5.7 Million Capital Expenditures for 2018

[RENO]

anyone bitching about summer improvements is clueless...the summer program has brought thousands of patrons to a previous summer ghost town...

Summer upgrades have been great. They need a lot of lift work for the winter. Gondola's and HSQ's should not be stopping as often as they have the last few years. The snowdon quad needs to be replaced. The snowdon triple is a POS also, but who cares as long as they replace the quad.

[biged]

anyone bitching about summer improvements is clueless...the summer program has brought thousands of patrons to a previous summer ghost town...

The only issue that I have, is the Mountain Bike Improvements at Snowshed. Improvements at Snowshed started the increase in summer visits. What happens to them when they decide to build houses with the new village?

[Seacoaster]

anyone bitching about summer improvements is clueless...the summer program has brought thousands of patrons to a previous summer ghost town...

The only issue that I have, is the Mountain Bike Improvements at Snowshed. Improvements at Snowshed started the increase in summer visits. What happens to them when they decide to build houses with the new village?

We will let you know in 2030.....

[Seacoaster]

You can literally go line by line and point out Killington's utter horse sh*t:

163 new Low E tower guns - PAID FOR BY 'ENERGY EFFICENCY VERMONT', not by Killington

Lift upgrades - Only "upgrade" is to the Snowdon Triple, paid for by KMS. Everything else is LONG OVERDUE maintenance, which is compulsory for a 2nd tier resort like Killington to perform.

Killington has **added** three new grooming tractors to its impressive fleet of snow groomers - Are we sure they aren't leasing these machines, and they are just replacing old with new? They certainly aren't increasing the number of groomers they have.

$1M+ Summer and Bike park improvements. First of all, these are SUMMER improvements. They must be building the most expensive bike trails in the world up there.

Also, if you add up the numbers they provide, I get about $4.5M..........so there's $1.2M of EVEN LESS NOTEWORTHY improvements....?

HWYSTR, your comment on the bike park is somewhere between stupid and ignorant. The bike park is bringing the resort to an entirely different level. IDK if you are local or not, but the visitors that the BP brings in the summer are well worth the investment and is good for our local economy. Business owner friends are reporting better balance sheets(not making money, but not bleeding any) and they are keeping staff year round. This is good for our town and the resort. As the park continues to grow, we will only see the upside benefits. If you attend any industry tradeshows, Killington Bike par is the buzz in the east, it is what we need to establish a stale year round economy.

[Highway Star]

You can literally go line by line and point out Killington's utter horse sh*t:

163 new Low E tower guns - PAID FOR BY 'ENERGY EFFICENCY VERMONT', not by Killington

Lift upgrades - Only "upgrade" is to the Snowdon Triple, paid for by KMS. Everything else is LONG OVERDUE maintenance, which is compulsory for a 2nd tier resort like Killington to perform.

Killington has **added** three new grooming tractors to its impressive fleet of snow groomers - Are we sure they aren't leasing these machines, and they are just replacing old with new? They certainly aren't increasing the number of groomers they have.

$1M+ Summer and Bike park improvements. First of all, these are SUMMER improvements. They must be building the most expensive bike trails in the world up there.

Also, if you add up the numbers they provide, I get about $4.5M..........so there's $1.2M of EVEN LESS NOTEWORTHY improvements....?

HWYSTR, your comment on the bike park is somewhere between stupid and ignorant. The bike park is bringing the resort to an entirely different level. IDK if you are local or not, but the visitors that the BP brings in the summer are well worth the investment and is good for our local economy. Business owner friends are reporting better balance sheets(not making money, but not bleeding any) and they are keeping staff year round. This is good for our town and the resort. As the park continues to grow, we will only see the upside benefits. If you attend any industry tradeshows, Killington Bike par is the buzz in the east, it is what we need to establish a stale year round economy.

Funny stuff. I care about winter improvements, because I come to Killington in the WINTER to go skiing. I mountain bike somewhat seriously but quit DH racing over 15 years ago as it's just to easy to get torn up or hurt badly. Glad to see them doing well with it though, they should have been doing it 10 years ago.

