Killington

As spring temperatures give way to a blast of late winter, giving many snowmakers in the north country a chance to fill a few holes, skiers still can find cover at the big snowmaking areas like Okemo, Sunday River, Loon, and Killington. The Vermont giant, which almost always leads the East in days open and the last resort to close, is on target for another such year, though one of Killington's glories -- the off-piste glades -- has not received enough natural snow to make this a spring to head for the woods.

How funny that it snowed Halloween, rained on Christmas, and snowed again on Easter in the mountains of New England - albeit just a flurry. Ski resort operators probably do not see the humor in Mother Nature's mercurial games. Hey, there are snow flurries in the forecast this week too, so the "funny" weather continues. Ha, ha. Ski season is not over, lifts are still turning at a few ski areas and there will be skiing next weekend, and perhaps even beyond. Wildcat is closed this week, with plans to reopen next weekend April 14-15.

Vermont natives and fellow Olympians Kelly Clark and Hannah Teter will have at it this weekend at Killington for the US Snowboarding Grand Prix overall title. Clark is the defending Grand Prix champ and is leading the women's standings following a victory at the Copper Mountain opener and a second at Boreal. Teter, who won the halfpipe at Boreal, is close behind with Gretchen Bleiler sitting third. Louie Vito and Steve Fisher are tied in the overall men's standings.

Carnage. That's one way to describe the current state of New England ski resorts, many of whom were forced to shut off the lifts over the last few days, thanks to last week's record heat. A few survived - Sunday River, Sugarloaf, Saddleback, Wildcat, Loon, Bretton Woods, Jay Peak, Stowe, Sugarbush, Waterville Valley, and Killington - but everybody else has moved on to golfing season. Does that mean the skiing riding season is finished? Nope. It's not typical to see snowmaking in late March, but this isn't your typical March either.

If you're looking for early-season turns this weekend, head to Sunday River or Killington, Vt. Both resorts plan to open for the season this weekend.  "We're really proud of what our snowmaking team can accomplish with just a short window, and we love to share that with our guests who appreciate the opportunity to get on the hill early in the season," general manager Dana Bullen said in a statement. Sunday River was the first resort in the nation to open last fall. Colorado's Wolf Creek staked the claim this season.

KILLINGTON, Vt. - At its height in the late '90s, the American Skiing Co. was the proud owner of 11 ski resorts and assorted properties, hotels, and holdings. Les Otten, founder and president of the corporation, who pilots a private plane, joked that operating the snow sports behemoth was a little like trying to land an F-15 fighter jet on a carrier deck if one had never had flying lessons. And though Otten had been eased out as president, his metaphor still proved prescient.

Killington has launched a campus rep program that gives college students free skiing on a commission-based incentive deal. Students complete an application, and if accepted, are assigned a business plan and sales model backed by promotional material. After recruiting 10 fellow students to purchase a $309 college pass, the rep gets a Killington college pass. Every pass sold thereafter generates $20 net per pass. Kostelic wins Defending overall champion Ivica Kostelic had two error-free runs in heavy snowfall to win a slalom last night...

MONTPELIER -- The town of Killington is pressing forward with plans to secede from Vermont and will present draft legislation to New Hampshire's governor next week. The town now knows many of the details needed to make the secession happen, Town Manager David Lewis said Friday. He said he had heard there are New Hampshire lawmakers willing to sponsor the legislation, though he said he didn't have names. Among other things, the legislation would authorize New Hampshire and Vermont to establish commissions that would develop the details of the tax-inspired...

Last night, the kids from Famous Internet Skiers hit up Killington, where they reported a foot of snow at summit.  I think it's safe to say the East Coast ski season has begun.

Killington needs no introduction to most New England skiers and riders. But as well known as the central Vermont resort is, there are always new features to talk about. For starters, Killington finally got a fine dumping of new snow, which refreshed the trails from cruisers to bumpsters and opened some of the finest tree skiing in the East. Killington has 16 tree runs, some of which were groomed and thinned to perfection, and each offering its own level of challenge. New this season is Squeeze Play, an excellent tree run for solid intermediates.

