It seems that when you try to describe Killington you end up talking numbers - the resort is one of the most impressive in the world in some respects and in the US market in many more. It seems unfair not to try to describe the place a little before giving vent to those figures. Killington is very much a ski area rather than a resort (although that is changing), hotels, restaurants and other facilities are spread out for several miles on the three lane road up to the resort's main base at Snowshed. The ski area itself extends for a massive 18km (11 miles) over seven mountains from Sunrise to Pico, the last is a small ski area in its own right, all of the rest is fully lift linked. It's difficult to resist the temptation to quote the figures, so here goes. Killington is the largest ski resort in the Eastern United States and it seems it always has been, it operates more than 1,400 snow cannons and is famous for having one of the world's most powerful snow making systems. In past times this allowed it to open trails in October and keep them open through to late June in cold years (the record is June 22nd). It averages six metres of natural snow anyway. Killington is one of only a dozen resorts in the United States to have a vertical drop greater than 950 metres (and of only two in the East that do, the other being Whiteface) - tantalisingly close to the 1000m mark that means much to the European market. The resort is keen to point out that, because of the number of its trails and lifts, it is in every way a comparable resort to the big centres out West - with as much trail length if not the acreage. Indeed Killington is one of the few US resorts to measure trail length as well as resort acres, knowing that if a lot of the 'big acre' Western ski areas dared to publish their prepared trail length stats they wouldn't look much by comparison. Killington's trails also compares favourably with most ski areas in the Alps and is therefore an increasingly popular destination resort for skiers from Europe and further afield who recognise that Killington is the exception for those who dismiss East Coast skiing as low-hill small-area weekend retreats for the residents of the local big cities. A few final fascinating facts - Killington has the longest trail in the East (Juggernaut, 10km/6 miles in length) and Outer Limits is the steepest mogul slope in the region also. Although the 12 quads, half of them high speed detachables, is not a record it's still a pretty impressive uplift, with six triples on hand also.

Aprés Ski in KILLINGTON

Skiing in KILLINGTON