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Killington Gets Season's First Tracks Yeah baby, first turns! Killington Resort in Killington, Vermont, opened today, October 2. But, let us not be jealous and instead close our eyes and put ourselves into the minds of those making the turns. A moment of silence, please. For the 37th consecutive year, Killington has been the first East Coast Resort to crank up the lifts. The white gold began dusting the hills early yesterday morning and, while the temps continued to drop, the snow gods blessed those Vermonters and lay down a fresh coat overnight. Those smart enough to dust off their planks, narrow or wide, or motivated enough to have already been pulling 360s on the living room carpet, hit the Rime Trail at 6:45am EST. "This is the moment we've waited all summer for," Managing Director Allen Wilson said. A total bonus for the lucky, resort bigwigs called the order to pump snow onto the Glades area so skiers and riders could avoid the construction of the new gondola and ride the quad (for those of you entertaining the ugly emotion of jealousy, they do have to take the quad and then get a shuttle to the triple to get to the Upper Cascade — envy is the positive connotation of jealousy). Killington is revamping, in part, for the phenomenon that is snowboarding and has constructed two new halfpipes, a permanent boardercross and a lift to the park. These new playgrounds, the gondola, and some new lodging are part of a $50 million facelift. Ultimately Killington will be joined with neighboring mountain Pico. Of course, the weather will decide if this is a true season opener or just a cool winter window, so don't pack your car before calling them (but do start tuning), unless you want to skateboard around the parking lot. And P.S., Sugarbush in Vermont, Sunday River and Sugarloaf/USA in Maine have also been making snow. OOH, it's all good! — Sarah Love, Mountain Zone Staff |
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