Pretty sure I'm but I have to mention it. I went to Stratton this past weekend for the 1st time ever to use some Max Pass days and I'm blown away by how nice the the lifts are there. I also skied Okemo this year also for the 1st time and their lifts are great too but Stratton has 4 6 six packs and the gondola with 4 lifts going to the peak.
Killington's lift structure is pathetic and embarrassing. It's miserable they only have one lift to the peak and so many fixed grip lifts still around. As a major East Coast player they are falling behind.
High speed lifts with no increase in capacity makes LONGER LIFT LINES. FACT. The huge lines at popular Killington detachables are a major deterrent to customers. Nothing I hate more than standing in line. Folks paying $100/day to stand in line for half an hour each lift ride aren't coming back anytime soon...
Between the Skye Peak Express, Needles Express, Skyeship and Superstar Express you have awesome, high-speed access to a ton of terrain.
I am not sure why you would need another lift to the Killington Peak. I guess they could replace the Canyon Quad with a high speed lift, but since there is never a line at this lift, it would be a waste.
Snowdon needs a high speed lift, and I suppose a six-pack bubble chair on Ramshead would be good for the crowd that likes Stratton and Okemo.
Things will be fine once they construct that quad up South Ridge all the way to the supply room at Peak Lodge.
Yeah Stratton .. all those beautiful lifts and North American pod is about all that's worth anything.
IF they ever replace the south ridge chair they could potentially extend that to area just below the peak lodge and you can walk up the stairs to ski off the front to cascade, downdraft and catwalk.
Also if I was going to put a NEW 6 pack someplace I would put it between the superstar lift and the KMS building and have it unload behind the canyon quad near spill way. Probably have it where they keep the fan gun or the inflatable balloon sometimes.
Need 6 pack replacements on sky peak, snowden and ramshead.
jimmywilson69 wrote:Please explain/map where at least 1 other lift terminal could be placed at the top of Killington Peak.
Just skied Snowbird/Alta for 6 days, and the number of lift stoppages ALL WEEK can be counted on one hand. Lots of opportunities with high winds across those ridge lines, and plenty of tourists who may not be experienced at those particular lift routines or might not have the ski experience, especially at the base levels. So how do they run similar design lifts with tougher environmental conditions with a predominant tourist crowd so well? Even the few old funky lifts at Alta run without stops.
Somehow - whenever I ski elsewhere (out west or other VT) the lifts run well despite winds, ice & snow exposures, and customer screw-ups. But at Killington most lifts are guaranteed to piss off any type of customer. Especially the 2 Snowdon chairs. Makes me wonder if lifties are trained to use a hair trigger response and hit the stop button just to watch the chairs swing for fun. The latest stupidity I heard this weekend was that lifties are stopping or slowing the Snowdon quad because people are taking up space at the top, creating congestion. Several people standing on skis at the little bench were told to move because they were causing lift stoppages. There is a ton of room there. Are you kidding me? All you need is a green jacket to stand there with a few kind words of wisdom and safety - "clear the area and move to the sides". Put up a sign, do something. But pissing off the customers seems far easier to do, and nothing will change because nothing ever improves. They write about improvements, investments, changes but their customers do not get to look at, feel or enjoy anything.
So nothing improves, nothing gets updated like the competition, same old embarrassing story. So we are all left to guess why:
1)POWDR thinks the Killington has enough lift capacity, so why invest?
2)POWDR does not want to make a decision until they figure out how they might want to deal with a Village uphill transportation issue. So suffer for years!
3)POWDR feels that the situation is blown out of proportion. The lifts are really just as good as everyone else's.
4)Whatever capital they would care to spend is projected for their contribution into the Village project.
5)Someone at Killington massages the lift stoppage data.
I seriously doubt #5 because I feel that K ops has integrity, but you never know. After the Mt. Batchelor employee complaints about burying lift data, I can't believe anything POWDR does.
1,2,3,4 reflect on an arrogant ownership that is the exact opposite of customer focused. Big coin was dropped into Copper, I would imagine it was to keep up with the competition in Summit County. Who the hell thinks Killington is a leader in anything in Vermont? All the big attributes ( better winter weather, terrain, variety, access road, close enough to major populations) do not come from POWDR. So where is the investment to keep up with Stowe, Okemo, Sugarbush, Stratton?
