Day 18 - Killington

Sick as a dog, but hit the hill with Radvanyi and Company anyway. Out 8:00 to 12:00 with a Peak Lodge coffee break; overcast and warming into the mid-forties with significant wind; 12 runs; 13,000 vertical; skied the Blizzard Brahma's; conditions were stellar; Northridge and the Canyon got a B+, smooth and firm but softening nicely; Superstar was easily an A, soft and softer without being heavy or sticky at all; pretty big crowd today - nobody seemed to be leaving early; still feeling on top of things skiing wise.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 17 - Killington

Out 8:00 to 11:30 with a KBL coffee break; 20° and overcast with no wind; a light dusting of new snow overnight; 14 runs; 13,500 vertical; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 19's with the soft boots; it was empty early on, but the crowd really started to build by the time I left; skied all over the mountain today hitting 9 different lifts; Snowshed had a fantastic opening day - great snow on the slope down there - so good I did 2; Ramshead - not so good; East Fall - much better today; I've decided that the new boots are just cold - at first I thought my toes were just getting wet, but today they were cold and dry;



#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 16 - Killington

Happy Thanksgiving! Out 8:00 to 11:30 with a Peak Lodge coffee break; temps in the low twenties with a low, hanging overcast and little to no wind; 6" more new snow overnight - close to a foot total; 10 runs; 12,600 vertical; skied the Blizzard Brahma's with the soft boots; typical Thanksgiving holiday crowd - tons of people for opening bell, but it emptied out quickly; skied most of the morning with Mike and Tracy - Mike even let me ski his new Volkl Mantras - they're really nice; Ramshead came on line today, but I never made it down there; Skylark-High Road-Lower Bittersweet skied very well today, as did Upper Bunny; on the other hand, Lower East Fall was a total abortion - scrapped or chunky with heavy piles of sugar and chunks everywhere; shuttle service to the East Mountain condo loop started today - based on the shuttle passing by the condo on both my exit and return, the shuttle might actually be a viable option.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 15 - Killington

On this Thanksgiving holiday I'm happy to give thanks for the first real snowstorm of the season! Out 11:30 to 3:30 with a Peak Lodge coffee break; upper twenties with moderate to heavy snow accumulating to 4" by the time I left - up to a foot forecast by tomorrow morning; 18 runs; 16,000 vertical; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 17's with the soft boots; waited to hit the hill until the snow started; as the snow fell conditions changed from firm to grippy with loose snow and piles; resurfacing last night and today up in Northridge - those guns where getting turned off when I left - I couldn't tell where they're headed next; tons of people out today; the ski and boot combination worked well today - with the colder temps the soft boots didn't seem so soft; surprised that Lower East Fall remained closed today; claimed my old cubbie at the Ski Club today.



#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 14 - Killington

Overnight grooming made things look a little better today. Out 9:30 to 12:30 with a KBL coffee break; 40° mostly cloudy and windy; 12 runs; 11,100 vertical; skied the Rossignol Experience 98's with the soft boots again today; firm, firm, firm with quite a few extremely shinny spots, quite a few extremely chunky spots, and quite a few extremely bare spots; I hope they choose to resurface the existing terrain before going for expansion, but with the holiday coming and snow in the forecast I'm afraid they'll try to let mother nature take care of the resurfacing effort; fairly large crowd out today; met David and Mel on the hill today - they were passing through on their way to NH for Thanksgiving.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 13 - Killington

This morning's rain really took its toll - the mountain looks just horrible. Out 12:30 to 2:30; very warm and mild; 60° and overcast with surprisingly little wind; 10 runs; 10,800 vertical; skied the Rossignol Experience 98's with the soft boots again today; huge puddles of snirt on Upper Great Nothern; surprised to find mostly firm moonscape on Skye and up in Northridge, however Lower East Fall was soft and creamy so I did 3; as you'd expect very few people; these soft boots have their uses, but I think I'll end up continuing to use my original Dobi 150's quite a bit.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 12 - Killington

Out sick last Thursday and Friday, so I braved a few weekend afternoon runs to make up one of the days. On the hill from 1:45 to 3:45; 45° mostly cloudy with a decreasing SW wind; 10 runs, 11,000 vertical; skied the Rossignol Experience 98's with the new soft boots (Nordica Doberman Pro 130 EPS's); no lift lines to speak of, but lots of people on the hill; skied East Fall, Skye-High-Sweet, and Skyelark all for the first time this year; the bottom of Lower Skyelark was all rocks in the troughs of the bumps - it should have been closed; all the warm weather and weekend traffic have left the hill looking pretty bad; with heavy rain and damaging winds forecast for tomorrow things don't look to improve soon; finally met the upstairs neighbors - Jill and Steve - although I did hear them move in Friday evening I never heard another peep the rest of the weekend.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 11 - Killington

Out 9:00 to 1:00 with a Peak Lodge coffee break; consistent light snow all morning accumulating to 1"; 15°-23° with a light, variable breeze; 17 runs; 15,400 vertical; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 17's; groomed smooth overnight, but today's traffic exposed quite a few firm spots; new snowmaking on Skye Peak; rumor is East Fall tomorrow; tippy toes drill - as tall and forward as possible without letting the tails wash out; don't think of changing edges by moving the knees across (perpendicular to) the direction of travel, rather move the knees diagonally or forward and across simultaneously - "lever the knees over and forward into the new turn".



