Ok sometimes you push the season too long and that was what happened this past weekend at Killington. The March storms left lots of snow on the hill during April. Mid-winter conditions last up until the last weekend of the month. Unfortunately that is when both I and springtime showed up.

Killington was running 3 lifts last weekend  - the Canyon fixed, the K-1 gondola and the Superstar lift.  They reported 45 trails, (really there were 15-20 still a lot). I arrived at 0800 to fog and light rain but excellent parking! Temps were in the mid 40's and water running everywhere. Mud and muck. There were serious pond skimming opportunities on the run outs. Probably the Canyon fixed and the K-1 gondola should not of been running. Terrain off these lifts were classic Mid Atlantic prime. Good snow, spaced between patches of ice and brown dirt. The snow was soft and visibility low so hunting and pecking was the order of the day. Off the Superstar lift things where better, coverage was excellent especially on Superstar where there was still 10ft of snow base. The side trails off this lift were also much better that the off the other lifts. Killington as always plans to run the Superstar lift till Memorial weekend. These trails should hold up.

The fog lifted mid day and the rain stopped. However that is also when the people showed up and things got busy. Soft slow snow, limited terrian and crowds dont work well together cause some traffic issues.But still it was fun.   

What really supervised me was how little infrastructure improvements have been made at Killington. I had not been there since the mid 90's and it really looked the same. Based on the crowds they get I really don’t know where they put the people mid-season? The K-1 lodge is the same small set up and although they added some smaller lodges round the area there was really not much of a base /village area. I know most of the bars and restaurants at Killington are on the access road I just expected they had improved the K-1 or built more of a mini village like Stowe or Stratton. But if you ask a local they probably like it this way. It is the Beast of the East after all. 

oldensign wrote:

Ok sometimes you push the season too long and that was what happened this past weekend at Killington. The March storms left lots of snow on the hill during April. Mid-winter conditions last up until the last weekend of the month. Unfortunately that is when both I and springtime showed up.

Killington was running 3 lifts last weekend  - the Canyon fixed, the K-1 gondola and the Superstar lift.  They reported 45 trails, (really there were 15-20 still a lot). I arrived at 0800 to fog and light rain but excellent parking! Temps were in the mid 40's and water running everywhere. Mud and muck. There were serious pond skimming opportunities on the run outs. Probably the Canyon fixed and the K-1 gondola should not of been running. Terrain off these lifts were classic Mid Atlantic prime. Good snow, spaced between patches of ice and brown dirt. The snow was soft and visibility low so hunting and pecking was the order of the day. Off the Superstar lift things where better, coverage was excellent especially on Superstar where there was still 10ft of snow base. The side trails off this lift were also much better that the off the other lifts. Killington as always plans to run the Superstar lift till Memorial weekend. These trails should hold up.

The fog lifted mid day and the rain stopped. However that is also when the people showed up and things got busy. Soft slow snow, limited terrian and crowds dont work well together cause some traffic issues.But still it was fun.   

What really supervised me was how little infrastructure improvements have been made at Killington. I had not been there since the mid 90's and it really looked the same. Based on the crowds they get I really don’t know where they put the people mid-season? The K-1 lodge is the same small set up and although they added some smaller lodges round the area there was really not much of a base /village area. I know most of the bars and restaurants at Killington are on the access road I just expected they had improved the K-1 or built more of a mini village like Stowe or Stratton. But if you ask a local they probably like it this way. It is the Beast of the East after all. 

   

You went one season too early in terms of capital improvements that aren't related to snowmaking.  I skied at Killington for the first time the Monday before Thanksgiving.  With only the one lodge and the gondola open from the base, just got a feel for place so that the trail map makes a bit more sense.  They were setting up for the World Cup races.  The ability to make lots of snow early in the season is why Kton can host races that early in the season.  As I remember from the Killington magazine, it's actually the really old snowguns that can operate better at less than optimal temperatures.  That allows the early start in Oct on the race trails.  New technology is more energy efficient but Kton isn't scrapping the old guns any time soon.

Kton reminds me of Gore.  Overall, there is quite a bit of terrain.  But the different areas are essentially separate with so many different mountains.  Have heard that even on busy weekends, it's possible to find relatively empty lifts.  That's true of Sunday river too.

http://www.newenglandskiindustry.com/viewstory.php?storyid=661

"Killington is about to embark upon its largest capital investment in over two decades, according to a press release issued by the resort today. The $16 million project is the largest at the resort since American Skiing Company invested the equivalent of $18.5 million in 1997. . . ."