Skiing at Killington, Vermont

Killington Resort in Green Mountains, Vermont is located near the city of Rutland.  Its a 5-6 hour drive from New York and passes through some very pretty little ski towns. Colourful wooden houses on both sides of the road giving it a very pretty feel, the typical New England look I guess.

There are two ski resorts here, one is the Pico Mountain which is much smaller and the other is the Killington slope which is a lot more popular. They have 4-5 different mountains to ski and different parking lots to start from depending on which mountain you want to ski.

The ski slopes are awesome here especially for learners. There are lots of green slopes, shorter ones for the absolute learners while some longer ones from the top of the mountain to the bottom if you feel more adventurous. The crowds here increase during weekends as would be expected, but its still not as much to discourage you from skiing. 

We stayed at Killington for four days and really improved on our skiing skills. For the first day we practiced mostly on the Snowshed slopes which was decently steep but not too long: gave us enough practice and confidence to try something tougher later. Our favourite on this slope was the detour through the Highlander, which is an almost flat slope to get an experience of cross country skiing. 

The last day we tried the Great Northern green slope too, from the top of the Killington Mountain to the bottom. Was a lot of fun and worth it!! If you don't want to ski, just the Gondola ride will also be enjoyable, going up the mountain and taking in the view of the whole area around.

You should rent your equipment from Killington rentals slightly before the slopes. Its a lot cheaper here than renting at the slopes itself. There are multiple parking areas around the ski area, and its all free though fills up fast! You can park your car at a different place everytime, depending on which mountain you plan to ski that day. One point to note though is that skiing finishes at 4pm everyday. So you need to start early as there is no night skiing at this resort.

Other than skiing there are a couple of things to do to spend your evenings. Since the whole Killington area is centered around skiing, in the winter season its all decorated with lights. It looks very pretty especially with the snow and the winter lights. There is also a trail nearby called the Appalachian trails. We did part of it but with the snow only as much you can go. Might be more fun in the summer.

There are lots of nice eating places nearby with good food and music. We tried Garlic, which was very tasty. The pub food more than the restaurant though! Sushi Yoshi was tasty too. And near it was Pickle Barrel, a nightclub with live music. It rocked!! There was a good fun crowd there and live music everyday. Apparently they have famous singers also performing at Pickle during season. A definite must-go for all visitors to Killington. Another restaurant we went to was the Peppino's Ristorante Italiano, it was not up to the mark though. Neither in terms of service nor food.

We stayed at the Cortina Inn and it was good.  Nice lounge, lot of activities to relax with at the end of the day. Pool, table tennis and lots of other games. You skii all day and come back to the pool to relax. What else would you want:) ? 

We also stayed a night in a house in Rutland. It was a nice experience. Rutland is like one of those lazy looking towns over rolling hills with cows grazing and the whole area strewn with wooden houses all along. Delightful and serene.

Killington is definitely a place to go skiing if you are a learner. Plus the whole area is so pretty, a definite recommend for people in New York.