By Karen D. Lorentz updated Wed, Feb 22, 2012 11:44 AM The challenges are many: the recent economic downturn; climate change and erratic winters; an ever-more sedentary society; societal shifts with two-worker families which causes time poverty; school activities that limit the ability of families to travel in winter; more alternative leisure activities; and an…

By Karen D. Lorentz updated Wed, Jan 25, 2012 03:07 PM Vermont's third oldest ski area and one of the first thirty in North America, Pico is a mountain where a sense of community and the joy of snow sports prevail. Since its Nov. 27, 1937 debut, skiers of all ages have found Pico to…

By Karen D. Lorentz posted Jan 2, 2013 Hopefully you have been reading about the new Andrea Mead Lawrence Lodge that the Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports program and the Pico Ski Education Foundation are engaged in building at Pico to facilitate and enhance their respective programs. By sharing the two-story building, they will each…

By Karen D. Lorentz posted Sep 19, 2012 Charlie Wise was introduced to skiing after his father attended the 1932 Lake Placid Winter Olympics and "decided I should learn to ski. I was taught how to herringbone up the hill but not how to turn," Charlie said of learning on a Long Island golf course…

By Karen D. Lorentz posted Aug 30, 2012 A big man with a Vermont sense of humor and abundant Yankee ingenuity, Royal Biathrow was one of the first locals to notice the potential in the Killington Ski Area. A logger since high school, he "saw the price of logs drop as plastics came out in…

By Karen D. Lorentz posted May 23, 2012 On April 23, VPR aired a commentary by Bill Mares that confirmed a long held misgiving. Sometimes critics don't give credence to intelligent leaders because the critics have an agenda that is less than totally honest or a passion that is more personal than legitimate. Most Killington…

By Karen D. Lorentz posted Jul 3, 2013 Skier visits near all-time record Vermont just recorded one of its best ski seasons ever, despite a later than usual start for most areas. In fact, it may have been the best season ever if one examines the numbers and accounts for the actual methodology used to…

By Karen D. Lorentz updated Thu, Dec 26, 2013 06:14 PM Powdr Corporation, the parent company of Killington Pico Ski Resort Partners, has donated $50,000 to the Killington Mountain School (KMS) for a project that creates a vastly improved and expanded competitions venue on the Highline Trail at the mountain. Killington Mountain School is an…

By Karen D. Lorentz posted May 23, 2013 Leslie Leete Smith: Killington's first daughter and olympian Some expectant parents play music to their unborn child; Leslie Leete Smith's parents planned a ski area. Born just three months before Killington debuted in December 1958, Leslie literally grew up at the mountain. She recalls the story of…

By Karen D. Lorentz updated Wed, Aug 28, 2013 06:43 PM Chances are you will know some of the people in the book; perhaps you are even in the book! I live on a mountain 2,230 feet above sea level along the spine of the Green Mountains. To get anywhere we descend about 430 vertical…

By Karen D. Lorentz posted Dec 20, 2012 It was 1926 and Santa was stuck. What new toys could he and his elves make for kids and adults in the Rutland Region? "I know," said Mrs. Claus. They have one of those big ski jumps in Springfield, MA, so why don't you and your elves…

By Karen D. Lorentz posted Jun 13, 2012 Editor's note: This is part three in a four-part series that provides an historical perspective on the Killington Village and lack of its completion over a 44-year period. One of the ironies of history is "live long enough" and you see that history has a funny, if…

By Karen D. Lorentz posted Feb 20, 2013 Fifty-five years ago I visited Vermont on our first ski trips to the state. My dad took my two younger sisters and me on trips to Mount Snow, and once to Bromley and Dutch Hill, before we moved from Connecticut to New Jersey. Fast forward. Thirty-five years…

By Karen D. Lorentz posted Dec 27, 2012 Photo courtesy of Okemo Mountain Resort Rob Bevier was one of the earliest instructors to embrace the new wave of snowboarding in the 1980s and 1990s. "My father wanted a boy." That's how this three-generation story started. And how Gwen Allard came to love the outdoors and…

By Karen D. Lorentz posted Jun 26, 2013 Robert Pressley "Bob" (aka Tuna) Evans, 70, a former resident of Killington and long-time manager of the Wobbly Barn died recently in Idaho while fishing in a place he loved. Evans died the morning of June 16. Authorities in Idaho believe a medical condition was a factor…