By any measure November was a great month to be a skier. By the end of the month I had already logged 8 days of lift-served skiing – in most years I’d be lucky to have 2 or 3. Cold temperatures and nearly 5 feet of snowfall produced some of the best early season conditions I can remember. “Snovember” set the stage for a great day of skiing on December 1.
The parking lots were about the only thing that was crowded. Huge chunks of new terrain since Thanksgiving weekend swallowed up the skiers. We started our day skiing off the Needles Eye lift and essentially worked our way left to right across the mountain, eventually ending up over on Ramshead.
The two feet of new snow that fell during the week opened meant just about everything skied well, including the woods. “Mid-winter” was the word of the day.
The sun played hide-and-seek for a bit in the morning before fog and a general overcast settled over the middle elevations of the mountain. The K1 was like a ride to the heavens, with just the highest elevations breaking through like islands in a sea of clouds. We hiked to the fire tower to ski Catwalk to Downdraft, hands down run of the day if not the entire season.
We couldn't be more thrilled to see Killington and the northeast have such a great start to the ski season. We skied a good number of days in Vermont last year and it looks like we'll be spending even more time there this year. After many years of Gore / Whiteface passes, we migrated to the MaxPass last year and Killington passes this year. We still love Gore and Whiteface, but we were ready for a change. Killington's terrain, snowfall, long season, and massive snowmaking make it the logical choice for us. We've upped the ante this year by buying a house near the mountain. As Warren Miller would say, if you don't do it this year, you'll just be a year older when you do.
Big news! Nice report too. Best wishes for a great season.
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