Killington Open Until May 2

[ski_resort_observer]

They made a call and said, 'At what point are we not making money anymore'. You seem to be under the influence of shrooms or something, and appear to believe they are running a non profit to benifit the poor, poor children of the east who've hit their heads without wearing helmets, like yourself.

For the last time, either vote with your wallet and GO SOMEWHERE ELSE with your pass money, or just suck it up.

+1

Take away the season passholders and see the number of retail tiks sold you'll quickly learn that it's a financial loser this late in the season when many summer activities like golf and gardening have already started in the major northeast markets.

Remember, after 4/19 they are just skiing/riding on stupidstar so they are keeping the cost of operations to a minimum. It's for marketing cred but it's no sure thing that they will be the last to be open in New England. " Last to close in Rutland County " does have a certain je ne sais quo ring to it, yes? :wink:

 

[ozzy]

Skiing is fun when you analyze every-turn...this is a classic HighWayStar post from the GapicSki thread..

Top 30 KMART Skier says...

Steve, thanks for the input. I think you might be underestimating the level of difficulty a bit, mostly due to the poor vid quality....that snow is not flat, nor packed. Up top, I made 3 jump turns because I was dodging rocks and ledges in the manky snow, and didn't have much speed yet, and it's a decent pitch at the start...around 30 degrees or so. I don't think anybody could have made a pivoted or sliding turn with no speed in that snow and terrain. All dickwaving aside, there was virtually no snow on that trail, and that was just the pocket where it collects....we had to pick out way down to get there, and to get out.

If you count, my 4th turn is a real turn, but shaky, then the 5th is a pretty solid carved right turn around a big rock, intentionally skidded at the end to point me above the next big rock. The 6th turn is subtlely airborne and I come down with most of the direction change completed, but scrape down to dirt. 7th turn is a quick edge set, short carve. Turn 8 starts as a quick edge set as I'm already pointed down the fall line, but I extend it slightly, and make a tiny mid turn adjustment/slide with my feet.

Now, up through turn 8, I don't think I'm back seat.....look at turns 5 to 8 again. If I am, it's mild. Up to this point the snow has been reasonably packed....still tricky mank, but I wasn't sinking in much.

Turn 9, the left turn where it's flat and I'm passing the camera, is where it got "deeper" and I intentionally go back seat to keep my tips from hanging up in the snow....it was quite heavy and I'm going a decent clip, if they had hung up I would have gone down. If you pause it mid turn you can see my boot top is just barely above the snow. Now, I don't see any way I could have kept my weight centered, because the front of the ski would have dug in and done something nasty. I don't think it would be possible to bend the entire length of the ski in that situation to execute the turn, which is why I'm bending the rear half.

Turn 10, more of the same...ass 12" off the snow, digging in real hard, surfing the tails (look closely). Turn 11, I hit a waterbar......yeah, a waterbar......turn 12 is good enough, considering I just hit a waterbar. Turn 13, I stop.

Anyway.....yeah, I'm pretty sure my canting and foward lean is all ok. I've tried all sorts of leans and like where I'm at. My boots have normal ramp. Those bindings are fairly flat. Canting hasn't been done recently, but it's ok and I stand flat.

I typically maintain a fairly centered stance....I'll post some other vids.

When Bill Briggs skied the Grand Teton in 1971 he didn't talk about his turns as much as this. This may be the most explained story for sloppy turns in the history of skiing. well done!

 

[deadheadskier]

Skiing is fun when you analyze every-turn...this is a classic HighWayStar post from the GapicSki thread..

Top 30 KMART Skier says...

Steve, thanks for the input. I think you might be underestimating the level of difficulty a bit, mostly due to the poor vid quality....that snow is not flat, nor packed. Up top, I made 3 jump turns because I was dodging rocks and ledges in the manky snow, and didn't have much speed yet, and it's a decent pitch at the start...around 30 degrees or so. I don't think anybody could have made a pivoted or sliding turn with no speed in that snow and terrain. All dickwaving aside, there was virtually no snow on that trail, and that was just the pocket where it collects....we had to pick out way down to get there, and to get out.

