Ski Dates for 2022

I'm looking for people interested in joining me on ski trips. I go to Killington, where I have a season pass. I am an all-day skier... I like to start by 9:00AM and I'm usually not off the mountain until well after the lifts close. On some occasions, we get on the road at 6AM to arrive at the slopes by 9 for the first day. Others we leave the night before. Lodging is at Chalet Killington which has a good and fast hot breakfast, leaving us with a one-mile drive to Snowshed, two to Killington Base, or about 4 to Bear Mountain. We leave for home after the lifts have closed on the last day and arrive home about 8:00pm. Nothing is sweeter than getting on the last chair at 4pm and having that nice long last run after normal folk have gone home.

I'm taking COVID-19 precautions pretty seriously, doing mostly take-out meals and avoiding spending much time in the lodge, but other than that, I'm hoping for a more-or-less normal ski season.

I don't own a car, so if you provide a car, you share the room for free.

If you don't have a car, and still want to come, I'm always eager to have company for the ride, so we'll figure out something that works.

The Chalet has free wireless, so you can sit in front of the fireplace and work, surf the web, or drink beer. There's a sauna and jacuzzi, and a heated outdoor pool. Dinner is available at the Baja Burrito right in the hotel, so you can walk down to dinner from the room without even putting your shoes on.

We normally kick off the season with a skiers' hooky day or weekend in December, depending on the conditions. Serious skiing begins with the arrival of the new year, and continues through March.

Think Snow!

Here is some historical info on the lifts at Killington.


Birds Aren't Real

Full weekends are in black. The usual plan is to drive up Friday night.
Partial weekends are in yellow with notes. Weeks marked "No Friday Travel" are open for 2 options: (1) 6:00AM Saturday drive for 2 days of skiing, or (2) Saturday afternoon drive and ski Sunday. We can make decisions at the last minute depending on the interests of the participants and the reported snow conditions.
Unavailable weekends are in red. I'll be there in spirit those weekends.
Indicated dates include northbound travel.


DATE
NOTE
PLANS, [and RESULTS]
NOV
26-28
Women's World Cup GS/S. Watch Saturday, ski and watch Sunday. Chalet K 2 Rooms.
Chris, Heidi, Ally. Up Friday, back Sunday. Dave Sunday. [GS was canceled after 9 racers because of high wind and bad visibility, but the slalom was fun to watch. Dave arrived in time for dinner Saturday, bearing homemade apple pie. We skied much of Sunday with about 16k feet of vertical on what terrain was open. Best run was upper Bunny Buster, and second best was Rime. ]
Dec

Possible Spur-of-the-moment early season trip if the snow is unusually good.

Jan
30 Dec-2 Jan (Fri-Sun)
Chalet K reserved Fri-Sun
Dave F Ski Su,Mo [Warm Sunday turning cold Monday. Not a lot open, but some fun runs especially on Bear Claw and Cruise Control. Days 2-3 ]

3-7 (Mon-Fri)
No Classes: Chalet Reserved Wed, Thu

New skis coming! Thu-Su Danny. [Going into COVID mode, skiing from the car in the Vale Lot and avoiding lodges and restaurants; lots of unmasked people up there. Thu cold and windy with good machine snow on some trails. Fri still cold but with a bit of fresh snow. Days 4 and 5.]

7-9
Chalet K reserved for 2 Fri/Sat nights.
Danny [Sat colder but calm wind and blue skies made it feel better. Sunday, nice soft snow in the rain, but then the wind picked up. Skyeburst was especially fun. Days 6-7. ]

10-14 (Mon-Fri)
No Classes: Possibly some weekday skiing.



14-17 MLK Chalet K reserved for 3 beds, 3 Nights
Colin, Jackson Canceled: Isolating with COVID-19.

21-23
Travel to San Francisco (Not) Chalet K Reserved
[Back from isolation, and feeling pretty good. Some natural COVID immunity along with vaccination makes logistics easier. Cold bluebird day with no wind felt very comfortable Saturday. Last week's big snowstorm helped a lot. Sunday some sun some snow, and still cold. Top-to-Bottom is open finally. Days 8,9.]

27-30
Chalet K reserved for 2 Fri/Sat nights.
Colin and Jackson. [Cold weather and firm snow. Happy Birthday to Chris. Days 10-11.]
Feb
4-6
Chalet K reserved for 2 Fri/Sat nights.
Andy( (ski/snowshoe) [Big storm Thu/Fri gave us best conditions of the season. Partly sunny and single digits. Snowshoeing at GMT Sunday in 2 feet of untouched powder. Temps to the mid teens and lots of sun. Day 12]

11-13
Chalet K reserved for 2 Fri/Sat nights.
Jackson and Colin [Warm Fri night and cooling Saturday for some soft snow. Back to the mid teens Sunday for some firm conditions. Grooming and snowmaking helped make a good day. Favorite run: Panic Button to Lower Needles Eye. Days 13-14.]

