Killington

For years, Killington has been a go-to resort for East Coast skiers and riders. Size, snow quality, and terrain diversity make this mountain incredibly appealing to anyone within driving distance. But while lift logistics and navigation have seen improvements in recent years, they’re still resort sore points.

Killington offers competitive East Coast snow quality. With elevations of up to 4,241 feet and diverse terrain, the resort sees decent natural snow accumulation each season. There is often enough snow for trails and glades to fill in naturally, but like most Vermont resorts, these tend to have thin cover.

In recent years, Killington has come ahead as the king of snowmaking in Vermont. The resort produces generous artificial accumulation on trails for all ability levels. Trails with early- and mid-season snowmaking, like Superstar, allow the resort to extend its season for several extra weeks in the spring. In recent years, Killington has modernized their snowmaking equipment to produce artificial snow on trails more directly and efficiently. Even in typical snow years, the resort can stay open until June with a select few trail offerings.

Like at all Vermont resorts, the conditions at Killington can vary. Trails can sometimes get icy or lose sufficient snow cover, and in some cases, conditions can change very abruptly. Many of them remain closed for significant lengths of time. The mountain occasionally lacks enough snow for moguls to ski anything that's ungroomed, and the bumps that already exist can turn into chunks of ice.

If you’re not happy with the day’s conditions, Killington will allow you to exchange your ticket for another day’s voucher before 10am. However, it’s important to know that these vouchers normally have to be used up within a year, meaning that they have little value if you’ve already bought the ticket for your current trip and don’t plan on frequenting the resort.

From bunny hills to steep chutes, Killington offers a wide variety of terrain for all levels. The well-thought-out Snowshed and Ramshead beginner areas offer a range of designated beginner terrain, including terrain parks and glades, for kids and adults who are just starting. Ramshead also offers some easier blues and has turned into more of a freestyle area in recent years. These areas are very removed from the rest of the resort and provide welcome isolation from more aggressive skiers elsewhere.

Intermediates will find groomed blue cruisers across all major mountain areas. Visitors of this ability level will appreciate the abundance of peak-to-base blue cruisers, some of which provide the most amazing views you’ll get anywhere in Vermont. A number of Killington's upper mountain blues, most notably Great Northern and some short trails off of Snowdon, used to be greens and are good progression trails for low intermediates. On the other hand, a couple are on the steeper side and are better for advanced intermediates.

For advanced and expert visitors, Killington offers a range of both groomed and ungroomed black and double-black diamond runs. These runs are quite steep, although some double blacks are on the easier side and would likely be classified as single blacks at other resorts. Experienced guests will find plenty of challenging mogul runs along Bear Mountain, Skye Peak, and Killington Peak. Trails such as Outer Limits and Ovation offer some of the steepest drops in the East. The Catwalk trail requires hiking and walking up a set of stairs, but the effort is well worth it.

Killington also offers some very demanding trees, and there are even a few cliffs if you know where to look. However, if you want to ski a long, mogully route, there are better places out there; a lot of expert terrain is fairly short and often only makes up part of a path down the mountain.

Killington has always been a leader when it comes to freestyle terrain, and the resort has further improved the experience in recent years thanks to its partnership with Woodward that added multiple progression parks. Features range from small to large, including unique natural features in the Stash area. An 18-foot halfpipe on Dream Maker typically opens later in the season, but some years, it doesn’t come to fruition.

There’s also the Sunrise area, which you can just ignore if you’re not living in a condo there. The area is difficult to reach, and there are only 3 green trails with mediocre snow cover, no beginner features, and slow lift service.

Although it boasts the longest vertical drop in the east, Killington does have six heavily developed base areas at varying elevations throughout the resort. As a result, you can directly access every mountain peak from at least one base area. While lots of people will like the convenience of this setup, guests expecting a true 3,000 vertical foot drop across some key mountain zones may be disappointed. In fact, the only way to do the full 3,000 foot vertical drop is to take one of the few very low elevation trails down to the Skyeship base, parts of which are very flat. The resort offers beautiful views of surrounding scenery, but the lift, lodge, and base buildup means that it's tough to find isolation in high elevation terrain.

The only places you’ll truly feel isolated here are at the top of the hike-only Catwalk trail—or a bit further up at the top of Killington Peak, which is not directly skiable but is accessible by foot. Once you make it up to these zones, you’ll have nobody else around you paired with breathtaking views of the surrounding mountaintops.

