AlpineZone Ski Area Challenge: Killington

[Greg]

Nick Polumbus from Killington also agreed to take the AlpineZone Ski Area Challenge! This is your chance to get official answers to your ski-related questions direct from a Northeast ski resort representative! Please post some suggested questions in this thread and I'll select ten to present for official responses.

As always, please be respectful of Nick and keep it civil. Also, please refrain from asking specifics about skier visit numbers, financials, demographic information, etc. Killington needs to be discrete about certain information.

Ask away!

 

[Joshua B]

Really...

This is a large opportunity for people who've had lingering questions for the mighty K Mart so this challenge should definitely be promoted far and wide.

 

[Joshua B]

These question go back a number of years, but why was the Sunrise area phased out? My family appreciated having a basic, uncrowded, no-frills area to boot up, buy a ticket, and get on a lift.

What ever happened to the classic intermediate 4 Mile Trail that started at the top of Killington Peak and finished at the base of the gondola?

 

[Charlie Schuessler]

Killington-Pico Trail Interconnection

What is the status of the long ago heralded Killington-Pico trail interconnection?

 

[teachski]

Do you limit ticket sales?

I have a postcard that shows a gondola car that supposedly has a "hot tub" in it...that is a joke, right?

 

[Tyrolean_skier]

What improvements will be made to the Rams Head and Bear Mountain rest rooms this year? The improvements made to the KBL rest rooms last season were greatly appreciated.

 

[Tyrolean_skier]

Any chance of getting a traversing trail cut to go from Superstar to the bottom of Ovation in order to avoid the long and boring traverse in front of KBL?

 

[Geoff]

The developable land at Killington has been sold off to the firm that held your defaulted real estate paper and Killington retains only a minority interest in that venture. At the joint public meeting where some of the details were presented, the long-held position of Killington management changed from, roughly, "we will do the interconnect in conjunction with the base village development" to "we will do the interconnect when skier visits increase to levels that justify the expansion."

Your customer base looks forward to the day when Killington and Pico are interconnected with a couple of interesting new trail pods between the resorts.

My question:
How do you propose to improve the quality of your product to attract those additional skier visits?

 

[Geoff]

These question go back a number of years, but why was the Sunrise area phased out? My family appreciated having a basic, uncrowded, no-frills area to boot up, buy a ticket, and get on a lift.

What ever happened to the classic intermediate 4 Mile Trail that started at the top of Killington Peak and finished at the base of the gondola?

I'm not Killington management but those questions both have well-known answers.

Sunrise / Northeast Passage was closed down because it did not receive the skier traffic to justify the expense of operating that part of the resort. With the midstation, it required at least 3 lift operators, full time ski patrol coverage, grooming, snowmaking, and base lodge to heat & maintain, staff to sell tickets and handle food & beverage. With the addition of the Vale lot above Rams Head, Killington also didn't need the overflow parking. When Killington did their land swap of Parker's Gore for the land around Killington Basin for the base village, the terrain expansion focus also changed from southeast towards Parker's Gore to west towards Pico. Nobody likes to see a ski area shrink but this one made a lot of business sense. There's a lot of developable land below the Sunrise condos that was part of the recent land sale and there might very well be a lift there again some day.

As for the 4 mile trail, it's still there. It's just been renamed. The homeowners along that stretch would like to see a little more snowmaking and grooming but it's otherwise unchanged.

 

[eatskisleep]

2 Questions:
1.) As for the Downhill Biking at Killington, I have heard that it is geared toward more of the beginner/intermediate downhill biker. Are you guys going to cut out more "woods" trails that offer more extreme biking? Why not promote your biking more.

2.) Killingtons seasons seem shorter than they used to be years back. Why is this happeneing?

 

[Joshua B]

When opening new terrain early season, why does Killington choose to spread the terrain out over the most mountain faces possible, instead of concentrating on opening more trails one or two mountains?

 

[Greg]

The most common question I hear is: Why was there no snowmaking on Devil's Fiddle last season?

 

[Charlie Schuessler]

How has the mountain improved under the ownership of American Ski Company?

 

[Greg]

I've shipped ten questions off to Nick.

 

[Tin Woodsman]

It is widely ackowledged among many ski industry veterans on the East coast that the attempt to ape the Rocky Mountains concept of wide "super trails" in the 80's was an abject failure. Trails like Ovation and Double Dipper at Killington, Can-Am at Jay, and Ripcord at Sugarbush are failures in many respects. Their massive acreage requires a huge expenditure of precious (and expensive) snowmaiking resources just to cover them. They are so wide that the wind frequently scours the snow that does fall or get blown onto them. Moreover, the wind that scours those trails then proceeds to further weaken the trees on each side of the trail. Note the ever widening nature of these runs with new trailside deadfall appearing on a depressingly frequent basis each winter. These runs are getting wider still. And this doesn't even touch on the fact that skiing these runs is an almost soul-less experience. My question - does Killington have any plans to try and add a modicum of character to its wider boulevards by allowing certain sections of these trails to regenerate?

 

[Greg]

It is widely ackowledged among many ski industry veterans on the East coast that the attempt to ape the Rocky Mountains concept of wide "super trails" in the 80's was an abject failure. Trails like Ovation and Double Dipper at Killington, Can-Am at Jay, and Ripcord at Sugarbush are failures in many respects. Their massive acreage requires a huge expenditure of precious (and expensive) snowmaiking resources just to cover them. They are so wide that the wind frequently scours the snow that does fall or get blown onto them. Moreover, the wind that scours those trails then proceeds to further weaken the trees on each side of the trail. Note the ever widening nature of these runs with new trailside deadfall appearing on a depressingly frequent basis each winter. These runs are getting wider still. And this doesn't even touch on the fact that skiing these runs is an almost soul-less experience. My question - does Killington have any plans to try and add a modicum of character to its wider boulevards by allowing certain sections of these trails to regenerate?

Welcome Tin Woodsman! Unfortunately, I already passed ten questions on to Nick. I'd like to try to avoid additional question beyond the original ten as some reps have shown reluctance to participate due to potential endless follow-up questions. Nevertheless, once Nick responds, I can ask him to comment on this as it is an interesting point. Please be sure to watch this forum for additional resorts that take the challenge as interesting questions like this are always welcome. Thanks!

 

[Charlie Schuessler]

Right on the head Tin Woodsman.

 

[Greg]

Killington's responses are in!

http://skiing.alpinezone.com/articles/challenge/response.htm?resort=killington

 

[Beartrap]

Killington's responses are in!

http://skiing.alpinezone.com/articles/challenge/response.htm?resort=killington

Finally!!!!

 

[KBL Ed]

I guess they were busy with all of the improvements. :wink: and other things like... :beer: