Skiing in Vermont

Killington is located in central Vermont and stretches across six mountains. With abundant natural snowfall and extensive snowmaking, excelling skiing conditions can be enjoyed throughout the cold weather months. Relatively close to several major American and Canadian cities, it is very appealing for urbanites to visit Killington for a long weekend or a few days during the week; some even leave their homes very early in the morning to ski for the day.

Although Killington does not have the village atmosphere of other ski resorts like Mont Tremblant in Quebec, there are a number of other reasons to visit Killington. One can cross country ski at the Mountain Meadows area, go for a sleigh ride or drive around the mountain on a snowmobile with your guide.

The fast food chains which line thoroughfares in most rural and urban centers are notably absent. Smaller family owned establishments offer visitors a delightful smorgasbord of dining experiences. Some of the larger of these also cater to the après ski crowd, offering happy hour specials and live entertainment.

Quick Tips:

Be sure to have good tires on your vehicle as some of the roads are narrow and gradients can be steep.

Since the lifts close at 4, to enjoy a full day of skiing it would be a good plan to get up early and be at the lifts for 8am weekends or holidays and 9am weekdays.

Best Way To Get Around:

Although most people visiting the Killington resort area have a car, there is a shuttle bus which drives along the main road picking people up in front of their hotel and bringing them to the hill and returning them back to their accommodations in the afternoon.

Another bus leaves the Snowshed Station to bring people over to Pico Mountain.

Cedarbrook is located at the junction of route 4 and 100, so if you drive south along 100, then intersect with route 4 you would expect to see Cedarbrook at one of the corners. After looking and driving back and forth along the 4 in either direction, we asked at the Chamber of Commerce right near the intersection and found that route 4 and 100 are one and the same for several miles, and there is a second junction of route 4 and 100 further south. Armed with this information and a goodly supply of maps and information about the area, we drove another few miles and found Cedarbrook quite easily at the southern junction.

It is a small resort--75 to 100 units are divided between three 2 story buildings, however, we were quite happy with our exchange. There used to be a base station and ski-lift right across the road, which would have made Cedarbrook a super ski-in-ski-out location. Currently Killington Snowmobile Tours have set up operation in the vacated building and offer guided tours for a princely sum.

A babbling brook at the base of the mountain is what you hear and see when you wake up in the morning and look out your window or stand on your balcony—you feel so in tune with nature! If you put some bread or seeds out, blue jays will entertain you as they try to retrieve the treats without being photographed.

Our two bedroom lockout was cozy, clean, and well-maintained. The one bedroom side has a stove, dishwasher, full-size refrigerator, and microwave oven. The studio side has a mini fridge and microwave, but no stove. All the appliances and supplies, furniture and carpeting are in excellent condition.

Both sides of our lockout had adequate lighting—something I am always looking for (I even have “light bulbs” on my grocery shopping checklist). The electric heating was adjustable, but we did find it helpful to boil some water (we were cooking spaghetti noodles) to create some humidity to help with the flyaway hair situation. A gas fireplace in the living room was fabulous to warm up by after a winter’s day outdoors. Each bathroom had a heat lamp. All these are great touches for a winter resort.

There is an office with staff who were helpful with information about the area and there were pamphlets, however, this is not a resort with activities to entertain the visitors.

There is a fabulous outdoor pool—for more information see my review under “experiences”.

We had not made reservations for Choices as it was the middle of the week and we were dining relatively early, so I guess we should have been happy to actually have been allowed in to the restaurant, but the location of our seats clouded our impression of this fine restaurant.

I had read reviews and seen the ratings for Choices, which is why we chose to eat there. We were seated promptly at a table for 2 which was one foot away from a table for 4. Those people did not look thrilled with our arrival, but were just about to finish their meal and soon left. We breathed a sigh of relief, but it was short lived as another family was seated at the table.

Our waiter was not terribly friendly or personable and combined with our seating arrangement we did not have a great dining experience, even though the food was good.

Some rolls were brought to our table while we waited for our meal. They were warm and smelled good, but the taste was disappointing—not bad, just bland.

For appetizers we had the coquilles St. Jacques, tasty, but so hot I burned my tongue, and a Caesar salad, which was quite ordinary. For our main dish, we ordered the special-a sampler of lamb, stuffed pork tenderloin and chicken. This was served with crisp, flavorful cooked vegetables and garlic mashed potatoes.

When we inquired about dessert, the waiter brought a tray of all the choices; once we laid eyes on them, it was hard to say “No, thanks,” so we ordered a crème caramel and a carrot cake, although all of the other desserts also looked delicious. Both desserts were excellent.

Choices has an extensive wine list. The menu offers seafood, steak, rack of lamb, items from the rotisserie, pasta, vegetarian entrées, sandwiches, and salads, so there is something for everyone. Portions are large and there was no extra cost to split an entrée.

Charity’s advertises itself as an 1887 saloon-restaurant. It serves soup and sandwiches, burgers, pasta, and grill items. There is a kid’s menu. What drew us in was the happy hour. I always thought that happy hour meant 2 for 1 drinks, but in this case it was free chicken wings, which were good too.

