What would you rather see happen at Killington?

[deadheadskier]

Yes, but I would rather have the largest ski resort in the East than lose a few classic trails. And I love those narrow old school trails.
Honestly, I don't see how there's this much drama over the interconnect. Do it, and Killington skiers can brag again that their mountains are the largest, and the masses will come!

Is this a sarcastic post? It's honestly hard to tell because so many K regulars have a size complex.

Let's be real here. Killington IS the largest ski resort in the East. On paper, Sugarloaf has the edge in acreage, but not how the mountain skis. Nothing skis bigger than Killington. Maybe if Sugarloaf through a chair up Burnt it would ski bigger than K for most skiers, but not as it currently stands as a side country playground.

Killington also might be the only major ski resort in the world where it's skiers want more skier visits. I can understand skiers at smaller mountains like Magic, Burke etc., that want more skiers because they need more business to improve facilities, but why anyone would want Killington to return to the days of a million skier visits per season I'll never understand.

[tyrolean_skier]

Yes, but I would rather have the largest ski resort in the East than lose a few classic trails. And I love those narrow old school trails.
Honestly, I don't see how there's this much drama over the interconnect. Do it, and Killington skiers can brag again that their mountains are the largest, and the masses will come!

Is this a sarcastic post? It's honestly hard to tell because so many K regulars have a size complex.

Let's be real here. Killington IS the largest ski resort in the East. On paper, Sugarloaf has the edge in acreage, but not how the mountain skis. Nothing skis bigger than Killington. Maybe if Sugarloaf through a chair up Burnt it would ski bigger than K for most skiers, but not as it currently stands as a side country playground.

Killington also might be the only major ski resort in the world where it's skiers want more skier visits. I can understand skiers at smaller mountains like Magic, Burke etc., that want more skiers because they need more business to improve facilities, but why anyone would want Killington to return to the days of a million skier visits per season I'll never understand.

If there are more visitors then the town businesses as well as the mountain will benefit from increased revenue. If the mountain does well then the Utah management will not come down on Mike for the improvements he has made.

[steamboat1]

If there are more visitors then the town businesses as well as the mountain will benefit from increased revenue. If the mountain does well then the Utah management will not come down on Mike for the improvements he has made.

The improvements have had everything to do with better public relations & nothing to do with new lifts or area expansion.

[RENO]

why anyone would want Killington to return to the days of a million skier visits per season I'll never understand.

I like it just the way it is. I don't want them to return to the ridiculous amounts of humanity on the trails like pre ASC days! That would suck!

[boston_e]

Nothing skis bigger than Killington.

I would agree with you if you are talking "left to right"... but I would say that a lot of mountains feel like they ski bigger if you are talking up and down....

[hillbangin]

Lots of interesting ideas here. If you really want Killington to have the cool trails it had like the old version of Superstar you really could put one in between Julio & Anarchy without ruining that huge patch of woods. I have never skied through that patch of the mountain and saw more than one or two tracks down it. Everyone stays in the cut segments and that leaves a huge patch on unused woods. It is mostly pretty thick and rarely skied. You could put a winding trail ala Catwalk or even Old Superstar without disrupting the wilderness feel you get in there. Just massive in there and plenty of room.

Or… riffing on Brownman’s suggestion of a Wheelerville shuttle, my friends all wonder why Killington doesn’t put a lift back there. They all consider it the best terrain on the mountain. I would just as soon it stayed backcountry… but it would be some of the best skiing in the east even with a lift.

I personally like the idea of temporarily trying out a plan to get the area of the interconnect to be treated as sidecountry accessed from Ramshead. That sounds interesting.

These areas are only good because nobody goes there! Once you cut a trail - See Dipper and new Superstar - it ain't so good.

BTW - those woods that nobody goes into in Anarchy and Julio were UNBELIEVABLE 2 weeks ago - spent all of Saturday in there. Needs a ton of snow and a lot of new lines open up -

It would be a crime to cut trails in there - there are enough trails on the hill - another steep icy trail isn't going to help any holiday week traffic - nobody uses them anyway.

[iRock]

why anyone would want Killington to return to the days of a million skier visits per season I'll never understand.

I like it just the way it is. I don't want them to return to the ridiculous amounts of humanity on the trails like pre ASC days! That would suck!

I don't see how that could ever happen again. Some people who had the low price passes just did it to save $$$, never mind the mountain. When the price went up, the flocks of people went to the next cheap mountain. Although, day tix will increase with the interconnect.

[Ski_the_Moguls]

If there are more visitors then the town businesses as well as the mountain will benefit from increased revenue. If the mountain does well then the Utah management will not come down on Mike for the improvements he has made.

