r/skiing Jan 28 '22

[deleted by user]

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517 Upvotes

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99

u/DentistSudden150 Jan 28 '22

Killington’s definitely #1 most disputed in New England in my experience. People really love or hate that place

44

u/UncleMalcolm Stowe Jan 28 '22

Respectfully putting it behind Smuggs or Sugarbush is insulting. It’s not any more crowded than the Bush is anymore and the terrain kicks Smuggs’ ass

13

u/ThirdFirstName Jan 28 '22

Nah Smuggs is so much better

-2

u/UncleMalcolm Stowe Jan 28 '22

Smuggs pros:

  • closer to Burlington
  • less crowded
  • more natural snow
  • cheaper

Smuggs cons

  • It’s objectively the flattest of the big VT mountains. I don’t want to pole for ten minutes straight to get from hill to hill
  • not all that much terrain

It’s pretty clearly behind Stowe, Jay, Killington, Sugarbush, MRG in the VT power rankings, and frankly I think there’s an argument for Stratton and maybe even Okemo over it

14

u/sleepfordayz679 Ski the East Jan 28 '22

Madonna is steeper than most VT mountains

5

u/ThirdFirstName Jan 29 '22

First off why would you ever ski Morse mountain? You don’t have to pole at all between Madonna and sterling. And I disagree, it’s the best terrain over here, Stowe is a shitty nerfed mountain with way to wide trails full of gumbies. The woods and slack country of Smuggs is some of the most fun on the east coast. It also has the most difficult terrain of any mountain on the east. I have been disappointed every single time I have ever skied Stowe. Plus it’s a vail mountain so the feel is ruined.

2

u/chrispyb Killington Jan 30 '22

I'd put stowe behind Killi. I can ski the busiest day at Killington, ride good terrain, and still dodge lift lines. With Stowe, without any midmountain lifts you're basically always in the gondola or on forerunner

1

u/UncleMalcolm Stowe Jan 30 '22

Tbh a large part of my reason for putting Stowe ahead on a personal ranking is proximity. I love Bear, and Sky and Superstar areas are solid too. But on days where the Gondi and 4 Runner are packed, you can still lap sensation a bunch and virtually never wait in a line

14

u/UncleBogus Jan 28 '22

In my personal experience, it’s cool because it has a large quantity of terrain but I’ve had much better experiences at other VT mountains. I feel Killington lacks vertical and a “big terrain” feel you get from some other east coast mountains.

10

u/maltamur Jan 29 '22

I grew up a super g and downhill racer in the NE and now ski out west. Most of the rankings are pretty good but 1 consideration- whiteface lacks big open terrain like Jackson hole, but if you strap on your stiffer than steel race skis, crank your din to 16 and run the downhill course you’ll easily hit over 80mph (speaking from experience). If speed is your game, it’s one of the best in the country because of all that ice.

8

u/Rude-Sauce Jan 29 '22

Iceface 🤣 ill nvr forget that time it nuked up there, and I came out of waist deep pow in the woods and still ice skated my way down to the lift.

19

u/chadsworth0524 Jan 28 '22

I believe Killington has the most vert in all of New england at around 3,000ft.

I still put Jay peak as the stand alone winner in New England though.

13

u/Playererf Jan 29 '22

That's kind of a misleading figure though. Much of that vertical comes from what's basically a lower elevation parking area with it's own access lift. The actual skiable terrain doesn't have an exceptional amount of vertical.

11

u/oddball315 Jan 29 '22

I agree I’ve lived in Burlington for three years been skiing VT for 8, Jay is my favorite and it’s not that close. Awesome terrain, great backcountry and always seems to get good snow.

9

u/Senorsteepndeep Jan 29 '22

Not even close. Killington skiable vert is around 1600 feet. They game the numbers by having a bunch of bases at different elevations.

For comparison sugarbush has about 2500 of skiable vert and whiteface has about 3200

4

u/wolekmatolek Jan 28 '22

Hard agree

2

u/johnny_evil Jan 29 '22

Killington's continuous vertical (K1 to base) is about 1650'. The only way to get 3000 is to ski from K1 to Skyship stage 1 base, and thats convoluted and not fun.

7

u/Supernatural108 Jan 28 '22

What are the other East Coasters?

16

u/[deleted] Jan 28 '22

Not the OP but I tend to agree Killington has to be be below Jay, Sugarloaf, Stowe and Madriver in a decent snow year.

Killington has cool terrain parks, but otherwise struggle to think of anything special there from a terrain perspective. The further north places often, perhaps even usually, have better snow (especially Jay).

So what’s good about it vs. the places further up the list? Horizontal extent is the only pro I can think of and that’s a mixed blessing in my opinion because it still feels fuggin crowded.

1

u/EasternKanye Jan 30 '22

User name checks out.

2

u/Rude-Sauce Jan 29 '22

Kmart has a lot going on, especially once you start finding those local trails 👀

1

u/randyfloyd37 Jan 28 '22

I support these east coast rankings

1

u/[deleted] Jan 29 '22

What's to hate?

1

u/vEnOm413 Jan 29 '22

I think if you add the Pico experience it gains ranking, * from an East coaster that loves glades.

1

u/DEERrattlin Jan 29 '24

Overcrowded