Here's the most bankable prediction for Super Bowl Sunday: Skiers and boarders will win big, while resort operators will humbly accept the trouncing pro football inflicts on their accounting ledgers with a mixture of resignation and inventiveness. Having long since given up fighting the hype, the region's ski areas now try to market what is essentially an annual black hole for business as a bonanza for diehard customers. Super Bowl Sunday is one of the few weekend days of the season when sparsely populated slopes and quick lift lines are the norm.

So those snow dances finally worked. New England ski resorts saw significant snow in the past several days, and winter has arrived with more seasonal temperatures. Can you say brrrr? The combo of cold temps and real snow has allowed ski resorts to make snow and drop ropes on more trails. Mad River Glen, Sugarbush, Stowe, Smugglers and Jay Peak got over a foot of snow over the weekend. Sunday River and Killington are both skiing on over 400 acres on all peaks. Stowe has 95% of their terrain open, and Loon has 82%, a significant increase since just last week.

Jeff Kline is the type of skier who always keeps his ski bag packed. He normally hits the slopes about 20 times a year, in all kinds of conditions: fog, whiteouts, below-zero temperatures. But he draws the line when there aren't enough trails open to justify the ticket price, which can run about $80 on weekends. So far this warm, dry season, Kline hasn't skied anywhere in New England. "I'm not spending that kind of money, sitting on a bus for a total of seven hours, to ski on two trails," said Kline, 55, of Boston, who has been checking trail condition reports online, and...

Killington has launched a campus rep program that gives college students free skiing on a commission-based incentive deal. Students complete an application, and if accepted, are assigned a business plan and sales model backed by promotional material. After recruiting 10 fellow students to purchase a $309 college pass, the rep gets a Killington college pass. Every pass sold thereafter generates $20 net per pass. Kostelic wins Defending overall champion Ivica Kostelic had two error-free runs in heavy snowfall to win a slalom last night in Flachau,...

Ask Mount Sunapee marketing director Bruce McCloy what's changed most about learning to ski over the past several decades, and he'll reply with an anecdote from the early 1970s, when he was recruited to coordinate reservations for Killington's highly regarded Accelerated Ski Method program. Variations of the Graduated Length Method were in vogue at the time, and the Vermont resort was inundated with newcomers who booked five-day blocks of regimented lessons that started on very short skis, then progressed to longer ones as ability increased.

Finally! For seven months you've suffered those spring and summer days, all that swimming and sailing and golf going on. Those afternoons sunbathing in hammocks and beach sand. Those nights that just wouldn't cool off. Seven months of the world in its shorts-wearing, air-conditioned, sun-screen mode. And now you, the skier, the boarder, the snow-hound, your world is back. You stand up there, boots on, clicked into fiberglass-composite boards of your choice, and look down the run toward mid-mountain.

Snowtober, the pre-Halloween dump of heavy snow, had skiers and riders all excited, even if it knocked out power for millions. Killington and Sunday River both opened October 29 for skiing, one minute apart. The River gave the nod to the Big-K, a kindly gesture in deference to Vermont's speedy recovery from Hurricane Irene in September, a more monumental weather event that brought havoc to several Vermont ski resorts. Well now it's November - and it feels like No-Snowvember, the temps have been downright balmy.

Carnage. That's one way to describe the current state of New England ski resorts, many of whom were forced to shut off the lifts over the last few days, thanks to last week's record heat. A few survived - Sunday River, Sugarloaf, Saddleback, Wildcat, Loon, Bretton Woods, Jay Peak, Stowe, Sugarbush, Waterville Valley, and Killington - but everybody else has moved on to golfing season. Does that mean the skiing riding season is finished? Nope. It's not typical to see snowmaking in late March, but this isn't your typical March either.