If you count, my 4th turn is a real turn, but shaky, then the 5th is a pretty solid carved right turn around a big rock, intentionally skidded at the end to point me above the next big rock. The 6th turn is subtlely airborne and I come down with most of the direction change completed, but scrape down to dirt. 7th turn is a quick edge set, short carve. Turn 8 starts as a quick edge set as I'm already pointed down the fall line, but I extend it slightly, and make a tiny mid turn adjustment/slide with my feet.

Now, up through turn 8, I don't think I'm back seat.....look at turns 5 to 8 again. If I am, it's mild. Up to this point the snow has been reasonably packed....still tricky mank, but I wasn't sinking in much.

Turn 9, the left turn where it's flat and I'm passing the camera, is where it got "deeper" and I intentionally go back seat to keep my tips from hanging up in the snow....it was quite heavy and I'm going a decent clip, if they had hung up I would have gone down. If you pause it mid turn you can see my boot top is just barely above the snow. Now, I don't see any way I could have kept my weight centered, because the front of the ski would have dug in and done something nasty. I don't think it would be possible to bend the entire length of the ski in that situation to execute the turn, which is why I'm bending the rear half.

Turn 10, more of the same...ass 12" off the snow, digging in real hard, surfing the tails (look closely). Turn 11, I hit a waterbar......yeah, a waterbar......turn 12 is good enough, considering I just hit a waterbar. Turn 13, I stop.

Anyway.....yeah, I'm pretty sure my canting and foward lean is all ok. I've tried all sorts of leans and like where I'm at. My boots have normal ramp. Those bindings are fairly flat. Canting hasn't been done recently, but it's ok and I stand flat.

I typically maintain a fairly centered stance....I'll post some other vids.

Wow, just wow

I wouldn't believe someone would post something like this unless I had seen it with my own eyes.

 

[2knees]

Skiing is fun when you analyze every-turn...this is a classic HighWayStar post from the GapicSki thread..

Top 30 KMART Skier says...

Steve, thanks for the input. I think you might be underestimating the level of difficulty a bit, mostly due to the poor vid quality....that snow is not flat, nor packed. Up top, I made 3 jump turns because I was dodging rocks and ledges in the manky snow, and didn't have much speed yet, and it's a decent pitch at the start...around 30 degrees or so. I don't think anybody could have made a pivoted or sliding turn with no speed in that snow and terrain. All dickwaving aside, there was virtually no snow on that trail, and that was just the pocket where it collects....we had to pick out way down to get there, and to get out.

If you count, my 4th turn is a real turn, but shaky, then the 5th is a pretty solid carved right turn around a big rock, intentionally skidded at the end to point me above the next big rock. The 6th turn is subtlely airborne and I come down with most of the direction change completed, but scrape down to dirt. 7th turn is a quick edge set, short carve. Turn 8 starts as a quick edge set as I'm already pointed down the fall line, but I extend it slightly, and make a tiny mid turn adjustment/slide with my feet.

Now, up through turn 8, I don't think I'm back seat.....look at turns 5 to 8 again. If I am, it's mild. Up to this point the snow has been reasonably packed....still tricky mank, but I wasn't sinking in much.

Turn 9, the left turn where it's flat and I'm passing the camera, is where it got "deeper" and I intentionally go back seat to keep my tips from hanging up in the snow....it was quite heavy and I'm going a decent clip, if they had hung up I would have gone down. If you pause it mid turn you can see my boot top is just barely above the snow. Now, I don't see any way I could have kept my weight centered, because the front of the ski would have dug in and done something nasty. I don't think it would be possible to bend the entire length of the ski in that situation to execute the turn, which is why I'm bending the rear half.

Turn 10, more of the same...ass 12" off the snow, digging in real hard, surfing the tails (look closely). Turn 11, I hit a waterbar......yeah, a waterbar......turn 12 is good enough, considering I just hit a waterbar. Turn 13, I stop.

Anyway.....yeah, I'm pretty sure my canting and foward lean is all ok. I've tried all sorts of leans and like where I'm at. My boots have normal ramp. Those bindings are fairly flat. Canting hasn't been done recently, but it's ok and I stand flat.