Killington gets cold throughout the season, but luckily, there are a number of places to stop in for a break. All six bases host large lodges with food and drink options. Not quite as much exists mid-mountain, but there are a couple of very solid food joints, including a Jamaican grill at the Skyeship mid-station. The fancy and expensive summit lodge at Killington Peak offers amazing views; however, it gets uncomfortably crowded during peak times and makes the top of the resort feel commercialized. This past season, the K1 Base Lodge was completely rebuilt, and the new structure is much fancier than the old one, providing upscale dining options and boasting escalators from the parking lots.

Killington is not for those who want a mountain that’s simple to get around. It’s possible to get pretty much anywhere at the resort from the top, but ending up in the wrong place is way too easy given the nature of there being six bases. Signage is fairly well-maintained throughout the mountain, including large trail maps at key locations, but it could be better designed; while signs generally have directions to each of the bases, they don’t have any lift directions, making it really unclear how to find some mid-mountain lifts.

A major Killington downside is that getting between certain mountain areas requires multiple lift rides or few minutes of catwalking. If you're going from anywhere on the Skye Peak side to the Killington Peak side—and you're not an expert—catwalking is essentially unavoidable. There are some flat parts in certain mountain areas, and it takes a bit of a learning curve to figure out how to avoid them. Snowshed and Ramshead’s isolation deflects aggressive skier traffic but makes it very difficult for guests to navigate their way in or out; unless you know what you're doing, it's way too easy to end up on a flat trail in either direction. Getting between the two areas themselves is made easier by a bidirectional ski tunnel, but that itself is also pretty flat with some mild uphill sections in both directions.

Killington installed four ski tunnels at busy trail intersections in recent seasons. These tunnels have improved the overall resort experience by mitigating collision risk and keeping skiers of different ability levels separated. However, they’ve also eliminated a few useful trail intersections.

Killington boasts impressive lift infrastructure. Guests can access all major mountain areas via one or more high-speed lifts, although many helper lifts and some chairs serving minor areas are fixed-grip. The two gondolas and recently added bubble chair provide welcome isolation from the elements.

A couple of seasons ago, Killington made two major lift improvements. First, they replaced the old Snowdon Quad with the Snowdon Six bubble chair, giving Snowdon Mountain high-speed lift service for the first time. Second, they installed the South Ridge Quad, restoring direct lift service to this part of the mountain after a several-year absence; previously, guests would have to ski all the way down to the Bear Mountain base and take two indirect lifts just to lap this terrain.

But Killington’s lift setup still has some downsides. Many bases have only one major lift out, which leads to long lines. Multiple lifts at K1’s base are a catwalk’s distance away from each other. The popular Killington Peak Lodge is only accessible by the K1 Gondola, making that lift especially bad on busy weekends and holidays. Many alternatives to main lifts are slow, very exposed to wind, or inaccessible from the base, making them undesirable. This past season, the resort introduced the Fast Tracks program, which allows guests to pay a premium to skip the lines at many popular lifts.

While lift tickets can be purchased at any base area, the resort’s main ticket office is at Snowshed—condo, lesson, and ski school registrations have to be done here. Accordingly, lines for these services can get really long. Crowds on some key runs can get pretty heavy too; sometimes, the biggest obstacles are the other people on the trail.

Lodging

Killington offers extensive lodging options in town but very few slopeside hotels. Only a few places have direct access to hot tubs or pools; many offer these amenities in the same complex but a different building. The High Ridge, Fall Line, Whiffletree, and Trail Creek condo communities near Snowshed feature ski-in access but no lift service. Privately-owned condos along Skyeship and Sunrise are far from town but typically your best bet for ski-in/ski-out accommodations. It’s worth noting that a free shuttle bus service to the mountain services most lodging options in town.

Aprés-ski

Killington delivers an impressive aprés-ski and nightlife scene. Most base lodges include a bar with live aprés-ski music at least once a week, and the K1 lodge features a band every day during peak times. There are a few mid-mountain bars, including one at the Peak Lodge. The K1 and Snowshed bases offer outdoor umbrella bars with live music during the spring.

The town’s access road offers upscale restaurants, sports & billiards bars, nightclubs, and live music venues. Few are within walking distance of hotels and condos, but Ubers and shuttle buses are available here. There’s plenty going on in the nearby town of Rutland as well.

Verdict

Killington asks a fairly high ticket price for Vermont and has a few logistical issues, but you won’t find anything else like it on the East Coast. While it’s no match for the major resorts out west, nobody in Vermont can beat Killington in size and few can compete in snowmaking. On top of that, the infrastructure upgrades made in recent years have had significant impacts on Killington’s lift and crowd flow experiences. If you’re looking for a mountain in Vermont that offers something for everyone, it’s hard to find a better place than Killington.