Killington Looks Forward at the Annual Community Meeting

A series of Mikes stepped up to the mic on October 19, 2023, to present the Killington community with a look forward towards the exciting major developments to come in the area.

The Killington Pico Area Association (KPAA) kicked things off with its annual meeting. President Beth Sarandrea was joined by the evening’s first Mike, Mike Coppinger, as well as new director Kelly Morrisey. They reported on the success of new Welcome Center hours, their most profitable Wine Festival yet and the new streamlined Merchant Pass process. They also issued a save-the-date for next year’s Wine Festival: July 19-20, 2024.

“I truly believe we are on the cusp of really great things,” Sarandrea said. “Together as a community we are excited to move Killington forward.”

Next, it was Killington Resort’s turn. President and General Manager Mike Solimano kicked off his presentation off with a sunny video recap of the summer that was, but quickly pointed out the reality was a bit rainier – 27 inches to be exact! A particularly wet summer of 2023 presented some challenges for the resort, including major flooding in the Bear Mountain and Skyeship areas. The upside of this is both lodges are undergoing a makeover and will be fresh and ready for action this winter.

He discussed some of the new technology at the resort for the coming season, including a Verizon cell tower added at Bear Mountain, and a 40% increase in Wi-Fi access points resort wide. He also noted plans to revamp the Snowdon Six Express lift maze and announced that this season, the resort would employ a paid team of on-hill staff to promote safety during busy times. Speaking of staff, Solimano spoke of decreased reliance on foreign workers and hiring more local employees this season and in the future.

As far as the skier experience goes, to alleviate some of the parking woes of last season, the Bear Mountain Quad will open at 7:30 a.m. on Saturdays in January-March. Solimano illuminated some of the massive investments in snowmaking, including many new snow guns featuring Klik technology to be added to key, high-traffic areas, as well as a complete revamp of the hydrants on Devil’s Fiddle. The resort also added its first fully electric snowmobile and a hybrid groomer. This latter machine will spend the season at Pico Mountain, where it should be able to tackle some of the steeper terrain on a more regular basis. Speaking of Pico, major snowmaking upgrades have been completed and the crowd cheered when he mentioned plans to make snow earlier at Pico this season.

When the Stifel Killington Cup returns to Killington over Thanksgiving weekend, Solimano announced we will take extra advantage of the World Cup terrain after the race, offering training to local ski clubs the following week.

Finally, he spoke of the first year in the K-1 Lodge, spotlighting a 10 ton reduction in trash thanks to the reusable dishware and 3 times as much composting compared with the previous year. He also noted some of the improvements being made for this season, including a deeper well, heated walkway on the East side of the lodge, larger entry doors and relocated water fountains.

Solimano wrapped up his presentation with a nod to winter, which, he said, is right around the corner.

“We have a snowmaking window, probably won’t get open but we will make some snow,” he said.

With two Mikes down, it was time to meet Killington’s new town manager Michael Ramsey, who took the position in August. After introducing himself, Ramsey dove into the Killington Forward Initiative and mapped out the phased approach that will provide the town with clean municipal water and more efficient roads over the next several years.

“It’s hard for me not to get excited because we’re bringing municipal infrastructure to a town that hasn’t had it and has wanted it for 20 something years,” Ramsey said. “It’s a town manager’s dream.”

He also talked about the new town office, which will soon be relocated to the same building as the post office on Route 4, and the shift from an all-volunteer Fire Department, with four full-time firefighters now on the payroll. The town has also added a new police officer and is looking to hire one more. Ramsey also addressed this summer’s flooding and reported that East Mountain Road would be open this winter despite almost $6 million in damage.

Ramsey projected much optimism about the future of the Town of Killington and concluded by talking about the biggest thing on the horizon, the Live Killington Village by Great Gulf.

“Killington Forward would not be happening without Great Gulf,” he said. “We are steadfast in the right direction and that is forward.”

It was a perfect intro for Great Gulf’s President of Resort Residential Michael Sneyd, who presented his vision for the Killington Mountain of the future. The village has been in the works for years, with the initial zoning approved way back in 2008, but this summer, Great Gulf officially acquired the land and has tapped a team of global architects to reimagine the original plans.

“The original plan was a very good plan,” Sneyd said, “but we think Killington deserves better than very good. It deserves great and this village should be better than any village built in the last 25 years.”

The new plan calls for a completely car-free village with a defined main street and two public squares. Access to the village’s underground parking garages will be created from Killington Road and East Mountain Road, and a section of Killington Road will be moved underground, with a “ski beach” over top.

“I keep hearing ‘What’s a ski beach?’” Sneyd said. “It’s a completely flat area that connects the Snowshed lift with Ramshead lift.”

Alongside this snowy meadow will be a large plaza suitable for all sorts of gatherings with a giant firepit. Sneyd described a wonderful interplay between activities on the ski beach and activities on the hardscape. The original plan had called for filling in half of Snowshed Pond, but instead, Live Killington will include the pond with a crescent-shaped building and archway in the middle that looks over it. To counteract the natural ups and downs of the pond, a “pond-within-a-pond” will be created, as well as an island to serve as an additional event space. Green spaces will encircle the Main Street celebrating everything Vermont has to offer with differing landscaped elements. And the final piece of the puzzle will be one new iconic base lodge, rather than two. The initial renderings of this exciting new structure will be released at this year’s Stifel Killington Cup.

“We are so proud and excited to be part of this,” Sneyd said. “Killington is the best ski mountain, it has the best grooming and lifts, great terrain, but it doesn’t have the best village. Together with what we’re hoping to do with the village and the new lodge replacing Snowshed and Ramshead, it’s going to be the one of best ski resorts in the country.”

With the crowd abuzz about all the excitement, Solimano took to the mic one final time for the biggest announcement of the evening. Joined by several prominent members of the community, he presented a check for $700,000, which Killington Resort along with Great Gulf have pledged to fund the land at the bottom of the access road that will become Killington’s new affordable housing development.