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Killington vs. Pico

trtaylor

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This winter will be my first trip to Vermont for skiing. Probably looking at Killington and/or Pico during the mid-week, sometime in January and/or February. It will be two of us who are level 7/level 8 skiers.

Questions for this group;
what is the difference in the skiing experience between Killingon and Pico? Should we try both?

Does anyone have some tips for someone who is new to Killington; i.e. where to go, what to avoid, etc.

We may want to take a private lesson while there. Both of us want to move up to the next level in our skiing. Any recommendations on instructors? I have not searched old posts yet, but will do so.

Thanks in advance to all.

Tim
 

thetrailboss

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Welcome to the boards, trtaylor. Good questions and I will start the ball rolling, but will defer mainly to our Killington experts since the last time I skied there was in 2001.

trtaylor said:
This winter will be my first trip to Vermont for skiing. Probably looking at Killington and/or Pico during the mid-week, sometime in January and/or February. It will be two of us who are level 7/level 8 skiers.

Questions for this group;
what is the difference in the skiing experience between Killingon and Pico? Should we try both?

YES. Do both since your ticket includes both and, IMHO, both are different places--Pico is more old school.

Does anyone have some tips for someone who is new to Killington; i.e. where to go, what to avoid, etc.

If you are going to be there over a weekend, ski Pico on the weekend. Crowds are horrendous at K-mart. Midweek at either mountain is fine, but they close a lot of lifts midweek at Pico.


Killington: you'll be hanging out in the Canyon or riding the K-1. Lots of good expert stuff there. Superstar and Bear also have good expert stuff.

Pico: Great cruisers. In natural snow, hit the Outpost for some gnarly terrain. Ski the whole place.

We may want to take a private lesson while there. Both of us want to move up to the next level in our skiing. Any recommendations on instructors? I have not searched old posts yet, but will do so.

Thanks in advance to all.

Tim

I don't know...again, a lot of people here can help you.
 

Brettski

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Well, how old are you, how many years of experience do you have? First time to Vermont? Where have you skiied in the past? How many time a season do you get out? Where do you live right now?

Describe your ski gear. What do you ski on, and what clothes do you have?

When you say we? what do you mean? Bud's, Gal's, bfriend/g'friend, married, married w/kids?

Do like to party out after skiing, or do you like to chill? Or both?

How many hours is your normal ski day? When's your first lift...when's your last?

This is a very open ended question...
 

trtaylor

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OK, fair enough...

Well, how old are you? 48

How many years of experience do you have? Skied when I was a teenager then laft the sport. Picked it up again 3 years ago.

Where have you skied in the past? Poconos and the Catskills.

How many time a season do you get out? 15-20

Where do you live right now? Southeast PA. Killington will probably be a 5-1/2 hr drive for me, as a frame of reference.

What do you ski on? Head skis and Dalbello boots, appropriate for my level. Not beginner stuff.

What clothes do you have? Wear Pantagonia, UnderArmour and Obermeyer. I'm not worried about getting cold.

When you say we? what do you mean? Brother.

Do like to party out after skiing, or do you like to chill? Or both? All my partying was done years ago. Would rather chill with a cold one.

How many hours is your normal ski day? When's your first lift...when's your last? Like to get an early start. Ski open to close, if I can handle it. Or until it gets too crowded.
 

Geoff

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Killington midweek is a completely different universe from Killington on weekends. People are polite; the slopes are uncrowded. Pico is completely deserted on weekends.

The down side to midweek skiing at both areas is that neither runs all their lifts. At Killington, the Southridge triple is weekends-only and they often don't run popular lifts like Needles Eye and the Canyon Quad since both are serviced by gondolas. At Pico, you won't be able to get to the A-slope/B-slope or the short double (Overlook?) that services some fun low-expert bump trails.

