Spring looks a little different this year. Never mind that the rain stole all the snow off my lawn way before I was ready to put my Nordic skis away for the season. Or that all the local snowmobile trails shut down because the water bars are now exposed, and no one wants to ride through mud. Never mind that Ravine Road is a complete mess, and that FEMA-demanded culvert makes everything worse.
These things happen in spring, so I’m mentally prepared for them.
It’s those bare spots of Superstar that have my brain all messed up. For the past decade, we’ve been able to drive up to K-Base with a little smirk on our faces. All the other ski areas might be thinking this warm weather is ending their season, but not us. You can traditionally see the snow depth on Superstar from miles away. The mound at the top is higher than the chairlift and that beautiful ridgeline created by the tower guns stands out all the way from Pittsfield.
But not this year. This year, as you drive up, you can see the S starting to form, and it’s only the middle of March. My brain is thinking that ski season is ending just from that visual. And it’s tweaking out a bit. Also, who would have thought all that wonderful snow we got, that 55-day streak of greatness, would be taken from us in a matter of days? I mean, I have skied at Killington my whole life and lived here for almost a quarter of a century, so I get it. But sometimes, it’s just so hard to wrap your head around.
Too much spring, way too soon. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I love doing mat Pilates on my deck in the warm sunshine, surrounded by snow, after skiing a few laps on the mountain. I love a good tailgate picnic in the parking lot while the mud creeps into my flip-flops. And I love skiing through muddy snow while laughing and giggling with my little athletes on a trail that won’t be open the next day.
Not that we should be worried. Not at Killington, anyway. Even with the replacement of the Superstar Quad this summer, the resort is here to make the claim that we don’t have to spring ski on Superstar. That Superstar is not the only place where we can dump feet of snow and ski until June. We ski Superstar until June because we choose to. Technically, we can dump that much snow wherever we want to and still push for June.
Hello, the Canyon. The trails in there are beautiful—and nasty. From Ovation all the way around to ChopChop, the Canyon is one of the most stunning collections of inbound terrain anywhere in the country. Spend a day working your way around the horseshoe, one trail after the other, enjoying their uniqueness and the different angles. I’m more of a Toilet Bowl girl than an Anarchy one, but Royal Flush has been amazing, and I’ve never skied Waterfall Woods as many times in one season. With all this snow, Downdraft seems like her younger self. And seriously, nothing beats Double Dipper when she’s not shining in the sunshine.
When she’s shining, well, that would scare the crap out of even the best skiers in the world. But when she’s open, groomed or not, Double Dipper stands proudly as the heart of the Canyon. I fell down her once, back when I was probably around 8. Before there were snow guns & the Canyon Quad, when you could actually see the two dips. I slid from the first dip all the way to the second dip. It’s a good core skiing memory. DD still makes me stop and think before descending it. But you can find such a beautiful rhythm on that trail that your mind can just float away, and all of a sudden, you’re at the double fall line and wondering how you got there.
And now we’re going to get her for the springtime. That beautiful trail is filled with snow, moguls, and the most hardcore skiers on the East Coast. If you thought Superstar was nasty, let’s see you run lap after lap on DD with no middle section to take a break. It’s gonna be you and 28 degrees of greatness (Outer Limits is 27). It’s going to be glorious.
I’m so excited that my blood is literally pumping harder while writing this. We’ve canceled our April West Coast trip to watch Killington throw down in the Canyon. Because we are Killington and we can make snow wherever we want, we have just chosen Superstar over the past few years. But May in the Canyon, well, that is going to be downright Beastly. See you out there!
Merisa Sherman is a global real estate advisor, town official and Coach PomPom. She can be found in the mountains or at [email protected].
