Killington Open

www.killington.com/site/mountain/conditions/dor

Natural powder snow earned-turns skiing also open out here:

www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.100383...7097509664838&type=3

https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xat1/v/t1.0-9/12111988_1003833136324600_8608722764787066285_n.jpg?oh=2edffad804f73d2afad8101208a05079&oe=56BC0C09

https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xta1/v/t1.0-9/12107073_1003832856324628_3031809900603897111_n.jpg?oh=9b891f9f470a2ed2afa0bac0f6296e62&oe=56D3655B

. At least somebody's got winter.

Natural powder snow earned-turns skiing also open out here:

www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.100383...7097509664838&type=3

https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xat1/v/t1.0-9/12111988_1003833136324600_8608722764787066285_n.jpg?oh=2edffad804f73d2afad8101208a05079&oe=56BC0C09

https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xta1/v/t1.0-9/12107073_1003832856324628_3031809900603897111_n.jpg?oh=9b891f9f470a2ed2afa0bac0f6296e62&oe=56D3655B

Is this the famous Mad River Glenn lift that still provides a blanket on a slow ride to the top?

This is indeed the "iconic" single chair of Mad River Glen.
A few years ago the lift needed extensive work.
A replacement double would have been cheaper, but the MRG coop owners instead paid add'l $ to keep it a single!

The blanket though was provided only for the Stowe single.
I'm old enough to have ridden that as a kid.
But it has long since been replaced by a high-speed quad (which was even replaced again recently with a newer model).

Your comments bring back memories of skiing in the East. I left 40 years ago. I lived in Syracuse and spent weekends at the Onondaga Ski Lodge in Lower Granville,VT on route 100. Nice access to various ski areas.

I grew up in Binghamton, about an hour south of Syracuse.
We skied mainly at Greek Peak, roughly halfway in between those two cities.
The PNW mountains sure are bigger -- and snowier (well, except for this past season) -- but if you learn to ski well on the hills of NY & VT, then you're ready to ski anywhere!

Greek Peak - great area. I  learned to ski in NY and VT. Skied first tracks and then to ski the trails edges because all the snow was moved to the side trails and the middle trails were icy. But then I had young legs. 

As another of the legions of refugees here, I prefer to fondly remember skiing, the mountains and woods, and the people of my beloved VT and NNE. But hey, like the rest of us, it's pretty obvious why I migrated here (16 years ago). I love the Killington report that says "day 4 of longest ski season. Annual snowfall to date: 1.0 inches."
But Long Live Mad River Glen!!! Keepin' it soooooo real.

[...]I love the Killington report that says "day 4 of longest ski season.  Annual snowfall to date: 1.0 inches."[...]

I'm almost tempted to track that throughout the season to see when the ratio is finally reversed!

O yeah, my stepson, his son and another ski buddy skied at Killington last week.  The fresh made snow with the colorful leave colors of the Northeast. A great way to start the ski season.

I too was alerted to the new Killington snow. I checked their cams--which of course first force you to look at a long ad--and found that the temp at the top of the lift was 52F! I first started skiing back east, in New Hampshire, in the late sixties--which is one reason why I applied for and got a job in Calgary in 1972--where I was able to ski 200 days in two years! All that lovely powder and an education in avalanche danger in the days when you prepared for avalanches by trailing a red line behind you, across avy slopes.

A few years ago the lift needed extensive work.
A replacement double would have been cheaper, but the MRG coop owners instead paid add'l $ to keep it a single!

Well they did upgrade it to run at faster speeds! A great chairlift. Keeps the riff-raff from skiing off the powder too fast.

Love how these threads bring all the native Easterners out of the closet!

So all our natural snow is now gone, but Killington still has an officially posted 587' vertical, now reserved for earned turns.


Here's my partner carefully following my route as we attempt to smooth out the not-quite-softening snow that had refrozen overnight:


https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtp1/v/t1.0-9/12187831_1007384652636115_2191989802078246747_n.jpg?oh=a8b04623e00cd5d4b9f6c227e401f0ba&oe=56C2779B



Look at all the powder being kicked up by my skis!
(Or am I just scraping off a mm or so of frozen granular?)


https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xat1/v/t1.0-9/12038510_1007384539302793_8201614841596442615_n.jpg?oh=2acbc56f5f3f4a80e42f6f99d01fd596&oe=56B35461



Shameless product placement on the final lap, taken all the way up to the top of the unloading ramp in an attempt to max out the vert:

Killington is still closed ... yet still skiable.
(Thanks to weather that is cold enough to make snow, but not enough to reopen.)

A couple pictures of my "touring" partner yesterday:


https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfl1/v/t1.0-9/12219320_1015155208525726_1892371636225570695_n.jpg?oh=18da45747deedefd164dd78c38b55fee&oe=56F77F5A


https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/v/t1.0-9/12243087_1015155268525720_5070365202668793673_n.jpg?oh=b0d4879d682a578591087a7735cf089d&oe=56B166AC

Jonathan, that looks pretty soft, when it gets harder include the sound track...

... the death cookies don't seem to threatening in the pics.

Funny you should mention that issue!
We lucked out with the timing ... just as we finished the hike and arrived at the base of the snow, two one-and-done'ers were coming down -- we heard them before we saw them!
Our first lap was about 50/50, our second lap was much better, and then 3 through 8 were quite nice.
Ninth was already starting to lock up, and tenth was more for the sake of getting a tenth -- after that would have been good only for training, not fun.
That trail just gets very little direct sun at this time of year, even though we were sweating bullets, so the softening window is only ~3 hrs.