18-21
Presidents' Weekend. Chalet K reserved for 2 Fri/Sat/Sun nights. 3 Days
Dave Sun/Mon [Saturday cold, windy, and a little bit of fresh snow atop the ice. Things were bad leading up to this weekend with heavy rain Thursday and a sudden temperature drop; Rutland reported 59 F (15 C) at 4:00AM Friday and 22 F (-5.5 C) at 7:00 AM. Snow continued through the day and Sunday was much better, still cold, but some sun. Warmer Monday with a nice covering of snow over the underlying ice. Thanks to Dave for my birthday lunch and beer. Days 15-17]

25-27
Chalet K reserved for 2 Fri/Sat nights.
Chris. Will Sat night and Sun. Dave Sunday PM, Danny a couple runs Saturday. [Sunny but cold on Saturday after rain and freezing Thu/Fri. Conditions were surprisingly good with lots of snowmaking and grooming. Sunday had warmer temperatures with high and gusty winds and snow all day turning heavy late. Lots of fun in the fresh snow. Historically rough ride home especially over the high point on 89 in heavy snow squalls. Days 18-19.]
Mar
4-6
Chalet K reserved for 2 Fri/Sat nights.
[Great conditions Saturday with temps in the 20s (F). Rain during the morning up until about 11AM, followed by nearly perfect blue skies and temperatures into the 50s for a real spring day with no crowds. Some wet and some bare spots. Days 20-21]

11-20
NU Spring Break: Ski House Week Fri-Sun 9 Days
[Sat Chris: Snow all day with Temps from 37 to 18. Over a foot in all. Finished with Ally on the bubble and Ramshead. Sun. Chris Ally, Davis: Others. Clear and cold with great packed powder. Mon. warmer. some blue sky, some flurries, windy, with more great packed powder. Snow stayed good all day. Tue in the 30s all day with fog, a little rain, snow, and spring-like conditions. Wed with David, a great spring day with blue sky and improving visibility to Mt. Washington by the end. 40F at Killington peak at closing and warmer at the lower elevations. Nice soft bumps everywhere. Danny Thu-Fri. Thu in the 50s and mostly sunny. Tshirts after noon. Same Friday. Sat rain and fog but the snow dried to a wet granular in 40ish temps. Sunday a bit cooler and rain held off until late afternoon. Last day for old K1 Lodge with almost 40 years of happy memories of times with students, kids, grandkids and many others. Despite the late dates, it was a great skihouse week, except for dealing with mud-season on the road. However, it's beginning to look like the end of the season is approaching. Days 22-30]

25-27
Chalet K reserved for 2 Fri/Sat nights.
Sam [Saturday firm in the morning, softening a bit later in the day, mostly cloudy and 40s. Sunday a bit cooler with snow all day. Some nice runs on Swirl. End of the season for Skyeship Base. Days 31,32.]
Apr
1-3 Mogul Challenge Weekend Chalet K reserved for 2 Fri/Sat nights. [Bluebird day with Dave F Saturday, mostly 20s and windy, warming to 40 late. Firm in the morning but softening in the sun. A memorable day of spring skiing. Sunday in the 30s and mostly cloudy, with a variety of conditions, generally a bit softer. Great runs down Mouse Trap and lower Chute because the Bubble was closed all day. This could be the end. Days 33,34.]

8-10



and beyond???
April Skiing is unpredictable. We'll go after this only if it really looks good. Last year we hit Jay Peak on 1-2 May to close the season.


15-17
Easter Weekend?


21 April. Like last year it seemed to end pretty quickly. It's not been a great year for snow, but there were some good days and of course it's always fun to be on the mountain regardless of conditions. A January bout with COVID-19 slowed things down a bit but I still logged 34 days. Skihouse week was late this year, but a foot of snow the first day was fun for skiing and left us in pretty good shape for the early part of the week, and a bit of spring skiing toward the end. Overall a lot of cold days and good opportunities for snowmaking which was essential this year. A bout with COVID-19 in January and concerns about it through the season complicated things a bit but not much.

Snowshoeing in 2 feet of powder was a new adventure this year.

This year we say farewell to the old K1 Lodge and almost 40 years of happy memories with students, kids, grandkids, and others. This picture was taken on the last day and shows the lodge, a bit of the new lodge under construction behind it, and what we've come to call the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree.



Watch this space in early May for summer bike trips, and look in November for the next ski season.