I tend to only ski Pico on weekends or the occasional midweek powder day when Killington is jammed.
 

irishskier

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Pico v. Killington

Take lessons at Pico if you can, especially if you are taking lessons on a weekend. The Killington group lessons tend to have a group (five or more people even for levels 7 & 8) but chances are good that you'll have the instructor at Pico all to yourselves. So you pay for a group lesson but get a private/semi-private due to the fact that there are not a lot of advanced skiers taking lessons at Pico. Don't let them stick intermediates into your group lesson, mention wanting to work on moguls and it should scare the intermediates away from your group.
 

riverc0il

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my gut reaction was pico all the way. then i noticed you are going mid-week and i also noticed geoff's comments on lift closures. geoff, is that accurate that they close both the A+B slope lift and the outpost double on weekends? that's total crap! that is half the good terrain on the moutain. if this is true, pico isn't worth going mid-week because the mid-center of the mountain is really boring and flat so that just leaves the upper mountain.

kmart mid-week is a solid bet. they have a lot of terrain and you won't have to deal with the crowd issues of the weekend. just pick a non-holiday weekend. my recommendation for kmart would be study the trail map before going and learn the lay of the land. try to avoid traverses, take trails that get you from one 'pod' to the other. ski a few runs at snowdon, then move to north ridge, then move to k peak, etc. don't attack the mountain randomly, thoughtfully think out your day and form a general plan.

for pico if you go there, you essentially have three 'pods' worth skiing. pending the mountain is fully open, lookers left is the A+B slope, lookers right is the outpost chair, and then there is the top of the mountain. the HSQ that is near the base should only be used as a transport lift to the upper mountain quad, no good terrain under it. don't plan on doing top to bottom runs at pico, not worth the effort. ski the three pods and avoid lower middle of the mountain.

let us know how the trip goes.
 

andyzee

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thetrailboss said:
Crowds are horrendous at K-mart.

OK, got a feeling I'm gonna catch a lot of crap over this remark, but here it goes. The crowds at Killington on weekends are no worse then other mountains, as a matter of fact later in the season, such as January and February, it's even better. Killington is a big mountain, and if you know what you are doing crowds could be almost non existent. I very rarely wait more then 5-10 min in a lift line and many time no more then a couple of minutes. Ofcourse if you go where the crowds go you will wait in line. Biggest example, crowds all go for the Gondola, I have seen waits of 1/2 hour and more. If you just ski over to the next lift, Snowdon Triple, which is right next to the Gondola, you'll find the wait much shorter and this will get you to most of the terrain that the Gondola will get you to. If that's crowded, well gee, just ski over to the Snowdon Quad or the Superstar Quad. Or work your way over to Needles or South Ridge. Bottom line, you learn how to work the mountain, it is seldom crowded. My rant :)
 

riverc0il

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The crowds at Killington on weekends are no worse then other mountains
sorry andyzee. i was reading with an open mind that crowds at kmart on weekends may be slightly over raterd, but to suggest they are no worse than other mountains is simply not correct. lots of great mountains have walk on or near walk on lift lines on weekends. magic, burke, cannon, and wildcat all come to mind for fairly large sized ski areas. black mountain in NH is a more mid-sized mountain also sporting no lift lines to speak of. 5-10 minutes which you suggest doesn't seem that long is a HUGE wait in my opinion. 10 minutes times 10-20 runs means you are waiting HOURS for lifts on a given day. boggles my mind that any one would wait half an hour for a gondi. same rules apply at any mountain, get to know the lift structure and avoid enclosed lifts except early in the morning or late in the day. gotta work the mountain over and go where and when the crowds are not. all that i agree with regardless of mountain. but there are many mountains with great terrain out there that a 5-10 minute wait is completely unheard of. i respect your point of view that the situation may be over rated slightly however.
 

thetrailboss

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andyzee said:
thetrailboss said:
Crowds are horrendous at K-mart.

