Despite storm damage, ski resorts ready for business

Published: Wednesday, December 07, 2011, 9:01 AM

 By Jeanette DeForge, The Republican 

This Oct. 29, 2011 photo courtesy of Chandler Burgess for Killington Resort shows a skier on the slopes during opening day at Killington Resort, Vt. (AP photo)

Ski area operators want people to know they can still get to the mountains, despite severe road washouts and other damage caused in August by Tropical Storm Irene. 


Ski areas suffered trail washouts as gallons of water streamed down mountains, snowmaking ponds were damaged, parking lots washed out and roads collapsed mostly in Vermont and Massachusetts.

Killington, in central Vermont, was hardest hit. It lost the entire Superstar pub, had water and silt damage to all five of its base lodges, and water damage eroded parking lots. But all that is behind them.

“We have been open for one and a half weeks,” Sarah Thorson, communications manager for the resort, said of the area’s Oct. 31 opening, “We were so excited to open up the lifts two months after the storm hit us.”

The huge volume of water swelled the small Roaring Brook at Killington and destroyed the foundation of the Superstar pub that was built above it. The middle of the structure then collapsed, she said.

The pub was attached to the lodge at the main base, but it was on a separate foundation. The structure of the lodge was not damaged but had to be enclosed on that side, she said.

Now Killington is planning to take the misfortune and use it to make what was an infrequently used pub better. It is creating a new bar with an outside area with glass walls that is covered by a retractable roof, Thorson said.

Despite the severe damage, all the resorts in Vermont managed to recover quickly and roads, some of which were destroyed, have been repaired so skiers will still be able to easily reach any of the areas, said Jen Butson, director of public affairs for Ski Vermont.... MORE