Skiing in Killington, Vermont – The Beast of the East!

The drive from New Jersey was a treat in itself particularly once we crossed the border into Vermont. We drove through some picturesque small towns including the elegant and charming Woodstock – a quintessential New England village begging to be visited again in the Spring or Summer!

We reached Killington at 11.00 am and were delighted to be told that our apartment was ready (joys of arriving on a Sunday!) ….after a very swift and friendly check-in for both the accommodation and the ski rental depot we were in the apartment and un-packed by midday.

We chose to stay at the Trail Creek condominiums and were not disappointed. Being just a short free shuttle bus ride from the base lodge and the ability to ski back to the condo with the children for lunch or at the end of the day was a plus.

We booked a 1 bedroom apartment and although we expected to be sleeping on a sofa bed in the living room, the double sofa bed was actually up on a mezzanine level – the children were delighted!

The apartment was very spacious with a galley kitchen and dining/living room with a log fire. The balcony provided fabulous views of Killington Peak. A separate bedroom and small but perfectly functional bathroom were also downstairs along with a rack and bench for leaving wet ski gear overnight – they were warm and toasty by the morning. It wasn’t the most modern of apartments but it was clean, well stocked with essentials and everything worked!

At the end of a full day on the slopes we were able to relax in Trail Creek’s small activity centre which had a small indoor pool, sauna and 2 hot tubs.

Killington is the ideal family resort – an extensive ski area with diverse terrain to suit all levels of ability. From wide open ‘green circle’ confident building trails to ‘blue square’ slopes tempting advanced beginners (7 year old daughters with no fear!) and intermediates and ‘black diamond’ and fee style terrain for the more advanced and crazy skiers (Boarders in particular will enjoy ‘The Stash’)! What we particularly liked as a family with young children was being able to take the children up the K1 Express Gondola to the top of Killington Peak and ski on green (and easy blue) trails all the way back to the Condo. Our favourite trails were ‘Bear Run’ and ‘Great Eastern’ - much more exciting than staying on the nursery slopes!

The wide trails and connecting runs are surrounded by snow covered pine trees and provide amazing views across the green (and white) mountains of Vermont - and at the bottom of the main runs there are café’s, rest rooms, lockers, ski shops and more importantly a ‘Waffle Cabin’ – you could smell the waffles as you rode the chair lifts…mmmmmmm!

We didn’t eat out in the evenings but there are plenty of options for eating at the Base Lodge or in Killington village.

‘That was the best ski holiday ever’ was the consensus as we drove back to New Jersey and we hope to ski there again soon!