Based on the webcam this morning, it looks like they have groomed the center of the trail near the top. It's hard to tell how far down the grooming goes. I know in year's past they strategically park cats along the trail to do quick grooms to reconnect areas that wash out.
What's up with the Superstar cam its been out now for a few days. You can still get a good glimpse of Supe from the Golf Course Cam. But it is not as good as the regular Superstar Cam.
What's up with the Superstar cam its been out now for a few days. You can still get a good glimpse of Supe from the Golf Course Cam. But it is not as good as the regular Superstar Cam.
Killington's Facebook has videos of tower removal at the Snowdon quad. The copter flies toward the ridge below Killington Peak. I didn't any reference to South Ridge tower pads. I don't know if the single arm towers for the old triple have been removed and/or if new pads needed to be poured. It would be cool if they could directly fly them to and install the towers onto their new pads. Otherwise they may be getting them out of the way and store them near their new location. The helicopter and pilot may be the same Stratton is using.
There was enough wind, plus temps in the low 50s that kept the snow from crudding up too early in the day.
Kudos to Killington for keeping Upper Bittersweet Open despite a number of breaks in the snow. Clearly, they know that their spring skiing crowd doesn't mind a little mud. They show Skyehawk as open, but it's only the connector from the bottom of Superstar Headwall to Skyelark.
I thought it was overgroomed. This is unusual for Killington, because they really understand the spring product. It would have been better if they only groomed half the terrain. As the groomed area cruds up, the ungroomed areas become quite lovely.
A few recent postings indicated that the Superstar Headwall was getting thin: Only on skier's right - and no big deal for those used to late season at Killington. I do not know about the size of the remaining snow pile at the top of the headwall compared with last year. It seems less tall, but spread out over greater acreage.
Crowd was heavy for the quantity of open terrain. There was a line from opening until I left at 3PM, although most chairs were not going up full.
As to the remainder of the season, I'm updating the odds of what I posted a few weeks ago:
May 19-21: 99% (including Superstar, Skyhawk, Skyelark and Lower Bittersweet)
May 26-29: 60% (down from 70% - Superstar only)
June 1-3: 25% (down from 40% - Superstar only)
after June 7: 5% (down from 15%)
Earned turns should be available until early July.
Agreed that the recent posts suggesting Superstar headwall is really thin were exaggerated or not from experienced late season K skiers. I was there this past Sunday and some rocks did start showing at the top of the headwall. But they have SO MUCH snow at the top of the "glacier" that any rocks can only be attributed to a mistake by the groomer of not pushing over enough snow to handle the traffic. The snow up top is really impressive... it extends back beyond western facing fence... there is a LOT of snow still up there. As Joshua mentioned, the pile is less tall but more spread out. No sign of the S Curve showing or the break before the final pitch. They have May in the bag, for sure.
I disagree with Joshua that earned turns should be available until early July. That is coming from a frequent July Tuckerman patch skier... July is never a given even in Tux. I can't imagine much if any snow holding out until July. Which isn't a comment on this year's crop but rather a generalization that skiable July snow just doesn't happen anywhere outside of Tuckerman, and only then about 65% of the years since I have been doing it.
The other percentages are spot on. I think June 1 is probably better than 50/50 based on what I saw (though it would obviously involve some portages).
Bottom line, Superstar skied really good this past weekend and May is very solid.
There was snow on Superstar in July one year sometime in the 1990's. I recall reading an article about someone who skied Killington all 12 months.
<p abp="321"><strong abp="322">Ski Conditions Report: A detailed report describing the snow conditions on the mountain the day of your visit. Skiers should become familiar with the following snow surface descriptions: Ice: Packed Powder, Slush: Packed Powder, Frozen Granular: Packed Powder , Packed Powder - A thin covering of snow over bare earth.</strong></p>
In most seasons, some of the Killington folks can find a few places where they can make enough turns to count it as a "ski day" in July. Did you notice the size of the whale in the middle of Lower Skyehawk?
<p abp="321"><strong abp="322">Ski Conditions Report: A detailed report describing the snow conditions on the mountain the day of your visit. Skiers should become familiar with the following snow surface descriptions: Ice: Packed Powder, Slush: Packed Powder, Frozen Granular: Packed Powder , Packed Powder - A thin covering of snow over bare earth.</strong></p>
I'd call that a pretty big gap on the Superstar headwall:
...
The gap is only a problem if there is no snow at the top to push down for the weekend. Remember: They are not open W-T-W-T. The absence of the ess-curve IMO is a very positive sign.
I am one of those who stated that the SS headwall would be an issue. IMO it is, and I stand by that. To my eye much less snow was made up top this year, and the washout shows it. This past weekend the top needed to be repaired daily, with rocks by afternoon daily. That is early compared to the last few seasons. Last year on the eqivalent of this upcoming weekend , although it was walk on, walk off, the headwall was still deep. You simply walked off, and went a few steps over to a deep stockpile and clicked in. From there it was smooth sailing down a still deep headwall. I hope they fix the top for this weekend, but if they do it won't last. And I agree with others that the rest of the trail is deep as I've stated before. Mountain ops also did a great job regrading the high spot that caused thel lower part of the "S".That said, it doesn't matter to me as I will be there this weekend either way. I've been skiing late season at K virtually every year, since the early 80's ,and I'm hopefully not stopping anytime soon. Skylarke to Bitter would be a nice bonus, but I hope they don't waste any snow on it. Maybe they can harvest lower Skylarke for a bridge to the chair. I've seen that done. See you all Friday!
