Killington Lift Investment

16mil is being invested in Killington this summer.  A new lift and two relocations, and a major overhaul on another lift.  And they're putting in bridges and tunnels in multiple locations to improve skier flow.

The new lift is a 6 pack bubble for Snowdon.  It will be a Leitner Poma lift and replace the quad on roughly the same alignment.  There will be a chair parking barn and the chairs will come off every night like is done on the gondolas.  Capacity of 3000 per hour and speed of 1000 fpm for a 4.5 minute ride.

The Snowdon quad will be moved over to South Ridge and installed on the return line of the old triple that's been gone for 8 years.  It will receive significant upgrades including new control systems, hangers, and grips.

The Snowdon Poma will be moved over to Ramshead where it will be located on the Swirl trail which will be the new race training trail.  This opens up Bunny Buster for more intermediate terrain on Snowdon.

The K1 Gondola will receive significant upgrades including brand new cabins, new haulrope, and new control systems.  The cabin parking barn will be fully enclosed and heated so the cabins are clean and dry every morning.  The old cabins will be moved over to the Skyeship gondola to serve as spares and allow for it to have the full allotment of cabins (it's missing many of them now).

But I'm not done.  The Snowshed Crossover will be brought back with bridges across The Stash and Skyeburst allowing for yet another route out of Bear Mountain.  And on Snowdon they will put in multiple bridge/tunnel crossings so that Great Northern doesn't bisect the pod anymore.

And I'm still not done.  RFID ticketing is being added at both Killington and Pico.  This allows for staff to focus less on scanning and more on filling up the chairs.

Just when I thought Powdr wasn't going to invest anything in Killington, they drop this bombshell.  This is turning out to be a great year for eastern lifts, and I intend on watching the construction and riding all of them when they open.

I share Sno’s excitement for these plans.  The snowdon upgrade is overdue.  That quad is slow as hell and I enjoy that terrain pod though it will now be more crowded.  The south ridge pod has some really good skiing hidden in it.

Shows what you can do if you focus on improving the skiing product instead of spending on shiny stuff that does nothing to improve the skiing.

The lift upgrades are great, but I hate skier bridges. Messes up the scenery of a natural ski slope so much it makes me cringe. Skie'd Belleayre yesterday and had a ton of fun, but did not ski over bridge or ride the gondola once.

Sno, didn't you say you thought they should replace the Ramshead lift? That lift didn't seem to bad to me when I rode it for MTB this past summer.

All these upgrades are long overdue.  I'm concerned that the race training venue on Ramshead will result in kids bombing through the family trails below.  But this is the training venue for the younger kids so they're not as fast as the older kids who will stay on Highline.

The Belleayre gondola improved the skiing a lot, but I could've spent 8mil more efficiently to upgrade the skiing product.  The Whiteface lodge "improvements" are a disaster and resulted in their advanced skiing product being destroyed.

The pressure is on for the Alterra family of resorts to do some lift investment.  Stratton really needs to upgrade the Snow Bowl Quad and Tremblant really needs to upgrade the Duncan Express.  I could see Vail building a lift at Stowe as they occasionally add lift projects after the big announcement in December.

99% sure Leitner Poma is doing the entire Killington project as it involves relocating and upgrading Poma lifts.  This will be their biggest project of 2018 unless Alterra announces something bigger.

The new K1 cabins will be the same ones Stratton got in 2014, and I really like that design a lot.  The old cabins will be used on the Skyeship to replace any broken cabins and get it back up to the full number.  The rest will be stripped for parts and auctioned.

Ethan Snow wrote

Sno, didn't you say you thought they should replace the Ramshead lift? That lift didn't seem to bad to me when I rode it for MTB this past summer.

The Ramshead lift will not need to be upgraded due to age, but due to lines.  The Snowdon bubble chair will help with that somewhat though.  Maybe it will happen in 2019 or 2020.  I'm hoping they're still considering the Pico connection.

I would rather avoid using bridges and tunnels for skiing, but the area they want to put them is such a mess currently that I'm fine with it.

Not commenting on the specifics, but it is good to see Killington moving forward. Killington is crucial in the east.

The fact that this stuff was announced a few days after you said Killington was doomed shows that the back story isn't always evident to customers and outsiders.

