Killington Resort’s new, independent owners plan to spend $22 million on improvements next year, including construction of a new chairlift. Projects will include the fixed grip quad replacing the Snowdon triple, a lodge expansion, $2 million in snowmaking improvements and $2 million for new snowcats. The news comes at the end of a $38 million summer with Killington replacing the Superstar Express, installing new cabins on the Skyeship Gondola and rebuilding Skyeship’s cabin parking facility this offseason. By this time next year, The Beast’s new owners will have invested $60 million since purchasing Killington and Pico from Powdr in 2024.
The $6.5 million Snowdon Quad will load in a slightly different spot but follow roughly the same line as the outgoing triple, a Heron-Poma dating back to 1973. “The lift will feature fixed-grip chairs as opposed to detachable ones to help it stay operational during tougher weather events,” Killington noted. “This is part of a long-term strategy to maintain our network of fixed-grip lifts, ensuring reliable lift access to all areas of the mountain, even during inclement New England weather.” From the top of Snowdon, guests can access both the North Ridge Quad and Canyon Quad even if the nearby K-1 Gondola and Snowdon Six Express are closed. A manufacturer for the new lift was not announced though Doppelmayr built the new Superstar six pack this summer. Otherwise Killington operates an extensive fleet of Leitner-Poma equipment.
Construction will begin in the spring and the Snowdon Quad is expected to open for the 2026-2027 ski season.
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Best choice for a replacement. With all the consistent investment, I wonder if we could see the idea of the interconnect finally resurrected.
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No mention of a mid-station which the current lift has?
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Can fixed grips really do mid-stations?
Sounds like it will be hard for people to get on/get off without the lift slowing down?
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Fixed Grips can totally do midstations, as long as its not expected to be a beginner lift most riders should be fine. Snowdon serves mostly blacks and blues, so the stops should be pretty infrequent.
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Just one example, but Abenaki at Attitash is a fixed-grip quad with a mid-station.
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Yes, many FG lifts have midstations, they are a bit tougher to load I guess, but the lift generally goes slow enough for easy loading.
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I would posit that midstations are far more common on fixed-grips than detachables. A fixed-grip does not slow down for people getting on or off at the top or bottom, and a midstation is no different.
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The current lift is has an unload only mid-station, which I presume they might want to retain.
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No midstation, per latest episode of Stuart Winchester’s podcast.
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The Snowden triple had no midstation as I recall. I was at the ski school for ten years and still ski there often.
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This is a bit of a surprise to me, to be honest. Despite being their oldest chairlift, I wasn’t aware of any major mechanical or operational issues with the Snowdon Triple. I would’ve expected replacements for Ramshead and Snowshed as the next lift upgrades, as Ramshead gets long lines and Snowshed is now tied with Golden Express at Pico as the two resorts’ oldest detachable but probably has more hours on it.
Any word on if the new Snowdon FGQ will have a midstation like the current triple?
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Well at 52 years old, the lift is at the end of its service life, and they won’t remove it without replacement as they need a backup to K1 and the Snowdon Six. They are still going through the permit process for The Village, so they can’t do Ramshead and Snowshed yet, so it makes sense to get this out of the way.
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This feels a bit Déjà Vu having the name Snowdon Quad again as the old one operated until 2018, yet it lives on as South Ridge.
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Does anybody know why this lift and superstar seem so much more expensive than similar projects at other VT resorts? 12 for Superstar compared to 6.1 for Sunrise at Stowe, and 6.5 for this compared to 4 for Heaven’s Gate.
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I think there are inconsistencies with how different resorts quote the cost of their lift projects. Some will quote the entire cost to the resort. Others will only quote what they paid the lift company. Killington is going through the same bid process that any other resort would, but the price of a lift has increased substantially over the last several years.
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The tariffs are a large part of the cost increase.
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A bit surprised that is where they want to invest, but I can see the reasoning.
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I really do not understand the rationale behind spending $6.5 million on this lift. Yes, it is old, but its popularity has plummeted since Snowdon Six opened (which, by the way, cost only $6 million as a detachable six with bubbles back in 2018). That much money for redundancy, when there are real needs across the resort, seems silly.
On the issue of cost, it is worth noting that this fixed grip quad will cost 63% more than the fixed grip quads Doppelmayr installed at both Sugarbush and Big Rock in 2024. I understand the cost of a new lift is skyrocketing, but perhaps Killington just has a cost issue, as Superstar is costing double right now what Sunrise Six cost at Stowe in 2022.
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They’re spending so much money on a fixed grip quad that will be just as slow as the triple with a mild capacity increase, they should invest in detachables instead, although as you mentioned, their price is out of hand.
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I don’t think a particular resort is paying double what a different one is for a lift. As I mentioned in the other comment, I believe there are inconsistencies in how different resorts report the cost of their lift projects. They want a fixed grip backup to both the K1 and Snowdon Six, and the current lift as the end of its service life, and this makes sense to do as a fill in project while they work through permitting for The Village to get Snowshed and Ramshead replaced.
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you can thank Trump and his tariffs!
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This is a weird chair because it’s clearly only for redundancy and getting people out of the base area in odd circumstances. The six pack fills the Snowdon trails to capacity as is when all lifts are operating normally. I think the main reason that they’re avoiding putting in a high speed chair here is that they don’t want an obscene amount of attractive (high speed) uphill capacity on this terrain.. which makes a lot of sense when you think about it. The triple also starts in what is now a really funky spot that (even if moved a little) is not going to be conducive to good crowd flow at all when the lift is running.
I think they probably were wishing they could move used equipment here but they don’t have any good candidates. This is a perfect spot for a 20-30 year old lift, it’s too bad the triple is 52..
This does leave a big question as to where they’ll end up moving the Ramshead HSQ when they replace that, and Skye Peak if that chair ends up getting replaced at some point in the next 10 years.
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“The lift will feature fixed-grip chairs as opposed to detachable ones to help it stay operational during tougher weather events,” Killington noted. “This is part of a long-term strategy to maintain our network of fixed-grip lifts, ensuring reliable lift access to all areas of the mountain, even during inclement New England weather.”
Fixed-grip chairs are more resistant to weather? Why is that?
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Do you really want to run a lift which by design is detaching from the haul rope at the top and bottom during windy or icy conditions? Fix grips are far less likely to fall off or slide down the line.
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Chris- I don’t think they are talking about weather in general, but more about the icing conditions and the amount of time and labor that is required to de-ice detachable grips and terminals.
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I guess I don’t understand the confusion around this decision. You have a core lift that is nearing the end of its serviceable life. You can argue that maybe they should have shopped around for a better deal, but with tariffs and inflation (note that Sunrise Six at Stowe was ordered before both), I suspect that’s the going rate.
As others have pointed out, they aren’t going to move on Snowshed and Rams Head upgrades until the Village is fully approved and in motion, so the order of operations for a lift that was going to need to be replaced anyway makes sense to me – not many other lifts there that are crying out for capital.
With respect to it being a fixed-grip, it’s pretty well known that fixed-grip lifts are much more resistant to weather holds due to wind and/or ice than detachable lifts. This lift gives them the ability to reliably serve a key area of the mountain when that sort of weather inevitably hits. And it’s on a line that is just short enough so that the rise won’t be too long. I wonder if there will be moving carpets at the loading terminal to run it a bit faster than the current 450 ft/min.
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