Skivt2

As PF says the type of snowpack really matters. This past weekend was that magic combination of close to a foot of cement followed by close to a foot of nice eastern powder All on top of a maybe 4-6 inch weeks old base. When that happens it’s magic. Lots of pillows in relatively safe woods runs made them even safer and forgave a lot of errors in judgement. Had to work today so did not get out but my legs needed a rest anyway after the 4 days. Probably won’t get out again until Thursday but the mountain in my backyard is closed Tuesday/wednesday anyway so short of any skinners it’s all sitting waiting for me just like I left it last night.

I live at the base of Pico, 100 feet from the lift. Should be fun. Yesterday was cement. I’m hearing 15” upslope last night.

Wow. Looked out the window. It looks like it snowed a lot at 2000K in Killington. Everything is filled in and drifted in. Can’t tell where the plow went yesterday. It’s got to be another 6” but I’m guessing. It would take at least that much or more to fill things in like that. Could be more.

Cement snow today. That ought to cover up a lot of debris in the woods etc.

Dumping at Pico base elevation.

Oh and I should have mentioned that last nights 4+ inches at elevation was light soft fluffy powder that together with what fell a few days ago has opened the natural trails back up very nicely.

The funny thing is that at Pico the old land frame guns are what is used almost all the time. There are a few new tower guns on mid and lower Pike and on 49r but that’s it. And really most years outpost, the little Pico triple and the Knomes knoll.triple do not see any snowmaking other than B slope which is essentially a private race hill for the Pico ski club. Pico struggles with no natural snow as that is its main snow supply. That said we were happy to see upper pike get some love today. On the other hand Killington was phenomenal sunday. They are absolutely hitting it out of the park. We enjoyed skiiing Superstar under the guns and trust that the 30 feet it needs to stay open into May/June will still get blown. Bump season should be excellent this year with no water injected World Cup ice underneath. One factor I have not heard mentioned is the labor shortage at the ski areas. There do not seem to be any college students on H1B’s from Peru or Brazil etc this year. And while there is a travel exemption for ski resort employees I think there are a lot of folks who are part timers working for passes that opted out. Meanwhile lessens are only private and the full time instructors are pulling parking lot reservation scanning duties and mask patrol duties at the lifts. It’s a strange year but everyone is mostly doing their part to protect others and stay safe because we know our season is on the line otherwise. One thing that is super cool is that Vermont is vaccinating it’s ski patrollers as part of the 1a priority. Glad to see them get remembered.

Snowing at 2000 feet in Killington on the west side of Serburne pass.

Had a surprise couple of inches at Pico today. It looks like it might be starting to snow a little again. Definitely a huge moral booster.

Well, pretty much anyone that can is moving to VT for the winter.

Awesome soft slushy bumps this afternoon at the Big K. Snowed big flakes off and on all afternoon above 2k feet.

Everyone is struggling with this right now. If someone can come up with the perfect skiing COVID face mask quickly they could make some $ if they can get the word out fast.

Yesterday was actually pretty nice. No crowds. Only mist so soaking through did not happen during the couple hours we skied. Snow surface was hero snow. All and all it was a pleasant relaxing and fun experience. We actually were out early. But normally we do go out for the last few hours of the day.

Ha. We go through there twice a weekend 8 months a year with out of state plates. Have never gotten pulled over but we are super careful not to speed. We do sort of have a little fun with it. As we get to the spot we slow down. A lot of times some asshat tourist with no idea why we are slowing down will get really irritated and tailgate. So we put the blinker on and pull to the side to let them pass. Many times we have found then a few miles down the road introducing themselves to Plymouth’s finest.

I think it can get pretty blurry pretty fast who lives where. A lot of people, myself included, have all the required documentation to prove VT residency to DMV. This whole thing could become cat vs mouse pretty quickly.