The improvements have had everything to do with better public relations & nothing to do with new lifts or area expansion.

While better communication is probably the biggest improvement this year, to say the improvements are only PR is not true. Just on this past Saturday expansion included Bittersweet Headwall, 8am to 5pm lift hours, and a great party over at Bear.

[deadheadskier]

Lots of interesting ideas here. If you really want Killington to have the cool trails it had like the old version of Superstar you really could put one in between Julio & Anarchy without ruining that huge patch of woods. I have never skied through that patch of the mountain and saw more than one or two tracks down it. Everyone stays in the cut segments and that leaves a huge patch on unused woods. It is mostly pretty thick and rarely skied. You could put a winding trail ala Catwalk or even Old Superstar without disrupting the wilderness feel you get in there. Just massive in there and plenty of room.

Or… riffing on Brownman’s suggestion of a Wheelerville shuttle, my friends all wonder why Killington doesn’t put a lift back there. They all consider it the best terrain on the mountain. I would just as soon it stayed backcountry… but it would be some of the best skiing in the east even with a lift.

I personally like the idea of temporarily trying out a plan to get the area of the interconnect to be treated as sidecountry accessed from Ramshead. That sounds interesting.

These areas are only good because nobody goes there! Once you cut a trail - See Dipper and new Superstar - it ain't so good.

BTW - those woods that nobody goes into in Anarchy and Julio were UNBELIEVABLE 2 weeks ago - spent all of Saturday in there. Needs a ton of snow and a lot of new lines open up -

It would be a crime to cut trails in there - there are enough trails on the hill - another steep icy trail isn't going to help any holiday week traffic - nobody uses them anyway.

I knew my idea of a Rumble type trail in the Julio/Anarchy area wouldn't be popular with everyone. I spent pretty much the whole day in there a few weeks back myself. It's awesome already, but also a prime location for a "new classic" due to it's pitch and exposure.

And my idea for such a trail certainly isn't to help with skier traffic. I just love old classic trails like, Rumble, Goat, Bubblecuffer, Robin's etc. It's the only type of terrain I think K is lacking compared with Sugarbush, Stowe, Sugarloaf etc.

[Sgt Eddy Brewers]

Lots of interesting ideas here. If you really want Killington to have the cool trails it had like the old version of Superstar you really could put one in between Julio & Anarchy without ruining that huge patch of woods. I have never skied through that patch of the mountain and saw more than one or two tracks down it. Everyone stays in the cut segments and that leaves a huge patch on unused woods. It is mostly pretty thick and rarely skied. You could put a winding trail ala Catwalk or even Old Superstar without disrupting the wilderness feel you get in there. Just massive in there and plenty of room.

Or… riffing on Brownman’s suggestion of a Wheelerville shuttle, my friends all wonder why Killington doesn’t put a lift back there. They all consider it the best terrain on the mountain. I would just as soon it stayed backcountry… but it would be some of the best skiing in the east even with a lift.

I personally like the idea of temporarily trying out a plan to get the area of the interconnect to be treated as sidecountry accessed from Ramshead. That sounds interesting.

These areas are only good because nobody goes there! Once you cut a trail - See Dipper and new Superstar - it ain't so good.

BTW - those woods that nobody goes into in Anarchy and Julio were UNBELIEVABLE 2 weeks ago - spent all of Saturday in there. Needs a ton of snow and a lot of new lines open up -

It would be a crime to cut trails in there - there are enough trails on the hill - another steep icy trail isn't going to help any holiday week traffic - nobody uses them anyway.

I knew my idea of a Rumble type trail in the Julio/Anarchy area wouldn't be popular with everyone. I spent pretty much the whole day in there a few weeks back myself. It's awesome already, but also a prime location for a "new classic" due to it's pitch and exposure.

And my idea for such a trail certainly isn't to help with skier traffic. I just love old classic trails like, Rumble, Goat, Bubblecuffer, Robin's etc. It's the only type of terrain I think K is lacking compared with Sugarbush, Stowe, Sugarloaf etc.

Agreed.
I certainly don’t want the Julio woods sacrificed to produce another Big Dipper. Don’t want to hate on that type of trail but Killington certainly has enough of that stuff. But I do agree that Kton doesn’t have an old school steep and winding trail like it did. The original Superstar was wonderful. Could you put a trail like that (not like the new Superstar) into the Julio woods? Not sure but…

I LOVE the trees. Even the thick stuff. My face gets scratched up every year crashing down the thickest woods I can. I adore the top of Falls Brook off Juggernaut, I love the actual backcountry drops. But if you ask me are there some woods that are too thick to ski with any pace… yeah. I am always watching for folks dropping woods lines and always searching for tracks going new places.

