thursday 11/14 opening report

[skiadikt]

just a fine job by the mtn pulling it all together. beautiful sunshine and rapidly rising temps. got there just as they as they started loading. seemed a lighter turnout.

great having the GN wraparound so down stepping was unnecessary. rime & reason good coverage. the prevailing condition was loud, frozen concrete w upper rime and reason better. some pebbles mixed in. the skier density and general mayhem was beyond my comfort level so split after a few as act of self preservation. by the time i downloaded it was empty and i'm sure things softened as the sun worked her magic.

they were still making snow on UEF and GN in addition to ttb on supe. think they made enough to weather the weather. we'll see.

baseball cap and free lunch and smiles all around. what was not to like.

[newpylong1]

Ah, I missed these reports.

[jimmywilson69]

Thank you Skiadikt!

I feel like the world is back to normal reading about skiing!

[MrsG]

Killington did a great job pulling it all together in such a short timeline. Run from K1 to top of Rime was rotd, lower Rime questionable - some scrape and cookies - got several runs in and pleased with our early effort! Learned several people in our peripheral circle were heading home due to earlier commitments, so tomorrow could be quieter than expected before the weekend!
Thank you K for the great lunch!! Snowmakers and groomers deserve a standing ovation

[rogman]

Loading started about 8:48 (a few minutes earlier than promised) to the cheers of a jubilant crowd. The ski down on upper GN under a barrage of Ratniks and K3000s was a great way to start the season. The surface itself was firm, fast, and wall to wall. Killington should have no trouble staying open, unless Mother Nature pulls a truly extreme hissy fit. Crowd was initially to the back of the corral at North Ridge, but by 10AM, it started to dissipate, and by 10:30 the lift was practically walk on. I expect tomorrow to be far more crowded. The Reason terrain park was busy, and it became awkward to cut through there so I stopped. LEF remained closed, but was getting bombarded with K3000s and Ratniks top and bottom. Can't speak for the middle. The drainage ditches at the bottom have a ways to go before they're filled in.

Overall, its obvious that the Phasors have improved their air utilization; they will save money and allow Killington to use more water. However, all the guns I saw operating in the North Ridge were the less efficient Ratniks or K3000. It's that time of year, use all the arrows in the quiver.

The walk back up was its usual "challenge", but rewarded by a lunch at the Peak, thank-you Killington. It's an appreciated pass holder perk. Someone humped some gravel down to Catwalk, and redid the steps across it. That tricky stretch is now easier to traverse. Similar improvement under the Gondi as well. A great beginning to their new beginning.






Upper Part of Lower Rime


Lower Rime


Reason


Reason


Snow making top of UEF




Snowmaking on SS about 2PM at 37 degrees and 25% humidity 28 degree wet bulb. All K3000 on Preston's (should be obvious from the throw) Posted on another thread, but this one is bigger.

[slatham]

Thanks for the reports - made my day.

Re: Rats and K3000, great usage of the full arsenal when you have marginal temps, a bad forecast, and plenty of air with Rime and Reason etc shut down.

[liv4ski]

State of Northridge
https://youtu.be/RA_xvFdHJzs?si=D_Zs7NWITOeYk7HO

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

[newpylong1]

Great video, thanks for showing us.

[Bubba]

State of Northridge
https://youtu.be/RA_xvFdHJzs?si=D_Zs7NWITOeYk7HO

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

What time was that taken?

[Big Bob]

Managed to get 8 runs in and as Rogman stated the traffic started to thin around 10:30. Top half wasn't bad with 2 trails, but bottom could get busy at times, kind of an ebb and flow with trail traffic. I had a Kobe dog at the top after surviving the stress test of 180 vertical feet stair climb. I guess the ticker isn't too plugged up. Ran into a few Zoners during a leisurely lunch then did the small set of steps up to the gondola for the trip back down. no traffic on the way home, never is. An added traffic light at the bridge redecking in Quechee slowed the trip by a few minutes.

[180]

Arrived at 11am. No crowds. nice little bumps on the edge of lower Rime. Skiers right of Reason had nice dry snow and the groms stayed away. 19 runs, had my lunch on the ride down the gondi. Things are back in order. Oh and sun was glorious.

[Captain Hafski]

Afternoon Report: Great to finally have our playground back open ! Kudos to K for pulling this off with the challenging weather past few weeks.

ROTD: Flank Steak Tacos in the K-1 Base Lodge. They were really, really, good !

It did NOT soften up in the afternoon. Very icy everywhere with Lower RIme being the worst as expected.

Mostly empty chairs during our 1 to 3 shift. Great to see Jay back at the helm !

Best "snow" was on Reason. And, the sun stays on this [right side] longer than the other open runs.

Top of Rime was meh at best. Could not sneak left of the groomed line due to all kinds of frozen chunks that was not fun.

Lower Rime had an OK bump line by the afternoon until the lights went out at the bottom. There were some chunks of ice here and there to watch out for. Also, there was a semblance of bumps that formed on the right side side.

Day 1 in the books !

[jimmywilson69]

and thank you Capt for the afternoon reports!

[Southside_Bobby]

Thanks in advance to Skiadikt for this season's stellar reports. Remember that your efforts are appreciated.

Great opening for a new era.

It felt noticeably less crowded than normal overall. The parking lots, the gondi corral, the lift lines, and even Rime felt relatively mellow. The exception was Reason right from the get go. It was a one and done.

Relatively laid back. Still, I was ready to quit by 10:30 when the percentage of straight-liners spiked.

Such luxury skiing instead of walking down. Walking up in the center of the stairs, without any passing down traffic, also felt luxurious.

FWIW, the jack fruit "pulled pork" was pretty good.

SO great skiing everybody. We're back, baby!

[RustyK]

Bay one at 8AM. Great to see the winter peeps again.

Got in line around 8:30 to a not full corral. Said hello to many zoners and 802 folks.

First run down great northern from the top was awesome.
Have never had that pleasure on an opening day.

Skied with various people until about 11:30. Stairs still were an experience for sure.

Peak bar free food until around 1:00 and the place emptied out to a ghost town. Another beer at the bottom.
No bar open upstairs.

IMG_2822.jpeg (712.56 KiB) Viewed 303 times

802 bus until 4. Great open mike later at liquid art.