Advice about Killington needed

Hello,
Can someone advise me about Killington? I plan to go for a day on the weekend and wonder what is the best place to park, buy tickets and take the first lift. I have not been there for a very long time and vaguely remember that the first stop on route 4 (when coming from east) from where one can start is a gondola lift. Is there a sufficient parking lot there not to fill early in the morning. Perhaps, I will be there at 9:30-10:00. Is there a ticket window there? Well, it may be a wrong choice overall, or is it? Basically my first question is: what is the fastest starting point on weekends?

And the second question is about trails. I am coming with my son and we both like groomed wide black trails without bumps. Is any particular peak best for these?
Thanks in advance,
Alex

alexs said:

Hello,
Can someone advise me about Killington? I plan to go for a day on the weekend and wonder what is the best place to park, buy tickets and take the first lift. I have not been there for a very long time and vaguely remember that the first stop on route 4 (when coming from east) from where one can start is a gondola lift. Is there a sufficient parking lot there not to fill early in the morning. Perhaps, I will be there at 9:30-10:00. Is there a ticket window there? Well, it may be a wrong choice overall, or is it? Basically my first question is: what is the fastest starting point on weekends?

And the second question is about trails. I am coming with my son and we both like groomed wide black trails without bumps. Is any particular peak best for these?
Thanks in advance,
Alex

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Alexs, taking into consideration the time you will be arriveing, the rt.4 parking lot is probably your best bet, they do sell tickets at that lodge. With regards to groomed wide black trails, well you can find them spread out throughout Killington.

I park at SKYSHIP Base Gondola...no on ever there, good parking, only time i go back there is when i am leaving.

Other than that, I prefer Pico

alexs said:

Hello,
Can someone advise me about Killington? I plan to go for a day on the weekend and wonder what is the best place to park, buy tickets and take the first lift. I have not been there for a very long time and vaguely remember that the first stop on route 4 (when coming from east) from where one can start is a gondola lift. Is there a sufficient parking lot there not to fill early in the morning. Perhaps, I will be there at 9:30-10:00. Is there a ticket window there? Well, it may be a wrong choice overall, or is it? Basically my first question is: what is the fastest starting point on weekends?

And the second question is about trails. I am coming with my son and we both like groomed wide black trails without bumps. Is any particular peak best for these?
Thanks in advance,
Alex

Click to expand...

I was just out at Killington yesterday - the conditions were great, a good amount of fresh powder. We skied mostly Killington peak and Skye peak. The gondola on Rt. 4 you are talking about is Skyeship. From my recollection, there seemed to be a reasonable amount of parking there (we parked at K-1 base lodge, which is where the other gondola is). If you're going along Rt. 4, I guess that is the fastest stop, and AFAIK it does have a lift ticket window.

Regarding grooming, the blacks and blues we went down ranged from somewhat groomed to ungroomed. I didn't see much corduroy anywhere.

badskier said:

Regarding grooming, the blacks and blues we went down ranged from somewhat groomed to ungroomed. I didn't see much corduroy anywhere.

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Fresh powder would be even better ungroomed to me

Thanks to everybody.
I guess I know now what to do: I park at the SKYESHIP gondola lot, take the gondola and then just go anywhere I feel to.

alexs said:

Fresh powder would be even better ungroomed to me

Thanks to everybody.
I guess I know now what to do: I park at the SKYESHIP gondola lot, take the gondola and then just go anywhere I feel to.

Click to expand...

Sounds like a great plan! :grin:

andyzee said:

Sounds like a great plan! :grin:

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Yep ... be careful on Great Eastern on the way back to the skyship at the end of the day. It tends to get skiied off.

Dont park near that thing that people sometimes return the carts too.

Attention K-Mart Shoppers, we have a sale on skiied off. Skiied off now on sale for about $80/day. Thank you.


Sorry, couldnt help myself.

If you take the Skyship up you can find groomed black runs at that time of the morning. By the afternoon most of them will have some moguls to be dealt with. From the Skyship you have the choice of skiing Skylark, Superstar, Bittersweet or head over to the Needles Eye area where you can ski Vertigo, Panic Button to Needles Eye or Cruise Control. The other groomed black runs you can find (in the morning) are in the Canyon area. They always groom Cascade, Double Dipper and East Fall. Sometimes they groom Downdraft too. Try to get there a little earlier than you planned in order to take advantage of the groomed runs.

I'm with Shenty on this one. Turn Past the Skyesip base and go up to Bear. Easy in and out and you don't have to deal with the access road traffic. You also don't have to spend your last run of the day negotiating the icy human glade (populated with Homo Gladians) that's called Great Eastern.

I was at Killingon yesterday and the coverage was great. There was still some pow in the trees (and I'm sure that someone who knows the mountain better than I do might say there's a lot left and be correct).

Yesterday, outer limits had been groomed, Devils Fiddle was bumps, Double Dipper, cascade, East Fall, Superstar and Highline all were groomed.

Start at Bear, ski a couple on Outer Limits, ski down to the Skeship Midstation, Work over to Superstar, take a coupl of laps there. Hit the K-1, catch cascade, dipper, east fall, High Line and then start working your way back.

Thank you all for for very useful details

My view as a 25+ year Killington season pass holder:

Caveat: I buy a season parking pass so I don't have to deal with this mayhem.

Parking on Route 4 at Skyeship Base is a poor choice unless it's snowing and you don't have a snow-worthy car. You end up skiing miles from your car and you can't get back to it to swap gear or grab a beer out of the cooler without taking miles of flats. If you plan on doing any apres-ski on the access road, you are also miles from nowhere.

If you arrive late (10:00 or later) like you suggest you probably will, your only rational options are the Bear Mountain upper parking lot towards the Devils Fiddle quad or the $12 pay lot next to the Snowdon Quad.

If you're parking at Bear, I suggest you double park at Skyeship base, buy your day tickets there, and then drive up the Bear road. That way, you can park slopeside up by the Devils Fiddle quad and ski down to the Bear Quad without needing to walk all the way around the lodge to buy a day ticket and stand in a lengthy line.

And the second question is about trails. I am coming with my son and we both like groomed wide black trails without bumps. Is any particular peak best for these?

Click to expand...

Other than Rams Head, you've just described Killington on a weekend. You have to know the mountain fairly well to find the natural snow terrain that isn't groomed. Anything obvious is wide, expert, and groomed to death.

If you can get to Killington early and ski the 'magic' 90 minutes once the lifts open. Killington is the busiest mountain I have ever skied, but even Killington is quieter at 8:00 AM than later in the weekend morning. Ripping corduroy groomers or untracked snow snow is always best early. An early arrival allows parking in a good spot at the KBL and skiing the basin before the hordes show up and then move on to the antipodes when the masses.

One other thing about purchasing Killington lift tix...you can stop at the bottom of the access road at that Killington shop (w/ the old gondi car in front) and purchase tickets there to avoid any waiting in line.

Sprite