Killllington 🎿🏂🏂🎿🎿🏂🏂🎿😀

[Newpylong]

Last year the extra compressors were in the parking lot ready to be picked up the day after they finished with wc snow

Not all of them - rentals remained at Snowshed and the Bear pads into February.

 

[letitsnow1]

The most frustrating thing last year was when the snow report said they were done making snow for the wc and focusing on expansion but the only place the were making snow was skylark and next to superstar meanwhile there were rocks sticking out on rime. Hopefully the new owners bring better communication

 

[Newpylong]

The new owners are going to have nothing to do with that.

 

[letitsnow1]

Then I hope Mike makes an effort to improve communication. It would be nice if could announce lift delays on powder days before there scheduled to run, not after

 

[Yo VT Raps]

This thread seems a little long

 

[Internet Ski Pro]

From an outsiders point of view, i always feel Killington kills it in the snowmaking department. so many times i have bet against them making an opening just to have me proved wrong. Like they dont have a lick of snow on the ground on Tuesday, but are announcing a passholders opening on that Friday. I think Blue Mt in PA might have more GPM than Killington, but i dont know, maybe its just the difference in some colder temps, but it doesnt ever feel like Blue ever has the dial set on "Max", like i feel Killington does.

 

[skef]

Blasting Superstar (and possibly more) now.

 

[machski]

View attachment 63445Blasting Superstar (and possibly more) now.

Been doing this all day non-stop. Also looks like Great Northern off the top of the K1 down into North Ridge and Rime/Reason at a minimum. That is better than normal, guess those low E phasers are helping.

 

[IceEidolon]

From an outsiders point of view, i always feel Killington kills it in the snowmaking department. so many times i have bet against them making an opening just to have me proved wrong. Like they dont have a lick of snow on the ground on Tuesday, but are announcing a passholders opening on that Friday. I think Blue Mt in PA might have more GPM than Killington, but i dont know, maybe its just the difference in some colder temps, but it doesnt ever feel like Blue ever has the dial set on "Max", like i feel Killington does.

Blue Mtn got the Easy Over-Vista-Main Street traditional opening day route open with 36 hours of snowmaking around 2019 ish. They absolutely have a pump room to envy, but they can't focus that firepower like Killington can on one trail. These days I believe their coverage is even more spread out and slower because major trails like Paradise and Burma Road are low E instead of old school air water.

Killington will start to show a similar shift, where having 90,000 CFM or however much they have becomes less important earlier in the season. The first trail may not open as fast, but the second and third trails in line will, with followups behind them.

If you can put out 3,000 GPM per trail on two trails, and it takes 60,000 CFM, or you can put out 2,000 GPM per trail with low energy sticks but it only takes you 20,000 CFM and you're running four trails instead of two...

 

[skiur]

Sounding like a Thursday opening for pass holders and general public Friday. Not the best production this weekend but looks like they can fire back up Monday night and have some pretty good snowmaking conditions Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

 

[Newpylong]

Blue Mtn got the Easy Over-Vista-Main Street traditional opening day route open with 36 hours of snowmaking around 2019 ish. They absolutely have a pump room to envy, but they can't focus that firepower like Killington can on one trail. These days I believe their coverage is even more spread out and slower because major trails like Paradise and Burma Road are low E instead of old school air water.

Killington will start to show a similar shift, where having 90,000 CFM or however much they have becomes less important earlier in the season. The first trail may not open as fast, but the second and third trails in line will, with followups behind them.

If you can put out 3,000 GPM per trail on two trails, and it takes 60,000 CFM, or you can put out 2,000 GPM per trail with low energy sticks but it only takes you 20,000 CFM and you're running four trails instead of two...

They run around 72,000 CFM and this is the exact point that some of the folks on KZone cannot comprehend. Yes in a 24-26 degree wet bulb you're not going to get the conversion rate per gun but considering you can run 3-4 per hog the overall production increase is quite simple to understand.

 

[nhskier1969]

The Stifel Killington cup vs terrain expansion. Why does Killington continue with the Stifel cup each year? Is it for marketing or day of event revenue? To me I think their dollars are better spent on early season terrain expansion. You'll sell more ski/stay packages with early terrain openings than the Stifel cup. Most skiers don't watch ski racing but all skiers follow terrain openings.

