Snowmaking Horsepower

The World Cup Expo Village at the base of Superstar is situated at 2,500 feet above sea level and nearby Killington Peak reaches to 4,241 feet — making it the second highest in the state. This elevation gives the resort an advantage in both effective snowmaking temperatures and natural snowfall.
Killington complements Mother Nature’s average of 250 inches of natural snow each winter with a world-class snowmaking system that is capable of covering 600 acres of skiable terrain. When conditions are at their best, Killington’s system can deliver 10 million gallons of water per day to more than 250 snowguns, covering 60 acres of terrain with 12 inches of snow in just 24 hours.
In total the snowmaking system has about 88 miles of pipe and 1,700 snow guns (including more than 500 low energy guns). When the season is up and running full-swing, Killington’s 17 snowcats (including three winch cats for grooming steeper slopes) groom more than 40 miles of terrain on a nightly basis.
Snowmaking began in earnest on Oct. 10, with production both on North Ridge ski trails Rime and Reason for public use, and upper Superstar trail where the Audi FIS Ski World Cup is being held Nov. 26-27.
“Our operations team has snowmaking and grooming down to a science, which makes Killington able to host an event of this magnitude early in the season,” said Mike Solimano, president and general manager of Killington Resort. “Hosting the World Cup is a tremendous opportunity for both Killington and the East in general. We are preparing for a successful event regardless of how much powder Mother Nature drops between now and Thanksgiving.”

Photo by Chandler Burgess, Killington Resort
Chris  Eckhardt is part of Killington Resort’s snowmaking team.