Industry News
It’s official: snowmaking has started on the East Coast! With a window of good weather, Killington Resort, Vermont, made it happen last night, making snow up in their north ridge area. With more good weather for snowmaking this week, Killington will exhaust every window they can to get a trail open for skiing and riding. Historically, they don’t need very long and could be open as soon as this weekend, weather permitting.
Killington is historically the first to open in New England, thanks to their incredible snowmaking system and a team dedicated to being the first every year. Check out their list of previous early openings. They start with the North Ridge quad and two trails, Rime and Reason, and utilize the K-1 Gondola alongside the peak walkway to cater to early-season skiers. Though some walking is required, making turns before anyone else on the East Coast is always worth it.
There are also other resorts on the East Coast that strive for early openings, mainly Sunday River, Maine. However, due to continued construction on the Barker 6, they’ve had to change their game plan which could result in a later-than-usual opening. On a normal year, Sunday River is able to open the Locke Mountain Triple first, around the same time Killington opens North Ridge, utilizing the mid-station and downloading to only ski the top half of the mountain. This year, they’re planning to start on the Jordan 8, which has no mid-station, so they may need to wait for larger weather windows in order to open top to bottom. They could certainly be the first in the east open top to bottom, but Killington will give it their best shot as well. Be on the Lookout for announcements from both resorts.
Killington also has the women’s World Cup giant slalom and slalom races coming up over Thanksgiving weekend, so there will be an all-out push to get Superstar (the trail that hosts the race) covered and up to standards. Keep an eye on their socials for the most up-to-date information.
Check out the North Ridge Webcam at Killington for the most up-to-date progress.