Catering to a cold après ski crowd, Charity’s has a large fireplace and offers quite a number of hot drinks. They come with the requisite whipped cream on top, which is perfect after a day on the slopes.

One of the entrées we ordered was a Cajun shrimp and sausage pasta served over bow tie noodles--it was spicy, filling and delicious. Our other dish was vegetarian—stir fried vegetables served in a soy garlic sauce over rice-it was also tasty and filling. Entrées came with a salad and the maple Dijon dressing we chose was fabulous. There was an extensive dessert menu, but we ordered only one to share--an enormous apple dumpling, which was served with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream—yummy!

Service was amazingly quick—I wondered if they were trying to get us out of there quickly as they were expecting a crowd later on. Our waitress and hostess were friendly and there were lots of accessory personnel around to clear up and help out.

Whether you are an avid cross country skier or have never tried this before, Mountain Meadows is a great place to spend a few hours or a whole day.

The lodge is located off route 4--take the first road east of route 100 north—the road beside the big yellow building offering Snowmobile tours. The headquarters used to be on Thundering Brook road so there is some confusing signage. If you keep your eyes peeled you may see the tiny red and white sign indicating the turn for Mountain Meadows.

On the upper level of the two level X Country ski center is a large open area with tables you can use for your lunch or perhaps for instructions for large groups. On the ground floor are large clean washrooms and a ski waxing post. Rental equipment is available for $18 and there are a small number of snacks and accessories to purchase. A trail pass for the day costs $18. Lessons are offered and we saw quite a few people just outside the lodge on a level trail going back and forth testing their skills.

The trail map is well drawn with elevation grid lines to demonstrate gradient. On the back of the map each coloured trail is described with the associated level and length of the trail.

We had our own equipment and although we had not done any cross country skiing for years, the red tail was the one suggested to us since we had had some previous experience. The lodge is at the top of the ridge and the very first part of the trail involves a decent size hill to go down. Falling about 2/3 of the way down did little to bolster my confidence, although there were cheers from the bottom from those who only managed to get ½ way or less before falling.

There are over 30 kilometers of trails, groomed for both classic and skate skiing. There are options to do more flat skiing around Kent Pond, working on one’s technique, or travel up and down hills through white birch groves or pine forests, alongside rock formations or stone walls lined with sugar maple trees. For the more ambitious, the black trail for advanced skiers is an 11 kilometre trail heading up to Hutchins Cabin which is a great place for a rest and to take in the view from the highest point in the trail system.

Daily lift tickets at $72 are not cheap, but you can reduce the daily price by buying multi-day tickets. As there are over 150 trails and 27 lifts, you could easily ski a new run each time you came down one of the 6 mountain peaks. Your lift ticket is colour coded to your parking area and signs on the hills ensure you do not get lost, end up on a trail outside your level of comfort or ski the last run to a parking lot where your car is not. Several gondolas make the trip to the top a bit more comfortable in inclement weather and there are enough lifts in total so you are not spending more time waiting to go up than skiing down.

There is a ski school and child care, slow zones, family friendly areas, an area for freestyle terrain and a snowboard park. You can rent or buy or purchase those items you forgot to pack. Guided mountain tours are offered on the hour at the Snowshed and mountain orientation is given at the K-1 station.

Each base station has at least one place to eat-the trail map will have a succinct description of gastronomic offerings. It is not always open, but the restaurant at the top of Killington Mountain has the best views and serves up decent lunch food.

Absolutely the greatest feature of this resort is its heated outdoor pool. There is a unisex change room on one side of the pool where you can leave your outdoor clothing. It has a bathroom, a large common area with hooks to hang your clothes and a few chairs. Three curtained cubicles with benches can be used to change into your bathing suit.

On the other side of the pool is a small lounge area with a vending machine, a few chairs and a fireplace.

It is a bit daunting to think of being outdoors in your bathing suit when there is snow on the ground, but that is what makes it so much fun. Just make a quick dash on your tiptoes to the ladder—you won’t have any regrets when you drop into the heated water. The pool is large enough to swim in, but once you are in the water for a few minutes, you just want to float lazily, looking up at the trees and the mountain and luxuriating in the knowledge that you are swimming outdoors in the winter.

Some smart people brought their flip-flops--it never occurred to me to bring beach sandals to a winter resort! On our second visit to the pool, we changed in our room, then dashed out to the pool with our barefeet in our running shoes.
Open from 3pm to 9pm in the winter, it is the supreme way to relax tired muscles after a day of skiing. There is a sign indicating summer hours are from 9am to 9pm.

Another thing I enjoyed about Cedarbrook were the blue jays. We got up our first morning to find a flock of them looking for something on the ground behind our unit. Someone had obviously thrown out some bread. All I had were granola bars. I placed them on the balcony rail and left the balcony door open and my camera on the ready. Those blue jays are smart—they quickly swooped down and grabbed the treats while I went to the kitchen for a second to get something.