All downhill from here
Three trails are opening at Killington today, Sunday
Toolbox
By Cristina Kumka Staff Writer - Published: November 7, 2009
KILLINGTON — Killington Resort expects to open three expert trails today and Sunday at the top of Killington Peak, courtesy of natural inches of snow in the last couple dof ays and 90 hours of snowmaking, according to resort Communications Manager Tom Horrocks.
"It's full-on winter up there," Horrocks said later Friday.
Public access to the Rime, Reason and upper East Fall trails this weekend from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. signifies a soft opening for the resort – the second-earliest in the state.
West Dover's Mount Snow was the first resort to open to the public in Vermont on Oct. 17, offering terrain park skiing and riding for $10 or 10 nonperishable food items.
According to Mount Snow, more than 700 skiers and riders showed up and $5,000 of resort revenue from the opening weekend went to charity.
At Killington this weekend, riders and skiers can use the three upper-mountain trails glazed with a base layer of 12 to 18 inches, accessible via two lifts — the K-1 Express Gondola and the Northridge Triple chair, according to the resort.
Temperatures are expected to be in the 20s and cold temperatures over the last two weeks has preserved about 60 percent of the snow the resort made during that time, Horrocks said.
Skiers and riders are asked to stay up top in the resort's Northridge area until they are done for the day, then ride or ski down a trail above the K-1 base lodge.
Some walking will be required at the bottom portion of the mountain, according to a press release from the resort.
Also today, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., the resort will host the Back to Shred Rail Jam featuring 60 skiers and riders grinding, jibbing and sliding for prizes.
Killington will close again on Monday.
In a press release from the resort issued Friday, Chris Nyberg, Killington's president and general manager, said: "Over the next 24 hours, snowmaking operations will continue and snow cats will begin working the snow surface to provide our guests the best possible opening day conditions."
Tickets are $49 for adults, $44 for young adults age 13 through 18 and seniors age 65 to 69 and $39 for juniors age 7 through 12 and super seniors age 70 or older.
Season-pass holders can pick their passes up at the Snowshed Sales Center beginning at 8 a.m. today and Sunday, according to the resort.
The Vermont Ski Areas Association said Friday that Killington's opening is yet another sign that an early ski season is upon us — season-pass sales have spiked at number of resorts and resort representatives' use of social networking Web sites like Facebook and Twitter to offer early-season deals has been successful, according to Jen Butson, director of public affairs for Ski Vermont.
"Generally speaking, season-pass sales are up," Butson said.
"We also know ski areas are working on having competitive deals and neat new passes."
Some resorts say the hype surrounding the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, in 2010 will benefit the Vermont ski industry.
Butson said a recent snowy football game caused some skiers to catch a case of "backyard syndrome" — calling local mountains ahead of time to reserve passes.
Resorts statewide reported a spike in ticket sales shortly after the Oct. 18 New England Patriots versus Tennessee Titans game at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., compared to the same day last year.
It was "Just from people seeing the snow," Butson said.
cristina.kumka@rutlandherald.com
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