Gun Show
STOP! You’re doing it allllllllll wrong…the perfect ski day is not the one with sound-muffling powder but with the beautiful sound of snow guns, pshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. That’s right, snow guns. S.N.O.W.G.U.N.S. SEXY. NUPTIAL. ORGASMIC. WHISTLING. GNARLY. UNIMAGINABLE. NECESSARY. SNOW.
With 1,700 snow guns and 88 miles of pipe (that’s a lot of pipe), Killington Resort has some of the best snowmaking in the world. Not only does it allow the mountain to be open from October to June (when the weather cooperates), but it can provide some of the gnarliest days when the natural snow is lacking.
Growing up 15 minutes away from Killington, my winters as a kid were spent at the mountain. And as many of us east coast kids know, when it’s icy, you’ve got to find a way to enjoy it. With all of Killington’s snow guns, they resurface as fast as possible after rain storms. While many people stay away from the snow guns, I jump right in.
The key to skiing in the guns is staying on the gun side of the whale, if not, closer to the guns themselves. Many people ski on the opposite side, where you can get nice turns, but in my opinion, the gun side is the better side. Skiing on this side offers different lips and walls to carve; the only downside is the mess that your goggles become.
To effectively ski in the guns you need to be able to keep your goggles clean. You need to master the art of the pole plant wipe, a simple motion that involves wiping your goggles clear with your forearm post-pole plant. If you don’t wipe enough the snow will freeze to your goggles, leading to a miserable ski day. Some people are scared of scratching their goggles, but if performed properly your goggles will stay smoother than a baby’s bottom. While I have had some great days under the guns, I have also had some nasty wipeouts. I’m not talking about losing just one ski or a pole, I’m talking about double ejection, poles flying, and full scorpion yard sales into the front side of the next whale. I’m sure everyone that has skied east coast guns knows that they can get wet, and when they do your skis will not slide. To avoid eating it you need to learn to tell the difference in colors between wet and fluffy snow.
It is fairly simple, the wet snow will have a yellow tint, whereas the good stuff will be white. Often, you won’t know what you will get until you are about to hit it, because guns are set to different settings which change the amount of water that is firing. If you find yourself flying over the backside of a whale and see the snow is wet, you need to get into the backseat as soon as possible. This will give you the best chance of staying behind the handlebars. Now that you know the best way to ski the guns, it’s time to get out there and send it. To properly shred the guns, carve up and down the whales, hitting the man-made drops, and lap them until the sun goes down.
On a proper snow gun day you will hear the guns the second you step out of the car. At Killington, the best trails for snowmaking will be Superstar, Highline, or Outerlimits. Anytime and anywhere you see snow guns, there is the possibility for an epic day. he only way you can tell if you are doing it right is if there is a smile on your face and you are completely covered in snow from head to toe. You had better be looking like the Abominable Snowman at the end of the day.
Ian Robertson ‘25
