SugarBush or Killington?

[freeheel_skier]

That's a traverse, not a run out.

Traverse, run out or whatever......it is flat and you need to be going uber fast to avoid skating.

 

[tjf67]

K early season.

Mid season. Skip them both and go to stowe

 

[Newpylong]

The trails that Greg mentions are some of the ones that Killington has that are worthwhile - Sugarbush is a much better mountain with better terrain.

Twist, Moonshine, Mall, Domino, Spillsville, Paradise, CR Run, Liftline, Rumble, Middle Earth, Morning Star. Those are my favorites at LP. Haven't hit much of the on map woods, but know of some cool shots off Organgrinder, Middle Earth, Rumble and Jester. Only have a handful of days at Mount Ellen, but many people claim there are some good bump runs over there. I've skied great bumps on Exterm, Cliffs and Hammerhead. Black Diamond looks sick. Semi-tough is nice as well as the adjoining woods.

I'm sure Killington has a lot of off map stuff which I have no clue about, but the only trails there I've done recently that have really excited me were Needles Liftline, Vertigo, Catwalk, Royal Flush, Northstar, Low Rider, Patsy's and Squeezeplay.

Again, I think of the MRV as a whole so when talking Sugarbush, I immediately think MRG too. Haven't been to Pico yet. I'd imagine I'd like it, but I wouldn't think it compliments Killington as much as MRG does SB.

 

[icedtea]

throne is a nice intermediate glade run at k. chip chop you can fine pow lines for days.

what about all the woods by bear... not to mention all the off the map stuff down by skye and south ridge.

there is a lot at k... if there is decent snow coverage you can take glades from the top of skye to the bottom.. just gotta cross the bridge...or street.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Traverse, run out or whatever......it is flat and you need to be going uber fast to avoid skating.

Get in a low tuck from the top of the Sugarbravo..put your hands out in front of your face to block the wind..and coast by all the nubs skating..

 

[Starter Jackets Rule!]

where is the great terrain that sugarbush has that killington doesn't have???

church!!!

 

[BushMogulMaster]

church!!!

 

[Tin Woodsman]

church!!!

Yeah - The church,. Everyone go to the Church! That's where all the goods are at SB.

 

[ski_resort_observer]

I consider the term runout as the trails near the bottom of the hill going to the base and are fairly flat and of course, a traverse is not a run out. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. :wink: The runout from the Slidebrook/North Ridge area down to the base doesn't require poling but it's long and soooooo boring. The runout of lower FIS is in a class by itself.

 

[boston_e]

I've skied SB quite a bit and K a ton. I think if you know Killington well, there is terrain every bit as good as Sugarbush, or very very close to it.

The drive to SB is much longer than Killington, I like the vibe at SB better and the apres is much better at K.

All in all I'd pick Killington based on the travel time, apres and terrain that is 95% as good.

Both are great though.

 

[andyzee]

I've skied SB quite a bit and K a ton. I think if you know Killington well, there is terrain every bit as good as Sugarbush, or very very close to it.

The drive to SB is much longer than Killington, I like the vibe at SB better and the apres is much better at K.

All in all I'd pick Killington based on the travel time, apres and terrain that is 95% as good.

Both are great though.

Amen.

 

[madskier6]

I've skied SB quite a bit and K a ton. I think if you know Killington well, there is terrain every bit as good as Sugarbush, or very very close to it.

The drive to SB is much longer than Killington, I like the vibe at SB better and the apres is much better at K.

All in all I'd pick Killington based on the travel time, apres and terrain that is 95% as good.

Both are great though.

I agree with most of the points in your post.

I do not, however, think the the drive to SB is much longer than Killington. Longer? Yes. Much longer? No. It's 30 - 45 mins longer (or 1 hour longer max) depending on where you're coming from.

For me, it's about 2.5 hours to K & 3 hours to SB. Obviously if I was to drive from K to SB it would be 45 mins to 1 hr 15 mins depending on weather & road conditions.

Again, I agree with most of what you said except for drive time. That means my conclusion is that SB is my pick since the drive isn't as much of a factor for me. YMMV :smile:

 

[mondeo]

I agree with most of the points in your post.

I do not, however, think the the drive to SB is much longer than Killington. Longer? Yes. Much longer? No. It's 30 - 45 mins longer (or 1 hour longer max) depending on where you're coming from.

For me, it's about 2.5 hours to K & 3 hours to SB. Obviously if I was to drive from K to SB it would be 45 mins to 1 hr 15 mins depending on weather & road conditions.

Again, I agree with most of what you said except for drive time. That means my conclusion is that SB is my pick since the drive isn't as much of a factor for me. YMMV :smile:

From Hartford, Google says 1 hour longer. That's a big difference when you're talking a day trip or season pass. I go up to K just about every weekend - that extra hour both ways every week adds up, especially when it means waking up an hour earlier, beyond what is already a godforsaken time to get up, and an extra hour on the way back from a long day of skiing. Probably made worse by the fact that I'm almost always by myself.

