Early season skiing on man made snow: the White Ribbon of Death. But today at Jay, man made saved the day. I was pulling for an overnight freeze followed by slow warming resulting in late morning corn snow. Instead, I found temperatures well above freezing and rotting natural snow by the time I arrived at Jay. During my skin up Derick, I suspected that the man made was going to ski better than the natural and my suspicion proved accurate.
While it wasn’t a true dawn patrol by definition, it was one in spirit. I set an alarm for 4:45 A.M. and didn’t arrive at Jay until 7:15 A.M. due to road conditions and local school traffic. It was well past dawn by the time my skins hit the snow but I was still on a time limit. I needed to be at work for a 2:00-10:00 P.M. shift. It was painful not being able to take a vacation day but not as painful as sitting the storm out.
The drive up 242 was mesmerizing. Early season dumps at Jay usually don’t deposit much snow below the base area. But the snow banks were considerable as I ascended the access road. It was full on winter and puking snow when I arrived at the Jet lot. Earlier that morning, I considered stopping at Cannon which looked to have received about half a foot. I had definitely chosen wisely!
I’ve enjoyed beating up on Killington over the years, especially my anti-capitalist anti-consumerism post-college-angst years (if aren’t a socialist in your 20s you have no heart, if you’re still a socialist in your 30s you have no brain). But in recent memory, I’ve always had good early and late season days there. Killington came at this season with a completely different attitude. There has been a void in New England skiing for a long time and it is nice to have that void finally refilled.
As Sugarloaf and Sugarbush both close, Killington is not just still open but talking about June. Maybe they will get there, maybe they won’t. But the talk is hardly hypothetical marketing bluster, it is absolutely doable.
Unlike in past years when “The Beast” announced an earlier than planned April closing despite ample snow just before a massive storm that they would not reopen for, Killington is honestly playing for keeps this season. And it is about time. All hail Killington, undisputed King of Spring with the earliest opening, latest closing, and longest season. Thank you.
Yet another spring weekend without corn snow. The disturbing trend continues. While last weekend’s full on winter days at Smuggs were both excellent, I am getting really desperate for a nice warm spring corn day. And skiing aside, mentally some warmth and sunshine would do my psyche some good.
My original plan was Mount Washington. But the weather did not cooperative with summit temperatures dipping into the single digits Saturday night and the wind honking into the 60+ MPH range. While Sunday was clear and sunny, it was not optimal for great skiing nor going for a summit. I changed plans from NH’s highest peak to VT’s highest peak, hoping for alpine skiing above the trails and corn bumps below.
Today is my eighth day skiing Smuggs and the mountain still gives me the warm and fuzzies. A month ago, I reported that The Honeymoon Still Isn’t Over. Nay, I think it has barely just begun. And I would be hard pressed to say when it might end.
The phrase of the afternoon was “one more run.” I took a half dozen “one more runs” — I couldn’t tear myself away from the mountain. The skiing was just too good. I continually pushed through physical soreness to keep going until mental fatigue started to set in near the end of the day.
Weather varied tremendously throughout the day ranging from warm and sunny at the base to full on winter with two inch per hour graupel and hail. Visibility ranged from miles to feet but clouds were always nearby even when things started to clear. Every run seemed to feature a completely different weather pattern than the last.
Snow conditions were also quite variable though generally pleasant despite occasionally being a challenge. Water saturation was quite high but mank/chunk levels were moderate and controllable so long as visibility would allow foresight in planning turns.