Vermont

The Beast of the East

Killington, or shall we say… killing me? I kid, I kid, not that I wasn’t sore by the end of our trip, because truthfully, I was basically decrepit following a 5 hour drive and full 2 days of snowboarding. The mountain however was absolutely magnificent. Blue bird skies on a Saturday followed by snow squalls on a Sunday. The kids (read as adults blissfully, euphoric after “freshies on Friday and freshies on a Sunday to successfully SEND IT”) all piled into their cars kissing the weekend farewell. I don’t quite speak the whole lingo yet, but I do know Après Ski and boy did we take that to heart as there’s no shortage of watering holes to kick back and drink up in this little town off Vermont’s scenic route 4.

The Mountain

Alright, a little about the mountain because that’s what you’re all here for anyways! Killington, the “Beast of the East” is the largest ski area in the eastern US with a top elevation of 4,229 ft, base elevation of 1,165 ft (at the Skyeship gondola not to be missed). The resort offers more than 155 runs to keep you busy and your legs tired. 21 lifts: 2 gondolas, 5 express quads, 4 quads, 3 triples, 1 double, and 6 surface lifts all at your fingertips. Fill all of those into one day and you might be scoring higher than Nathan Chen in his free skate at the Beijing Olympics.

Typically, there’s about 250 inches of natural snowfall during the season and they make plenty to keep the fluff available from November to May. Our visit was in February after about 10 inches of fresh, heavy snow and it was still a bit icy. This was a crazy, mild winter, but all the same, we had a great time! We used our IKON passes to get up to 7 days of access. There are a number of purchasing options to secure your lift access via RFID cards. This made it easy to enjoy a day at Killington. Weekends typically are crowded during their busy season (president’s day weekend to end of March) but the weekdays felt pretty mild.

Experience

Now let me be clear with everyone as we get into the details of our visit – many people are out there to dominate the black diamonds and hit up the terrain parks. If you’re like me, well I’m really just what I describe as a social snowboarder. Those people that only smoke when they drink, but drink often enough that you could classify them as casual smokers… They tell their doctors they don’t smoke and would say no to “have you used tobacco in the last 6 months” well that’s basically me on a snowboard. I snowboard to hang out with friends after a day’s work.

I use it to exercise in the winter/avoid heavy SAD, and to enjoy the gorgeous scenery.  Sure I like to improve, but slowly and confidently, but in reality , I don’t want to miss out on the experience and hey, it’s beautiful out there and I want to see everywhere, and by everywhere I mean all the slopes with a steepness grade of <50%.

So, if you’re like me and I am assuming you are since you came to this post, then you’re in for a treat of an itinerary!

Pre-boarding warm up

I like to massage gun myself in the calves/quads and do some quick stretches in the AM. I am pretty much a 30 year old in a 75 year old’s body. But, if you’re limber and ready to rock, head over to Liquid Art Coffee House & Eatery for a bangin’ breakfast sammie. I highly recommend their vanilla latte. The cafe is a great place to get ready and game plan for the day.

We know at least one person in your group will have forgotten to charge their phone, upload the pics on their GoPro, and/or takes 30 minutes to log into their IKON account to set up their GPS tracking for the day (we believe in the buddy system but also in GPS technology in this household). In this case, head on in, grab a seat, and level set. They have alcohol too, just in case that’s what you need at 9 am on a Saturday! But if you all have your lives together, call ahead for a pickup and stop by the window on the side of the building for your grub.

Parking at Killington

Honestly – this was complex for us but it’s free to park , and they have shuttles if you are far, and there’s free electric parking! Vermont is too good to us, really, between the maple syrup, the solar power/mandated composing, and zero gravity pilsner – what’s there to complain about? We parked near Ramshead (follow the scent of the waffle cabin that leads you to the Ramshead express) and that’s where we start the suggested route, but like if that doesn’t work, there are more options.

Killington Run Itinerary:

Ramshead Quad Express

Easy Street (green)

Ramshead Quad Express

Caper (green)

Great Northern (green)

Snowdon Express Triple

Mouse Run

K-1 Gondola 

PEAK TO THE CREEK

SkyeShip 

Needle

Bittersweet

Après Boarding (After snowboarding for those of us who don’t speak French or mountain dialect)

The Foundry at Killington

To be honest, there are about 20 places I could suggest to end your day. After burning off about every calorie I’d consumed from skating, the times I fell, or the times I didn’t maintain my speed through the flat parts of the mountain (check out our bloopers…..ha) all coupled with the fact that COVID has absolutely deprived my ears and mind from the sweet, sweet sound of live, in-person music sold us on heading over to The Foundry.

The Foundry is a pretty little thing on the roadside – quintessential Vermont. Complete with a nice pond to ice skate on in the winter, porch seating in the summer, and divine lighting to make you feel right at home.  If you aren’t careful, you’ll forget how much wine you’ve had as you nestle into your seat at the bar, quickly becoming deeply enamored by the moment.

Live jazz dazzles in the background of undiscernible chatter between friends and family, the smell freshly charred meats against the wine reduction of chicken marsala, all with the undertone of dim, yellow lighting and a large fire place to warm the room.

Evidently, Nick and I found our home at the bar – To drink, I had a glass, or possibly more, of Decoy Cab, and Nick had their spicy (not very spicy, but still tasty) margarita. To eat we shared the charcutier board of local meats, cheeses, and spreads and then followed by devouring the chicken marsala and prime rib with mashed potatoes. Never do we get dessert when we go out – but I digress, we succumbed to the decadence of the cheesecake du jour, Vanilla with strawberry compote…. 

On to the next adventure!

Then we rolled home to our Airbnb and slept so deeply that I woke up the next day with a hip so sore I could barely walk. Somehow, I didn’t learn and next up we are headed to Jackson, Wyoming to do it all again!