Of course it's IKON

[180]

When the condos said they wouldn't use Killington Lodging Service, the mountain said hey would not pay for the shuttle, hence less service.

[snoloco]

Is there any likelihood of them solving this conflict? The Killington lodging page is completely useless. There is never any availability. And now the parking lots are filling faster. For both parties, it's shooting themselves in the foot. It also makes it a worse experience for anyone attempting to park at the resort? When more ski resorts are encouraging carpooling and public transit, this was a huge step backwards.

[Stormchaser]

KLS percentages went through the roof. North of 60% per rental iirc.

Killington should just subsidize the shuttle service 100%. It gets skiers to the hill efficiently and helps resolve the parking problem that they've created. It would be to their own benefit.

[snoloco]

It seems this is a larger contributor to parking filling up than Ikon. How many people stay in those units that now have to drive instead of taking a shuttle?

What did the KLS percentage cover? Was it just for the right to use their booking system, and for the shuttle, or were there other services that were also part of it?

I'm not sure who's in the wrong here. KLS taking 60% seems quite steep. On the other hand, if the condo developments wanted to pull out of KLS, then they should've paid for the same shuttle service they had before. It's a petty conflict that has negative impacts for all involved.

[Stormchaser]

Booking, cleaning, shuttle, (and insurance?).

Mountain Green teamed up with Pinnacle to run their service 7 days a week, but its a 15-20 minute (or more) loop now with very full shuttles early and late day. Used to run every 10 minutes on the weekends at MG... Pretty sure bus costs went up significantly too, and main the reason MG/P combined when returning from covid.

K should buy a fleet of natural gas or ebuses and cut MVRT out of the loop.

[SPORE]

It seems this is a larger contributor to parking filling up than Ikon. How many people stay in those units that now have to drive instead of taking a shuttle?

What did the KLS percentage cover? Was it just for the right to use their booking system, and for the shuttle, or were there other services that were also part of it?

I'm not sure who's in the wrong here. KLS taking 60% seems quite steep. On the other hand, if the condo developments wanted to pull out of KLS, then they should've paid for the same shuttle service they had before. It's a petty conflict that has negative impacts for all involved.

You're the biggest f*cking clown - its Ikon pass that driving the parking issues. Its day trip Ikon users. If it was the condo owners driving, it would be an issue on both Saturday and Sunday. The only issue is Saturday.

For some who is "Loco for Snow", you're pretty f*cking clueless for everything else.

[Bubba]

It seems this is a larger contributor to parking filling up than Ikon. How many people stay in those units that now have to drive instead of taking a shuttle?

What did the KLS percentage cover? Was it just for the right to use their booking system, and for the shuttle, or were there other services that were also part of it?

I'm not sure who's in the wrong here. KLS taking 60% seems quite steep. On the other hand, if the condo developments wanted to pull out of KLS, then they should've paid for the same shuttle service they had before. It's a petty conflict that has negative impacts for all involved.

The changes in the lodging program began with Nyberg. Killington used to have a virtual monopoly on the short term condo rental market in their so-called village and ranked condo unit quality (furnishing, updates, etc.) as A, B, C and D. They had the occasional F but that meant they just wouldn't rent that unit, forcing the owner to make improvements as a result. Nyberg, possibly encouraged by Powdr financial goals, decided that he only wanted to rent the A & B rated units, opening the door to competition. I sat with Dave Rathbun one afternoon over a beer and told him how dumb this was; that Killington was effectively giving up their monopoly voluntarily and that increased competition would only drive prices down. He must've taken this to heart at the time because that decision was delayed for a year. Unfortunately, a year later, the resort instituted that policy and condo units in developments that had been 100 Killington began to be rented by others. Trail Creek, for example had something like 72 of 80 units on the rental program but we, as a Board, decided that once Killington decided not to rent some units we could no longer enforce an exclusive arrangement. The rest is history.