I hope Bike Park doesn't see the same major loss in participation as DH saw in the early 00's, you may be able to build some hype around it, but when noobs start getting jacked up at a high rate, it tanks. There's only so much room in the core market. We'll see.

[madhatter]

You can literally go line by line and point out Killington's utter horse sh*t:

163 new Low E tower guns - PAID FOR BY 'ENERGY EFFICENCY VERMONT', not by Killington

Lift upgrades - Only "upgrade" is to the Snowdon Triple, paid for by KMS. Everything else is LONG OVERDUE maintenance, which is compulsory for a 2nd tier resort like Killington to perform.

Killington has **added** three new grooming tractors to its impressive fleet of snow groomers - Are we sure they aren't leasing these machines, and they are just replacing old with new? They certainly aren't increasing the number of groomers they have.

$1M+ Summer and Bike park improvements. First of all, these are SUMMER improvements. They must be building the most expensive bike trails in the world up there.

Also, if you add up the numbers they provide, I get about $4.5M..........so there's $1.2M of EVEN LESS NOTEWORTHY improvements....?

HWYSTR, your comment on the bike park is somewhere between stupid and ignorant. The bike park is bringing the resort to an entirely different level. IDK if you are local or not, but the visitors that the BP brings in the summer are well worth the investment and is good for our local economy. Business owner friends are reporting better balance sheets(not making money, but not bleeding any) and they are keeping staff year round. This is good for our town and the resort. As the park continues to grow, we will only see the upside benefits. If you attend any industry tradeshows, Killington Bike par is the buzz in the east, it is what we need to establish a stale year round economy.

Funny stuff. I care about winter improvements, because I come to Killington in the WINTER to go skiing. I mountain bike somewhat seriously but quit DH racing over 15 years ago as it's just to easy to get torn up or hurt badly. Glad to see them doing well with it though, they should have been doing it 10 years ago.

I hope Bike Park doesn't see the same major loss in participation as DH saw in the early 00's, you may be able to build some hype around it, but when noobs start getting jacked up at a high rate, it tanks. There's only so much room in the core market. We'll see.

hard to argue w any of the bold...that said the appetite for it is pretty good right now...I'm surprised how many people are there even midweek during the summer, it drops off after school starts and fades by end of season for sure...

in addition the rest of the summer attractions are priced well when purchased as a season pass, locals pass, pre-buy etc...good number of families etc are there most midsummer days...the music series attracts a big crowd too...

compared to where they were 5 years ago the summer business is huge...we have over 100 racers in our bike bum series that runs 1-5 on Wednesdays...thats 100 racers actually making a run, not just paid the fee..

[Seacoaster]

Hatter is right, the Bike bum scene is so much better than the ski bum scene as well. The vibe in this core group in our community is just awesome IMO. But you all are correct, there is a price to be paid with the aging body riding DH.
HWSTR, it is nice you come here in the winter to ski(I guess) but we need a year round economy to thrive, not just one subject to seasonal woes. The Summer investments lipstickish, but they are genuinely contributing to the sustainability of our volatile winter seasons.

[Woodsrider]

Mountain biking is a growing sport. Skiing is not. Yes proper downhilling is a dangerous sport. But the majority of riders I see at K are middle aged men. Probably because it is so expensive. That said trail riding has a huge population and is growing rapidly and today’s trail bikes are more than capable of handling downhill trails. All of the new trails at K cater to these type of bikes. I don’t see a lot of riders on the double diamond trails. But everything else gets a lot of use. Kids, moms,families, you name them ride here. They don’t seem to be too concerned with getting banged up. There is also a lot more women riders now, which is awesome and they kick ass. I also see a crap load of rental bikes out there. So k is doing something right. With the growing network of trails in the area, biking is bringing in a whole new crowd and revenue stream to the area. Investment very well spent.

[Highway Star]

Mountain biking is a growing sport. Skiing is not. Yes proper downhilling is a dangerous sport. But the majority of riders I see at K are middle aged men. Probably because it is so expensive. That said trail riding has a huge population and is growing rapidly and today’s trail bikes are more than capable of handling downhill trails. All of the new trails at K cater to these type of bikes. I don’t see a lot of riders on the double diamond trails. But everything else gets a lot of use. Kids, moms,families, you name them ride here. They don’t seem to be too concerned with getting banged up. There is also a lot more women riders now, which is awesome and they kick ass. I also see a crap load of rental bikes out there. So k is doing something right. With the growing network of trails in the area, biking is bringing in a whole new crowd and revenue stream to the area. Investment very well spent.

