Construction nears finish line for Killington’s lift upgrade
Ski season started in southern Vermont this week, but Killington Resort is operating without one key piece of infrastructure as it replaces its Superstar Express lift.
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- Thread starter ScottySkis
- Start date
Zand
Well-known member
Anyone go today? Seems like they got less ice and more plain rain last night than anticipated which was probably a good thing for today's conditions. I decided not to go.
letitsnow1
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I was there it was dumping all afternoon. North ridge was on the icey side. Snowdon was fun moguls most of the way down, it was disappointing when they closed lower chute early. It was a great first day. No liftlines but the trails were pretty crowded
joshua segal
Well-known member
I suspect that the large early trail count is a great benefit to the skiers of NOT having the World Cup event. I seriously doubt we would have had more than Rime and Reason if they had most of their fire power concentrated on Superstar. However, not having that ice base that they make for the World Cup may well bite us for the late spring product.
joshua segal
Well-known member
According to a conversation I had on K1 yesterday I was told that Mike Solimano met with condo and business owners around Killington. He said that they plan to build the ice base on Superstar. If so, my comment above and repeated below will hopefully be irrelevant. It appears they are well aware of the importance of the spring product to the "Killington mystique".
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However, not having that ice base that they make for the World Cup may well bite us for the late spring product.
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BTW: I'm not sure what the problems may be, but the new Superstar Lift is not ready to go. Snowmaking operations continue to pound both Snowden and Snowshed. The best skiing remains in the North Ridge pod which is 100% open including natural snow runs: West Glade, Powerline and Lower Catwalk.
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However, not having that ice base that they make for the World Cup may well bite us for the late spring product.
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BTW: I'm not sure what the problems may be, but the new Superstar Lift is not ready to go. Snowmaking operations continue to pound both Snowden and Snowshed. The best skiing remains in the North Ridge pod which is 100% open including natural snow runs: West Glade, Powerline and Lower Catwalk.
mister moose
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As if Killington never skied in June before the world cup. (Nyberg years don't count.)
drjeff
Well-known member
The rea;ity is, while hosting the WC may put a little bit more water into the base near the ground level, over the course of the season, with the many freeze thaw cycles we go through, and the large amount of water that that sends down through the base, let alone the draining effect from the 10's of feet of snow via millions of gallons of water used for snowmaking on superstar for the Spring build, that base few feet of snow come late March is going to be pretty darn ice filled and dense no matter what.
Just think about any snowmaking trail as it starts to melt out late season and you get down near grond level.. You're always sliding on a surface more closely resembling a glacier than the mainatined snow surface we typically slide on during the bulk of the season
Just think about any snowmaking trail as it starts to melt out late season and you get down near grond level.. You're always sliding on a surface more closely resembling a glacier than the mainatined snow surface we typically slide on during the bulk of the season
Newpylong
Well-known member
The World Cup "ice" base has minimal effect on longevity into June. Not only was June on the menu long before the Cup came to town, any trail that doesn't face mostly due South will form a similar highly dense material after months and months of grooming.
In regards to snowmaking with/without the Cup, I did a fairly detailed analysis a couple pages back. Long story short, the jury is still out but they absolutely would have had more than Rime and Reason with the Cup in town. Even last year with the Cup they were able to get Lower East Fall, Great Northern off the top and Upper Double Dipper within days of opening. This was due to the usage of Low-E on GN and Rime. Air is always the constraint in the Fall. I would expect a fairly similar week 1 rollout next year, but a more restrained march to the base if the weather is marginal and air remains a constraint.
Nothing wrong with the SS chair. They are dialing it in and load test is imminent (as in today).
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joshua segal
Well-known member
June may have been on the menu before the World Cup, but they made it to June only once in the 21st century before the World Cup (2016-7 Season). Since the World Cup: 5-times.
As to the SS 6-pack: IMO if a lift isn't ready when the season starts and if snowmaking to the area that lift serves is deferred; IMO, that qualifies as a problem.
letitsnow1
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They always said the lift would be ready late Nov or early dec there's no problem. They are still on track.They didn't defer snowmaking they just haven't got there yet.
All the snow they make turns to ice I don't think it matters if it's wc ice. The weather and how much snow they make are bigger factors in if the make it to june
Agreed...the plan was to have it ready in early December. No point in making snow there now when you can focus on other areas first while they finish up the lift.
You're ignoring the fact that the majority of those early 21st century years were Nyberg years or years where ASC was on the verge of collapse. Those factors were far larger than World Cup snow...
Rob Katz
Active member
im going on the 28th... SO HYPED!!!!!!!!
joshua segal
Well-known member
Let's wait until the spring and see. I think the pre-WC numbers that I cited speak for themselves, but if I were a betting man (and I'm not), I see the most probable closing date this season as, May 17 with an outside shot of making it to Memorial Day (May 25). I hope I'm wrong.
letitsnow1
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I can't believe your predicting closing day in November 
drjeff
Well-known member
I'd bet a bit of $$ on the combo of the commitment of the new ownership, the $$$ they have pumped into Superstar this year (both lift and snowmaking wise!) and just because they (likely) can, that unless Mother Nature is as "ugly" as she was last late April into May, that there will be at worst a Memorial Day weekend closing for K, and likely a June closing...
The new K ownership seems to have plenty of swagger abd seems to want to flex its snowmaking prowess like very few others can!
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The only thing low e did for them was allow them to use less compressors. More than rime and reason opening days happened before the World Cup when Powdr actually gave a shit about being aggressive early season. They even had top to bottom open 1 year (with K guns and ratniks). It's crazy to think that such a massive use of snowmaking resources wouldn't effect their ability to make snow for the general public early season
Newpylong
Well-known member
If this is the conclusion you got out of what I wrote, you either did not read carefully or missed my previous posts where I provided numerous calculations. I install snowmaking systems and am fully aware of what that system is capable of with and without different rental numbers, and would be more than happy to provide a breakdown with the numbers and capabilities again if required. Folks can then form their own conclusions, but it a lot more nuanced than your statements.
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It's a pretty basic concept. If you use a shit ton of your available air and water on one trail, that can't be used elsewhere. I'd expect the general public that knows nothing about snowmaking to believe the line of the WC not effecting early season rollout or the reason they have more open now than in recent years is because of low e guns, but I wouldn't expect it from someone like yourself.