I typically maintain a fairly centered stance....I'll post some other vids.

holy shit!!!! who writes up that novel over any type of skiing, never mind something so pedestrian and mundane as the lackluster skiing in that video. self absorbed? yeah, just a bit.

 

[ta&idaho]

Killington open through Saturday , May 2
Here is the plan:
Bear Mountain and Needle's Eye are open through Sunday, April 5. Snowshed and Killington Peak (Including the K-1 Gondola) open through Sunday, April 12.
April 13 through Saturday, May 2, Superstar lift will run serving Superstar, Bittersweet and Skyelark.
Enjoy!
Of course, it is all weather and snow depending!

Glad they're open through May given the weather this spring, but consolidating down to Superstar may have killed my plans for a April 18/19 trip. I guess $50 for two days really was too good to be true. Not sure if this thread has any substance left in it (staying out of the little squabble), but if anyone hears differently (than what SpinmasterK posted), please let me know.

 

[deadheadskier]

Glad they're open through May given the weather this spring, but consolidating down to Superstar may have killed my plans for a April 18/19 trip. I guess $50 for two days really was too good to be true. Not sure if this thread has any substance left in it (staying out of the little squabble), but if anyone hears differently (than what SpinmasterK posted), please let me know.

$50 for two days seems like a helluva deal to me when they charged what? $65 on opening day?

 

[skiing is life]

Skiing is fun when you analyze every-turn...this is a classic HighWayStar post from the GapicSki thread..

Top 30 KMART Skier says...

Steve, thanks for the input. I think you might be underestimating the level of difficulty a bit, mostly due to the poor vid quality....that snow is not flat, nor packed. Up top, I made 3 jump turns because I was dodging rocks and ledges in the manky snow, and didn't have much speed yet, and it's a decent pitch at the start...around 30 degrees or so. I don't think anybody could have made a pivoted or sliding turn with no speed in that snow and terrain. All dickwaving aside, there was virtually no snow on that trail, and that was just the pocket where it collects....we had to pick out way down to get there, and to get out.

If you count, my 4th turn is a real turn, but shaky, then the 5th is a pretty solid carved right turn around a big rock, intentionally skidded at the end to point me above the next big rock. The 6th turn is subtlely airborne and I come down with most of the direction change completed, but scrape down to dirt. 7th turn is a quick edge set, short carve. Turn 8 starts as a quick edge set as I'm already pointed down the fall line, but I extend it slightly, and make a tiny mid turn adjustment/slide with my feet.

Now, up through turn 8, I don't think I'm back seat.....look at turns 5 to 8 again. If I am, it's mild. Up to this point the snow has been reasonably packed....still tricky mank, but I wasn't sinking in much.

Turn 9, the left turn where it's flat and I'm passing the camera, is where it got "deeper" and I intentionally go back seat to keep my tips from hanging up in the snow....it was quite heavy and I'm going a decent clip, if they had hung up I would have gone down. If you pause it mid turn you can see my boot top is just barely above the snow. Now, I don't see any way I could have kept my weight centered, because the front of the ski would have dug in and done something nasty. I don't think it would be possible to bend the entire length of the ski in that situation to execute the turn, which is why I'm bending the rear half.

Turn 10, more of the same...ass 12" off the snow, digging in real hard, surfing the tails (look closely). Turn 11, I hit a waterbar......yeah, a waterbar......turn 12 is good enough, considering I just hit a waterbar. Turn 13, I stop.

Anyway.....yeah, I'm pretty sure my canting and foward lean is all ok. I've tried all sorts of leans and like where I'm at. My boots have normal ramp. Those bindings are fairly flat. Canting hasn't been done recently, but it's ok and I stand flat.

I typically maintain a fairly centered stance....I'll post some other vids.

:-o i love this. this is the steriotype of epic ski

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

:-o i love this. this is the steriotype of epic ski

different strokes for different folks..at this point I personally just like to ski...some of my pictures from the bumps are in the backseat but shit..it's recreation so I don't want to take it to serious..but May 2nd is really freaking good..I might be there for closing day..it's been a long time since I skied in the east during May..

 

[Newpylong]

Hahah, that can't be real!

Skiing is fun when you analyze every-turn...this is a classic HighWayStar post from the GapicSki thread..