That's the premise at least. I've never really ridden flow trails, my DH experience back in the day was when 8" travel bikes had recently come out and people were pouring into the discipline. It was cool but people dropped out after a couple years due to the cost and constantly getting jacked up on the rough trails. I've ridden Killington's traditional trails. I'm leery of this expansion of the sport, flow trails are easy to ride, but they encourage high speeds with marginal skills, which can result in catastrophic crashes if the rider leaves the trail or hits a tree.

It seems to be going pretty well so far, but it's eventually going to develop some sort of ceiling and drop in participation as people come to understand the real risks of it. I know people that recently went from XC riding to bike park with less than expert level skills and got jacked up in a bad way.

I've seen a similar thing happen with rollerblading. I've been skating on and off since the late 80's, it blew up in the early 90's for a little while. The image is of having fun on bike paths with babes in spandex. It's great if you're young, genuinely athletic, and risk tolerant. The reality is skinned knees, ass rash, broken wrists, and head injuries. That's why it's now a niche sport and the general public doesn't participate in it. I don't ski with a helmet, but I rollerblade with one, if that tells you anything.

[Woodsrider]

Mountain biking is a growing sport. Skiing is not. Yes proper downhilling is a dangerous sport. But the majority of riders I see at K are middle aged men. Probably because it is so expensive. That said trail riding has a huge population and is growing rapidly and today’s trail bikes are more than capable of handling downhill trails. All of the new trails at K cater to these type of bikes. I don’t see a lot of riders on the double diamond trails. But everything else gets a lot of use. Kids, moms,families, you name them ride here. They don’t seem to be too concerned with getting banged up. There is also a lot more women riders now, which is awesome and they kick ass. I also see a crap load of rental bikes out there. So k is doing something right. With the growing network of trails in the area, biking is bringing in a whole new crowd and revenue stream to the area. Investment very well spent.

That's the premise at least. I've never really ridden flow trails, my DH experience back in the day was when 8" travel bikes had recently come out and people were pouring into the discipline. It was cool but people dropped out after a couple years due to the cost and constantly getting jacked up on the rough trails. I've ridden Killington's traditional trails. I'm leery of this expansion of the sport, flow trails are easy to ride, but they encourage high speeds with marginal skills, which can result in catastrophic crashes if the rider leaves the trail or hits a tree.

It seems to be going pretty well so far, but it's eventually going to develop some sort of ceiling and drop in participation as people come to understand the real risks of it. I know people that recently went from XC riding to bike park with less than expert level skills and got jacked up in a bad way.

I've seen a similar thing happen with rollerblading. I've been skating on and off since the late 80's, it blew up in the early 90's for a little while. The image is of having fun on bike paths with babes in spandex. It's great if you're young, genuinely athletic, and risk tolerant. The reality is skinned knees, ass rash, broken wrists, and head injuries. That's why it's now a niche sport and the general public doesn't participate in it. I don't ski with a helmet, but I rollerblade with one, if that tells you anything.

Today’s bikes are a far cry from what you rode way back when. They are way more stable and easy to ride on rough terrain. I agree that I don’t expect pure downhill to grow too rapidly but the reason is people aren’t buying purpose built downhill bikes. Unless you live near a resort, it’s tough to justify the expense. But free ride is growing and will continue to grow. We will be seeing more bikes that can be ridden up the mountain and haul the mail back down. There are a lot of these bikes at K and the bikes are getting better and better.
And you not wearing a helmet skiing only tells us you’re a fool.

