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Killington is going to open before Sunday River this season.

deadheadskier

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The only care I have in the "first to open" debate; whether it be first turns offered or sustained offering, is that the competition exists.

If Killington and Sunday River weren't going for it this week, I bet many of the other areas who have made snow so far probably would have waited another week, if not longer.

That said, where's Highwaystar? Making turns at Killington I'd hope.
 

Harvey

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I guess I just take issue with popping open for a day to take all the marketing glory just to shut down the next day. SR claims this is the "Kickoff to a six month season." I just don't know how they can straight face that.

If marketing didn't matter no one would be open now. Some would probably go from Christmas to Prez Week.

It's about marketing to passholders and creating a brand.

Let's hear it for marketing.
 

Vortex

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Those of us who skied today won. I have no issue with closing down until Sat again. I don't think many at the River are complaining about this. Opening day and many more coming along. Feels good.
 

Savemeasammy

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My opinion... I would rather have SR tell everyone "hey, we aren't ready to open officially, but we have enough snow on the hill to open for the day. After this we are going to shut down until Mother Nature is more cooperative. Our official opening happens soon."

I would like to see something similar from Killington. It's hard for me to feel like they are "open" if I can't go there and get a lift ticket.

The competition is great, and skiers and riders are the ones who benefit, but it would just be nice if resorts didn't over-sell it.


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machski

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My opinion... I would rather have SR tell everyone "hey, we aren't ready to open officially, but we have enough snow on the hill to open for the day. After this we are going to shut down until Mother Nature is more cooperative. Our official opening happens soon."

I would like to see something similar from Killington. It's hard for me to feel like they are "open" if I can't go there and get a lift ticket.

The competition is great, and skiers and riders are the ones who benefit, but it would just be nice if resorts didn't over-sell it.


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You guys kill me. SR has plenty of snow to stay open. But they have done this for several years now when it is only mid station and up (closing midweek). The new plan is continuous when they have TTB. Lots of you on this board complain and say you wait for top to bottom, well SR has decided to open when most die hards can get up and close when most can't early season. If it means saving some $$ for mid season snowmaking, I love their plan!
 

joshua segal

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My opinion... ... It's hard for me to feel like they are "open" if I can't go there and get a lift ticket.

...
According to their web-site, you could buy an Express Pass up to 30 minutes before opening if you really wanted to ski. The fact is, there was a pretty good crowd on the few open trails - and I think it was a good idea to limit it.
 

Vortex

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I like the Monday opening. It made it easy to make it a long weekend. In years past the mid week pass holders wanted an early chance on the hill. Everyone had a chance to get out if they wanted too yesterday and could do it free if they dressed up. Opening and closing day free. Hard to be upset by that.
Usually 7 days a week happens around the Boston Ski show opening. The plan works for most of us. killington has enough people to go mid week early Season. Sr does not. The Sr comminity is happy with the plan. Why do people care if they are not going anyway?

8 years ago we were all pusing for being open by thanksgiving, now the push is for october turns. Late season is getting pushed now too. The season imo is 6 weeks longer with the efforts of Boyne," Sr and Sugaloaf"Killington and Jay. Deadheadskier nailed it. If Killington and Sr did not push the evelope the other mountainbs might not have made snow and worked toward and early opening either.
 

skiNEwhere

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Does any one else find that Puckits post are vague and uninformative?

There's a 250 post minimum to troll.



Puck it. I'm kind of surprised you're debating going or not, considering how much you've been jonesing for some turns. Yes it will be crowded, yes you'll probably wait in line a while, yes you won't get much vert. But that's what super early season skiing is all about, the fact that you are skiing after months of not being able to. Just my .02 cents.
 

Geoff

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You guys kill me. SR has plenty of snow to stay open. But they have done this for several years now when it is only mid station and up (closing midweek). The new plan is continuous when they have TTB. Lots of you on this board complain and say you wait for top to bottom, well SR has decided to open when most die hards can get up and close when most can't early season. If it means saving some $$ for mid season snowmaking, I love their plan!

At Killington, you have to walk down a 250-ish stair walkway to get to the mighty 600' of vertical. When you're done, you have to hump back up that 250-ish stair walkway. They're open indefinitely for anybody who wants to ski it unless it melts out. I got my free hat & sticker. I did my hand-full of laps on "option A" and "option B" and dragged my out-of-shape carcass back up the stairs. Would I prefer top-to-bottom? Absolutely. I can deal with the stairs a few times until it gets cold enough to blow snow on Lower Bunny Buster.

Edited:
I'd add that I've skied T2 several times during the "Nyberg dark years". I like the Sunday River user experience better but I'm not going to drive there when I can roll out of bed, boot up in my condo, and drive 2 miles to the K1 Gondola.

I'm hopeful that when Killington finally replaces the Snowdon quad, they'll install a download-capable lift. The stairs suck. The walk up Killink to the top of Snowdon is a piece of cake that I do frequently in the spring after the Snowdon lifts close for the year. They could easily run a handle tow up the power line parallel to that trail by cutting a few trees to make it even more user-friendly. I'd be happy to see them remove that stairway. I used to ski Catwalk from the ladies tee all the time and that is closed now because they put the walkway on the traverse.

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ss20

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Killington should be awesome today. Massive moguls with these warm temps. Corn, sun, fun. Ski it till it melts. It'll be like Superstar in the Spring with a similar atmosphere. I'd pay 50$ for that.
 

Mariovntr

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Killington should be awesome today. Massive moguls with these warm temps. Corn, sun, fun. Ski it till it melts. It'll be like Superstar in the Spring with a similar atmosphere. I'd pay 50$ for that.

I like the way you think. I'm right there with you and I have no problem earning my turns by using them stairs.
 

Rogman

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Sunday River: First in the east to close... [/troll]

Competition is good, Sunday River has forced K to up their game (or more accurately get back to their game), and vice-versa. Others are following suit. Only opening yesterday for pass holders and express card holders is a nice perk. Except briefly during mid-day, crowds were minimal. I agree with Geoff that upper T2 is probably a bit more fun to ski, however, I'd rather deal with the a brief hike up the staircase (followed by a relaxing beverage in the peak lodge), than deal with downloading on the Locke triple or worse, walking down. No matter, to each his own. Neither has the ideal early season setup.
 
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