I like it! I remember Mount Sunapee doing something similar a number of years ago in a low snow year. They spent several days loading a dump truck with parking lot snow and moving it to the bottom of thier terrain park, where a cat pushed it uphill to create the park. I'd love to see K have something like this to move snow,as there's still a bunch all over, melting away.
I may be in the minority but I would rather them build more snow at the middle break and sacrifice the headwall. The walk down the headwall never bothers me and I would prefer a walk at the top and bottom instead of having to deal with the break before the final drop.
<p abp="321"><strong abp="322">Ski Conditions Report: A detailed report describing the snow conditions on the mountain the day of your visit. Skiers should become familiar with the following snow surface descriptions: Ice: Packed Powder, Slush: Packed Powder, Frozen Granular: Packed Powder , Packed Powder - A thin covering of snow over bare earth.</strong></p>
They groomed out some of the glacier and covered about 1/3 of the headwall this morning. I'm sure it will get skied out and rocky by late morning...but that is usually the case the last 2 weekends of May.
They groomed out some of the glacier and covered about 1/3 of the headwall this morning. I'm sure it will get skied out and rocky by late morning...but that is usually the case the last 2 weekends of May.
Can't tell 100% from the webcam, but it looks like Skyelark is gone and we might be Superstar only this weekend. Conditions report hasn't been updated since last Sunday.
Killington is down to just Superstar this weekend. It's currently TTB skiing with snow pushed over the headwall.
<p abp="321"><strong abp="322">Ski Conditions Report: A detailed report describing the snow conditions on the mountain the day of your visit. Skiers should become familiar with the following snow surface descriptions: Ice: Packed Powder, Slush: Packed Powder, Frozen Granular: Packed Powder , Packed Powder - A thin covering of snow over bare earth.</strong></p>
Today's update doesn't sound real optimistic for skiing on Memorial day weekend. Hopefully they get at least one final day in next weekend to close it out. Tomorrow should start out fantastic, with bumps building fast.
Today's update doesn't sound real optimistic for skiing on Memorial day weekend. Hopefully they get at least one final day in next weekend to close it out. Tomorrow should start out fantastic, with bumps building fast.
I'm guessing that they will be open one or more days next weekend (May 25-28) with "some walking required". I don't see June in the cards.
A few weeks ago I thought June was a no brainier. It's crazy now that Memorial Day weekend is in question. It goes to show how May rain/sun/warmth can eat snow.
Was hoping to get there today but a kid commitment blocked that. The weekend for the rest of the weekend does not look too promising.
There was plenty of snow on the Superstar headwall that held up all day. There was full coverage at the bottom getting back to the lift. Superstar was nicely groomed in the center T2B. As that began to crud up, the edges started to ski nicely. By 2PM, the skiing was quite difficult: Big moguls everywhere and a lot of resistance from the piles of corn.
Ran into marcski and we skied together for a couple of hours.
The crowd wasn't bad on the lift, but it was a bit problematic on the one trail.
I'd pretty much say now that they are 80% for next weekend. The whale at the top of the headwall is still about 8 to 10 feet deep. It is possible they will lose that and if they do, they'll be open with "some walking required".
First week in June is in jeopardy and there is near zero probability for anything beyond June 3.
Great late season day today. Joshua summed it up nicely. Some rocks were poking through the headwall late day, but it held up. One run on Skylarke from Launch pad down was fun, with some grass skiing required but confirmed that it should not be open for the masses. I rode my first chair up this morning with the Killington groomer who put SS back together again, and personally thanked him for a great job, as did our chair mates. He said he still has some snow to work with, and will keep it going as long as possible. I wish I got his name.
... One run on Skylarke from Launch pad down was fun, with some grass skiing required but confirmed that it should not be open for the masses...
I disagree. The late late season Killington skier is more than used to and capable of grass skiing. I think a simple "some walking required" sign would be adequate. Late day, it was especially nice to find some relatively untracked "cream cheese" snow without the killer moguls!
BTW, one early season day when Killington was not open to the public, a few of my friends hiked up to the North Ridge to score some early season vertical. Not wanting to hike down, he skied the entire length of lower Royal Flush on Alpine skis with not a speck of snow on it.
... One run on Skylarke from Launch pad down was fun, with some grass skiing required but confirmed that it should not be open for the masses...
I disagree. The late late season Killington skier is more than used to and capable of grass skiing. I think a simple "some walking required" sign would be adequate. Late day, it was especially nice to find some relatively untracked "cream cheese" snow without the killer moguls!
BTW, one early season day when Killington was not open to the public, a few of my friends hiked up to the North Ridge to score some early season vertical. Not wanting to hike down, he skied the entire length of lower Royal Flush on Alpine skis with not a speck of snow on it.
Don't get me wrong as I agree that most late season K skiers are capable of skiing the conditions on Skylarke yesterday, but that's not what is usually used to determine an open or closed trail. In order to have a trail marked open ski patrol needs to be comfortable making a rescue while grass/dirt/rock skiing. Keeping it closed did not prevent anyone who wanted to ski it from doing so. It's not like patrol was waiting at the bottom to pull your pass, people were skiing it all day. In addition, having an easier route than SS open may attract less skilled skiers that may struggle. I thought Upper Skyleark, from Launch pad was fine to open, but not lower to connect to the base. Lower Bittersweet was better than Lower Skye, but borderline. And yes, I have seen many talented grass skiers over the years at K! And yes, the cream cheese snow was a great break in the afternoon!
Comments
I noticed the same thing.
thesnowway.com
I had so much fun skiing Killington yesterday. I love that place especially for early and late season.