Killington was the first ski area to open for the 2004-2005 skiing season on Tuesday November 9, 2004. I claimed my first tracks of the season two days later on a Veterans Day Holiday. Being freed of work obligations for the day had me setting my alarm one hour early and having the wheels spinning by 5:30AM. Along the way, I discovered that New Order is great pre-skiing music and that Vermont schools do not have Veterans Day off which was an early sign that crowds would not be as bad as I had anticipated.Arriving at KBL (now renamed K1BL for what it’s worth) at exactly 8:15AM, I hit the lodge and picked up a free ticket courtesy of Killington for attending the latest Warren Miller film in Boston called Impact. After some minor confusion about which window to obtain my free lift ticket from, I booted and suited up and ascended via the K1 Gondi with my P40 Platinums. Unfortunately, my preferred and 10cm shorter P50 Motions were still in the shop. I made due with my longer backup boards which had my quads burning early!
The best thing about the first run is that for the rest of the season, your skiing can never get any worse. It sets the standard for the absolutely worst you could possibly ski which is a comforting thought given my rather forced and unnatural turns. I am trying not to blame it on the skis, but after a year of skiing on 183cm skis it was really tough going back and adjusting to something that is 193cm long. I pretty much had the longest skis on the mountain that I noticed.
I met up with Marc Guido of First Tracks!!, his son, and some folks he knew after my second run. It was a pleasure having some other folks to ski and enjoy the afternoon with as I normally ski solo.
From the summit of Killington, all skiers were funneled down Great Northern to the Rime and Reason intersection. From here, bumps awaited skiers and riders intent on riding the North Ridge Triple Chair on the lower half of Rime and Reason trails. I was amazed this chair was not ridable without skiing bumps of some sort. I decided since turning on the groomed snow wasn’t clicking yet, why not try some bumps?
Lower Rime was miserable with horrifically uneven bumps, large at times, and occasionally scraped. After taking the triple back up, I discovered Upper Rime faired much better with decent, softer, and smaller bumps on the edges, but still not much to write home about aside from the fact that there were bumps this early in the season. Upper Reason held the terrain park for the park rats whereas Lower Reason had decent bumps on the side which deteriorated slightly later in the day.
That was it for the Upper Mountain. Everyone again gets funneled down Great Northern which is a slowly winding and occasionally narrow traverse across the mountain. Skiers and Boarders were flying every which way in an incredibly high traffic free for all in which people were taking their very lives into their own hands by attempting time and time again.
Great Northern eventually widens out and offers some breathing room and offered those seeking something steeper with bumps a great run on Moose Trap. Excellent soft bumps with decent lines spotted this trail that was my Run of the Day. By the time I finally got my rhythm going, my quads were burning up and crying for me to pack it in for the afternoon.
I was pleasantly surprised by Killington’s product despite my normal tendency to criticize the Corporate Behemoth of New England Skiing. The snow cover was terrific and rock skis were not required. The snow was packed powder up top and much softer on the lower trails. Crowds were manageable despite the holiday except on Great Northern which is an accident waiting to happen, especially this weekend if more terrain is not opened up by then. With bumps, jumps, and groomers and only 5 minute lift line times Killington was able to please just about everyone including myself. Marc and I packed it in around 2PM with extremely tired legs that were begging for mercy. Bring it on!
