So, what’s it like to ski Killington early season in early November? Far better than you might think!

On Monday, November 7, my buddy Rich Weir and I headed for “The Beast” to check out the skiing first hand. Rich is an old Killington hand, but hadn’t skied their early season in a number of years. I try to make Killington early-season a part of every ski year, but  always wait a few days for  the “I got first tracks!” fever to settle down. If you have to have first tracks, good for you. Been there, done that, have good memories to prove it, but I’ve mellowed a bit with age and prefer to pick my first day on the slopes carefully.

We chose Monday, figuring the trails would be less crowded than the weekend . . . avoiding crowds is important to me.

We deliberately didn’t get an early start, figuring the snow would likely be softer and the light better mid-day. Early-season often echoes spring in that regard. When we arrived at 11, there were more cars in the parking lot than we expected–or hoped. But the people who had skied themselves out already said that conditions were really, really good. They were right.

You access Killington early season snow by riding up the K1 Gondola. It’s always a strange sensation and a real leap of faith to ride a ski lift over snowless terrain. At the top, we  found snow aplenty and followed Great Northern down to the junction with East Fall. With a choice of three runs at that point,  we banged a right onto East Fall and and suddenly found ourselves in waist-high bumps. Not exactly what I want for my first run of a new season, but there it was. At least the bumps were nice and soft–not quite spring slush bumps, but not blue ice, either. And there were no other skiers or riders pounding them. Solitude is a good thing . . .especially when you ski bumps as badly as I do.

Rich, who’s a far better skier than I, and had already hiked for some turns at Wachusett Mountain following the October storm, flew ahead while I picked my way down. I survived handily—even enjoyed it a little–but avoided  that trail for the rest of the day.

All the skiing was accessed from the North Ridge Triple chair. Rime, directly under the chair, was in superb condition and that’s where most of the skiers and riders were. It wasn’t crowded, but the slope was never empty, either. The sky was cloudy, the wind was whipping the clouds over the summit, and it never got too warm or too cold—though the wind would cut through you if you weren’t dressed for it. The snow was firm like butter just taken from the refrigerator—no ice anywhere—the kind of snow you dream about all winter and usually only find for brief moments in late March. It never got too hard or too soft.

The snow was equally good on Reason, which had a nice little terrain park running down skier’s right but was wide open on skier’s left. You could also duck over to skier’s left and catch the lower half of Ridge Run, which had less snow, but still enough for good skiing. The last little bottleneck on Ridge Run was the only place I saw that was really showing signs of wear and tear.

This early in the season, legs tend to give out quickly–at least mine do. I made seven runs, and felt pretty good about it. Rich, who’s younger and stronger, made 10 before we had to leave. To get back down the mountain, you have to walk up a long staircase from the top of the Triple to the top of the K1 for a downride. The walk back up  takes some effort, so be sure to leave a little extra snap in your legs. The whole process of climbing up to ride down discourages most folks from taking a lunch break. Most people seemed to just ski themselves out and head for home, as we did.

So, was it worth the drive and price of a lift ticket? Absolutely. Getting some quality “spring” skiing in November is a perfect way to kick off your spring season. By Thanksgiving, you’ll likely have a number of choices of where to ski. It’ll be good to have your legs warmed up and ready.