 

[madskier6]

From Hartford, Google says 1 hour longer. That's a big difference when you're talking a day trip or season pass. I go up to K just about every weekend - that extra hour both ways every week adds up, especially when it means waking up an hour earlier, beyond what is already a godforsaken time to get up, and an extra hour on the way back from a long day of skiing. Probably made worse by the fact that I'm almost always by myself.

If we're talking solely about day trips, I agree with you. The extra drive time adds up & makes K more attractive. But the thread topic was not solely limited to which resort is better for day trippers so that's why I added my perspective.

Also, Google Maps isn't always entirely correct. From Hartford to get to SB, you stay on 91 to 89 for most of the way & then only have 20 miles of back roads to get to SB from 89. To get to K from Hartford, as I'm sure you know, you get off 91 at Exit 6 & then go on back roads for 45 + minutes. Therefore, if your destination is SB from Hartford, you can make better time on the interstates & I'm not sure if Google Maps takes this difference into account. Even if they do, I've done the drive to each of SB & K many times so I know how long it takes me.

I stand by my original point about the drive, except if you're talking solely about a day trip.

 

[Geoff]

Killington is more than just the ski area. It's also the whole lifestyle of the place. Until POWDR took it away, it was 5 months of OK skiing followed by a huge spring party that lasted 2 months. If I only cared about midwinter skiing surface, I would have moved on decades ago. The thing is, I like skiing in late October where I catch up with all my friends I haven't seen since May mush bumps. I like being able to walk into the base lodge and know 100 people. When I look at my speed call list, most of the people are somehow related to Killington. I have a god kid in Killington Mountain School. I have another who is on the hill every weekend. Yeah, the place is imperfect and it's pretty ugly many weekends but I have no problem having a good time there. Midweek, it's a completely different animal.

If I'm going to obsess over skiing surface, I wouldn't be skiing in New England. I'd be doing 100% of my skiing in Utah.

 

[Geoff]

For me, it's about 2.5 hours to K & 3 hours to SB. Obviously if I was to drive from K to SB it would be 45 mins to 1 hr 15 mins depending on weather & road conditions.

The new Vermont reality where every town has their contracted sherrif writing speeding tickets means it's impossible to get from Killington to Sugarbush in less than an hour. 45 minutes means you're hitting speed limit + 20. That's $220.00 and 5 points on your license.

With an AWD car equipped with snow tires to handle the Roxbury Gap road, Sugarbush is only an extra 25 minutes from Boston. If you're in a 2WD car with stock tires, it's an extra hour.

 

[sledhaulingmedic]

Where is the great terrain that sugarbush has that killington doesn't have???

You're getting closer. The lure is part of it. Trolling is also about speed and depth.

 

[boston_e]

I agree with most of the points in your post.

I do not, however, think the the drive to SB is much longer than Killington. Longer? Yes. Much longer? No. It's 30 - 45 mins longer (or 1 hour longer max) depending on where you're coming from.

For me, it's about 2.5 hours to K & 3 hours to SB. Obviously if I was to drive from K to SB it would be 45 mins to 1 hr 15 mins depending on weather & road conditions.

Again, I agree with most of what you said except for drive time. That means my conclusion is that SB is my pick since the drive isn't as much of a factor for me. YMMV :smile:

I guess "much" is a very relative term. Without looking at mapquest and just from experiece... its probablly 2 3/4 hours for me to get to K-Ton and 45 min or 1 hour longer to SB. For me that extra 45 min - 1 hour (or 30%) is very signigigant for a day trip... and also signifigant for repeated weekend trips, and thus falls into the "much" category.

I like both Jay and Suagarloaf better than both K and SB... but those fall into the "Much Much" further category!

 

[ALLSKIING]

The new Vermont reality where every town has their contracted sherrif writing speeding tickets means it's impossible to get from Killington to Sugarbush in less than an hour. 45 minutes means you're hitting speed limit + 20. That's $220.00 and 5 points on your license.

You keep saying this but yesterday I got from K to 91 in less then an hr. Friday I got from K to SB in 45 min...No $220.00 and 5 points. Yeah, I speed but you have to know where to speed. When the sign says 35MPH you can go 44MPH without a problem the cops ticket 10MPH an over most of the time.

 

[Greg]

I think if you know Killington well, there is terrain every bit as good as Sugarbush, or very very close to it.

Just talking on map, non-gladed runs here. Care to list Killington equivalents for each of these?

• Twist
• Moonshine
• Mall
• Domino
• Spillsville
• Paradise
• Castlerock Run
• Liftline
• Rumble
• Middle Earth
• Morning Star

Maybe somebody else can compile the list for Mount Ellen since I only listed runs from Lincoln Peak here...