That’s completely unfair to judge that. I am currently on day 15 quarantining waiting for word of Killington opening. I have an apartment in VT. I will leave VT on 11/30 and return 12/14 fully quarantined once again. In fact I must quarantine according to the state of CT since VT is now on the CT list where CT residents must quarantine upon returning from VT since it is now a hot spot. We Get everything delivered. I have not been in a grocery store since early March. Just sunday our microwave broke. We did not drive to Walmart to get a new one. Nope. The new one will be delivered via UPS tomorrow. I work from home and my husband is also working from home. We have no kids. The last time we left our property was 11/3 to vote. We wore N-95 masks when we voted. We plan to stay in Vermont until at least 1/25. And I hope to ski every day at least a few runs at lunch. I live trail side in Vermont so parking reservations are a non-event for me. I know I am not the only one. We have basically reduced every unnecessary (to us) risk to zero. But we spend the summer fishing and gong to the beach on cape cod and we will spend the winter skiing in VT. F the virus. I’m not getting it and I’m not stopping doing what I love just because of it.

Non-Vermonters are allowed into VT if they quarantine. same as other states. Currently if you live in CT you can go to NY or NJ and return to CT without quarantine. If you go to/return to CT from anywhere else you have to quarantine in CT for 2 weeks. So anyone from CT wanting to ski without a quarantine should be go to NY. But if you quarantine and the mountain is open you can ski anywhere. How can they refuse you to use your season pass if you are in their state legally after a quarantine?

I’m on day 15 of quarantine hoping to ski Killington sometime in the next week for a week. Had planned to come back for two weeks but continue to quarantine so that we can go back after that for a while. Starting today CT requires a 14 day quarantine for anyone traveling to VT and staying more than 24 hours in CT so it’s just getting tighter. CT does allow grocery shopping and picking up medications during quarantine but that won’t be an option for us because Vermont does not. Won’t be hard to quarantine in VT now since socializing with anyone outside of your household in VT is forbidden. We won’t be going anywhere while in VT except the lifts. That is if the VT governor does not shut them down. Interesting article by skiology Matt on Northeast skiology.

Not looking good right now in Vermont for skiing. Watch the governors press conferences through the week. Lots of food on edge right now.

Powder freak is right. I have a full time condo rental in VT. So yes. No equity. Just throwing money away. And I’ve been there 4 nights in 8 months even though prior to that I lived there 165 days a year. I work from home full time and get everything delivered to avoid people. My husband is a full time remote student. I have season passes and can walk about 50 years to the lift. So we also will have parking hang tags (no reservations necessary) and no need to use a base lodge at all for any reason. Yet I’m feeling like we should not be going to Vermont because of all this. Vermonters are very vocal about not wanting anyone out of state to go there. I suspect that once the skiers start going and as the infection rates rise the folks there will blame the outsiders and it will be very uncomfortable to be there if you are a rule follower and care what people think. Our condo building has a laundry mat and it’s a small condo (2 rooms -550 sq feet). If we leave our house for the condo we have to leave our food stockpile (freezers of meat and stocked non perishables - we probably have 4+ months of food on hand at least). And I worry about running out of oil or if we have a lot of snow at our house. Honestly, if we could be there all winter but could travel the 2 hours home for a day every few weeks without stopping along the way we could get our laundry done and resupply food without people contact. But VT won’t allow that. So if we go we have to stay and use common laundry facilities and go to stores which is far riskier. The quarantine is making us WAY less safe. I honestly stress about all this. But I see people I know at Killington putting together their share houses same as always. CT Appleman is right. I think most people probably don’t even know there is a travel restriction. A woman I know from CT posted about her trip to the VT general store and yankee candle yesterday with pictures and everything. Said she was bummed she could not stay overnight in VT because of the quarantine. She obviously thinks there is some 24 hour exemption like CT has for people coming to CT. Part of me is ready to think we just can’t go to VT at all this year and yet I see people clearly all thinking they are just going to go for weekends etc. Who loses? The safe person like me who is absolutely no threat to anyone and worries about the rules. I do think the ski season could get shut down in the near future in Vermont at this rate anyway.