#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 10 - Killington

Out 9:00 to 1:45 with an extended KBL coffee break; 17° with broken clouds and a consistent 20 mph wind; 22 runs; 15,850 vertical; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 19's; frozen and crunchy - hard groom after yesterday's rain and last night's freeze; K-1 closed till 10:30, so almost all fixed grip lifts today; skied hard - feel pretty good physically after all today's effort; I think I'm skiing OK - there's no such thing as too far forward; Lower East Fall, Bunny, and Caper under the guns today; skied with Bud, Tom, and Alex.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 9 - Killington

Not quite the powder day I was hoping for. Out 9:00 to 11:15 without a break; 1" new snow overnight; 29° with freezing rain for first chair, 31° with a little heavier freezing rain when I left; skied the Blizzard Brahma's; 11 runs; 10,000 vertical; the snow was fantastic - Northridge was especially nice, it was buffed out with the new snow on top of last night grooming leaving a velvety soft, smooth surface; skied every open trail segment this morning; covered in ice and soaking wet when I finished; it was nice not having to walk the stairs; K needs to dig out some of the new low-e guns before tonight's hard freeze or they might have to remain in place till spring!

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 8 - Killington

On the hill from 9:00 until 10:30, hiked out when the lift line grew to about 5 minutes; 1" of new, dry snow overnight; mid-twenties today; the snowmaking and K clouds joined together and hung over Northridge, but otherwise a nice, mostly sunny day; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 19's; just 8 runs and 4,750 vertical; yesterday's snowmaking got groomed into a fairly consistent, firm base; snowmaking has moved on to Snowdon - Middle Great Northern, Mouse Run, Upper Bunny, Middle Chute, and Lower Bunny are all getting blasted; should have top to bottom tomorrow - the good news here is, I've probably walked the stairs for the last time this year; all the early departures this week have left my legs feeling pretty good; new boots are in and the new SkiLogic Customs are now mounted - pictures to follow later when this year's quiver is filled.



#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 7 - Killington

Hard core resurfacing underway, guns literally everywhere. Out 9:00 to 11:00; 28° at KBL, 22° at the top, overcast with a steady NW wind; 11 runs; 6,500 vertical; skied the Rossignol Experience 98's; totally variable conditions; a little diesel must have gotten into the air line overnight, the smell today was not quite overpowering; rode the lift with CM today; no real lift line, but lots of people again.



#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 6 - Killington

Perfect timing - the rain didn't start in earnest until I downloaded the gondola. On the hill from 9:00 until 12:00; 55° at KBL, but 38° at the top this morning; 20 runs; 12,000 vertical; skied the Rossignol Experience 98's; the snow on Rime was stellar - kinda cream cheesey; Upper Great Northern is very thin in a couple of spots; way fewer people out today - thank god; everything felt pretty good - from my boots, to my legs, to my technique; had big plans to ski this morning and then go to the gym this afternoon, but now I'm not so sure.



#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 5 - Killington

Almost exact repeat of yesterday. On the hill from 9:00 until 10:30; 45° and sunny with a stiff breeze; 7 runs; 4,250 vertical; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 17's; they groomed again overnight, but today we didn't get any chunks - it was soft and cutable, but a little wet and sticky; tons of people again - I left when the singles line grew to over 5 minutes.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 4 - Killington

Holy Monday morning rush hour Batman! Out 9:15 to 10:30 - left when it started to get weekend type crowded; 40°, mostly cloudy, little to no wind; 7 runs; 4,250 vertical; skied the Head i.Speed GS Cheater 17's; heavy grooming overnight combined with all the people lead to some serious chucks; KMS out for the first time this year - that helped contribute to the crowd; off to buy new boots.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 3 - Killington

Ready to go at 9:00, but K-1 didn't start loading until almost 9:30, walked back up the stairs at 11:30; the car was covered in a layer of slush this morning, but up top it was much colder so there were a couple inches of new snow; snow fell at a good clip all morning; 12 runs; 7,000 vertical; skied the Blizzard Brahma's; no grooming overnight, so the new snow got pushed into the remnants of yesterday's bumps pretty quickly; lots of people out today; for some reason today's variable conditions posed a problem for me with my boots buckled up tight - I ended up with the top two buckles open but still hooked and the Booster strap holding the top of the boot closed - this softened things up considerably and really helped my skiing - I think my new boots will definitely be a little softer than my current Dobi 150's; my legs feel a little tight after skiing today; snowmaking on Upper Great Northern and Upper East Fall when I left; it really felt like winter today!



#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 2 - Killington

On the hill from 9:15 to 11:45; Brightening overcast with a light breeze; Temps in the lower 40's; Skied the Blizzard Brahma's; 15 runs; 8,800 vertical; Since they groomed lightly overnight we developed a few chunks, but as it softened up they got skied in pretty quickly; A lot more familiar faces today - Bob S, Barb M, Dave M, Mike C ... ... ; Felt a little better on my skis today - concentrated on staying low, angulated, and forward; Still feeling good physically; Forecast is for rain starting this afternoon, changing over to snow with potentially a few inches by morning.

#justgivemeagroomer    

Day 1 - Killington

On the hill from 11:45 to 1:15; Windy with gradual clearing after early AM rain showers with temps in the upper 40’s ; 11 runs; 6,500 vert; Skied the Blizzard Brahma’s; Had to walk up and down the stairs – first time walking down – it really sucks; Only Rime and Reason are open – only skied Rime; Good cover – cut into small to medium bumps – soft, but not wet; Bigger crowd than I expected – never more than 10 or 15 people in line, but always a few; Felt a little rusty, but it's good to get on the hill again; Legs feel good – right knee feels good – right shin is a little tender; Looking forward to tomorrow

#justgivemeagroomer