Hey, let's not talk about lifts when they can't figure out how to remove small snowfalls from the lodges until after opening. Weekends are your key days and the money makers. Walk up to a lodge in the morning and get a good taste of run down, afterthought properties. They appear to be so concerned about saving nickels and it causes them to lose dimes, quarters, dollars in bad press and poor word of mouth. Perhaps they think that 99% of everyone loves them? Stop looking at the NPS numbers for answers or feel-good numbers. Its way overdue to do something about lifts, lodges, parking. Oh, wait. When the Village starts up, the lifts will be the LAST thing we talk about. Where will all the cars be parking for the existing business levels which are far lower than possible? During construction, it will be a mess.
Can't wait for Vail to come into New England and show Cumming how to run a ski area. Can't use the term "resort" here yet. Improving summer business with a good mountain biking program and other activities should not be your two year claim to fame.
Sorry for the rant, just got into a bad mood this weekend from the unmentionable secret r**n that soaked the place last week and put a layer of ice on everything.
Why is it the good "skier's mountains" always tend to have rather outdated lift infrastructures, and the ones with crappy terrain all have nice lifts? It's more than a coincidence. Rogman's postulate: the quality of the terrain is inversely proportional to the quality of the lifts.
Stormchaser wrote:High speed lifts with no increase in capacity makes LONGER LIFT LINES. FACT. The huge lines at popular Killington detachables are a major deterrent to customers. Nothing I hate more than standing in line. Folks paying $100/day to stand in line for half an hour each lift ride aren't coming back anytime soon...
Not sure I agree with this. This weekend, there was a line at Skye Peak Quad during the morning rush; Needles Eye was ski on with no line almost all day; Superstar had a line when the lift stopped because someone fell off while loading but was ski right on the other times we rode it. The major deterrent is the K1 line, which I heard was 40 minutes at one point on Saturday. That just sucks and easily solved with a new Snowden lift.
From what I heard Saturday's skier visits was 14,000+. Sound like a big number but not sure how that ranks.
Stormchaser wrote:High speed lifts with no increase in capacity makes LONGER LIFT LINES. FACT. The huge lines at popular Killington detachables are a major deterrent to customers. Nothing I hate more than standing in line. Folks paying $100/day to stand in line for half an hour each lift ride aren't coming back anytime soon...
Not sure I agree with this. This weekend, there was a line at Skye Peak Quad during the morning rush; Needles Eye was ski on with no line almost all day; Superstar had a line when the lift stopped because someone fell off while loading but was ski right on the other times we rode it. The major deterrent is the K1 line, which I heard was 40 minutes at one point on Saturday. That just sucks and easily solved with a new Snowden lift.
From what I heard Saturday's skier visits was 14,000+. Sound like a big number but not sure how that ranks.
Nyberg broke Killington when he removed the South Ridge Triple and close the Snowshed crossover. Those decisions changed load distribution all over the resort: You can't use the Bear Quad to get out of Bear, so there are more riders on the SPE and fewer on the Bear quad. You can't get into the Canyon except by taking the K1, Snowdon Quad, or triple (all slow for their own reasons), so the Canyon Quad (and North Ridge) are underutilized. As a result, Killington on busy days provides a poor experience for their visitors.
Think back to pre Superstar / K1 Gondola. K Peak double had weekend and holiday lift lines about 30 to 45 minutes long. If you managed a 12 run day you were doing good. I managed to work out a plan from Bear at 8 AM to 10 AM then hit Needles and over to the Base area. Crowd usually went the other way. 10 runs by 10 o'clock so not a big deal waiting in line later in the day. Current quads are fine. Need to install a lift up South Ridge and replace the aging Snowdon chairs but disagree with HSQ lifts. Just another lift down at opening bell due to icing.
IMO most of the trails from the peak (great eastern / northern with all the intersections etc) can't handle any more skier capacity.... so there is no need to send more people at once to the peak to make the intersections and trails more crowded at once.
I agree some of the lifts could be "nicer", and the return of something on South Ridge would be welcomed.
Good lord, please no more lifts to the top of the Peak... Traffic is bad enough.
Agree South Ridge needs a lift, it needed it the day after the SRT was removed...
Upgrade the Snowdon chairs but not HSQ, too many skiers on trails that are already too crowded with all abilities jockeying for hill space.
Faster and glossier, isn't always better.
"Audaces Fortuna Luvat” Fortune Favors the Bold...
but I have to mention it. I went to Stratton this past weekend for the 1st time ever to use some Max Pass days and I'm blown away by how nice the the lifts are there. I also skied Okemo this year also for the 1st time and their lifts are great too but Stratton has 4 6 six packs and the gondola with 4 lifts going to the peak. 