OK, got a feeling I'm gonna catch a lot of crap over this remark, but here it goes. The crowds at Killington on weekends are no worse then other mountains, as a matter of fact later in the season, such as January and February, it's even better. Killington is a big mountain, and if you know what you are doing crowds could be almost non existent. I very rarely wait more then 5-10 min in a lift line and many time no more then a couple of minutes. Ofcourse if you go where the crowds go you will wait in line. Biggest example, crowds all go for the Gondola, I have seen waits of 1/2 hour and more. If you just ski over to the next lift, Snowdon Triple, which is right next to the Gondola, you'll find the wait much shorter and this will get you to most of the terrain that the Gondola will get you to. If that's crowded, well gee, just ski over to the Snowdon Quad or the Superstar Quad. Or work your way over to Needles or South Ridge. Bottom line, you learn how to work the mountain, it is seldom crowded. My rant :)

I am deferring to one of our resident K-mart experts, AndyZee. He has a point about crowds here that I will admit is correct. With proper strategy, one can avoid them. IMHO Killington is too crowded for me, but he is right here--all places are crowded at peak times. Probably best to hook up with Andy and have him show you around. PM him...
 

andyzee

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riverc0il said:
The crowds at Killington on weekends are no worse then other mountains
sorry andyzee. i was reading with an open mind that crowds at kmart on weekends may be slightly over raterd, but to suggest they are no worse than other mountains is simply not correct. lots of great mountains have walk on or near walk on lift lines on weekends. magic, burke, cannon, and wildcat all come to mind for fairly large sized ski areas. black mountain in NH is a more mid-sized mountain also sporting no lift lines to speak of. 5-10 minutes which you suggest doesn't seem that long is a HUGE wait in my opinion. 10 minutes times 10-20 runs means you are waiting HOURS for lifts on a given day. boggles my mind that any one would wait half an hour for a gondi. same rules apply at any mountain, get to know the lift structure and avoid enclosed lifts except early in the morning or late in the day. gotta work the mountain over and go where and when the crowds are not. all that i agree with regardless of mountain. but there are many mountains with great terrain out there that a 5-10 minute wait is completely unheard of. i respect your point of view that the situation may be over rated slightly however.

Some good points riverc0il. And I hate to take my little rant and throw it under a microscope through a calculator,etc.. Bottom line, all I'm saying is it's not as bad as people make out to be. When I first started going there, at times I did think it was a mad house. The more I went and the more I got to know the mountain, I found you can work just fine and enjoy it.

Trailboss, hope you didn't take it the wrong way :beer:
 

riverc0il

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goodcall andyzee. often times we all forget we all have different preferences and tolerances and our personal preferences often adjust over time. one of the great things about getting to know the various aspects of folks that regularly post to the forum is you can read into what they say based on what you know about their preferences. as with a ski review, often times an opinionated comment is worthless without knowing the point of view of the person making the comment. as i mentioned before, 5 minutes is a long wait for me. but for some folks that is flying along. it's all relative and i can see how the kmart crowd factor may be over rated, especially in relation to similar resorts with similar characteristics. mid-week is the way to go regardless! just wanted to clarify i didn't mean to jump on you to hard, i just took issue with equating lines at kmart to being the same as lines else where.
:beer:
 

andyzee

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Well in my case, my skiing has been mostly in VT. Outside of K, mostly Sugarbush, some Okemo, Stowe Jay Peak thrown in. Also NY, with Windham, Plattekill and Hunter. Of these the only mountain I can say doesnt have any waits is Plattekill. I've only been to NH once and that was to Wildcat. I'd love to check out NH and Maine, but it's just too far and there's a lot of good skiing in both NY and VT. So yes, it is all relative to your experiences.

riverc0il said:
goodcall andyzee. often times we all forget we all have different preferences and tolerances and our personal preferences often adjust over time. one of the great things about getting to know the various aspects of folks that regularly post to the forum is you can read into what they say based on what you know about their preferences. as with a ski review, often times an opinionated comment is worthless without knowing the point of view of the person making the comment. as i mentioned before, 5 minutes is a long wait for me. but for some folks that is flying along. it's all relative and i can see how the kmart crowd factor may be over rated, especially in relation to similar resorts with similar characteristics. mid-week is the way to go regardless! just wanted to clarify i didn't mean to jump on you to hard, i just took issue with equating lines at kmart to being the same as lines else where.
:beer:
 

SkiDork

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andyzee said:
thetrailboss said:
Crowds are horrendous at K-mart.