No

Killington has almost no slope side lodging. They plan to run the shuttles to and from the condos at 50% of capacity. The condo associations are gearing up with parking permits and enforcement. Even folks dropping people off at drop off sites need permits.

Taiwan and Germany and other places are doing better for example. There are ways to avoid this situation we are in. Not being clear about the risk of aerosols early in and falsely communicating to people that it is a hoax for example.

Killington is making snow now in the Snowdon area as well as the Northridge area.

The season is right around the corner, and we can’t wait for the Longest Season in the East to get started. Over a month ago we sent out our Winter Operations Plan and although we included a lot of detail, we still had some unanswered questions that I will address today. You will find high-level information below and I encourage you to click the links to our website for all the details.   Our continued goal is to ensure the wellbeing of all, and an important part of Operation Stay Safe is managing the number of people at the resort at any given time. Doing so will enable appropriate physical distancing so that you may stay safe and have a great, fun-filled Killington Resort experience.     Parking reservations are an important part of us ensuring all at the resort are able to appropriately physically distance. The parking reservation system will be in place every day of the season and parking spaces must be reserved before arriving to the resort to ensure availability.  Starting Thursday, November 5, at 10:00 A.M. you can book up to seven advance days throughout the season. You will be able to book a reservation starting Monday, November 23 and as we get closer to Opening Day, we will release passholder and Ikon dates for you to reserve above and beyond your advanced 7-day reservations. Once the season begins, you will also be able to book an unlimited number of days in the immediate rolling 7-day window. As your advance days fall into the rolling 7-day window, you can book additional advance days, only reserving up to seven at any given time.   The parking management system means you can know that when you plan a trip to Killington, you will have a great experience, starting with the confidence in having plenty of room to spread out on the mountain. We will still need the majority of our guests to treat your car like a base lodge and, if you can, boot up at your car. After further consideration as a result of feedback from many of you–our passholders–we understand that for some access to the lodge to put boots on in the morning is needed. We will be allowing access to base lodges for booting up (if building capacity allows); however, bags cannot be left in the lodge and bag check will be moved to a new location that can be accessed anytime during the day from outside. We announced our anticipated Opening Day at Killington but keep in mind this date continues to be dependent on having top-to-bottom skiing and riding with access to multiple base area lifts. If Mother Nature does not allow us to achieve this, we will delay our opening. From Opening Day through Sunday, November 22, access to the mountain will be reserved for you, Killington Season Passholders and Ikon guests only. At this time, we plan to begin accepting Express Card Holders, day tickets, passholder bring a friend tickets, vouchers, etc. starting Monday, November 23, and advance purchase lift tickets will go on-sale beginning Friday, November 6. Per state of Vermont guidance, guests can travel to Vermont only from approved counties on the Vermont Travel map without a quarantine prior to their arrival. This travel map is updated on a weekly basis, every Tuesday and we expect this policy to be in place throughout the season. Don't forget, every Season Pass is covered by the Passholder Promise, so you can rest assured that your investment will be protected should there be a covered Covid-19 related interruption during the upcoming winter season. This coverage includes the option to receive a full refund before November 20, as well as Zero Use Coverage for qualifying passes, which guarantees a future use voucher for the full amount paid for your season pass if at the end of the 2020-21 season you have used 0 days for any reason, including not being able to visit due to travel guidelines. For more information about what to expect this season, visit 20/21 Winter Operations. As a reminder, these plans are subject to change once the state of Vermont issues and approves ski resort restart guidance. We look forward to a great, fun-filled ski and ride season.   As I stated in my last update, while there is always a competition to open first, we believe winning this year means all of us doing our part to put into place thoughtful plans and follow guidelines and best practices to keep one another safe, so that we may enjoy a full season of skiing and riding. I trust our commitment to continuing our candid communication gives you confidence in our plans for the upcoming season. I know everyone is continuing to adapt in their own way and I wanted to make sure you know how we continue to adjust.  If you still have questions we haven’t answered yet, please submit them here.  I look forward to seeing you on the trails.   Mike Solimano   President & General Manager