 

[thetrailboss]

The Stifel Killington cup vs terrain expansion. Why does Killington continue with the Stifel cup each year? Is it for marketing or day of event revenue? To me I think their dollars are better spent on early season terrain expansion. You'll sell more ski/stay packages with early terrain openings than the Stifel cup. Most skiers don't watch ski racing but all skiers follow terrain openings.

Marketing. The only NE resort to host a major FIS event that is televised and draws a much bigger crowd that weekend than would a normal early season weekend. It’s also a prestige thing. Plus there are other areas, further north, that can compete in terms of early season terrain openings. None of them host an event like this.

 

[drjeff]

The Stifel Killington cup vs terrain expansion. Why does Killington continue with the Stifel cup each year? Is it for marketing or day of event revenue? To me I think their dollars are better spent on early season terrain expansion. You'll sell more ski/stay packages with early terrain openings than the Stifel cup. Most skiers don't watch ski racing but all skiers follow terrain openings.

If you've ever been to one of the WC races there, and experienced the energy and noise of the crowd when Mikaela Shiffrin crests the top of Preston's Pitch and comes into view of the finish area, you get why they keep hosting the Worldcup races at Killington

 

[Hawk]

It's a world cup race. One of only 3 in the US and televised on TV, across the world. LOL The amount of money that Killington and the valley recieves from this event on an early season Weekend is large. They don't do this thing for free you know. Every hotel is filled. Every resturaunt is packed. Not to mention that the biggest names in Female racing are there. They also have a concert with good music. Its not just marketing, it dollars, its prestige, its fun. Also, it doesn't really impact the numbers of the general skiing population at Killington. People come to ski early season not mater what the conditions.

 

[skiur]

It's a world cup race. One of only 3 in the US and televised on TV, across the world. LOL The amount of money that Killington and the valley recieves from this event on an early season Weekend is large. They don't do this thing for free you know. Every hotel is filled. Every resturaunt is packed. Not to mention that the biggest names in Female racing are there. They also have a concert with good music. Its not just marketing, it dollars, its prestige, its fun. Also, it doesn't really impact the numbers of the general skiing population at Killington. People come to ski early season not mater what the conditions.

It certainly impacts early season skiers, if it wasn't for the WC K would be top to bottom for Thanksgiving but instead the stairway is still in use. Killington claims they loose money on the WC every year, but I don't really buy that.

 

[Hawk]

At the pricing they sell the tickets, the concession proceeds, the pay for parking? How can they loose money. Just my opinion but they have to at least break even. Plus what about all the businesses on the access road. My friends that live K and work on the access road say that weekend is a huge boost to them at a time of the year that they usually don't make money.

 

[slatham]

Curious how they figure in the snowmaking. Do they break even including cost of putting down season lasting base on SS and several other trials? If so, then that base is “free”.

Also, I am sure a significant uptick in post-Thanksgiving skier visits after seeing K open and well covered vs without a WC race.

Looks like a much better window tomorrow morning through Wednesday at some point. They should be able to get way more snow down vs the the first go at it.

 

[skiur]

At the pricing they sell the tickets, the concession proceeds, the pay for parking? How can they loose money. Just my opinion but they have to at least break even. Plus what about all the businesses on the access road. My friends that live K and work on the access road say that weekend is a huge boost to them at a time of the year that they usually don't make money.

K has always been packed Thanksgiving weekend way before the WC came around. The access road restaurants have always been packed Thanksgiving weekend, that didn't just start when the WC came around. Is more packed now? Yes, but that weekend was always a moneymaker for the access road.

 

[Newpylong]

Curious how they figure in the snowmaking. Do they break even including cost of putting down season lasting base on SS and several other trials? If so, then that base is “free”.

Also, I am sure a significant uptick in post-Thanksgiving skier visits after seeing K open and well covered vs without a WC race.

Looks like a much better window tomorrow morning through Wednesday at some point. They should be able to get way more snow down vs the the first go at it.

I don't think they break even because while the base is needed for spring, it's expensive snow to put down right now. If they broke even they wouldn't have swapped out a ton of K guns for Vipers on SS. The air demand (and associated costs) for ~100 hogs on SS alone is astronomical. That's far more air than most mountains can generate in their entirety.