On Sun, 5 Dec 2004 20:43:50 -0500, James L Crowley <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>Roger wrote about Okemo:
>
>>Crowds were light in all but a few moments, though there were never any
lines
>>at the lifts.  It makes me wonder why anyone skis Killington early season.
>
>Roger answers his own query with his next comment:
>
>>Only complaint was the lack of something challenging to ski
>
>Killington had quite a bit of challenging and variable terrain to ski this
past
>weekend given the recent weather. There were (1) moderately-pitched icy
slopes
>with dozens of other skiers within a 50 foot radius that took great skill
to
>avoid (e.g. Bittersweet, mixing bowls on Snowdon), (2) steep icy slopes
that
>tested one's ability to hold an edge while doing anything other than
>side-slipping or falling (e.g. Highline), (3) steep slopes with lots of
soft,
>creamy, man-made bumps (e.g. lower Skyelark and Mousetrap), (4) a limitless
>supply of natural snow trails that could be poached only with rock skis
and the
>adventuresome spirit of justinwoods, and (5) a select few natural snow
trails
>that had beautiful boot-top powder that gave me a taste of the winter to
come
>(hopefully).
>
>Despite the large crowds, it was a good weekend at Killington, especially
on
>Sunday and early in the day. If the weather stays cold next week aside
from the
>Tuesday warm-up, there should be more terrain open for next weekend.
Killington
>has shown an amazing ability to bounce back quickly from the thaws this
fall. I
>blame the Bronze All-for-one passholders for overcrowding the slopes at
>Killington this year, but as one of them (J. Shefftz) pointed out to me,
it's
>probably because of them that Killington has been blowing an amazing
amount of
>snow, more than I have ever seen. So I guess they aren't all that bad....
>

I would much prefer to ski less challenging slopes with fewer crowds
combined with icy slopes. This is why Okemo is my choice for weekend early-
season skiing. Though in the next 2 weeks, I'm going to cash in my Warren
Miller coupon and brave the crowds and ice at Killington. Hopefully by
then, there will be some more off-piste options where there will be no
crowds.

-Sh

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