[madhatter]

Mountain biking is a growing sport. Skiing is not. Yes proper downhilling is a dangerous sport. But the majority of riders I see at K are middle aged men. Probably because it is so expensive. That said trail riding has a huge population and is growing rapidly and today’s trail bikes are more than capable of handling downhill trails. All of the new trails at K cater to these type of bikes. I don’t see a lot of riders on the double diamond trails. But everything else gets a lot of use. Kids, moms,families, you name them ride here. They don’t seem to be too concerned with getting banged up. There is also a lot more women riders now, which is awesome and they kick ass. I also see a crap load of rental bikes out there. So k is doing something right. With the growing network of trails in the area, biking is bringing in a whole new crowd and revenue stream to the area. Investment very well spent.

That's the premise at least. I've never really ridden flow trails, my DH experience back in the day was when 8" travel bikes had recently come out and people were pouring into the discipline. It was cool but people dropped out after a couple years due to the cost and constantly getting jacked up on the rough trails. I've ridden Killington's traditional trails. I'm leery of this expansion of the sport, flow trails are easy to ride, but they encourage high speeds with marginal skills, which can result in catastrophic crashes if the rider leaves the trail or hits a tree.

It seems to be going pretty well so far, but it's eventually going to develop some sort of ceiling and drop in participation as people come to understand the real risks of it. I know people that recently went from XC riding to bike park with less than expert level skills and got jacked up in a bad way.

I've seen a similar thing happen with rollerblading. I've been skating on and off since the late 80's, it blew up in the early 90's for a little while. The image is of having fun on bike paths with babes in spandex. It's great if you're young, genuinely athletic, and risk tolerant. The reality is skinned knees, ass rash, broken wrists, and head injuries. That's why it's now a niche sport and the general public doesn't participate in it. I don't ski with a helmet, but I rollerblade with one, if that tells you anything.

Today’s bikes are a far cry from what you rode way back when. They are way more stable and easy to ride on rough terrain. I agree that I don’t expect pure downhill to grow too rapidly but the reason is people aren’t buying purpose built downhill bikes. Unless you live near a resort, it’s tough to justify the expense. But free ride is growing and will continue to grow. We will be seeing more bikes that can be ridden up the mountain and haul the mail back down. There are a lot of these bikes at K and the bikes are getting better and better.
And you not wearing a helmet skiing only tells us you’re a fool.

yup...that is a big factor...the do-all bike...lots of nice ones now compared to just 2-3 yrs ago...

I rarely ride any of the more gnarly traditional DH trials at K...nonetheless I get banged up more on my xc/trail bike than on the dh/park bike...less protective gear, less tire and I ride it a lot more often in less than perfect conditions...

[jimmywilson69]

Highway Star is now an expert on the trajectory of where the mountain bike scene is going.

Dude should really be doing more than sitting in his mothers basement spewing sh*t all day long on message boards...






That's sarcasm incase anyone missed it!

[Highway Star]

Mountain biking is a growing sport. Skiing is not. Yes proper downhilling is a dangerous sport. But the majority of riders I see at K are middle aged men. Probably because it is so expensive. That said trail riding has a huge population and is growing rapidly and today’s trail bikes are more than capable of handling downhill trails. All of the new trails at K cater to these type of bikes. I don’t see a lot of riders on the double diamond trails. But everything else gets a lot of use. Kids, moms,families, you name them ride here. They don’t seem to be too concerned with getting banged up. There is also a lot more women riders now, which is awesome and they kick ass. I also see a crap load of rental bikes out there. So k is doing something right. With the growing network of trails in the area, biking is bringing in a whole new crowd and revenue stream to the area. Investment very well spent.

That's the premise at least. I've never really ridden flow trails, my DH experience back in the day was when 8" travel bikes had recently come out and people were pouring into the discipline. It was cool but people dropped out after a couple years due to the cost and constantly getting jacked up on the rough trails. I've ridden Killington's traditional trails. I'm leery of this expansion of the sport, flow trails are easy to ride, but they encourage high speeds with marginal skills, which can result in catastrophic crashes if the rider leaves the trail or hits a tree.

It seems to be going pretty well so far, but it's eventually going to develop some sort of ceiling and drop in participation as people come to understand the real risks of it. I know people that recently went from XC riding to bike park with less than expert level skills and got jacked up in a bad way.

