How core are you? A Killington TR

Friday AM: After reading the grim reports coming out of Killington the past week I log on to find that they had suspended operations for Friday and Saturday, bummed but still determined to make something of the weekend I cobble together a group of determined and slightly demented souls who agree to a hike to patch session.

Friday PM: Lying in bed I listen to the rain POUND down upon my house in Troy as the wind howls and the thermometer reads temperatures that are more fitting for May then December.

Saturday Early AM: The temperature still reads a balmy 41 degrees at 6:15 when I point the car north towards Killington, hoping that there will at least be patches left after the deluge.

Saturday 8:30 AM: I roll into the K-1 parking lot and the scene can only be described as eerie, there are ambassadors, lift attendants, mountain ops, and parking crews, but there are NO cars, no skiers, and very little in the way of snow.

I park the car and begin to scout the scene. There appears to be very little left in terms of snowpack, and what is left has turned to the worst coral reef I’ve ever seen, the best patches appear to be beyond bulletproof ice, and where it isn’t pockmarked by frozen death cookies mountain ops has run grooming machines up and down in an attempt to save the snowpack by compressing it. Despite the grim reports there are sounds of snow guns firing and my spirits are lifted by the arrival of Tyrolean, Helmet Cam and knuckledragger. Tree Rat and Mtn Man apparently had a fantastic night on the access road and were running late, so our party began its ascent up to the glades area, contemplating our sanity the whole way.

However, despite the lack of snow, we did remember our Avalanche bacon which would be crucial if a wet slab came down.

After about an hour of hiking we arrived at the base of the glades triple to find a glorious banquet of wet snow guns, exposed rocks, bumps, snowcat tank tread ruts, mud, and death cookies, all in various states of freezing.

I gamely push on towards what must be better snow up top, but my accent is slowed by the incessant blasting of semi frozen water droplets, I make it half way up and I’m frozen solid so I decide to attack the recently cut power line trail figuring that way I’ll be out of the guns for a bit. That was a poor choice as well as the rain has created pits of mud where I sink up to my knees. My F1’s change from a bright neon green to a muddy shade of brown and I begin to question whether I am in fact going mad from the lack of snow. A brief respite is offered by a concrete platform and I stop to remove my soft-shell, which has now gained at least 4 pounds of water weight and it was at this point that a frozen Clif bar and a bottle of orange Gatorade become a welcome diversion from the misery and suffering that this excursion has become. I’m alone, the wind is howling, and despite my down pullover I’m beginning to get cold as everything I’m wearing is CAKED in ice, and the only sane route down is back through the gauntlet of snow guns. I pick up my now frozen shell, throw it back on and cut through the trees towards the snow where I am met by the rest of the party who had climbed through the guns. Our sprits are surprisingly high, until I discover that somehow my leashes have snapped, which makes getting into my dynafits somewhat of a chore, given the fact that there is NOTHING that’s going to stop my ski from rocketing all the way down to the glades chairlift almost 600 feet below me. All that living room practice with the dynafits is no match for actually trying to put them on while on an icy incline and the first few tries are unsuccessful, but I finally manage to step into both skis. The turns down aren’t much to write home about but I couldn’t get over just how much edge control I had with the dynafits and F1’s, it’s a really cool combination and wasn’t nearly the underpowered slipper I thought it would be, there was plenty enough power to drive my TM:X’s though some of the worst conditions I’ve ever had the pleasure of skiing. As the crew made its way down to the chair Mtn Man, Treerat and Indy the wonder dog made their appearance on the scene. Everyone else had had enough of the conditions but I figured one more lap wouldn’t kill me(must’ve been the dynafits talking). So up we went again. Second lap was a great improvement in the downhill department, I figure it was the combination of having more confidence in the setup and having a better idea of where the “mildly ski-able” sections were. We found a nice 50’ patch of wet glop at the very bottom of Rime and decided to lap it a couple of times seeing as how it about the only spot where you could link continuous turns all the way from top to bottom.

By that point we were soaked, and whatever wasn’t soaked was encased in 2” of ice. I was really dreading the hike back down but we were in luck. While we were playing, the guns on lower great northern had been piling up the snow, so while it was only truly sketchy in a couple of spots, we managed to make a full on ski descent from the Glades Chair to the parking lot.

I graciously accepted the offer of the use of the Basher house to get cleaned up before heading to the Long Trail Brewery for well deserved beers.

Sunday AM: After getting a late(8:15 is late for me) start due to the fabulous K-Zone wine party the previous evening, I arrive at the Gondi to find things back to normal, cars in the lot, people everywhere and guns firing all day long. Big props to the Mtn Ops crew, I couldn’t believe the turn around in just 24 hours. Anyway, a great day skiing with the rest of the crew, nothing really special, just your average early season lift serve day at Killington, but given the recent conditions its nice to just have one of those. Hopefully we’ve got this weather thing turned around and it’s gonna be face shots all year long.