Ski Days #13 & #14: Last Call, First Chair (Killington, VT)

Each year around Christmas my best friends from high school and I try to take a ski trip together. Given that Christmas is still early season, we choose to go to Killington since they are experts at making snow. But to say we go for the skiing would be a little bit of a lie, we really head to Killington for the party.

Our first day of skiing was great. A big rain storm had swept through the east a few days earlier, so a lot of the natural snow trails had closed down, but there was more than enough man-made snow to keep most of the mountain open. The groomers did a great job power-grooming and had broken up the ice to make nice frozen granular snow on top of icy crust. As I said to one of the lifties, "The corn is ripe".

At the end of the day we headed to the Umbrella Bar for après. This is a pretty cool bar under an umbrealla (with glass walls during the colder months) that serve great Vermont drinks like Long Trail Ale and Citizen Cider.

That night, we first headed to the Wobbly Barn. This is a pretty unique scene as the ground level is a night club with a great band on stage and the bottom level is a steakhouse. After putting in a our name we headed up to the bar in the club area to grab a drink and listen to the après band, Tony Lee Thomas, that was still killing it until 8 at night. This band was a great cover band playing lots of hits. After they finished up we headed down to eat. Everything on the menu is great, but the steaks are best, I recommend the filet mignon.

After dinner we hit the Pickle Barrel Nightclub. This place is legendary and is one crown jewel of the world famous Killington access road. The band that night was Johnny Drama (I'm not sure, but I think they named the band that because the lead singer looks like Johnny Drama from Entourage). Again, they played lots of great covers, but my favorite was Hey Ya (here's the original: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWgvGjAhvIw). The whole place was packed; just skiers and riders having a good time. We stayed until last call and didn't get to sleep until about 2:30 AM.

The next morning it was time to earn bragging rights. My buddy was tired and decided to sleep in, but I headed up to the base to catch first chair on the Superstar Express at 8 AM. To make it even more hard-core, it was raining out and the entire mountain was socked in with fog so thick you could barely make out the next lift tower. It was a true #skitheeast moment.

-Steve
"Born On Ice, Perfected In Powder"

 A classic, tight, tree-lined New England trail.

 Saw this sticker on a lift. I agree, Vermont needs to stay New England, not Jersey.

 That moment when you lose the top of the lift into the clouds.

 Me and the big guy up top.

Tony Lee Thomas at the Wobbly Barn.