MEET ME AT BEAR MOUNTAIN

I keep telling you, the Bear Mt. Mogul Challenge is the best party at Killington. Last year was no exception. Saturday was a lovely, sunny day and the crowd was partying their brains out at the bottom of the mountain. Sunday was another matter. There was a BLIZZARD. It snowed so bad, I was forced to stay another day and ski. There was no way I was going to drive home in all that snow. Sometimes, a ski writer just has to make a sacrifice for his readers. (Skiing was fabulous on Monday)

If you can make it, come and party with me and thousands of other skiers at Killington on April 7-8. All the ski houses will be holding cookouts at the bottom of the mountain. There will be one or two beautiful women watching the competition and the skiing will be great.

BUMP CONTEST

When I arrived at Bear, the mountain was covered in fog. Luckily, as the morning progressed, the fog lifted and the sun came out. I took a few run down Wildfire to warm up and then I was ready to ski Outer Limits. The bumps were big as VW’s but I was able to handle them OK. I skied the top fairly well, but as my legs began to give out, it was more of a struggle.

I got some great shots of the preliminary rounds that day. There were a lot of really great bump skiers trying out for the contest. As usual, many of them were really good in the bumps but were lacking when it comes to air. A lot of contestants would ether fall in the landing of the first jump or land so far back on their skis that they were in trouble. After watching a lot of mogul competitions, I’ve learned aerials really make the difference, Outer Limits is the LAST place you want to find yourself in the back seat, going down a mogul run at speed could be a disaster! I have to hand it to them, may of the bumpers were able to recover and put on a great demonstration of mogul skiing, even if it was just riding their skis straight down the fall line at high speed to cross the finish line.

The party at the base was really great! There were thousands of people and Killington had the grill out on the porch where they were doing burgers, sausage, chicken, and steak. They also had: burgers, chicken, roast pig, sushi, shrimp, clam bar and plenty to drink. The sun was shining and it was really a great day. There were a few ski celebrities there. Donna Winebrecht was once again one of the judges. Evan Dybvig was there chilling with some of his old friends. Both Donna and Evan cut their teeth on the Outer limits moguls. A few other top skiers were also there, including Joey Latteroot and a bevy of beautiful women. Now, I’m not going to tell you that Killington has a lot of cute girls, I’ll leave that up to you. But, one of the things I have noticed, skiing all around the country, there are one or two pretty women that ski.

Iggy Rovetto, the owner of Pizza Jerks came in 1st, Kirk Sisson was 2nd and Daid Addams was 3rd. For the Women, it was Nicole Levesque in 1st with Georgine Rosenberg coming in 2nd. The winners each got a new pair of skis.

Iggy was so delighted with his win that he held a victory party that evening and it was free pizza and beer for the whole gang. It was a really nice party. There weren’t too many people there, mostly Iggy’s friends and other competitors. There was music playing and a few folks got up and did a little dancing. Some of the female mogul mashers were there and everybody had a good time.

Because of all the snow, weren’t too many people out and about. I headed home early and got a good night sleep. I the next day, the snow had stopped and I was really glad I had decided to stay another day.

There was a couple of feet of new snow, the sun was out and the skiing was as good as it ever gets. I had the whole mountain to myself and I skied and skied and skied.

Killington never disappoints me. No matter how many times I go there, I am never bored. There are always great trails to ski and interesting people to meet. In early April, the skiing is always fabulous. So, if you get a chance, grab your skis and head up to Killington. Look for me wondering around with a camera around my neck and a black parka or fleece with SkiBumNews.com on the back and a big smile on my face face.

Ian Fehler
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