Killington, Vermont — Independence is the flavor of the month in the Northeast ski industry. Black Mountain has been revived thanks to the Indy Pass, and Killington is seeing many investments due to a new independent ownership group.
After failing to make it to Black Mountain’s town hall due to the fucking leaf peepers making the entire road infrastructure of the White Mountains into a traffic jam, I traveled up to Killington to make it to their town hall-style event. This time around, the traffic wasn’t too bad.
The meeting consisted of a yearly update from the Killington Pico Area Association, an update on the Killington Village from Michael Sneyd (Great Gulf’s President of Resort Residential Division), a Killington resort update from President & CEO Michael Solimano, and a Q&A with two leading members of the new ownership team.
Village: Michael Sneyd from Great Gulf was at the meeting to discuss the planned Killington Village. They discussed what the village will contain and what the current timeline of the project will be.
When the first phase is completed, there will be 650 ski-in/ski-out condos, homesites at Ramshead, 110,000+ square feet of retail and dining space, two public squares, a new 85,0000+ square foot ski lodge that will replace Snowshed and Ramshead, and improvements to the Snowshed Pond.
Infrastructure work began in the town of Killington this year. Q1 of 2025 will feature work commencing on the roads to the Ramshead homesites and new parking areas for Killington. Approval processes through the town and state in 2025. Unit sales will begin in the third and fourth quarters of 2025, and they aim to begin construction in the second quarter of 2026. The goal is for residents to move in during Q4 of 2027-Q1 of 2028.
Killington Improvements: General Manager Mike Solimano discussed the investments that will be made in the mountain over the next two seasons.
The most noteworthy project is the replacement of Superstar Express with a new Dopplemayr detachable high-speed six-pack chairlift. The benefits of this new lift will be heavier chairs, leading to fewer windholds. Some of the changes include a new entry pattern (heading straight on instead of doing a curve, like Snowdon Six), tower four being moved further uphill, and moving their snowmaking line. However, the new Superstar will have the same uphill carrying capacity.
This change will impact spring skiing in 2025. Doppelmayr wanted to start the project at the beginning of April, but Killington doesn’t want to end Superstar’s season, and the chairlift’s life, that early. They’re currently negotiating a start date with Doppelmayr. They’re planning to do late spring skiing, but it will center around the Canyon and North Ridge. However, they do not believe that June skiing is in the cards. It could also impact the 2025 Killington Cup, but that’s not certain.
For snowmaking, 1000 snowguns are being added to Killington and Pico. Click here for more information about this huge project.
The Skyeship Gondola will also be seeing some significant upgrades. For this upcoming winter, the cabins which had doors that wouldn’t close have been fixed. Next offseason, all gondola cabins at Skyeship will be replaced. In addition, a new gondola barn is being added, which will replace the makeshift building that was being used by the ski resort.
A new trail has also been added to their network. Field Goal will be an easy run that winds down to the base of the Skyship Gondola. It used to be known as Juggernaut, but was removed from the trail network following damage from Irene. However, the Low Traverse trail has been removed. This was a short run that connected Double Dipper and Great Northern.
The big new project that was announced at the meeting was a beginner area redesign at Pico. The Bonanza Double Chair and the rope tow are being replaced by a covered conveyer lift. The project is a planned collaboration with Vermont Adaptive. This project is subject to state regulatory approvals.
Other projects referenced include a gearbox replacement on the K-1 Gondola, adding three groomers each year, operating South Ridge more frequently, the transition back to K Parks (RIP Woodward at Killington), and breaking ground next spring on the Bear Mountain Basecamp homes.
New Ownership: The final portion of the meeting was dedicated to a Q&A with Phill Gross and Michael Ferri, who are the leaders of this new ownership group. They’ve lived in Killington for decades and stopped POWDR from its plans of closing the Skyeship Gondola following their acquisition of Killington in 2007.
Overall, this group consists of 16 investors. POWDR is staying as a minority investor, and Great Gulf is also an investor. No individual has more than a 20% stake in the ski resort. As part of the agreement, Killington can’t be sold for ten years, although it appears like these guys are in it for much longer than that.
The new team’s Board of Directors, most of whom are local community members, was also announced at the meeting.
Perhaps the two most notable moments from the Q&A came when they were asked about lifetime passes and the Killington-Pico interconnect. Unfortunately, there’s no plan to bring back lifetime passes, which became a legal mess for POWDR after discontinuing them. The interconnect is a consideration in the distant future but isn’t a priority due to the extensive lift and infrastructure work planned at Killington and Pico. In addition, most of the audience seemed to be against the idea of an interconnect, albeit this was more of a local crowd.
After questions were asked, free food and drinks were served upstairs. That’s not a typo; a ski resort offered free food and drinks, and it was delicious. Overall, the stoke was high as Killington embarks on this era of independence.
A full rundown of the meeting can be read here.
Image/Video Credits: Killington Resort
