Queen of the Catskills

  Killington I love Vermont. I stayed at the Mountain Valley Retreat last night. Beautiful view from my room and this morning they served me French toast, sausage, and eggs straight out of their chicken’s ass. The gentleman who owns the retreat asked if he could join me. When he sat down he said, “Would you like to talk about aliens?” We proceeded to talk about extraterrestrials and spirituality for the remainder of breakfast. Despite it being unusual topics of conversation, it actually was a very pleasant start to the day. At 10 am Superstar already looked like my face at the height of puberty when I had horrible cystic acne. (I’m not joking; it was really bad.) But we come here for the bumps, and they were abundant today. The headwall is starting to give. There are a lot of rocks popping up and that also means that the spot gets a little backed up as people try to pick their way through. There are also some rocks popping up on the lower third toward the bottom. However, it was s...

Killington Resort Ladies and Gentlemen, Behold, the 8th wonder of the world: @killingtonmtn providing top to bottom skiing on Memorial Day weekend with no walking required!!   The conditions are superb. We are down to the frozen base, but it keeps your speed going so that you’re not slogging through wet slop. The brief, but intense rain kept the bumps (and crowds) small for a good part of the day, but eventually we got to the big spring moguls we have come to know and love. Superstar has endured numerous heatwaves, intense rain, and then heatwaves and intense rain again; yet, she refuses to be defeated. America should adopt this strip of white as a symbol of grit—and how when soul, skill, and commitment merge, humans are capable of things that seem impossible. Duane at the bar was performing so many 90s and classic rock songs from my ski playlist, that I just kept turning to my friend and saying, “I love this song. It’s on my playlist.” The only bummer is that the IPA specials are...

 Pine Swamp Loop (Harriman State Park) Pretty solid day today. I’m a finalist for a position at a school near Harriman, so I might get my dream of leaving city life, but even if I don’t, it gave me hope that something will work out eventually. After celebrating with a Voodoo Ranger, I decided to do the Pine Swamp loop. I went counterclockwise taking the Arden Surebridge trail, crossed over to catch the viewpoint, and then continued on.  The trail was in dry condition and I felt amazing. I was running the entire thing with ease, and I’m not really into running. I transitioned onto the Dunning Trail and found the path to the mine. Last time I was there it was dark. While it was interesting to see the mine with headlamps, it was more intriguing to see the spectrum of colors in the rock illuminated with the sun. Somehow I think the daylight made it look a little bit spookier. It reminded me of Pennywise’s home in the old TV miniseries It.  The swamp does overrun part of the D...

 Killington Superstar is in amazing shape considering we’ve had two weeks of above 80 degree weather.  When I arrived at about 11:30, the bumps were most prominent on the headwall, but the lower parts had small ones. Since the crowds are thinning, it took longer for the big bumps to form, but they eventually got there.  Bikini top skiing wasn’t even just for fun, I was just that hot. I think the biggest sign of my increasing maturity is putting on the SPF 70 before arriving. Usually, I delude myself into thinking I’d like to get a bit of a tan, but you don’t tan on snow, you get practically 3rd degree burns. My next challenge will be to actually apply it evenly. I’m looking a bit patchy today.  After skiing it was all about walking from tailgate party to tailgate party and saying hi to people. I love this time of year and I’ll be sad to see it end soon. But at least we get to go out in style.  There are still $4 and $6 IPAs, and they’re selling them at the umbre...

 Killington I only got 3 runs in today because of the lightning, but that 3rd run was the run of the season!! I just kept screaming, “I love skiing!!”and was just in that perfect flow state. Every turn was pure fun and an expression of true inward joy. Those moments are the reason we ski as often as we do. I mean skiing (especially the uphill) is great at processing pain, but the significance of being able to express spontaneous joy cannot be underestimated either.  Bittersweet was my favorite run. Superstar is is in incredible shape, but when you backcountry ski the Catskills, anything that has skiable snow is like gold. It keeps you so appreciative of conditions everyone else sees as not so great. There were some mud spots, but you can totally ski over them. It’s just a short hike at the bottom back to Superstar, so in my mind, it’s worth it. Superstar is crowded, but with good skiers so you don’t notice it. I realized today how the skier ability level can make a crowded tra...

 Killington I adore the spring because all the hardcore skiers are either at Tuckerman Ravine or Killington and you get to hang out with people from all over the northeast. The snow was perfect. It wasn’t too warm so it softened up just enough to be fun, but not sticky and energy draining.  However, my greatest piece of information to share today is that if you see people selling beers on the deck, hit that because they have amazing IPAs at half the price of the umbrella bar. You can get a $4 Heady Topper or a $13 Sip o Sunshine. You make the choice.  I was talking to some friends today about how for us, skiing is really a lifestyle. Relationships (of all kinds) can be hard with people outside of the ski lifestyle because non-diehard skiers think skiing is just a fun way to pass some time. Therefore, it shouldn’t be hard to forsake skiing to spend time with them. They don’t understand that it’s serving a far greater purpose and that, while I believe you need to compromise...