Cloudy, 37 degrees.

Another super day at the Big K. There was still some fresh duff to be found from yesterday’s snowfall, plus the inch or so that fell last night. In addition, grooming, snowmaking, and a slight warm up in temperature gave the trails just the right consistency for confidence inspiring carving. Highline was so good I wish I could have stayed out longer. I would have lapped it ten more times. Great Bear still had nice turns along the edges, East Fall was smooth and fast. I heard that Needles Eye was dreamy too, but I never made it over there. It’s nice sometimes when you have to leave the hill with a few good runs still left in you. Makes me excited to get up and do it again tomorrow.

Dave Young is a former ski tuner from the Midwest. In fact, he was once assistant to the assistant manager at the biggest tuning shop in the mall. These days he mostly skis, photographs other people skiing, or hangs out in coffee shops pretending to write about skiing. Shop Our Online Store

Hard to believe tomorrow is February 1. The skiing was fantastic this morning. Managed to get out for a few runs before work. I have to say the mountain is in great shape. If you like ripping groomers than today was your day. 3″ yesterday and another inch or so last night with plenty of windblown. Groom it all together and you have one of the best groomer days of the year.

Jonathan Celauro started skiing when he was four and still hasn't quite figured it out yet. After college, he moved to Killington and now 16 yrs later, each comprised of 100+ day ski seasons, he's still trying to grasp the whole skiing concept. At this point he imagines his best option is to just go with the flow. "I still find myself dreaming of big mountain lines and deep powder snow." J.C. Shop Our Online Store

Sun, flurries, 17 degrees.

I’ve gotten some criticism in the past for using the words three, inches, and dump in the same sentence. But seriously, this season, three inches is a dump. My mind is so warped by the lack of measurable snowfall that when I went out on my deck this morning and looked at the snow I thought, my God, look at all that snow. There must be two inches. Will I even be able to drive up to Killington in all this snow? I have snow tires, so maybe. I’m so glad that I took the chance. The skiing was good. One good thing about last week’s less than wintery weather is that there is a ridiculously supportive crust in the woods. You do not have to worry about breaking through it. Consequently, this three inches (actually it might have been four) allowed us to make some fairly confident turns in low angle trees today. You want to avoid having to stop quickly, but as long as you plan accordingly it can be done. And, as I’ve said several times already this season, three or four inches on the groomers makes a whole world of difference. Kevin and I agreed that today was probably our best day of Killington skiing so far in 2012. Of course we missed out on that one Saturday storm, so that might have been better, but today was plenty good. The Beast still has the pressure on with snowmaking too. With any luck we’ll get a few inches here and there throughout the week and be in good shape for a while.

Dave Young is a former ski tuner from the Midwest. In fact, he was once assistant to the assistant manager at the biggest tuning shop in the mall. These days he mostly skis, photographs other people skiing, or hangs out in coffee shops pretending to write about skiing. Shop Our Online Store

Mostly cloudy, 24 degrees.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Killington is the place to be when winter flakes out. I do not know of any other resort that has the snowmaking and grooming wherewithal to turn things around Like The Beast. Actually, I’ve heard Hunter does a good job too but it’s a long drive in the wrong direction for me. The snow guns at Killington were pumping it out Beast Style today. Great turns could be had on Skyelark and Bittersweet under those guns but you know what impressed me the most? Mouse Trap. Mouse Trap is in the best shape it’s been in all season, even the notoriously thin skier’s-right side. That crazy robot-looking yellow snow gun just buried that trail. Which is a nice switch from what it usually does,  covering the chairs on the Snowdon quad. That was a little good natured dig. I love the snowmakers, I really do. The mountain is in great shape, considering what it has been through. It even looks like winter up there, as opposed to what my house looks like, where I’m starting to worry about having to mow the grass. Incidentally, if you wanted to know what the trails would be like au naturel, you could take a ride down Vagabond. I thought I had hit the jackpot this morning when I got there. It was lightly bumped and covered with about an inch of light fresh snow. Only one or two tracks marred the perfect surface. I thought, wow, I’m surprised this is open but it looks great. It wasn’t. Frozen mogul crust with a light dusting of nothing. Great skiing does not happen by accident that often around here.

Dave Young is a former ski tuner from the Midwest. In fact, he was once assistant to the assistant manager at the biggest tuning shop in the mall. These days he mostly skis, photographs other people skiing, or hangs out in coffee shops pretending to write about skiing. Shop Our Online Store

Mostly sunny, 32 degrees.

Hey look it’s a snow report on Saturday! As you may know, I don’t usually post on Saturday because I don’t usually ski on Saturday, and I didn’t ski today either. However, given the dubious weather of the last few days, I thought it might be interesting to speak with someone who did ski today. It was such a nice day to be outside doing anything that I had a feeling it might have been a particularly nice day to be out skiing. I was right.

My source indicated that he was somewhat skeptical, knowing as he did that rain and mixed precipitation had fallen for the better part of the preceding 24 hours. A cautious first run down East Fall was… Good. Cascade was also good, so good in fact that it necessitated several more runs. My incredulous source next scooted over to Superstar. Surely Superstar would be more characteristic of the expected conditions. Nope, Superstar was great too.  Firm, sure, but clad in a pleasantly carveable (I know, that’s not really a word) substance left behind by the strange weather. Furthermore, the nice surface held up and still hadn’t been skied off at 1:00. “How could it be good,” my source asked? “Don’t ask, it’s a gift,” I replied. Some questions just don’t need to be answered.

Dave Young is a former ski tuner from the Midwest. In fact, he was once assistant to the assistant manager at the biggest tuning shop in the mall. These days he mostly skis, photographs other people skiing, or hangs out in coffee shops pretending to write about skiing. Shop Our Online Store