Killington Ski Resort

Killington opened for skiing on December 13, 1958, after Preston Leete Smith, then 24, approached Vermont officials in 1954 about leasing Killington Peak land for a ski area, per Killington Resort's own "Our History" page. The resort's original corporate developer was the Sherburne Corporation, which restructured and renamed itself S-K-I Limited in 1984. American Skiing Company acquired Killington in February 1996. Powdr Corporation, together with SP Land Company, took over operation on May 11, 2007. On September 27, 2024, the Killington Independence Group — local passholders and community members — purchased the resort from Powdr, beginning its "independent era." Killington introduced the "ticket wicket," an early device attached to lift tickets to prevent sharing among skiers, credited to Charlie Hanley over his tenure at the resort. Artist James Niehues hand-painted a Killington trail map. Killington achieved lift-served skiing into June for the first time in 1982, operating until June 15 that year. Flooding from Tropical Storm Irene in late August 2011 damaged the resort and led to the condemnation of the Superstar Pub building. Killington has hosted a women's FIS Alpine Ski World Cup technical event, the Killington Cup, on Thanksgiving weekend annually starting in November 2016. The K-1 gondola replaced an older double chairlift in 1997, and the K-1 Lodge, a three-story base lodge of roughly 58,000 square feet, opened for the 2022-23 season.