OK, got a feeling I'm gonna catch a lot of crap over this remark, but here it goes. The crowds at Killington on weekends are no worse then other mountains, as a matter of fact later in the season, such as January and February, it's even better. Killington is a big mountain, and if you know what you are doing crowds could be almost non existent. I very rarely wait more then 5-10 min in a lift line and many time no more then a couple of minutes. Ofcourse if you go where the crowds go you will wait in line. Biggest example, crowds all go for the Gondola, I have seen waits of 1/2 hour and more. If you just ski over to the next lift, Snowdon Triple, which is right next to the Gondola, you'll find the wait much shorter and this will get you to most of the terrain that the Gondola will get you to. If that's crowded, well gee, just ski over to the Snowdon Quad or the Superstar Quad. Or work your way over to Needles or South Ridge. Bottom line, you learn how to work the mountain, it is seldom crowded. My rant :)


sssshhhhhhh......
 

andyzee

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SkiDork said:
andyzee said:
thetrailboss said:
Crowds are horrendous at K-mart.

OK, got a feeling I'm gonna catch a lot of crap over this remark, but here it goes. The crowds at Killington on weekends are no worse then other mountains, as a matter of fact later in the season, such as January and February, it's even better. Killington is a big mountain, and if you know what you are doing crowds could be almost non existent. I very rarely wait more then 5-10 min in a lift line and many time no more then a couple of minutes. Ofcourse if you go where the crowds go you will wait in line. Biggest example, crowds all go for the Gondola, I have seen waits of 1/2 hour and more. If you just ski over to the next lift, Snowdon Triple, which is right next to the Gondola, you'll find the wait much shorter and this will get you to most of the terrain that the Gondola will get you to. If that's crowded, well gee, just ski over to the Snowdon Quad or the Superstar Quad. Or work your way over to Needles or South Ridge. Bottom line, you learn how to work the mountain, it is seldom crowded. My rant :)


sssshhhhhhh......


I know Dork, what was I thinking.... :wink:
 

RossiSkier

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At Killington, I am grateful for the crowds at the K1 early on like flies on poopoo. We take alternative entrances to the mountain and never have a problem with the crowds. I have skiied the busiest weekends K has had. If you head into K1 on a busy weekend you are going right into the jaws of the beast. We do what Robert E. Lee did to the Union Army. Flank 'em (aka turn 'em).
 

tirolerpeter

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K and Crowds

RossiSkier said:
At Killington, I am grateful for the crowds at the K1 early on like flies on poopoo. We take alternative entrances to the mountain and never have a problem with the crowds. I have skiied the busiest weekends K has had. If you head into K1 on a busy weekend you are going right into the jaws of the beast. We do what Robert E. Lee did to the Union Army. Flank 'em (aka turn 'em).

I routinely start and end my days at Bear Mt. The parking is more convenient, the lodge is "warmer" (mellower, friendlier, old-timers, and only rarely families) and, the two lifts there give you access to all other areas very conveniently. If it is snowing, very few people have the courage or skill to make the run up from Rt4/100 and that makes the place even nicer. Besides, after a "warm-up" run down Outer Limits, you are ready for anything else on the mountain!
 

JimG.

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andyzee said:
Also NY, with Windham, Plattekill and Hunter. Of these the only mountain I can say doesnt have any waits is Plattekill.

Funny...you have trashed Hunter in the past regarding crowds, now you say that Killington isn't as bad as folks make it out to be.

Did it ever occur to you that you just don't know Hunter well enough to avoid the crowds as you do at Killington :roll: ?

Your description of K on a weekend from your perspective is EXACTLY what I would say is my experience at Hunter every weekend.
 
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