On November 22, 2023
Sports

Hundreds of hours, volunteers

 

The people who make the Killington Cup happen

Hundreds of resort employees, volunteers from across the region and contractors have worked tirelessly over the past few weeks in order to pull off all that’s necessary to make the Killington Cup a success. 

Killington Resort says it has more than 300 volunteers supporting the Killington Cup. Collectively, they’ve recorded over 32,00 volunteer hours of work over the past six Killington Cup events. 

Meg Laferriere Horrocks manages the volunteer Beast Crew for the Killington Cup and is proud its members’ dedication and what it is able to accomplish each year at Killington. 

“Without [the crew] we could not pull off a solid race venue,” she stated.

From snowmaking and grooming (it takes about 100 hours of snowmaking to prepare the World Cup venue) to accreditation and set up. 

The Killington Resort crew operates with a “no regrets plan” when it comes to snowmaking for the World Cup. And sometimes it comes down to the wire.

“We’re ready Oct. 1 to start making snow anytime we have the temperatures,” said Steve Reynolds, the snowmaking control room supervisor at Killington Resort. Last year it came down to the last week, and the resort came the closest it ever has to not pulling off the event.

This year, the temperatures have been much more cooperative.

Crews check the forecast, every day, twice a day starting Oct. 1, hoping the temperature drops to about 31 degrees. When the forecast looks favorable, crews are lined up 24/7 to get the snowguns blasting!  

Do you want to submit feedback to the editor?

Send Us An Email!

Related Posts

Weather impacts Killington mid-week skiing

May 8, 2025
Killington Resort planned on keeping its lifts running during the week until May 11 (then weekends only), but rain and warm temps over the last several days have taken a serious toll on its snowpack. Therefore, Killington Resort will be closed Thursday, May 8, and Friday, May 9, to preserve what they have left and…

How Killington became The Beast: Part 9

May 7, 2025
Snow, summer, and snowshed: 1960 saw fast progress How Killington became The Beast: Part 9 By Karen D. Lorentz Editor’s Note: This is the ninth segment of an 11-part series on the factors that enabled Killington to become The Beast of the East. Quotations are from author interviews in the 1980s for the book “Killington,…

Burke Mountain Resort is sold for $11.5 million

May 7, 2025
By Habib Sabet/VTDigger A federal judge has signed off on the sale of Burke Mountain Resort for $11.5 million, releasing the Northeast Kingdom ski mountain from nearly a decade of federal receivership.  Judge Darrin P. Gayles issued the order in U.S. District Court in Miami formally approving the sale of Burke Mountain to Bear Den Partners LLC, a…

How Killington became The Beast: Part 8

April 30, 2025
By Karen D. Lorentz Editors’ Note: This is part of a series on the factors that enabled Killington to become the Beast of the East. Quotations are from author interviews conducted in the 1980s for the book Killington, A Story of Mountains and Men. Recapping this series, we have seen how Pres Smith, inspired by…