From Snowshed to Royal Flush, Killington’s ski trail names contain history, humor By Karen D. Lorentz From Snowshed to Royal Flush to Superstar, the naming of trails at Killington contains interesting histories and, at times, humorous stories. The most historic name is Snowshed. The Snowshed trail was named after the snowsheds built when logging occurred…

By Mark Bushnell/VT Digger If Fred Harris’ diary is any guide, it’s a miracle that skiing ever caught on. “[L]anded hard,” the Brattleboro native wrote one January day in 1904. “Tore the strap off the buckle part of my footgear. Hurt my back some. My skee [ski] went away and left me on another dump.…

By Kevin O’Connor/VTDigger Alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin stood atop the Beijing 2022 Olympics giant slalom hill as a television announcer recalled how she won a gold medal in the same race at the last Winter Games. Seconds later, the 26-year-old fell cold on the steep, slippery course, wiping out for only the 14th time in…

By Kevin O’Connor/VTDigger Vermont skier Ryan Cochran-Siegle has scored Olympic silver in the Super-G at the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing. Cochran-Siegle, 29, of Starksboro won his medal almost 50 years to the day his mother, Barbara Ann Cochran, snagged gold at the 1972 competition in Sapporo, Japan. Cochran-Siegle skied “a near perfect run,” according…

By Katy Savage Hannah Soar didn’t get a medal in her first Olympics on Feb. 6, but that didn’t matter to those who watched her grow up skiing. About 200 people got up before the sun on Sunday to cheer Soar on at Killington’s Snowshed Lodge for a 6 a.m. watch party. The room had…

By Katy Savage Hannah Soar heard it growing up. As she bumped down the moguls of the Outer Limits trail at Killington Resort as a child, other skiers told her, “You’re going to be an Olympian,” Soar remembers. Soar, a fearless child, just liked to be on snow and though she was talented, she wasn’t…

By Kevin O’Connor/VTDigger Two Vermont-trained gold medalists will join almost two dozen other athletes with ties to the Green Mountain State at the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing. Mikaela Shiffrin, who learned alpine skiing at Burke Mountain Academy, and Jessie Diggins, who trains for cross-country in Stratton, are set to compete at the event Feb.…

By Ethan Weinstein Since its founding nine years ago, the Killington 100 Day Club has garnered hundreds of members. At least 10 are hoping to make this season their 10th straight with at least 100 days on snow — what might yet be called the 1,000 Day Club. Paul Holmes, of Killington, is one of…

Reinforces strategy to boost skier market By Karen D. Lorentz Vail Resorts announced an epic decrease in the prices for its 2021-22 season pass products on March 24, a day later than anticipated due to the tragic shootings in Boulder near the company’s corporate headquarters. The 20% decrease applies to the various iterations of Epic…

By Brooke Geery The Red Bull Slide-in Tour stopped by The Beast of the East as part of a nine-day road trip through the center of Vermont, covering the entire vertical length of the state, up historic Route 100 on March 9-10. The roster included Winter X Games gold medalist Zeb Powell, a staple of…

By Brooke Geery Killington’s freestyle facilities have always been world-class.  Snowboarder Magazine even awarded Woodward Killington Mountain Park with the prestigious Best Terrain Park in the East award for 2020. This year, under the watchful eye of Parks Supervisor Taylor Zink, it’s possible they are even better than last. The cherry on the sundae is…

By Brooke Geery Amid a season of Covid-19 restrictions, Stratton Resort managed to organize and safely hold a scaled-back version of the Vermont Open on March 13-14. The event, which normally includes slopestyle, halfpipe and other disciplines, was reimagined as a two-day Banked Slalom, open only to Vermonters and students attending Vermont schools. Banked Slaloms…

By Karen D. Lorentz When your mom encourages you to take a year off to be a “ski bum” and recommends that you apply for a job at a western resort even though you live in New England, you’re either one of the luckiest college grads or a gene runs in the family – in…

By Karen D. Lorentz “So what do you think of Okemo?” I asked 8-year-old Josh on a chairlift ride after lunch at the main base area. “Awesome.” “Why?” “It’s huge,” he replied. As our chair passed by Hot Dog Hill, he exclaimed, “There’s a Rainbow Box.” “What’s that?” “It’s a wavy box.” It was a…