Killington, Vermont — It’s not as buzzworthy as a high-speed chairlift, but Killington is installing another important lift this offseason.
This offseason, Killington Resort is replacing the Snowdon Triple with a new Doppelmayr fixed-grip quad chairlift. Built in 1973, the triple chairlift was one of the mountain’s second-oldest chairlifts. As the chairlift aged, parts became harder to find, making replacement necessary. This gives Killington redundancy outside its main base area (K-1), home to the K-1 Gondola. It will also be helpful when one of the main lifts around it closes due to mechanical issues, like K-1, Superstar, or the Snowdon Six.
It was replaced before other, more desired lifts because fixed-grip chairlifts are an important part of Killington’s operations.
“Once you take [that lift] up, you can then get to North Ridge, which then gets you to High Traverse, which gets you everywhere,” said Kayla Sarajian, the mountain experience manager at Killington Resort. “I think from an operational standpoint, it was its time to go… We just wanted a more reliable lynchpin for everything.”
This week featured a big milestone for the project. Helicopter crews flew in the lift towers for the future chairlift. They also removed some of the triple lift towers that were still standing. Some of the old lift towers will be repurposed as terrain park features.
Another benefit of this replacement is reliability. New England can get wet weather that isn’t snow. This type of precipitation, most notably the frozen stuff, can lead to very slow reopenings of the detachable chairlifts. Fixed-grip chairlifts are easier to open on these days and are therefore a priority.
“It gives us the ability to get the mountain open on time and get people around the mountain, able to go skiing, and gives us a little bit more breathing room to get the other lifts open,” said Andy Lyman, Killington’s lift maintenance manager. “Because they’re usually open later in the day if it’s a severe icing day.”
Other referenced projects for this offseason include snowmaking upgrades, lift maintenance projects on various lifts, and additions to their summer attractions (like a new mountain biking trail). At Pico, the big project is a new surface lift that will connect to the Outpost terrain. That terrain pod’s chairlift was decommissioned earlier this year. An expansion of the Jerk Jamaican Mountain Grill is also in the works and could be ready for the 2027-28 season.
For more on Killington’s fixed-grip lift strategy, read the full blog post here for good insight into mountain operations.
Image/Video Credits: Killington Resort