The fact of the matter is that this would have happened eventually anyway with the rise of AirBnB and others, but for Killington to voluntarily accelerate that process was dumb, to say the least.

In my opinion, the shuttle bus system should be mandated by the Town. It is in everyone's interest to provide the system free of charge to reduce the need for people to drive. Powdr purports to be environmentally conscious so they should be doing this anyway.

[jimmywilson69]

In my opinion, the shuttle bus system should be mandated by the Town. It is in everyone's interest to provide the system free of charge to reduce the need for people to drive. Powdr purports to be environmentally conscious so they should be doing this anyway.

I'm not saying Ikon isn't causing issues, because it most certainly is. but if there was a robust shuttle system that was frequent and on time, people would use it and that would help the situation. While this is a Killington problem its really an America problem as we just don't embrace mass transit like other countries. Yes I know NYC and other Metro areas do, but once you are outside of that we Americans like to drive our cars. Hell my wife and I work together and we drive separately to work each day because we are on slightly different schedules!

[snoloco]

People will use shuttles if they are frequent and easy to use. If you're staying in a condo, then why drive and potentially have to park far away when you can take a shuttle at any time you want and be dropped off right next to the lodge. It also means that if you're with a family or group, then you don't all have to arrive and leave at the same time.

[Stormchaser]

The MG shuttle was one of the best benefits of being at MG. Easy access to the hill whenever you needed it...every 10 minutes or less. Though less convenient now sharing with Pinnacle, it's still better than driving. In fact, as long as Snowshed or Ramshead is open, I'd opt to walk over driving (and have many times this season and last). BRING BACK THE BUS FULL TIME! PARKING SUCKS!

[GlenPLake]

Where do you think the Ikon folks are staying?

They are staying in the hill side condos, of course, and now they are driving to K1 or Snowshed instead of taking the shuttle, because the shuttle now sucks, and driving 2 minutes is easy.

I have a beast pass, but my GF and most of my friend’s use Ikon passes with K-tickets as a supplement. We all stay in the condos, we all now drive. Just my small group has gone from zero to 3 or more parking spaces on any given Saturday. There are hundreds of groups similar to mine.

[snoloco]

Driving is not easy when you have to sit in traffic, park way back in Upper Snowshed or down the access road to the lookout, or you get turned away.

The more I think about it, the more I think the Saturday park-outs are due to the lack of shuttle service for lodging guests. Clearly an avoidable issue, which makes it all the more frustrating. This had better be addressed for next season, and I don't want to see any punitive measures like Ikon reservations or paid parking.

[PinnacleJim]

To correct some misinformation above, last year the split with Killington was 55% owner/45% Killington. That included shuttle service, security service, housekeeping, booking, billing, accounting, etc. etc. Note the rental management is handled by Owner Services. The Killington Lodging Bureau is completely separate and includes lodging managed by Killington Owner Services as well as other lodging that is not. With the departure of Pinnacle, most of the units managed by Owner Services are in the Killington Grand Hotel.

In the past, there were separate shuttles for Pinnacle and Mountain Green on weekends but a single combined route midweek.

I don't ski on Saturdays, but take the Pinnacle shuttle regularly midweek and on Sunday. I have no problems with the current service.

[SPORE]

Driving is not easy when you have to sit in traffic, park way back in Upper Snowshed or down the access road to the lookout, or you get turned away.

The more I think about it, the more I think the Saturday park-outs are due to the lack of shuttle service for lodging guests. Clearly an avoidable issue, which makes it all the more frustrating. This had better be addressed for next season, and I don't want to see any punitive measures like Ikon reservations or paid parking.

You have zero idea what you are talking about - as an owner at one of the bus route condos, they're not any busier this year than they were last year.

"This had better be addressed for next season..." Or what, are you gonna take your ikon buddies elsewhere? Or are you just gonna suck up to Killington on Twitter and Facebook?

[newpylong1]