I've seen a similar thing happen with rollerblading. I've been skating on and off since the late 80's, it blew up in the early 90's for a little while. The image is of having fun on bike paths with babes in spandex. It's great if you're young, genuinely athletic, and risk tolerant. The reality is skinned knees, ass rash, broken wrists, and head injuries. That's why it's now a niche sport and the general public doesn't participate in it. I don't ski with a helmet, but I rollerblade with one, if that tells you anything.

3

Today’s bikes are a far cry from what you rode way back when. They are way more stable and easy to ride on rough terrain. I agree that I don’t expect pure downhill to grow too rapidly but the reason is people aren’t buying purpose built downhill bikes. Unless you live near a resort, it’s tough to justify the expense. But free ride is growing and will continue to grow. We will be seeing more bikes that can be ridden up the mountain and haul the mail back down. There are a lot of these bikes at K and the bikes are getting better and better.
And you not wearing a helmet skiing only tells us you’re a fool.

Don't believe the "Bikes are better now! They make it safe! Trust us!!!" meme. A good, well set up DH race bike from 2002 is better on DH trails than the average 5" trail bike or 6" enduro bike. Sure, bikes are somewhat better. But the biggest safety issue is that the average trail bike isn't running super soft DH compound tires (42a ST, Maxxgrip, etc), which make a huge difference.

What people are doing at Killington is not Freeride. It's called "Bike Park" riding.

[madhatter]

Mountain biking is a growing sport. Skiing is not. Yes proper downhilling is a dangerous sport. But the majority of riders I see at K are middle aged men. Probably because it is so expensive. That said trail riding has a huge population and is growing rapidly and today’s trail bikes are more than capable of handling downhill trails. All of the new trails at K cater to these type of bikes. I don’t see a lot of riders on the double diamond trails. But everything else gets a lot of use. Kids, moms,families, you name them ride here. They don’t seem to be too concerned with getting banged up. There is also a lot more women riders now, which is awesome and they kick ass. I also see a crap load of rental bikes out there. So k is doing something right. With the growing network of trails in the area, biking is bringing in a whole new crowd and revenue stream to the area. Investment very well spent.

That's the premise at least. I've never really ridden flow trails, my DH experience back in the day was when 8" travel bikes had recently come out and people were pouring into the discipline. It was cool but people dropped out after a couple years due to the cost and constantly getting jacked up on the rough trails. I've ridden Killington's traditional trails. I'm leery of this expansion of the sport, flow trails are easy to ride, but they encourage high speeds with marginal skills, which can result in catastrophic crashes if the rider leaves the trail or hits a tree.

It seems to be going pretty well so far, but it's eventually going to develop some sort of ceiling and drop in participation as people come to understand the real risks of it. I know people that recently went from XC riding to bike park with less than expert level skills and got jacked up in a bad way.

I've seen a similar thing happen with rollerblading. I've been skating on and off since the late 80's, it blew up in the early 90's for a little while. The image is of having fun on bike paths with babes in spandex. It's great if you're young, genuinely athletic, and risk tolerant. The reality is skinned knees, ass rash, broken wrists, and head injuries. That's why it's now a niche sport and the general public doesn't participate in it. I don't ski with a helmet, but I rollerblade with one, if that tells you anything.

3

Today’s bikes are a far cry from what you rode way back when. They are way more stable and easy to ride on rough terrain. I agree that I don’t expect pure downhill to grow too rapidly but the reason is people aren’t buying purpose built downhill bikes. Unless you live near a resort, it’s tough to justify the expense. But free ride is growing and will continue to grow. We will be seeing more bikes that can be ridden up the mountain and haul the mail back down. There are a lot of these bikes at K and the bikes are getting better and better.
And you not wearing a helmet skiing only tells us you’re a fool.

Don't believe the "Bikes are better now! They make it safe! Trust us!!!" meme. A good, well set up DH race bike from 2002 is better on DH trails than the average 5" trail bike or 6" enduro bike. Sure, bikes are somewhat better. But the biggest safety issue is that the average trail bike isn't running super soft DH compound tires (42a ST, Maxxgrip, etc), which make a huge difference.

