Alexandros’s guidebook

Alexandros

Csatlakozás éve: 2016

Killington and area tips!

Killington

TRAVEL GUIDE/ THINGS TO DO BY SEASON/ SKI TIPS: Obviously, Killington is known for its skiing as the biggest ski resort on the East Coast (“The Beast of The East”), BUT also a great place to visit in the summer (including surrounding area). WINTER: * Considered the best nightlife among East Coast ski resorts, area has multiple restaurants, bars and clubs. * Six-mountain complex includes diverse terrain across 140 ski trails, including beginner trails that can take you all way from Killington peak to base lodge or condo. * Nice restaurants include The Garlic, Sushi Yoshi, Charities, Choices ($$), Preston's ($$, in The Grand), Outback Pizza (brick oven), but many others to explore. * Popular after-ski happy hour is at The Lookout. Popular bar is Jax (also very good bar food; has all sports channels). Popular night spot (normally after 930pm; mainly winter) are The Pickle Barrel and The Wobbly Barn, which normally have bands on weekends (Pickle also has a great happy hour). * Excellent ski/bike shop for tunes and boot fitting experts at Basin Ski Shop (also check out basinski.com for their conditions update in winter). Also consider Aspen East on Route 4. * Free ski shuttle bus runs every 20 minutes from driveway entrance to Snowshed, but I like to walk to chair lifts via far corner of upper parking lot, take walking trail up behind The Grand by the frozen lake, then across the bridge over the lake. Just 5 minutes’ walk, and you ski home later of course (ski home trail entrance just above base of Snowshed Slope; see trail guide; keep to the right when the trail widens to avoid the deep snow). * Many good ski shops are open until midnight on Friday to allow rentals on the night of your drive. This makes a huge difference instead of running around the next morning! * Download Ski Trax App ($1, I think) to track your skiing including top speed etc. I managed 65 mph on the steep part of Skyeburst, and 55 mph on Cruise Control, though never again :) * Taxi services on the mountain: Liam:8023456917; 4wheel: 802-422-9718. The popular bars/ clubs have free shuttle vans (Pickle Barrel, Lookout) that you can call during winter. SUMMER/ AUTUMN: Not just a winter ski resort. Central Vermont is glorious in the summer & fall. Parks are officially open Memorial to Labor day (including those weekends) and lakes are, indeed, warm enough for swimming so long as it is a sunny day/ weekend. Real-feel temperatures in the area are ~10-20 degrees-F warmer than air temp when it is sunny in VT! * New summer adventure center at Killington’s “Snowshed” base. See Killington.com, "Things To Do" menu, e.g. Beast Coaster, paddleboarding, skyerope, skyeride, skyejump, terramaze, disc golf, ATV rides, etc. * Downhill mountain biking at Killington is among the best on the East Coast. * Free tennis and outdoor swimming pool at Killington township down River Road near Thundering Brook Rd (use membership 99 if asked). * Near the tennis courts and pool you will also find a nice waterfall (Thundering Brook Falls) to visit, which is also not too far from Kent Pond that is worth a brief visit (but see “lakes” in next bullet). * Kayaking & beaches at Killington or further afield at various lakes. Lake Dunmoore is most scenic. Silver Lake has warmest water and combines nicely with visit to picturesque Woodstock, VT nearby (and ice cream at the Mountain Creamery by the town stream). During drive home stop at Lake Saint Catherine or Bomoseen Lake. Chittenham Reservoir also not bad (near Killington). * Multiple hikes including the famous short but rewarding hike to Deer Leap overlook, trailhead by the famous Long Trail Inn * Gondola rides for a less hectic way to enjoy the mountain, picnic and hike back down or just ride the gondola back again. * Cross country mountain biking at various locations including trails at Pine Hill Park (at Rutland) with a small lake for cooling off if you're adventurous. * Tree rope swing between Woodstock and Quechee on the dirt road that runs parallel of the main road (just north of the main road, other side of the river). * Quechee Gorge casual/ family hike (near Woodstock). * Nearby Simon Pearce restaurant & watermill with factory store plus on-site glass blowing & pottery-making year long. * Then return to Woodstock for homemade ice cream at Mountain Creamery. * More scenic road biking (or drive) North-South along Rt 100, with rivers & waterfalls to cool off, check out warren falls and sinkholes for swimming/ diving near Warren town (but water is cold, so must be hot day); Texas falls off Rt 125 also nice, but no swimming there. * Best Killington town restaurant to visit is The Garlic, but many others to choose from. * Nice wraps to pick up on the way to a lake for picnics are at the Killington Deli on Route 4 (bottom of Killington Road). * Plus a Geoffrey Cornish designed 6,000 yard golf course across the street from Trail Creek * Spa at The Grand next door (discounts available); table tennis there also * Hike Mt Tom (Faulkner/ Lower Link trails) to Pogue Lake also at scenic Woodstock (call 802-457-6674/ 1100 to confirm trails open); I tried it once and never quite made it to the lake, quite a demanding hike. * Stroll the streets visiting galleries & artists’ studios; have lunch/ dinner at Melazza, Bentleys, or The Prince & Pauper * Fall foliage later in the year, including one of the best views right outside the condo * Multiple Octoberfest / Brewfest events both at Killington and Woodstock when it becomes time to sample the beers * Hot air balloon festival mid June at Woodstock/ Clearwater pond (google it) A FEW MORE TIPS: * To open fireplace flue be sure to turn 10 times counterclockwise (it's a bit stiff). Adjust gas fire