Killington Announces Operating Plans for the 2020-21 Season
In the wake of continued COVID restrictions, Vermont’s Killington ski resort announced its operating plan for the upcoming winter today. Weather permitting, the resort will open November 14th. The resort is amending its snowmaking strategy from previous years to allow for top-to-bottom mountain access on day 1.
Killington will require visitors to wear face masks at all times except when seated to eat or drink. The mountain will utilize additional spacing measures to manage physical distancing in lift lines, and lifts will either be loaded at reduced capacity or only with members of the same traveling party.
Lodges will be limited to 50% capacity, and indoor facilities will act chiefly as “warming huts” with limited grab-and-go food options. Bag check services will be suspended. To address these limitations, Killington is expanding the hours at outdoor dining facilities and adding food trucks. Most bars will stay open, but with alcoholic drinks only available at physically distanced tables. The small, on-mountain Ledgewood Yurt and Motor Room Bar will stay closed for the season.
To limit crowds, Killington will only offer parking by reservation, including for season passholders. It’s unclear at this point how this system will work, but the resort says it plans to share more details in the coming weeks. Passholders will not need to make reservations to get on the mountain itself, but only limited day tickets will be sold. All passes will be sold in advance, and pickups will occur at contactless kiosks.
2020-21 season pass purchasers will be able to request a full refund for any reason before November 20. If Killington closes for more than 30 total or 7 consecutive days at any point during the upcoming season, passholders will receive future use vouchers. 2019-20 passholders should have received discount vouchers to renew for this winter.
Our Take
We’re glad to see Killington confirm it’ll be operating the overwhelming majority of its terrain and facilities next season in this generally comprehensive plan (in addition to the small bars and summit staircase, we believe it’s unlikely that the resort’s summit Catwalk trail will open). In most facets, this is the same plan announced by fellow Powdr-owned resorts Copper and Eldora last week.
However, Vermont’s 14-day quarantine restriction—which is technically acceptable to do out of state, but only if traveling to Vermont in a personal car—will complicate the logistics of a Killington trip for many people. Moreover, it’s unclear how truly practical visiting the resort will be until the parking reservation system is completely detailed. While there’s no reservation system to use tickets and passes (such as the one recently announced by Epic), it won’t be feasible for everyone to get to Killington’s slopes without the use of a car.
A few on-site lodging options exist within walking distance of the slopes, and staying at these should mitigate the reservation issue. Killington’s public bus transportation does service multiple lodging options, but relying on this could be a bad bet for next winter—it’s hard to imagine these often-crowded buses operating with the same level of service as in previous seasons.
If you’re wary about committing, it’s worth noting that Killington’s season pass has very strong pass protections, with a pre-season no-questions-asked refund window until November and a decent mid-season closure policy.
For more on Killington, see our review here.