There is plenty of woods at Killington that NOBODY seems to ski… because it is too thick. Any woods to the side of Catwalk cannot be skied... you can’t even walk through it. The woods between Ovation and Superstar almost never get skied because they are too thick. I have never found a decent line in there and I have never seen anyone else get through there except really slowly. Would the skiing be better there if the woods were thinned a bit? Hell yes.

The majority of the woods between the Light and Ovation almost never gets any tracks because it is a bit too thick. I head out into that mess, off the actual tracked Julio & Anarchy paths, a lot but I rarely find any lines that wouldn’t be improved with a little pruning. I am not asking for clear cuts like skiers right on Big Dipper. I don’t mind working to find some tight chutes in the thicker woods but… I really think the Julio woods, a half mile wide swath of trees from top to bottom, could definitely be improved with at least more pruning.

I don’t want you to lose the wilderness feeling you get in there but after hunting through those woods almost every weekend for the last five years I think that area has big patches that never get skied. Maybe the answer is not to drop a narrow trail through it but to have a huge section of steeps that almost never gets skied and never get skied out seems a bit wasteful. If I am wrong about this why is it so easy to find fresh lines (in the tight spots) in there weeks after the last snowfall?

[iRock]

I'd like an old school trail to the skiers right of The Jug over on South Ridge. The pine trees would protect the trail from the sun. It'd be steep but not extreme.

[Ragged#1]

HSQ replacing the triple at K1 -

That's doable -

The other stuff is a couple presidents away anyway.-

Southridge is perfect the way it is now - it's an effort to get there and on the right day worth the trip.

Smart one over here

1.) Southridge CHAIRLIFT replacement and Snowdon express
2.) Village: All you people complain but look at the town! It's falling apart and it's not a great family place with all the clubs and crap.
3.) Interconnect: Pico never gets good buisness anyway. You won't be complaining when your not climbing up the abandon mountainresort named Pico

[PicoDreams]

don't believe access to K (interconnect) will kill Pico, since parking at Pico on weekends is already near max...so access to K (via Pico) might thin out Pico crowd due to people passing thru ?

the issue is Pico vibe (definitely different v. K)....thats a good thing...i.e. why do we need more of the same... do we need more terrain for more skiers ?

I think using the sidecountry potential of interconnect area is the marketing and practical goal for integrating Pico and K

develop the interconnect area w/ the goal of connecting the resorts thru a sidecountry version of the "stash" ( a backcountry park ?)... a little different backcountry experience where there is value in, "skinning" , traversing and exploring (surface lifts, guide needed, not always open area, a little wild etc)...but not too whacked ?

consult w/ K locals on this ( the layout, adjacent terrain, the "interconnect" area/trail is not exactly a secret ?)...figure out how to open up the area to adventurous souls who will spread the word and build on the backcountry vibe...(but please do not put in 2 detachable quads ?)

the end result/goal is to maintain the Pico v. K experience...while adding something new ?

this seems like fun to me... but is there a quantifiable ROI ?

[iRock]

HSQ replacing the triple at K1 -

That's doable -

The other stuff is a couple presidents away anyway.-

Southridge is perfect the way it is now - it's an effort to get there and on the right day worth the trip.

Smart one over here

1.) Southridge CHAIRLIFT replacement and Snowdon express
2.) Village: All you people complain but look at the town! It's falling apart and it's not a great family place with all the clubs and crap.
3.) Interconnect: Pico never gets good buisness anyway. You won't be complaining when your not climbing up the abandon mountainresort named Pico

Exactly. I don't see how Pico gets half the business it does get. The mountain tries to have a family atmosphere, but with one terrain park and almost no off-mountain activities that's impossible. You can say Pico has classic trails, but go an hour north and you've got MRG and Sugarbush, 2 of the most old school resorts in town. Pico has an identity crisis. Like Smuggler's Notch. Family village at the base, but terrain that would make any expert think twice about what they're about to embark on. When I first skied Smuggs I started at Morse, and while traversing to Madonna I saw a giant wall of a mountain rising through the fog. My mouth dropped and so did my poles.

[deadheadskier]

it's not a great family place with all the clubs and crap.

All the clubs and "crap" is part of what's made Killington what it is for decades. Plenty of people go just for the partying with the skiing being a secondary reason for being there. Nothing wrong with that IMO.

You want the PG puppy dogs and ice cream family experience, head 30 minutes south to Ludlow.