Killllington 🎿🏂🏂🎿🎿🏂🏂🎿😀

[cdskier]

Honestly given the March torch and complete lack of snow that month I'm shocked we're still skiing on anything outside of the Superstar pod this weekend. It gets cold tonight and the next couple nights along with a rain/snow event which should be a net gain. Even Sunday looks like it will be another mostly snow event. Very impressive turnaround. All things considered April has been very dry and just a handful of days in the 60s and 70s. Terrain-wise we're skiing on what we normally would be doing in a good year. I remember 2 or 3 springs ago they were just down to the Superstar quad and a trail off of Snowdon at this time. The big hill on Route 100 between the Skyeship and the Killington access road had large spots which were washed out.

If Sunday can stay mostly snow I think they could run the K1 in May, which is quite rare.

Online lift ticket sales are available weekends til May 31st. That's clearly an error as that is not happening this year save for Yellowstone erupting and we get another ice age. But as of a couple weeks ago they were only selling through the first weekend in May, so maybe it's a good sign?

Where are you seeing that Sunday will be mostly snow? I'm seeing rain well into Canada with that one. NWS point forecast for 3400' elevation at Killington shows highs of 41 on Sunday and only dropping to 32 Sunday night.

 

[tumbler]

Honestly given the March torch and complete lack of snow that month I'm shocked we're still skiing on anything outside of the Superstar pod this weekend. It gets cold tonight and the next couple nights along with a rain/snow event which should be a net gain. Even Sunday looks like it will be another mostly snow event. Very impressive turnaround. All things considered April has been very dry and just a handful of days in the 60s and 70s. Terrain-wise we're skiing on what we normally would be doing in a good year. I remember 2 or 3 springs ago they were just down to the Superstar quad and a trail off of Snowdon at this time. The big hill on Route 100 between the Skyeship and the Killington access road had large spots which were washed out.

If Sunday can stay mostly snow I think they could run the K1 in May, which is quite rare.

Online lift ticket sales are available weekends til May 31st. That's clearly an error as that is not happening this year save for Yellowstone erupting and we get another ice age. But as of a couple weeks ago they were only selling through the first weekend in May, so maybe it's a good sign?

That flooding a couple years ago did some major damage from about Hancock south along Rt 100. Rochester got hammered- Bethel Mtn Rd was gone.

 

[spiderpig]

I've got over 30 days at K this year and have not been forced to ride the bubble with someone I did not want to. I haven't rode a gondola so can't comment on that but I have rode the bubble single without an issue.

I really hope people aren't still skittish about this next season

 

[Newpylong]

Honestly given the March torch and complete lack of snow that month I'm shocked we're still skiing on anything outside of the Superstar pod this weekend. It gets cold tonight and the next couple nights along with a rain/snow event which should be a net gain. Even Sunday looks like it will be another mostly snow event. Very impressive turnaround. All things considered April has been very dry and just a handful of days in the 60s and 70s. Terrain-wise we're skiing on what we normally would be doing in a good year. I remember 2 or 3 springs ago they were just down to the Superstar quad and a trail off of Snowdon at this time. The big hill on Route 100 between the Skyeship and the Killington access road had large spots which were washed out.

If Sunday can stay mostly snow I think they could run the K1 in May, which is quite rare.

Online lift ticket sales are available weekends til May 31st. That's clearly an error as that is not happening this year save for Yellowstone erupting and we get another ice age. But as of a couple weeks ago they were only selling through the first weekend in May, so maybe it's a good sign?

I do not recall K-1 ever running into May, but I don't have data to back that up. It's usually done by this weekend.

 

[chuckstah]

I dont think K1 has ever run into May. Usually it's closed with the amount of coverage there is right now ie not much up top.


I do not recall K-1 ever running into May, but I don't have data to back that up. It's usually done by this weekend.

I remember K1 running the first weekend of May a number of years ago, can't remember what year. There was no snow when you got off, or on the horseshoe. You had to either scramble down Downdraft a long way until there was snow, or walk down past the old lodge to a strip of snow that was farmed up Boomerang, or Great Northern, whatever it was named at the time.

 

[Rogman]

Canyon Quad didn't run Monday which midwinter runs a MWF schedule, so it may be done for midweek. Escapade (a natural) was skiable Sunday, but getting a bit thin now. Even when K shuts down to just Superstar, the hike up Launch Pad to Cascade (which still is edge to edge), is short and pleasant enough, and you can always find people to join you. Downdraft should be skiable for a bit as well, but lower part getting sketchy.

 

[machski]

I do not recall K-1 ever running into May, but I don't have data to back that up. It's usually done by this weekend.

It isn't usually scheduled but they have extended it into the first weekend of May when snow conditions have allowed.

 

[MG Skier]

I was at K yesterday, I was so hoping for sun. Bumps were great on Superstar, yeah the weather was interesting for sure.
I hope to get back a few more times before the female opera singer belts it out!