I think it is a little over the top to say that advanced skiing has been destroyed at Whiteface.

Whiteface's advanced product has been destroyed.  They never opened Hoyt's or Lookout Below and Skyward almost didn't make it out of Feb.  All so they could try and be a mediocre intermediate mountain at best.

Powdr screwed Killington for 10 years so it was time for something like this.  They really needed a big lift project like this.  Hopefully there's more to come.

snoloco wrote

16mil is being invested in Killington this
But I'm not done.  

And I'm still not done.  

Just when I thought Powdr wasn't going to invest anything in Killington, they drop this bombshell.  This is turning out to be a great year for eastern lifts, and I intend on watching the construction and riding all of them when they open.

Nerd

If you actually ski Killington, these "upgrades" don't mean jack. What that mountain needs is new lodges with more seats. It also needs to get its act together and do this massive village that they have planned, or, not, so that the local business owners can plan for their future and invest accordingly. The access road and Rt.4 coming up from Rutland is descending into slum land. Nothing new has been built in years, and there are now empty and derelict buildings on that road, which is absurd. I could care less if I get an Okemo bubble six on Snowden. The quad is fine. Give me a nice hotel room that doesn't smell of thirty five years of beer and mildew.

Powdr is not run by smart people. I'm pretty sure that decisions about Killington are made by dumb people in Park City who almost show contempt for what is now their cash cow community, since they were so stupid they gave PC away to Vail with a clerical error. But, hey, it's better than Les Otten, I guess. Just can't wait for the next World Cup race! Another million bucks gone in a stupid PR bonfire. Meanwhile, the world passes them by.

Sounds like you'd be better off at the "New Whiteface" that's all about the high end amenities and not about the skiing.

The rest of us will enjoy these awesome new lifts at Killington.

No you won't. Because you're not a Killington skier.

I'll ski there 5 days on my Ikon Pass.  Still going to enjoy their new lifts.

I don't identify with any home mountain as of now.  Whiteface screwed the pooch this year and is not deserving of being called my home mountain, and Gore and Tremblant are too far away to day trip every weekend.

Five days is a tourist.

Someone who wants fancy hotels instead of lift investment is also a tourist.  And I'm a way better skier than the average "tourist".

Back on topic

They updated the press release and it's 100% confirmed this is a Leitner Poma project.  I knew it anyways.  As of now their biggest project for 2018 is in the east!!  

I agree with a previous post.

Dork.

Edit: I've skied maybe close to a thousand days on that mountain since 1986. I know it intimately. Don't ever dare try calling me a tourist around that place again. Please stop typing and be a skier.

You should listen to Benny. Some times the truth hurts. I'm happy to see the south ridge get a chair again. Snowdons gonna be a mess with that much lift capacity. I hope they never put lifts on the interconnect but that they keep the trails cleared.

I ski Killington about 5 days a year but I used to own a house there and worked there.  I have close to 1000 days on snow btw K and Pico.  I think these improvements are spot on.  Snowdon has really fun cruising terrain along with access to some really fun woods and lightly skied black trails.  While not a fan of tunnels and bridges if they put more traffic on Snowdon all the intersections would be iffy.  Southridge has some of the best nooks and crannies to find pow but it kacked a lift.

Instead of replacing Rams Head it would be nice to see a new HSQ from the bottom of Snowdon to the top of Rams Head back up to where the original double chair went.

If you care more about the high end amenities than the lifts and skiing, then I don't know what to call you other than a tourist.  Sometimes the truth hurts.

No way they put a lift from the bottom of Snowdon to the top of Ramshead.  It would put way too many people on Caper.  I'm sure they'll eventually replace the Ramshead Quad and extend it back to the top, maybe with a mid station where the current lift terminates.

Benny Profane wrote

If you actually ski Killington, these "upgrades" don't mean jack. What that mountain needs is new lodges with more seats. It also needs to get its act together and do this massive village that they have planned, or, not, so that the local business owners can plan for their future and invest accordingly.

I don't know, they will never compete with Stowe on the whole quintessential new england resort experience, and with that much product who gives a crap about a seat in the lodge. I came to ride, not sit. Everyone knows exactly what they are getting themselves into when they go to Killington. Its not like you are in lake tahoe when you are up in vermont, there isn't shit to do but drink and ride.