Top 30 KMART Skier says...

Steve, thanks for the input. I think you might be underestimating the level of difficulty a bit, mostly due to the poor vid quality....that snow is not flat, nor packed. Up top, I made 3 jump turns because I was dodging rocks and ledges in the manky snow, and didn't have much speed yet, and it's a decent pitch at the start...around 30 degrees or so. I don't think anybody could have made a pivoted or sliding turn with no speed in that snow and terrain. All dickwaving aside, there was virtually no snow on that trail, and that was just the pocket where it collects....we had to pick out way down to get there, and to get out.

If you count, my 4th turn is a real turn, but shaky, then the 5th is a pretty solid carved right turn around a big rock, intentionally skidded at the end to point me above the next big rock. The 6th turn is subtlely airborne and I come down with most of the direction change completed, but scrape down to dirt. 7th turn is a quick edge set, short carve. Turn 8 starts as a quick edge set as I'm already pointed down the fall line, but I extend it slightly, and make a tiny mid turn adjustment/slide with my feet.

Now, up through turn 8, I don't think I'm back seat.....look at turns 5 to 8 again. If I am, it's mild. Up to this point the snow has been reasonably packed....still tricky mank, but I wasn't sinking in much.

Turn 9, the left turn where it's flat and I'm passing the camera, is where it got "deeper" and I intentionally go back seat to keep my tips from hanging up in the snow....it was quite heavy and I'm going a decent clip, if they had hung up I would have gone down. If you pause it mid turn you can see my boot top is just barely above the snow. Now, I don't see any way I could have kept my weight centered, because the front of the ski would have dug in and done something nasty. I don't think it would be possible to bend the entire length of the ski in that situation to execute the turn, which is why I'm bending the rear half.

Turn 10, more of the same...ass 12" off the snow, digging in real hard, surfing the tails (look closely). Turn 11, I hit a waterbar......yeah, a waterbar......turn 12 is good enough, considering I just hit a waterbar. Turn 13, I stop.

Anyway.....yeah, I'm pretty sure my canting and foward lean is all ok. I've tried all sorts of leans and like where I'm at. My boots have normal ramp. Those bindings are fairly flat. Canting hasn't been done recently, but it's ok and I stand flat.

I typically maintain a fairly centered stance....I'll post some other vids.

 

[Geoff]

+1

Take away the season passholders and see the number of retail tiks sold you'll quickly learn that it's a financial loser this late in the season when many summer activities like golf and gardening have already started in the major northeast markets.

Remember, after 4/19 they are just skiing/riding on stupidstar so they are keeping the cost of operations to a minimum. It's for marketing cred but it's no sure thing that they will be the last to be open in New England. " Last to close in Rutland County " does have a certain je ne sais quo ring to it, yes? :wink:

I think you are completely uninformed on this topic....

First, Killington is going to operate nothing but Superstar after 4/12, not 4/19.

Second, Killington historically sold tons of day tickets and spring season passes after all the other resorts closed. On a typical Saturday, you'd see several hundred Canadian plates. A solid 50% of the people were on day tickets and an awful lot were on $249.00 spring passes.

 

[bobbutts]

is this still really the only clip of the infamous hs skiing?

cred is getting close to 0.. time to actually attend/win a ski-off and post some new clips or come back with a new persona.

 

[tcharron]

I think you are completely uninformed on this topic....

First, Killington is going to operate nothing but Superstar after 4/12, not 4/19.

Second, Killington historically sold tons of day tickets and spring season passes after all the other resorts closed. On a typical Saturday, you'd see several hundred Canadian plates. A solid 50% of the people were on day tickets and an awful lot were on $249.00 spring passes.

Historically is a matter of the samping period I suppose. But I wouldn't use the term completely uninformed. That just screams of highwaystar level ignorance. We don't own Killington. The people who do, have made a business decision. Do you REALLY think that the people who run a multimillion dollar resort are total idiots?

 

[ski_resort_observer]

I think you are completely uninformed on this topic....

First, Killington is going to operate nothing but Superstar after 4/12, not 4/19.

Second, Killington historically sold tons of day tickets and spring season passes after all the other resorts closed. On a typical Saturday, you'd see several hundred Canadian plates. A solid 50% of the people were on day tickets and an awful lot were on $249.00 spring passes.

