Drive Times

This weekend’s snow storm will be long remembered by many skiers and riders. Not only for the bounties of new powder that it dealt to the slopes, but also for the drive to get there.

The roadways of New England turned into a complete and utter disaster Friday afternoon, into the evening, and remained that way throughout the night.

This group actually made it all the way to Killington, and then went off the road. Can you guess which state? Hit the message board.

I was lucky…
I took Friday off from work. My ride to Killington, VT only took a shade over 4 hours. I left Boston around quarter past noon.
The only problem I had was that it took me almost 2 hours to get to the NH border on 93N. Travel speeds were reduced to 5 mph for most of the 40 mile stretch. The southbound lane was worse, riddled with cars off the rode in the ditches and an enormous pile up (at least a dozen vehicles).
It normally takes an hour to reach the NH Toll from Boston.
Not this past Friday. It was almost as if the state of MA was not ready for this storm. There was absolutely zero rode treatment down. The result was flakes hit the ground, melted, and then froze. Once a nice slick layer of ice developed on the asphalt then flakes began to pile up on top of it.
The plows could not even get out there to do anything to help the roads improve because there was a traffic jam on them.
Treacherous!
Good news for me is that I did get ahead of the storm. Once I hit 89 the roads were dry and clear. Smooth sailing all the way up.
Most of the people/groups I spoke with that came up to Killington dealt with the following average windshield times.
• Boston area – seven hour drives were the norm
• NJ/NYC region – most in the 9 to 10 hour range
• Philly – 12 plus hour journeys, checked in and went skiing (think red eye)
a group I met from Philly that made the drive for powder

The REWARD: Some of the best powder skiing New England has seen this decade!
Killington reported a 2 day storm total of 33 inches.
Pow, pow, pow – 18” on the ground Saturday morning.
Pah POW – Another 15” by 4:00 PM on Sunday made for some unforgettable skiing and riding.
If you did brave the roads Friday, and made it north, you were one of the lucky ones that Got Some of this snow.
More updates to follow later in the week on the skiing, happy Monday.
Think Snow,
photos ~ S.G.
T-bone “Getting Some!” in the trees on Growler