POWDR selling Killington

[2planks2coasts]

don’t like dam, and one love is horrible. Rek-lis is good. Last chair is okay. Never have been able to hit sole track when it was open.

Dam has some of the best dark beers in NH. Their Mud Puddle & Trail Angel are soooo yummy. They also just opened a distillery. Sole Track is consistently good all around and has some of the more intriguing food options in the neighborhood (West Indian type stuff- Trinidadian, veg and meat friendly), and the vibe is pure outdoors dirtbag. Climbers, hikers, skiers talking about climbing, hiking and skiing. The western whites lacks a true late night band/DJ dance floor bar. Plymouth has the Edge of Town Tavern, but that largely serves a clientele unburdened by the hassle and expense of modern dentistry. The Lodge at Tenney has music on the weekends and is convenient 500 foot walk from (or stumble to) my door.

 

[tumbler]

Plymouth has the Edge of Town Tavern, but that largely serves a clientele unburdened by the hassle and expense of modern dentistry.

You got a full lol from me! Classic line!

 

[2Planker]

Like Cannon: Thursday two for $75.00 if you're from Vermont.

Take Canadian dollar at par. (1 = 1) except for lodging. The Canadians appreciate it.

Don't ever save good snow for the people from New York.

Let kids ski for a nominal charge. The next Bode Miller (The Real One) may live within striking distance. Meow.

Rebuild the hotdog shack on the back side to Wheeler Rd.

Just keep the lifts already built running as much as possible. Seriously, Killington does everything right. From using the cold air outside to save on refrigeration costs to the way the whole mountain is set up. At Sunday River they put condos in on White Heat? WTF

It will be fun to see what's going to happen. This is a game changer for me.

We always paid w/ Canadian $$ at Jay and Burke in the 90's
Saved you almost 40%

 

[urungus]

We always paid w/ Canadian $$ at Jay and Burke in the 90's
Saved you almost 40%

How did you prove your Canadian residency ?

 

[jimmywilson69]

You didn't have to back then

 

[drjeff]

How did you prove your Canadian residency ?

You just asked the person at the ticket window "How much is a ticket, eh?"

 

[mister moose]

We always paid w/ Canadian $$ at Jay and Burke in the 90's
Saved you almost 40%

In the late 90's there was a year when the Canadian dollar was unusually weak. We'd take several 4 day long weekend trips to Jay, stay just across the border in Stanstead at this great Inn with a fabulous chef for cheap. Go to a Canadian ATM and get currency with no commission. Pay for the lift tickets at Jay with Canadian. We got a few quizical looks from Customs agents re-entering the US when we said we were day tripping to ski (from Cananda!)

Those were the days.

 

[2Planker]

In the late 90's there was a year when the Canadian dollar was unusually weak. We'd take several 4 day long weekend trips to Jay, stay just across the border in Stanstead at this great Inn with a fabulous chef for cheap. Go to a Canadian ATM and get currency with no commission. Pay for the lift tickets at Jay with Canadian. We got a few quizical looks from Customs agents re-entering the US when we said we were day tripping to ski (from Cananda!)

Those were the days.

We exchanged $$ at a Grand Union in St J, while buying PB & J components…
Life of a college student.

 

[RENO]

Some info in the mountain times about Ferri and Gross and their plans for K. No specific details yet until sale closing other than ordering more snow guns that are currently arriving to be installed asap. We'll see...

Who is Michael Ferri? - Mountain Times

Michael Ferri has been an active part of the Killington community since 1970 when his parents bought a condo here. He’s a skier, homeowner, and parent of

mountaintimes.info

Who is Phill Gross? - Mountain Times

Phill Gross is a co-founder of Adage Capital Management, L.P. serving as managing director and healthcare portfolio manager at the firm since its

mountaintimes.info

Passholders purchase Killington and Pico - Mountain Times

What does independent ownership mean for Killington Resort, community?

mountaintimes.info

 

[urungus]

Some info in the mountain times about Ferri and Gross and their plans for K. No specific details yet until sale closing other than ordering more snow guns that are currently arriving to be installed asap. We'll see...

Who is Michael Ferri? - Mountain Times

Michael Ferri has been an active part of the Killington community since 1970 when his parents bought a condo here. He’s a skier, homeowner, and parent of

mountaintimes.info

Who is Phill Gross? - Mountain Times

Phill Gross is a co-founder of Adage Capital Management, L.P. serving as managing director and healthcare portfolio manager at the firm since its

mountaintimes.info

Passholders purchase Killington and Pico - Mountain Times

What does independent ownership mean for Killington Resort, community?

mountaintimes.info

Some encouraging quotes from the articles:

Michael Ferri

Why this investment?

the timing of what’s going on here is really exciting: the timing of the village and the new housing in conjunction with investment in the mountain itself. I think it’s really going to be great to see over the next 10 years.

Best case scenario, how would you like to see Killington look 10 years from now?

I think Killington has the potential to be one of the best mountains in the country certainly — from a guest skier experience point of view — after we get through a new village and reinvestment strategy to bring infrastructure up to top notch.


Phill Gross:

What’s your personal favorite trail on the mountain?

Scarecrow and Tin Man (those used to be unnamed trails, now they’re named) also The Stairs, Nowhere and Somewhere.

