The Beast of the East

Killington, VT. The Beast of the East. When you come out of the gates with a grandiose marketing jingle like that you'd better be prepared to back it up with more than just an oh-look-we-got-a-couple-inches app. You'd better be prepared to offer up some of the longest, smoothest, and widest runs this side of the continental divide. You'd better cover said runs with powder so fresh that it makes Dominique Ansel's artisanal sprinklings look like the high fructose residue from a three month old Twinkie. And you'd better make sure you surround the spine of the Beast with enough microbreweries and down-to-earth eateries to send a clear signal that those with color-coordinated Helly Hansens should point their private jets elsewhere.

 

Challenge accepted. Welcome to the Beast! We refer of course to that gnarly black diamond down yonder, not that dude about to go slip-sliding his way to the bottom.

Winter 2014 will long be remembered along the eastern seaboard. The pessimists will grumble about incessant travel delays, slushy curbside puddles, and unrelenting cold for years to come. But the optimists, those who have ridden the Beast at her very finest, will dream of pow pow long after the last flakes have started their inexorable journey down the Hudson to the Atlantic.

It takes two to tame the Beast.

The Beast does have a softer side. How else do you explain a live band belting out the classics and the local Switchback ale on tap right at the bottom of the main lift? The Beast rewards those who persevere.

Walker goes through his pre-competition visualization routine in the Athlete's Village. Or is he Googling those Bud Light promo chicks from the bar? Both involve going downhill rather rapidly.

Day two dawns cold but clear, with two inches of new powder overnight. This is it boys, the Beast in all her glory awaits.

Double check those bindings. The Beast is going to take us for a wild ride.

Even the Beast has a softer side. Glorious undulating blue runs offer a welcome respite from the precipitous blacks.

When it's minus one degree Fahrenheit at the top that should be all the motivation one needs to get to the bottom as quickly as possible. Bring on the black diamonds!

Being a guys trip, it's an opportune time to point out even at 89 bucks for half a day on the lifts, these diamonds are a positive bargain compared to other diamonds one encounters in life.

The Beast bucked, she gnashed her teeth, but she was vanquished. Victory is sweet. As sweet as a pristinely groomed, arrow-straight run without a soul in sight.

 

The Beast is dead. Long live the Beasts.