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Katy Savage

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Archived photo, courtesy Okemo Resort One of the most popular features of Okemo Parks has been its halfpipe — a rare feature in the state. A petition to bring it back now has over 4,000 signatures.

Locals petition Okemo to bring back the halfpipe

January 22, 2025
By Katy Savage Banners demanding “Save the Halfpipe” and “Build the Pipe” flutter across the balconies of Winterplace condominiums at Okemo Mountain Resort, as the community protests the closure of the popular halfpipe for a second consecutive year. A change.org petition with nearly 4,000 signatures reflects the outcry, spurred by Vail Resorts’ decision not to open the…

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KMS’ Padilha trains for Brazilian team

November 27, 2024
By Katy Savage Alice Padilha, 17, is a senior at Killington Mountain School. She’s originally from Brazil and competes in Slalom and Giant Slalom in hopes of competing full time on the Brazilian National Team.  Q&A with Alice Padilha What does it mean to you to have the World Cup come to Killington? Alice Padilha:…

Mendon’s Victoria Johnson seeks medals in mogul comps

November 27, 2024
By Katy Savage  Victoria Johnson, 15, lives in Mendon. The sophomore at Killington Mountain School (KMS) competes in Moguls and Dual Moguls. Q&A with Victoria Johnson Mountain Times: What does it mean to you to have the World Cup come to Killington? Victoria Johnson: It shows that our mountain has the ability to take me…

Rhi Lubaszewski sets sights on World Cup

November 27, 2024
By Katy Savage Rhiannon “Rhi” Lubaszewski, 19, lives in Rutland and graduated from Killington Mountain School last year. She competes in Slalom, Super-G and Giant Slalom and hopes to make it into a Division 1 college and eventually compete on the World Cup circuit. Q&A with Rhiannon Lubaszewski What does it mean to you to…

Eva Young reflects on KMS racing

November 27, 2024
By Katy Savage Eva Young is an 18-year-old Killington Mountain School student who’s graduating this year. She’s competed in a number of Nor-Am cups and national junior races in the Slalom and Giant Slalom.  Q&A with Eva Young What does it mean to you to have the World Cup come to Killington? Eva Young: Having…

Ella Andrews of KMS makes U.S. Ski freeski team

November 27, 2024
Killington Mountain School (KMS) is thrilled senior Ella Andrews, 17, has made the Stifel U.S. Freeski Team for the upcoming 2024-25 season where she competes in Big Air Slopestyle and Halfpipe events. Andrews earned her first podium on the World Cup last March, placing second in Slopestyle at Mammoth Mountain in California. She also had…

KMS Claire Butler reflects on path from KMS student to the head of school

November 27, 2024
By Katy Savage  Claire Butler became the headmaster at Killington Mountain School five years ago. It was a full-circle moment for Butler, who began her ski career in development programs at Killington before she became a student at Killington Mountain School. She earned an undergraduate degree from Bates College, where she was captain of the…

Woodstock voters approve acquisition of water company

November 6, 2024
 By Katy Savage  Woodstock residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of acquiring the Woodstock Aqueduct Company on Tuesday, Oct. 30. The private utility, which dates back to the 1800s, will become a public utility for the first time. Residents voted 382-103 from the floor to acquire the company for $920,000, about half of which was offset…

Farm and Wilderness completes dam removal in Plymouth

October 16, 2024
By Katy Savage Farm and Wilderness Camp has removed a 60-year-old dam that posed environmental risks to the surrounding area.The dam, measuring 292 feet long and 31 feet tall, was capable of impounding 500,000 cubic feet of water but had become ineffective due to rotting. Concerns over warming water, sediment release, and potential flooding of…

Water woes in Woodstock

October 2, 2024
Town to hold two votes to acquire Woodstock Aqueduct Company By Katy Savage  After more than a year of discussion and negotiation, Woodstock has a plan to acquire the Woodstock Aqueduct Company, which has been a private utility since the late 1800s.  Town Manager Eric Duffy presented the plan on Sept. 23. He said the…

Woodstock varsity mountain bike team grows

September 27, 2024
Woodstock Middle/High is the first public school in the state to field a varsity team  By Katy Savage and Polly Mikula Mountain biking has been such a popular club sport at Woodstock Union High School that this fall it became a varsity sport. And it made history as the first public school in the state…

Mazie Hayden aims for the podium in the Dual Slalom

September 27, 2024
By Katy Savage Mazie Hayden, a 23-year-old Killington Mountain School graduate from Pittsfield, has become a regular presence on mountain bike race podiums. This will be her fourth time at the Fox U.S. Open of Mountain Biking. She got third place in Dual Slalom in 2022 and fifth last year, while she got 15th in…

Sarah Hamlin turns pro with Hayden’sGT Wild Rye racing, leading the charge for women in mountain biking

September 27, 2024
By Katy Savage Sarah Hamlin was 11 when she first started mountain bike racing. She competed in the U-12 category with boys because there weren’t enough girls for them to have their own team. Now, 15, Hamlin is a sophomore at Killington Mountain School and she just became a professional rider for the first time…

Q&A with KMS’s Sitota LaRocque,a reigning double podium finisher

September 27, 2024
By Katy Savage Sitota LaRocque, 15, is only a freshman at Killington Mountain School, but this will already be her second time competing in the U.S. Open.She’ll be riding with 12 other KMS athletes, along with two coaches.  “It’s so awesome to have such a big event so local to me,” LaRocque said. Mountain Times…

KMS Coach Josh Poirer, an Enduro racer, looks to Downhill

September 27, 2024
By Katy Savage Joshua Poirier is in his second year as a downhill mountain bike coach at Killington Mountain School and he’s already “looking forward to many more,” he said. “The athletes I work with are all incredible people which makes my job fulfilling and fun.”  Poirier is a mountain bike racer on the side,…

KMS coach Dylan Conte set to compete in Downhill, Dual Slalom

September 27, 2024
By Katy Savage Dylan Conte has been mountain biking since he was about 12. A small bike park where he grew up was built and his dad dropped him off there. He’s been hooked ever since.  Mountain biking, he said, allows him to “both be competitive and be out in nature,” Conte said. “It’s something…