Killington continues to deliver the longest season in the East; conditions and temp better than reported
Dear Editor,
I have seen photos of Don McNeil (a.k.a. Shortski) in The Mountain Times more than once this year along with commentary that he has perfect attendance at Killington. I am the other person with an unbroken record this season. We were the only ones to get our 100 Day hats on Valentine’s day — the coldest day of this year! I will defer to Don’s seniority in repeating the feat for his second year.
This is my third year in Killington’s 100 Day Club of the four it has been in existence. The 2013/2014 season was a new personal record at 108 days and the 2014/2015 season was 155 days. I figured that if I can do that many days I could do them all for a season, and set a bucket list goal this season. Actually, the last day I missed was Feb. 20, 2015, a day when most of the lifts were down due to cold and wind. Part of my inspiration is a current pass holder who had an unbroken four year streak in the 80s before this type of accomplishment was formally acknowledged.
One of my passions is racing and I consistently finish near the top of the Men’s B class in the Ski Bum league where there is no handicapping for age.
People talk about what a bad year this was for skiing and boarding. Those folks were not spending a lot of time enjoying Killington where the snowmaking and grooming teams were flat out most of the season making the most of every dip in the thermometer, starting on Oct. 18, 2015, as the first area on the continent to open. This May 1, Killington was again the last ski area in operation this side of the Rocky Mountains and again provided the longest season in the East. It is true we are not able to enjoy the epic conditions of last year with skiing in the woods into May. However, this season was not as brutally cold either. The crews have provided nice corduroy runs nearly every day of the season and all five base lodges were open. Now the soft spring moguls are back to entice bumpers from all over the Northeast and beyond (go Radio Ron). My philosophy is that snow is precious stuff, and every last bit of it must be used up. Shortski and I agree that since we have been able to ski every day we are having more fun than anyone else.
Gary Joseph, Killington