 

[ss20]

I do not recall K-1 ever running into May, but I don't have data to back that up. It's usually done by this weekend.

I want to say last time was in the 2012-2015 range.

 

[cdskier]

I want to say last time was in the 2012-2015 range.

Here's what I found:

2012 - Even Superstar didn't make it to May
2013 - K1 spun through April 28
2014 - K1 spun through April 27
2015 - K1 spun through April 26, but Canyon and Snowdon spun the first weekend of May

 

[Rogman]

Last years of ASC, Killington barely made it to May. No money. When POWDR bought it in Feb, 2007, Nyberg tried to run it like a western resort, and closed early. Didn't sit well with a lot of people. It wasn't until September of 2012 when Mike Solimano took over that things changed, but it took a him a while to convince the higher ups to rebrand Killington as "The Longest Season in the East". Keep in mind that Nyberg had become president of POWDR, and remained so until 2015. Even now, Mike has admitted that May ops are at best break even: they rely on good weather on the weekends so people show up.

 

[kingslug]

A lot of people forget or do not know what it costs to run things. Would be interesting to see what it costs per day to keep Superstar open.

 

[ss20]

A lot of people forget or do not know what it costs to run things. Would be interesting to see what it costs per day to keep Superstar open.

Probably not much in daily costs. It's the snowmaking that's the killer. When it's just Superstar there's maybe a dozen employees dedicated to the skiing ops. 6ish lifties including a mechanic, a few bartenders at the Umbrella Bar, literally a person or two in the K lodge guest services, and ski patrol will have maybe 3 people- and who knows how many are paid. As for patrollers I needed a band-aid as I cut myself pretty good a few seasons ago in mid-May and there was no one in the K1 lodge patrol station so I got everything I needed and fixed myself up alone!

Snowmaking is infinitely more expensive now than in the "heyday" of the 80s and 90s. Labor and diesel costs through the roof.

 

[Smellytele]

Probably not much in daily costs. It's the snowmaking that's the killer. When it's just Superstar there's maybe a dozen employees dedicated to the skiing ops. 6ish lifties including a mechanic, a few bartenders at the Umbrella Bar, literally a person or two in the K lodge guest services, and ski patrol will have maybe 3 people- and who knows how many are paid. As for patrollers I needed a band-aid as I cut myself pretty good a few seasons ago in mid-May and there was no one in the K1 lodge patrol station so I got everything I needed and fixed myself up alone!

Snowmaking is infinitely more expensive now than in the "heyday" of the 80s and 90s. Labor and diesel costs through the roof.

Grooming to push/ pull the snow off the “glacier”?

 

[kingslug]

A couple a grand a day for sure then.

 

[skiur]

Don't forget people to clean bathrooms and lodge, someone manning the ticket hut, someone cooking food, parking lot people in the morning, someone in the first aid building..... probably more... a lot more people than you would think.

 

[Newpylong]

A couple a grand a day for sure then.

Considering it cost us a couple grand just to open the doors per day at a little non-profit ski area...At K you're likely at 5 digits easy per day even at low levels of service. That's not even factoring in ongoing costs such as liability and workman's comp etc and so on.

 

[ss20]

Don't forget people to clean bathrooms and lodge, someone manning the ticket hut, someone cooking food, parking lot people in the morning, someone in the first aid building..... probably more... a lot more people than you would think.

I've never seen a parking attendant in May, shuttles are done at that point, Umbrella bar is limited food and K1 isn't serving food iirc, and as I said no one is in First Aid when I went in there!

I believe the GM saying they don't make money and only break-even on nice days. All you're selling is food and drink and the majority of people bring their own food and coolers. Who knows though? Now with Ikon hopefully they get some $$$ from daily sales as I know quite a few people saving their Killington days for late, late season. It's tough to know now with RFID but in years past there'd be 1 out of 20 people with a day ticket, the rest were passholders. To be fair, even when it's just walking to/from Superstar the price of a lift ticket is like $60 iirc. If they sold walk-up tickets for $30 or $40 I bet they'd get more takers than they do now.


I could see it being profitable in the 90s and 00s when minimum age was around $5, diesel was half the cost it is now, and they didn't do any grooming in May or June.

 

[kingslug]

Well if they are just breaking even then its pretty cool of them to keep it going..as compared to other resorts that call it quits even if they are 100% covered. I think it was 3 years ago Stowe was covered but closed. And I've been to the beer fest at Hunter when it was covered..and I really wanted to climb Hellgate..but climbing out of my seat at that point would have been a bit risky.

 

[tumbler]

They are not breaking even, all areas loose money in the spring. As NP pointed out how much it costs to open the doors, K is not making that back everyday and the weekends are not making up for it. Also factor in utility costs, lifts use a good amount of juice. The write off the loss as marketing.