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Mountain improvements at Killington and Pico prep for the ski season

Posted Monday, August 3, 2009
— Resort improvements, Killington, Alpine / downhill skiing, Pico
Snowmaking hydrants at Killington ski resort

For Killington ski resort in Vermont, last year is a hard act to follow. That’s when the resort introduced the Skye Peak Express – an express quad that more than halved the time that an older lift took to bring skiers to the top of Skye Peak.

As Killington’s communications manager put it: “There’s not a lot of sexy stuff going on here this summer, especially after spending close to $9 million last year on improvements.” New snowmaking hydrants at Killington ski resort

Even still, the mountain ops crews are investing $2.5 million this summer in important on-mountain improvements around Big K and Little P. Here’s a look.

At Pico Mountain:

  • Replacing 122 snowmaking hydrants
  • Upgrading snowmaking pipe on Upper Pike
  • Completing painting project on Knomes Knoll Triple
  • New warming hut at summit

At Killington Resort:

  • Replacing up to 2,000 feet of snowmaking pipe, including sections on Cascade and Great Eastern
  • Purchasing additional low-energy snowguns (reduced diesel consumption + reduced electricity use = a very good thing!)
  • Lift painting: Ramshead Express towers; Superstar Express towers; Skyeship Gondola top terminal; Sunrise Triple towers; South Ridge Triple bottom terminal; Bear Mountain Quad chairs
  • Re-grading unloading area of Skye Peak Express
  • Re-grading new Bittersweet trail section
  • New warming hut at Killington Peak

Killington crews have also been putting additional wind screens on the Northbrook Quad and new screens on Superstar and Skyeship Gondola. And on the K1, they’ve been painting the cabins and polishing the windows. Now please people, don’t muck them up! Some of us want to see the view!


Photo courtesy of Killington ski resort.

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