Killington

Better? Depends on the conditions and what you are looking for. Killington is a good mountain with a good reputation. Cold.......

 

Tahoe......
NE Skiing is ok if you live here but if you are booking a trip go west.
Ron

 

As a skier of Killington for 15 years now, I would say that if you are looking for a east coast skiing experience Killington is the way to go, especially if it is early season skiing. Although if I were to fly anywhere to ski, I would be heading out west to either Utah or Colorado. I have been early season skiing at Killington and it is more along the lines of a novelty as opposed to a skiing experience due to the limited trails and dicey conditions. Check out Killington's website for details on how many trails are open and try to not be fooled by their estimates on number of trails, a better rule of thumb is that 2-3 trails equal one run. So if you are flying out this upcoming weekend, it may be worth it, but that all depends on what you are expecting.

 

Good for beer and bars, the road up to the resort is pretty well stocked. I assume it'll all be man-made snow at this point - not much open from what I can see on their site, but it does appear to be open. Killington does cram a lot of lifts and trails onto their mountain. I guess you're really jonesing for a trip I personally prefer Stowe but they're not open for another 18 days. Its more grown up as a resort vs Killington which is a bit 18-25. But IMO those two resorts plus Sunday River are the closest to real Skiing in the east. The skiing here really doesn't compare to Utah or Colorado, or Europe.

 

My vote for the most unique skiing experience in NE is Mad River Glen, and I were planning a ski trip, Mad River would be a must. Although there are not a ton of trails and limited grroming, the single seat chair lift and unique atmosphere will create good memories of east coast skiing.

 

opinions on sugarloaf please

 

I just started skiing last year, and managed to go about 15 times to about 10 different mountains. I was not impressed with Killington. Their lifts are really slow and their building are pretty run down and gross. If you were on a blue or green trail and not paying attention is was very easy to miss your turn and end up on a black or double black trail, where as a new skier you would almost certainly get seriously hurt. Sunday River was by far my favorite mountain. 8 peaks, lots of trails, nice facitilies, and from what i hear they opened last weekend. I've heard sugarloaf and stowe are both nice but i haven't been there to know for sure.

 

Mad River certainly is unique and there are few things better in the east as long as the natural snowfall is good. They have no snowmaking at all and do little, if any, grooming (it's been a few years since I've been there) and so it is a real time warp visit to skiing as it was 50 years ago. You will not find an inch of corduroy and you will ski it as God and nature intended. Ski it if you can!

With good, fresh natural snow on the mountain, Mad River is great.

Killington has some challenging skiing and glades that are fun but the comments about the infrastructure and crowds are pretty spot on. It is not a high end resort for chairs or other amenities. Lots of non-detachable bang-you-in-the-ass doubles and triples.

Stowe is one of my favorites but isn't open yet.

 

Hate to say it, but I have to echo the sentiments of most here...you have to be nuts to go East when you can go West (unless you already live in New England for obvious reasons). I've skied many mountains in many conditions every year for 23 years now and can tell you I'd rather have a sub-par snow day out west than ski an excellent dump out east. My recommendation would be to look into Utah or Tahoe. They tend to get some pretty good early season snow.

 

Sunday River is hands down the best in the Northeast. They always have the best snow conditions and the lift system is state of the art.

 

I'm not a fan of killington. Everytime I go there, its always really cold and windy and with that comes ice. Like Greg said, Sunday River is the best place in the northeast. If I was flying in I'd go to Sunday River in Maine. I wouldn't waste my time with Killington.

 

good for beer and bars.....
my son's band, DEAD POETS, are playing at the wobbly barns? sp.
new years eve and new years day....
check it out