Killington Opening Day 11/7/09

Paul Jones and I had a great time at Killington today for its seasoning opening.  Bright sunshine, fresh man-made pow, comfortable temps - you can't ask for much better in early November in VT.  It felt good to be back on skis. 

The Killington snow makers did an impressive job over the past few days blowing enough snow to provide top to bottom skiing.  Creamy powder covered the seven open trails, which were served by the gondola and the glades triple from 10:00 AM to 3:30 PM.

With Killington having been closed for six months, I was not surprised to see a good crowd of skiers and boarders shredding the slopes this morning.  All that pent up excitement being let loose on the few open runs made it feel a little like roller derby, especially after I collided with a snowboarder on my first run.  Fortunately, I was able to continue skiing until about 2:30, by which time most people had quit for the day.  The lift lines were never longer than a few minutes, so we skied a lot of quality runs.  The run under the glades chair, Rime, bumped up quickly and was my favorite of the day.      

Buzz eager to get to the slopes.


Glades triple line, looking up at East Fall and Rime


Great Northern


Buzz on Bunny Buster


Me on Rime


Superstar waiting its turn to be covered

Nice job guys!

 I was going to say...."That looks like "Buzz"". 

If next weekend looks good, I might head up. 

Looks like a gaper to me

Beautiful day to be in the Green Mountains.  For me, a November day with good weather is unique, a category of it's own.  Yesterday was like that.  View was spectacular.  Winter conditions with a warm sun.  Killington did a great job.  Soft snow under the triple, groomer/fast cruiser to the bottom.

I thought the crowd was a bit thick.  There were a lot of close calls and skiing fast was a little risky.  Plenty of good skiers.  It bumped up and that was fun.

Good start to the season.

Well done, guys.  I was back in Syracuse raking the last of the leaves

 Nice!  Thanks for sharin!

Phil, you crossing the picket line?

I will see if Ziggy wants to go for a ride next weekend...Did someone say RIDE???????

Very sweet today (sunday), yet way hot!  I am not sure how long they can stay open at this temp.  Nice to get out thou!

I wish I was there!

A mere 600 miles or so away in SW Pa. I put up the outside Christmas lights in a T- Shirt. Temps felt like the low 70"s in the sun.Hopefully we se a change in local temps here soon.

 A lot closer then 600 miles in north central mass and it was close to 70 here too.

Was originally planning on heading up, but the temptation of getting another warm weather bike ride in was more than I could pass up. What a glorious day Sunday turned out to be down here. If conditions are right, I may head up next Saturday. 

I was there also.

Date(s) Skied: Friday 11/07/09

Resort or Ski Area: Killington, VT

Conditions: Man made snow, some bumps on Rime, Bluebird, 40F

Trip Report:

I got to the Season pass office at about 8:30. No line to get my pass activated as an express card. In and out after the guy figured how to print my daughter's pass. Pulled into the upper lot by the gate at about 9. Got to the gondi around 9:45. Started loading about then. Took a few runs down Rime and Upper East Fall. Proceeded to lap Rime with bumps developing. Snow was soft and there was plenty of coverage on Rime. Rails were set up on the beginning of Upper East Fall. The bottom section had some small death cookies at the beginning plenty of coverage though. Upper Double Dipper was very thin though. Grass was sticking through. Never took a break and stayed up top. The longest line for the singles was about 5-7 minutes. At about 12, every one disappeared. Lift was ski on from then on. I decided to take a run to the bottom at about 1PM. I decided to get off the Monster 88's and switch to the Supershapes for a few runs. Went back up a couple of more laps of Rime, Quads were shot. Hammys are tight this morning. Decided to just to haul arse down GN to the car. The run to to the bottom was in great shape. Called it a day at about 2PM. The snow was a little firm but not as bad as I thought it was going to be. Great first day. 15K vertical feet. Few pics from my phone. Sorry.

The Meatheads were there also. Geoff and The Hammer and others.

Looks like he's just waiting for you to get ready...

just put down the last shots of schnapps (Williams for me, Oopsla for my brother in law) about 48 hrs ago in Solden Austria.
sunny days, about 16" of powder on the glacier and views to die for...
looks like Killington was nice too