Advice on groomers & best way to kill vert at K
Posted: Feb 15th, '14, 20:39
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
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
