Standing at the top of Superstar, I couldn’t help but smile. Today was something I had been wanting for months… a perfect sunny spring day with top to bottom bumps. It made up for at least a third of this shitty season. May was more than halfway over and Superstar was still going strong despite one of the worst seasons on record.
Killington did not have to do this. Everyone would have understood if they had not blown Superstar a lift tower deep in man made snow. No one would have criticized Killington if they called it quits on May first like the other major resorts in New England. Years ago, we grew used to Killington closing with Superstar still edge to edge and top to bottom.
But not this season. Perhaps, never again will we have to make excuses. Maybe, never again will Killington make prudent financial decisions instead of running their business like the late season means something. Like the mountain has soul.
Adding to what would have already been a great day was meeting up with Harvey of the NY Ski Blog and making some new friends. It has been a few years since I’ve last had the pleasure of making turns with Harvey and it last happened at Killington. Harvey always manages to take rock star photos of other skiers and I was happy to see he got a good shot of me which led his post for the day.
What more can be said? Killington owned May during a season in which no one thought May was possible. The bumps on middle Superstar were phenomenal. Occasionally, I hit a really good line on the Headwall and Lower Superstar. Since I hadn’t skied much this season (and I certainly have not skied a full day of bumps), I only managed six runs before calling it quits. But they were six incredible runs.
Standing at the top of Superstar with a face full of sun was an amazing feeling. It was not powder but it was still righteous and one of my favorite days of the season. And saying that is in no way a relative statement on the rest of the season, today was legit.
All hail the King of Spring, the Beast of the East. Welcome back.
