You know you're having a good winter when you get a chance to ski out west twice in one season. In Vermont, that is. (Hey, that's west... of Maine!).

So what is the skinny on skiing out west (ok, I'll give up on the 'west' thing now)?

Vermont's famed Killington and Pico: Damn good.

Killington is huge and the terrain is incredible. And what of the famous Killington crowds that we've all heard about? Not bad at all. Really.

We pulled in early (key!) on a Saturday morning two weeks ago, and got a parking spot just a few rows down from the main K-1 Lodge. We hopped the gondola (which had a funny, but vaguely familiar odor inside when we got in. Hmmm...) and rode directly to the 4000' summit of Killington.

You can't ride the gondola if you ain't gotcher teef in!

We spent the next couple of hours making almost-fresh tracks on super black and blue trails off the North Ridge Triple and Canyon Quad. Double Dipper was fun, as was Rime, while Conclusion's bumps beat me up good.

When the crowds caught up to us (and I'm not kidding--they weren't bad anywhere all day, and this was a very crowded Saturday) we made off for Snowdon Mountain and then Ramshead Mountain. All good stuff.

We chowed down a quick lunch back at K-1. I got a good chuckle listening in to the odd mix of New York and Boston accents around me. In that crowd I fully expected at least some kind of reaction from the New York Yankees ball cap I was wearing, but no one cared.

After lunch we had our longest lift line wait of the day--11 minutes to get back on the K-1 Gondola. And with bellies full of PBJs, cookies and chips we screamed down the double-black steeps of Superstar and then a wild flight down Ovation. Woo-hoo!! Tremendous! Superstar demanded a second look before we headed further on to Bear Mountain.

Killington's K-1 Lodge with the Superstar trail in the background.

Outer Limits is reputed to be the steepest lift-service trail in the East. Ok, so? Just kidding. It's steep alright and had just enough strategically placed afternoon ice patches to make for a please-God-don't-let-me-fall, but fun run.

The famed Outer Limits trail.

Just to say we'd been across the entire mountain (and we had never expected to do that) we visited Sunrise Mountain. Don't bother. Unless you enjoy views of condos, and ski trails that seem as if they are going uphill.

We doubled up on some of our favorite runs to get back to the lodge before taking off for Great Ski Day, Phase II: Happy hour!

We passed many a pub and restaurant on the way down the access road. And for good reason: There's no apres-ski pub in the area like the Inn at Long Trail at the top of Sherburne Pass on Route 4.

Home away from home: The Inn at Long Trail.

The Inn at Long Trail is tucked right underneath Deer Leap Mountain, and one wall of the bar is actually a granite face of the mountain. Inside, McGrath's is a REAL Irish Pub (as I was to find out later), and one that I frequented during my 1995 thru-hike of the Long Trail from Massachusetts to Canada.

Revels Glen was entertaining the crowd with traditional Irish music as we ordered up a round of Long Trail Ales and relaxed into that fine, apres-ski, good-all-over feeling and recapped an excellent day on the slopes.

Considering a second beer, I noticed that the barkeep was pouring an awfully fine pint of Guinness that afternoon, but the Harp looked enticing too. What to do? Order a mix of the two, a Black & Tan. So I did. And the bartender said...

"We don't serve that kind of beer here." A bit stunned, I quickly determined this to mean: "We don't serve no stinkin' English beer here, you butthead."

Ooops. I had made a major mistake apparently.

A Black & Tan is a mixture of Guinness and the English beer Bass Ale. A big no-no to an Irishman. Thankfully, a more experienced Irish bar-goer was right behind me and observed the whole, unsavory affair. He came to my rescue and whispered, "Half & Half. Get a Half & Half."

Ok.

"I'll have a Half & Half, please."

And that's all it took. Whew! And like George Constanza and the Soup Nazi, I took my beer and stepped aside. No bread.

It was barely an hour after lasagna, salad, bread and dessert back at the condo that the coma set in. Zzzzzzzz...

We hit nearby Pico Peak early on Sunday morning.

Pico is not a resort like Killington. It's quaint with a capital Q. Old-style skiing at an old-style mountain. The floors in the lodge creak, the lifts groan, and we loved all of it! The place reminds me of a big Shawnee Peak.

But don't be misled. This is a big mountain with plenty of challenging terrain. And we went right after it.

It took two lifts to get to the summit (nearly 4000') before we could blast down Upper Pike, a straight-shot cruiser down the center of the hill. Then a couple of us figured we'd better take on the very gnarly looking double-black Giant Killer before we thought about it too much.

We slipped through a narrow opening in the trees out to the edge. And then plunged down the steep, narrow, bumped-up headwall. The slope was relentless and we both got thrashed about pretty good, but we made it and it was a hoot.

It was all fantastic cruising after the Giant Killer: K.A., Forty Niner, Bronco, Sidewinder, A-Slope, B-Slope and many other fun trails.

We were happy and beat by noon. It was just starting to snow, and having heard the forecast for a big storm, we beat feet out of there.

What a weekend: Half and half on Killington and Pico, and a Half and Half of Guinness and Harp. Not too shabby.