-to-back. in '97 supe of course was unbelievable. skyelark was ttb with great bumps. though closed we took a couple trips to the canyon where you could ski the light. that's the old "lighthouse". double dip was still ttb. you could still ski most of OL. it was an unbelievable season.

on a personal note, get a bit faklempt watching my wife ski. that was only her 4th season and she does pretty well. mtn man later dubbed her "dirtadikt" since had a penchant for skiing dirt .

https://youtu.be/fmh5ZuIalmU?si=3ZRICLWKkvdOPWCQ

[ozzy]

Interesting so what was it 1997 that was super deep into June?

Yes.
June 22 1997. First full day of summer, which is the latest they have ever spun a lift for skiing/riding.
And yes, there's plenty of people who have claimed they skied here in July and August, but that simply never happened. Just nod and smile when they say they did.

I can't find the pictures, but there was one time in the late 80's where K Peak got snow the end of August and of course Pres Smith and crew took full promotional advantage and had people ski it off the old K double for an hour before it melted out. If someone wants to dig for those photos, they're pretty neet.

[Guy in Shorts]

Interesting so what was it 1997 that was super deep into June?

Yes.
June 22 1997. First full day of summer, which is the latest they have ever spun a lift for skiing/riding.
And yes, there's plenty of people who have claimed they skied here in July and August, but that simply never happened. Just nod and smile when they say they did.

I can't find the pictures, but there was one time in the late 80's where K Peak got snow the end of August and of course Pres Smith and crew took full promotional advantage and had people ski it off the old K double for an hour before it melted out. If someone wants to dig for those photos, they're pretty neet.

Back when I was stationed on nuclear sub from 79-83 I had a Hartford Courant picture that was taken on August 28th with skiers on Cascade. The year was either 80 or 81 and I kept the picture posted on inside of my locker door as a reminder that no matter how long we spent at sea Killington would normally have skiing when I returned.

[newpylong1]

K always likes to claim "they made more snow than ever" on Superstar. Butt the truth of the matter is, it's always a similar amount. SS looked like the '97 video a week ago before the warmth hit. It goes to show it's all about the weather in May and beyond. For there to be that much snow still around in '97, temps must have been very favorable.

[Stormchaser]

125” of snow after March 1st helped a lot.

[daytripper]

125” of snow after March 1st helped a lot.

But to get 125" of snow in March that also means that March had pretty cold temps.

[180]

May 97' was super cold. The Mt Washington set a record for snow that month.

[buckethead]

webcam making me edgy and it's only tuesday morning.
very not cold outside!

[skiadikt]

for sure lots had to break right w the weather for them to make june 22. but pushing closing dates later was a direction they moving towards during the final pres years:
1990 may 28
1991 may 28
1992 june 14
1993 june 1
1994 june 9
1995 june 4
1996 june 10
1997 june 22
specifically remember a snow stake on superstar near the high road junction in 1997. it was 20 ft tall w a 5 ft extension added on. the snow was over the 20 ft line. do believe that they did make more snow, at least on supe, back then. also remember getting some may snow. there was at least an 8" dump. but as we all know spring snow can be gone the next day.

asc did keep the late season thing for another half a dozen years - closing in late may until 2004 when closed may 12. the year i made the video, they had closed may 7. and it only got worse when powdr took over with april closings and have to refugee at sugarbush.

[GSKI]

That 1997 close was an outlier because it was a very dry spring where every night was in the 40s and every day was like 60. The next few days are very hot. Maybe they patch it up for an old school walk and ski and maybe walk again then ski.

[ozzy]

This was 1:30 this afternoon. It was 79⁰

[buckethead]

^^ much better angle than the webcam. looks less hopeless ;0)

but this dude's still creeping me out

[skiadikt]

amazed by the break on the HW. that break on the lower left bumpline was just dirt in one trough this weekend. it'll be all the way across by friday and require some fixing. see 2 other breakpoints in upper middle.

with this weather shouldn't be surprised but nonetheless i am.