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Really Old Killington Brochure

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joshua segal
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Posted: Oct 27, 2008 - 12:30 PM GMT

LaurieP said:

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...
As you will see in the brochure I have included, there is no mention of the gondola so your map is definately later than that. You will also see on the map Mapnut posted that it announces the gondola. That is from the 1969 Ski Atlas.

Also notice, on the earlier map I posted the town is Sherburne, later maps have it as Killington. It is at least circa 1970.

Interesting. Absolutely nothing to the east of the Flume. When I first skied there (1966), Skylark and Escapade had been added, but the original Skye Peak chairlift was not there. (I think they replaced the Killington Double and moved the Killington Double to Skye Peak, ca. 1968.)

Going west, Ramshead trails aren't there!

I don't think the town name was formally changed to Killington until the late 80's.

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Joshua Segal

mapnut
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Posted: Oct 27, 2008 - 12:58 PM GMT

Here's a quote from the September, 1968 issue of Ski Magazine (from my attic): "The highlight of a multi-million dollar development announced late last season by Killington is a three-and-a-half-mile, four-passenger gondola which will open up the Skye Peak terrain. The first two of three stages are under construction with a base station near Route 4 in W. Bridgewater. A new trail system, the first for the Killington East development, will initially consist of eight trails connected to the existing Killington complex." So unless the construction wasn't completed in time, this would confirm 1968-1969 as the gondola's first season. I remember it being in the news, which was just at the time I took up skiing and was interested in everything about it.

ski la douche
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Posted: Oct 27, 2008 - 3:55 PM GMT

ski where skiing is life. Catchy.

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oppositegeorge
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Posted: Oct 28, 2008 - 2:31 AM GMT

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I don't think the town name was formally changed to Killington until the late 80's.

Surprisingly, (at least to me) it was even later --
1999!

And for added trivia goodness, the link above says the town was originally named Killington back in the 18th century, but it was renamed Sherburne in 1800 to honor an early resident.

Bill29
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Posted: Oct 28, 2008 - 1:24 PM GMT

I'm sorry I have no map or other material to show you, but I remember that the first time (and for several times thereafter) I skied Killington the area had one chairlift to the top and three Poma lifts (platter pulls), and that was it. I have always thoght that the double chair up over the Cascades was one of the coldest lifts I've ever ridden.

rickbolger
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Posted: Oct 28, 2008 - 1:32 PM GMT

Quote:

And for added trivia goodness, the link above says the town was originally named Killington back in the 18th century, but it was renamed Sherburne in 1800 to honor an early resident.

Alright, I figured that was just more rewritten history so I did a little digging, lo and behold found VT map from the 1700s that indeed shows the town of Killington just south of Stockbridge.

How about that!

Also, my little town of Royalton was originally called Linfield. Other items of interest (that would require deeper study to verify, they could be cartographer's error) Bromley was Brumley, and Barnard was Bernard

vt map 1783

ThatNYguy
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Posted: Oct 28, 2008 - 2:15 PM GMT

Edited: Oct 28, 2008 - 2:18 PM GMT

Quote:

Bill29... you got a good memory. The picture below is proof of his pudding.
I am looking currently for a picture I have of Pres Smith which will increase to the texture of Bills statement. I will add it to this thread when I find it.
Please Enjoy

Russ
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Bill29
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Posted: Oct 28, 2008 - 2:47 PM GMT

Quote: "Bill29... you got a good memory."

I also remember that many of Killington's trails were side-hill trails, so we spent lots of time skiing on one (usually the right) ski getting from the chair to the other trails. It seemed that we spent more time getting to trails than we did skiing down them.

And, as to my memory being good, why is it that I can remember this stuff, but I can't remember what I had this morning for breakfast - or even whether I had breakfast?

sledhaulingmedic
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Posted: Oct 28, 2008 - 4:43 PM GMT

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Wow Russ, that's a serious oldie! It seems that the glades chair is probably mid '60's, so the "glades poma" must have been gone a long time. I never realized there was a lift there (but I did ski there until 1970).