What people are doing at Killington is not Freeride. It's called "Bike Park" riding.

maybe better than a low end 5 or 6...tires are key and circa 2000 tires were also a far cry from todays rubber...and those pencil thin stiction forks sucked...I remember my uzzi slx w the "big" 130 single crown bomber was supposedly the schnizz, but that damn fork always flexed and "stuck" right when ya needed it to not do that the most...it was way better than the chromoly fork I had on my GT corrado the first time I rode K though...

then my buddy got a gemini w a Monster T on it...man we were all so envious....He brought that same bike up to K 5-5 yrs ago and I was like wow I was once so impressed w that bike...a single crown lyrik is a far superior fork than that T ever was......

[Highway Star]

Mountain biking is a growing sport. Skiing is not. Yes proper downhilling is a dangerous sport. But the majority of riders I see at K are middle aged men. Probably because it is so expensive. That said trail riding has a huge population and is growing rapidly and today’s trail bikes are more than capable of handling downhill trails. All of the new trails at K cater to these type of bikes. I don’t see a lot of riders on the double diamond trails. But everything else gets a lot of use. Kids, moms,families, you name them ride here. They don’t seem to be too concerned with getting banged up. There is also a lot more women riders now, which is awesome and they kick ass. I also see a crap load of rental bikes out there. So k is doing something right. With the growing network of trails in the area, biking is bringing in a whole new crowd and revenue stream to the area. Investment very well spent.

That's the premise at least. I've never really ridden flow trails, my DH experience back in the day was when 8" travel bikes had recently come out and people were pouring into the discipline. It was cool but people dropped out after a couple years due to the cost and constantly getting jacked up on the rough trails. I've ridden Killington's traditional trails. I'm leery of this expansion of the sport, flow trails are easy to ride, but they encourage high speeds with marginal skills, which can result in catastrophic crashes if the rider leaves the trail or hits a tree.

It seems to be going pretty well so far, but it's eventually going to develop some sort of ceiling and drop in participation as people come to understand the real risks of it. I know people that recently went from XC riding to bike park with less than expert level skills and got jacked up in a bad way.

I've seen a similar thing happen with rollerblading. I've been skating on and off since the late 80's, it blew up in the early 90's for a little while. The image is of having fun on bike paths with babes in spandex. It's great if you're young, genuinely athletic, and risk tolerant. The reality is skinned knees, ass rash, broken wrists, and head injuries. That's why it's now a niche sport and the general public doesn't participate in it. I don't ski with a helmet, but I rollerblade with one, if that tells you anything.

3

Today’s bikes are a far cry from what you rode way back when. They are way more stable and easy to ride on rough terrain. I agree that I don’t expect pure downhill to grow too rapidly but the reason is people aren’t buying purpose built downhill bikes. Unless you live near a resort, it’s tough to justify the expense. But free ride is growing and will continue to grow. We will be seeing more bikes that can be ridden up the mountain and haul the mail back down. There are a lot of these bikes at K and the bikes are getting better and better.
And you not wearing a helmet skiing only tells us you’re a fool.

Don't believe the "Bikes are better now! They make it safe! Trust us!!!" meme. A good, well set up DH race bike from 2002 is better on DH trails than the average 5" trail bike or 6" enduro bike. Sure, bikes are somewhat better. But the biggest safety issue is that the average trail bike isn't running super soft DH compound tires (42a ST, Maxxgrip, etc), which make a huge difference.

What people are doing at Killington is not Freeride. It's called "Bike Park" riding.

maybe better than a low end 5 or 6...tires are key and circa 2000 tires were also a far cry from todays rubber...and those pencil thin stiction forks sucked...I remember my uzzi slx w the "big" 130 single crown bomber was supposedly the schnizz, but that damn fork always flexed and "stuck" right when ya needed it to not do that the most...it was way better than the chromoly fork I had on my GT corrado the first time I rode K though...

then my buddy got a gemini w a Monster T on it...man we were all so envious....He brought that same bike up to K 5-5 yrs ago and I was like wow I was once so impressed w that bike...a single crown lyrik is a far superior fork than that T ever was......

I'm talking about anything with a 160mm Pike and matching travel in the back. It's NOT better than a GOOD 15 year old DH bike on DH trails.

I know this because I HAVE a modern well set up enduro bike.