Sorry, I went by memory the info from Spin's post.

Think whatever you want. That was then, I'm talking about now. All the other resorts are NOT closed. Historically kmart had 1m+ skier visits. Do you know what it is now? Will they keep Superstar open until they are the last to close?

 

[jsul]

What is the operating expense to spin superstar for one day? Is that too general of a question? I would pay to ski the entire month of May but I would not run a business that loses money. I'm curious what does the electircity cost to run superstar for 1 day not including labor?

 

[Geoff]

Sorry, I went by memory the info from Spin's post.

Think whatever you want. That was then, I'm talking about now. All the other resorts are NOT closed. Historically kmart had 1m+ skier visits. Do you know what it is now? Will they keep Superstar open until they are the last to close?

Nobody knows what Killington does for skier visits now. It's so bad that they won't even release the number to the town after the town requested it as part of planning. That little nugget is on the public record and you can read all about the request from Killington Select Board and Killington Planning Board meeting minutes.

I would expect Boyne to be the last standing when we get to May. They understand how to market their Loon/Sunday River/Sugarloaf product in the metro-Boston market. With the fine showing Killington just had promoting spring skiing at the Bear Mountain Mogul Challenge, I expect further season pass erosion. If you're sitting in Boston picking where you're going to buy a season pass, Killington doesn't present a very good value proposition.

I received a private message here from Killington marketing yesterday claiming victory at BMMC because they had more children in the contest. It's a very warped sense of reality that they opted to spend large dollars booking two bands, rented security guards and a tin badge sheriff, rented a dozen porta-potties, spent thousands of labor dollars to set up for an elaborate party at the Bear lodge, and nobody showed up. They then say "mission accomplished". The reason BMMC existed in the first place was to promote Killington and Killington spring skiing by throwing the biggest party in the state. The message, loud & clear, was "Go away. We don't want you." More season pass customers for Win Smith and Boyne next year. Way to go.

 

[tcharron]

What is the operating expense to spin superstar for one day? Is that too general of a question? I would pay to ski the entire month of May but I would not run a business that loses money. I'm curious what does the electircity cost to run superstar for 1 day not including labor?

I recall someone actually quoting off how much it would cost at some point, but it was approaching something like 5-10k.

 

[win]

9 inches of new snow at Sugarbush last night. So our $199 Spring Pass is looking like even better value now. Never give up! Mother Nature always surprises and our snow depth on many trails is still looking really good.

 

[Geoff]

I recall someone actually quoting off how much it would cost at some point, but it was approaching something like 5-10k.

I think you're far too high in that estimate.

The electric bill...

A high speed quad has around 100-150 hp DC motor driving it. 1 horsepower = 746 watts. Motors are quite efficient but you lose 10-20% along the way through heat and converting AC to DC. Figure 100kW per hour of electricity consumption. The CVPS residental rate is around 12 cents per kWh. I have no idea what rate Killington pays. Commercial accounts usually pay more but Killington is a huge electricity buyer and can probably negotiate a more favorable rate. Conservatively, figure $20.00/hour for electricity.

You need 3 people to work the lift and scan tickets. You need one ski patroller. You need one person to sell lift tickets. Anything else you do in the base lodge like bartender and cafeteria is optional. Let's call it 10 hourly employees at $10.00/hour to make the numbers easy. Killington also has a boat load of full time employees and can opt to push some of those over to fill some of those slots.

For a 9 to 4 day, the cost to operate one lift and minimally staff a base lodge comes in at around $1,000. Ignoring the benefits of increased season pass sales, you'd have to sell 30 day tickets at $35.00/day to cover your expenses. Even if my cocktail napkin calculation is off, I still don't see how you can get to your $5,000 to $10,000/day number.

 

[andyzee]

Historically is a matter of the samping period I suppose. But I wouldn't use the term completely uninformed. That just screams of highwaystar level ignorance. We don't own Killington. The people who do, have made a business decision. Do you REALLY think that the people who run a multimillion dollar resort are total idiots?

Yes

 

[JerseyJoey]

Looks like about 6 inches at K this morning.