Rather than try to be Park City or
Aspen, Killington leaned on its own
proven characteristics, including its
snowmakers, experience in event
planning, and the passionate ski
community in Vermont (and surrounding
states) that flocks to Killington to celebrate
and host the world’s greatest female skiers
on winter’s biggest stage. The results have
been memorable for spectators,
competitors, and organizers alike.
Small Town, Big Beast
With a population of less than 900, the
town of Killington is small. Killington
the resort, however, is not. Noting the
resort’s 155 trails and 28 lifts, Killington
spokesperson Courtney DiFiore invokes
the resort’s longtime nickname: “We’re the
Beast of the East,” she says.
Organizers understand another
demographic that needs to have a positive
experience: “Without the athletes you
don’t have an event,” says Tom, noting that
World Cup racers live out of a bag as they
globe-trot for five months. “If we can
provide an outstanding experience for
them—the food is good, the transportation
is easy, the hospitality works—then you
have athletes who can perform at their
best.”
There’s one other final consideration:
weather.
“Most eastern resorts are just trying to
get open in November,” says Mike. They
aren’t committing thousands of dollars and
countless hours to covering a single
trail with enough snow to meet World Cup
specs. But Killington has distinguished
itself through the years with early-season
openings and late-season closings. So
Killington focuses on two areas: readying
their business as usual on a holiday
weekend and getting Superstar ready for
the World Cup. Both are big jobs.
Mikaela, who now calls Vail, Colorado
home, and who cut her teeth at Vermont’s
Burke Mountain Academy, is
completely undeterred by the
unpredictability of Vermont winter
weather conditions. “Some people may
think I’m crazy, but I really enjoyed skiing
in the east (rain, sleet, and all),” she says.
“The hard surfaces and the variable
weather conditions set me up for the
ability to excel in any conditions.” She
recalls a race in the Czech Republic in
which many of her colleagues and rivals
didn’t appreciate less-than-ideal
conditions. “It reminded me of skiing
at Burke. It felt familiar and kind of like
home,” she says.
If there were doubters when F.I.S. (that
is, Fédération Internationale de Ski, the
organization that governs the World Cup)
awarded the event to Killington,
Even a beast, however, might cower in the
face of the logistics involved in hosting
an event on the scale of a World Cup ski
event. Killington has hosted its share of
events: Spartan races in the off-season,
mogul competitions on its famed Outer
Limits bump run, and the Dew Tour, a
nationwide snowboarding series. “The
World Cup brings everything to another
level,” admits Mike Solimano, president
and general manager of Killington.
From a logistical standpoint, Tom
Horrocks of Rutland Town, who serves
as the U.S. Ski Team’s chief of media for
the event, knows the resort and the town
are up to the challenge once again. “It’s
about the Three Bs,” says Tom. “Buses,
bathrooms, and beer.” On Thanksgiving
weekend, spectators park in any of the
Killington base area parking lots, and
buses transport them—without long
waits—to the event venue at the base of
Superstar trail at Killington’s K-1 base area.
10 VERMONT MAGAZINE
Mikaela Shiffrin poses with young fans at Killington