Is there a specific project that you’ll be pushing to prioritize?

No. One of the first things we did was look at all the lifts and kind of prioritize what needs to be upgraded and when, both from a customer flow basis as well as just the the age of the lifts themselves. So there’s a whole plan that’s been laid out that we’re going to follow, if not accelerate.

What changes can the community expect to see first?

We’ll probably spend more money than Powdr did on things like maintaining the existing lifts and the existing infrastructure, because that enables everything to last longer… it’s something that Mike [Solimano] really wants to do. And it makes sense to do when you’re planning for the long-term.

I think after the closing there’ll be some announcements that give people better clarity on investments planned for the next two to three years. I think people will be surprised with what our plans are over the next five to seven years. We are accelerating plans on some capital spending. We actually already got permission from Powdr to spend some money before we closed. I think that tells you how aggressive this group is going to be.

 

[Newpylong]

If the number of HKDs that are being installed are any indication of the capital spent in advance, then they do mean business.

 

[eatskisleep]

I am definitely excited for this. I hope they continue to invest in summer ops at the bike park too.

 

[BenedictGomez]

In the late 90's there was a year when the Canadian dollar was unusually weak.

It hit like 1.65 to a USD at one point. I bought new skis & boots in Brossard (Salomon X-Screams), bought great Habs & Expos tix, partied in Montreal, skied JP on the cheap. Life was good for a young poor.

 

[ss20]

Hopefully this all works out for K. Sounds like the new owners aren't too concerned about ROI. You either neuter Killington in some aspects trying to profit like POWDR did, or your go full-bore and maybe/hopefully you break-even in good years. Like I said at the start of this thread (I think), Killington was built to chew up cheap labor and cheap energy. That ship's been sailed/gone/sinking for 15+ years now.

I'm glad I left K after covid. POWDR was still running the place well. There were starting to be some chinks in the armor the last season I was skiing there but once I left the stories/pictures I saw of the place were awful. Call me insane but I would 100% travel back East for a week at a well-ran Killington/Pico in a good snow year. I love the place.

 

[ALLSKIING]

Hopefully this all works out for K. Sounds like the new owners aren't too concerned about ROI. You either neuter Killington in some aspects trying to profit like POWDR did, or your go full-bore and maybe/hopefully you break-even in good years. Like I said at the start of this thread (I think), Killington was built to chew up cheap labor and cheap energy. That ship's been sailed/gone/sinking for 15+ years now.

I'm glad I left K after covid. POWDR was still running the place well. There were starting to be some chinks in the armor the last season I was skiing there but once I left the stories/pictures I saw of the place were awful. Call me insane but I would 100% travel back East for a week at a well-ran Killington/Pico in a good snow year. I love the place.

What were the stories and pics that were awful? I ski there 50 + days a year for over 10 years and yeah they've had there issues but nothing close to awful.

 

[ss20]

What were the stories and pics that were awful? I ski there 50 + days a year for over 10 years and yeah they've had there issues but nothing close to awful.

I don't really know bc I wasn't there... but a decrease in snowmaking, 1/3 of the skyeship cabins being out of service, inaccurate snow reports, crazy weekend lines, I saw a video of viper pit this Christmas break that was horrifying, reduced operations of Canyon and the SRT.

 

[Rogman]

I don't really know bc I wasn't there... but a decrease in snowmaking, 1/3 of the skyeship cabins being out of service, inaccurate snow reports, crazy weekend lines, I saw a video of viper pit this Christmas break that was horrifying, reduced operations of Canyon and the SRT.

Mike said they made more snow than ever, but timing is everything. Post WC they pushed hard to get to Bear for Christmas but the only route down was viper pit. I’m told because of the way the snowmaking is configured they couldn’t do anti venom. It’s at best an easy black.

They were going to replace some parts in the Needles Eye quad, but the flooding of Skyeship base ended up eating that money. It’s subsequent failure made that pod a fiasco most of the winter.

A lousy Christmas gave them an excuse to go austerity mode and the rumors began it was for sale. The decisions made didn’t make sense and it was clear they were coming from POWDR.

Skyeship was an embarrassmen; on top of losing Needles, there were numerous cabin failures. The long lines at the midstation were further hindered by numerous cabins with “out of service signs.“ The fact that its car barn looks like it only remains standing out of habit didn’t help.

Some of the secondary lifts ran less than expected adding to locals frustration.

And the worst sin of all, they jacked up the price of beer, so only tourists hung out there.

 

[urungus]

Post WC they pushed hard to get to Bear for Christmas but the only route down was viper pit. I’m told because of the way the snowmaking is configured they couldn’t do anti venom. It’s at best an easy black.

Viper Pit is the black diamond section of Skyeburst, correct ? But what is Anti-Venom, is it the blue bypass on skiers right of Viper Pit ?

 

[urungus]

“Viper Pit“ was briefly on the trail map in the mid-2000s, in the location I mentioned, here is a closeup of the 2007-8 map:

 

[Rogman]

I actually think using expired trail names is a bit lame. Unfortunately there isn’t a good way with the contemporary terminology to unambiguously describe the two sections. Upper Lower Skyeburst and Middle Wildfire is definitely worse.