thermostat to your liking using the arrows (shows current temp first, then press again to adjust). Please set to "L" for low (not 60) when you leave (or Off in summer), but never turn gas fully off in winter. Also set the bedroom thermostat(s) to lowest setting when leaving in the winter (or off in the summer). * Unit 39’s light switch behind the TV controls both living room lamps for convenience (and the top wall socket by the kitchen entrance, which can be confusing). (Unit 39 only) * Coming from New York, I like to buy groceries on drive up in Rutland (Hannaford grocery store best, but there is also Grand Union or CVS, and there is also a small supermarket in Killington during your stay if you forget anything (on the so-called "Access Road"). SPECIAL BONUS GUIDE!! KILLINGTON SKI TRAILS Disclaimer: Please use caution and ski within your abilities, following all the rules of the resort. Ski Trail TIps/ Highlights Also see the trail map found at the Killington site. These are just some fun “patterns” given that Killington is huge, actually five peaks/mountains combined (Killington, Skye, Bear, Snowdon, Ramshead). (Blues & Blacks) For cold days, the warmest part of the mountain by far (with the best shielding from the wind) is the Needles Eye and Cruise Control area. Just turn left when you get off the Snowshed chair left and go down the High Road trail to get there. From the base of that area you have access to the Needle’s Eye express chair lift on weekends (not always open midweek) and the mid-station of the old Skyeship gondola. Either will get you back up for doing multiple runs of sweeping long blue trails, but the Skyeship peak drop-off needs a bit of navigation to get back to the Needles Eye/ Cruise Control trails afterways via Great Eastern, but don’t stay on Great Eastern too long! You don’t want to accidentally go all the way down to “Sunrise base” (Skyeship gondola base), so check the map closely. (Green) The so-called “Bunny Slope” beginner trail is called Snowshed Slope trail and is a nice demanding beginner trail (with an express quad chair -- avoid the old double-chairs), but not really a trail for first-time skiers. That area is right next to it, at the “Learn To” carpet lift. (Greens and blues) Other beginner and intermediate trails are around Ramshead express (very close to Snowshed by crossing underneath the road, and Snowdon express (just on the far side of the K1 express gondola, easily accessible from Great Northern). (Blues and Blacks) A famous Vermont trail is Superstar, used during the World Cup race season by folks like Lindsey Vonn and Michaela Shiffrin. The trail is demanding at the very top (“headwall”) but you can avoid that (using blue trails). Superstar is also demanding at the bottom, but the middle is sweet, plus there are very nice trails adjacent called Skyelark and Bitter Sweet, so taking the Superstar Express chair repeatedly works well. (Upper Altitudes) Adjacent to Superstar is the main “new” gondola called K1 which is part of the K1 Base area. From the top of the K1 gondola: (blues/ greenish) Great Northern is “greenish”. It is now officially a blue trail BUT was classed as green for a long time. Relative beginners can ski from the very peak of Killington all the way back down to the gondola again. (blues) Intermediate skiers can do the top part of Great Northern and then turn onto Rime or East Fall (blue upper part) to take the North Ridge chair again and again, hence enjoying the upper altitude without the hassle of taking skis off. (Blues and Blacks) Advanced skiers can likewise do Rime and East Fall (blue), but then continue onto the bottom part of East Fall (black lower part) to take the Canyon Quad chair again and again. (Double black/ double diamond) Expert skiers looking for very steep conditions can likewise taking the K1 gondola, go along Great Northern briefly, but then seek out Cascade or Double Dipper. This is The Canyon area. You can then take the Canyon Quad chair repeatedly for more double blacks (Downdraft, Escapade, Flume). NOTE: I personally never ski “Cascade headwall” which is “behind” the exit to the K1 gondola. I prefer the safety of taking Great Northern as it “loops” around the very peak of Killington and then joining Cascade a little lower, underneath the gondola cables (near the intersection with Homerun trail). If you are nervous about The Canyon area but you like double-blacks, I suggest you start with Cascade (excluding the headwall) before trying the other double-blacks since it is the safest of them all IMO. Bear Mountain (Blues, Blacks) The Bear Mountain area has a nice variety of blues and blacks, as well as The Stash for snowboarders. Keep an eye out for Bear Trax trail to get to Bear. Once there, a cool “speed trap” exists in the middle of Skyeburst trail (the “black” part). OK, not really a speed trap :) but if you do go “too fast” on the black part of Skyeburst, you have lots of time to slow down when it becomes blue again. (Double Blacks) Bear Mountain is also home to one of the other famous trails in Vermont called Outer Limits, home of numerous mogul competitions. With sufficient snow coverage, Devil’s Fiddle adjacent can be very interesting too. (multi-mile green trail) I hesitate to mention this, since it has its drawbacks. But Great Eastern all the way to the very end (to the base of the older Skyeship gondola, an area formerly called Sunrise) is over four miles of green and a must-do for beginners who have time to invest. Like a winter wonderland feel. But the food at the bottom is horrendous (best to avoid) and if the gondola has problems you will have to wait for a shuttle bus behind the restaurant (down the steps).

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Killington

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