Community supports World Cup

“It takes a village” to pull off an event of this caliber, organizers say
By Karen D. Lorentz
Editor’s Note: This is part five in a series on Killington hosting the Audi FIS World Cup Women’s Giant Slalom and Slalom races on Nov. 26-27, 2016.
While volunteers have flooded Killington with applications to support the upcoming World Cup event and Killington Resort has already tested the snowguns in anticipation of laying down a fast race course, local organizations, businesses, and homeowners also have opportunities to take part in and support the biggest ski event to hit the Rutland Region in 36 years.
The Saturday Women’s Giant Slalom and Sunday Slalom events on the Superstar Trail will be broadcast around the world through television, Internet, and print media as thousands of visitors watch the races thanks to free viewing areas at the base of the trail.
To pull off such an event of this caliber “takes a village,” agree event organizers, who note it is the first World Cup to be hosted in the East since 1991 at Waterville Valley — and in Vermont since 1978 at Stratton. The purpose in hosting a World Cup includes promoting not just Killington Resort but all the businesses in town and the greater community as a whole,” Powdr Corp Senior Vice President for International Business Development Herwig Demschar noted. “It’s about making the entire community stronger. Hopefully, this event will show if we do things together, it will be good for all of us,” he said.
As part of efforts to support the festivities, the Killington Pico Area Association (KPAA) is selling a banner package to residents and businesses. KPAA Director and the Town of Killington Events and Marketing Coordinator Amy Morrison said the colorful 3-foot by 5-foot banner is being sold for a $100 fee, which includes the costs for design, printing, permitting and the banner itself. “The design is complementary and similar to the current Killington Road banners and will sport a World Cup logo and picture of one of the World Cup athletes,” she said.
“The idea is to promote the event and welcome all the attendees and athletes,” Morrison added.
The first order goes in on Friday, Oct. 14, and a second order deadline is Nov. 4.
Amy Laramie, executive coordinator for Killington Resort, also noted that businesses — shops, restaurants, inns, hotels, etc. — will be offering special events and activities that week. Notice of such events should be sent to alaramie@killington.com.
“I am requesting the business community let me know of special events happening in their establishments. Like a turkey dinner, 5k, movie premier, family friendly happy hour events, etc.,” Laramie wrote in an email. “This event will draw a lot of families to our community and we want to make sure there is something for them to do after the mountain closes.  I will then be sharing this in different outlets, online, on posters and will be working with the Mountain Times on the schedule section of their program,” she said.
“We have worked with the KPAA on a sense of arrival with all of the World Cup pole banners up and down the access road.  We have also distributed posters far and wide and are working on signage in surrounding communities like Rutland and Woodstock,” she added.
Another project, which Laramie alluded to, is the World Cup program being produced by the Mountain Times. The free souvenir program will contain: race schedule and times, events, live music, film screenings, profiles and photos of athletes; a business directory, and other helpful information for visitors, like where to eat, and information about feeder programs to answer the question of how to become a World Cup racer, noted Mountain Times editor and co-publisher Polly Lynn Mikula.
She said that advertising for the program is “pretty much sold out” and that a digital copy of the program will be out in time for the annual Boston Ski and Snowboard Expo (Nov. 10-13) and that they expect to print 25,000 hard copies for the event itself.
Rob Megnin, Killington’s marketing director, said hosting a successful event has ramifications for bringing the World Cup back to the East in future years and that an event of this stature does indeed require a team effort.
“It’s an absolute truth that it takes a village,” Megnin said, noting the potential for bolstering the resort, the Northeast ski industry, the sport, racing, and the mountain lifestyle.