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Story by Tim Jones
he boys and I drove up to Killington, Vermont, one Sunday last spring to see what the future of skiing would be for the next couple of months. While other areas around New England were winding down their ski seasons, Killington was still making snow every chance it got, especially on its SuperStar trail. I'd say it had close to 15 feet of snow in places on that trail. It takes a long time for that much snow to melt, and Killington offers skiing until Memorial Day, usually well into June.
If you haven't been there, Killington is absolutely, totally, massively, overwhelmingly, wonderfully HUGE. It spreads out over miles and miles of mountain terrain and eight or nine different peaks. Massive. In each category of trail -- beginner, intermediate, expert, and super expert -- it has more terrain than the total terrain of most ski areas. You couldn't ski all of the expert terrain in one day, let alone the whole mountain.
I really can't tell you which specific trails the boys and I enjoyed most. There were simply too many of them, and half the time we couldn't figure out which trail we were on anyway. We all agreed that the new "SkyShip" lift is worth the price of admission.
If I have a complaint about Killington, it's only that there are so many trails intersecting that it's hard to develop a rhythm in your skiing. I've heard that the new owership is revamping the trail system to reduce this problem for 1996-97. With the entire mountain open, however, it may be possible to find quieter corners to ski.
Still, spring may be the perfect time to visit Killington, simply because it's more manageable. A significant proportion of the area was already closed and it was still overwhelming.
For more information, see Killington's Web site at www.killington.com or call 802-422-3333.
Copyright ©1997, Stephen O. Muskie and Tim Jones. All Rights Reserved.