Killington
Snowboarding season has officially begun for me. For the past three days I stayed at a condo in Vermont with a bunch of other riders. Above is the view from the condo parking lot of . . .
YEAH! Usually November snow sucks in New England, but not this year. Whereas it was fifty degrees in New York today, I felt like I was on a different planet only six hours north in the snowy Green Mountains of Vermont.
This is the top of the mountain. They have 29 trails open as of this weekend and the snow guns are working overtime. On Friday it was snowing (the real kind) and blowing pretty hard so I stuck with the gondola and avoided getting frostbite on the few chairlifts that were running, but it got progressively warmer as the days went on.
Friday's trails were pretty good, not great but not icy because the snow was lightly falling. Saturday was super icy and I witnessed several collisions. Ski Patrol was working overtime, it seemed. I was following a speed demon and saw him take a nasty fall, but before I knew what happened, I hit the same sheet of ice he did and BOOM down I went with an impact that sent my hat and goggles and headphones shooting off my head like projectiles. Wish I had brought my Crash Pads. Pass the Advil!
Today was the best day of the three I rode. It wasn't as icy as yesterday's conditions, and the sunshine and lack of wind made the fifteen degrees feel warmer. I was in the gondola shortly after 8 a.m. (bleary-eyed but excited nonetheless) and the groomed trails were amazing for November riding. Looking at these pics, I cannot believe it's only November. I hope all season is this good.