Thanks

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joshua segal
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Posted: Oct 28, 2008 - 6:04 PM GMT

Quote:

I'm sorry I have no map or other material to show you, but I remember that the first time (and for several times thereafter) I skied Killington the area had one chairlift to the top and three Poma lifts (platter pulls), and that was it. I have always thoght that the double chair up over the Cascades was one of the coldest lifts I've ever ridden.

Cold? The euphemism is "excellent snow retention capability." They used to give you a blanket on the really cold days and it was about an 18-minute ride.

By the time I first skied there in '66, they had added both the Snowdon and Ramshead Doubles.

But I thought Snowshed was part of the original 1958-Killington. No?

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Joshua Segal

flbski
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Posted: Oct 28, 2008 - 7:18 PM GMT

I remember skiing on Goat Path across the Glades Poma on a High School trip in Feb '72. So the chair was after that.

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Bill29
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Posted: Oct 28, 2008 - 8:20 PM GMT

Quote: "But I thought Snowshed was part of the original 1958-Killington. No?"

As I recall, the chair and three Pomas were the first lifts on Killington Peak. Snowshed came a couple of years after Killington opened. Of course, I could be wrong and I'm sure there are people out there who can correct me. But be nice about it.

joshua segal
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Posted: Oct 28, 2008 - 8:24 PM GMT

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I remember skiing on Goat Path across the Glades Poma on a High School trip in Feb '72. So the chair was after that.

I think the Goat Path is just at the summit of Killington and you probably crossed the Poma-line on the Great Northern. I pretty sure that the "Glades Poma" was replaced with a chair in the summer/fall of '72.

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Joshua Segal

telemechanic
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Posted: Oct 29, 2008 - 12:21 AM GMT

Edited: Oct 29, 2008 - 1:57 AM GMT

My knowledge of Killington's first season comes from the great coffee table book Killington: A Story of Mountains and Men (I didn't ski K until 1984) which I no longer own. I could be wrong too but I remember Killington started with a poma on Snowdon. The Peak Double came soon after.

schweig_1
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Posted: Oct 29, 2008 - 1:48 AM GMT

From the book Killington: a Story of Mountains and Men

Lifts by Year Installed
Poma I 1958
Poma II 1958
Glades Poma 1959
Killington Novice Poma 1959
Killington Chair 1960
Snowshed I 1961
Ski School Poma at Killington 1961
Rams Head 1962
Snowshed II 1963
Ski School Poma at Snowshed 1963
Snowdon Double 1964
Snowshed III 1966
Gondola 1968-1970
Glades Triple 1972
Snowdon Triple 1973
Killington Double 1975
Needle’s Eye Double 1976
South Ridge Triple 1977
Bear Mountain Triple 1979
Ski School Poma 1982
Northeast Passage Triple 1982
Bear Mountain Quad 1983
Skye Peak Quad 1984
Conversion Bear Triple to Quad 1984
Snowshed Detachable Quad 1987
Skye Peak/Superstar Detachable Quad 1987

Bill29
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Posted: Oct 29, 2008 - 12:42 PM GMT

I guess I was thinking about the chair on Snowden. I don't remember the poma there, but I stand corrected. Thanks.

telemechanic
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Posted: Oct 29, 2008 - 9:28 PM GMT

Isn't the 1958 Poma II, the upper one, still running on Snowdon?

WoodCore
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Posted: Oct 30, 2008 - 12:04 AM GMT

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Isn't the 1958 Poma II, the upper one, still running on Snowdon?

Indeed it is!

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orangegondola
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Posted: Oct 30, 2008 - 2:29 AM GMT

Interesting that the brochure shows an old poma brand clamshell gondola. Every lift installed at K was a Poma until the gondola. The actual gondola was a Carlevaro Savio. If I remember reading in the Killington book, no one except Calevaro Savio would commit to engineering such a lift and eventually it bankrupted CS and almost bankrupted Killington as well..

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tom white
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Posted: Oct 30, 2008 - 1:20 PM GMT

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If I remember reading in the Killington book, no one except Calevaro Savio would commit to engineering such a lift and eventually it bankrupted CS and almost bankrupted Killington as well..

That is also my understanding, it was a massive project for the day. I heard it "almost" bankrupted CS but I could be wrong.

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