Resort Improvements

Ledgewood Yurt Is Re-Born

The Ledgewood Yurt, Killington’s trademark slopeside eatery for more than a decade, was entirely re-built ahead of its opening during the winter of 2026. An overnight ice storm in spring of 2025 brought a tree down right through the roof of the old structure, rendering it unusable going forward. Under independent ownership, we don’t shy away from the opportunity to make improvements on the fly, so we quickly secured funding for a new building and got right to work.

The Yurt still will operate only during the winter as a ski-on, ski-off location, but there’s a couple twists this year. First, our Patrol team cut a new trail to access the Yurt, as the Ledgewood Yurt Trail (accessible from High Road) joins the Northbrook Trail as another way to ski or ride to lunch. Second, our newest uphill route up looker’s right of Snowshed Slope allows daytime skinning enthusiasts to forge a unique path to their midday meal.

This new Yurt, constructed with the help of our Resort Maintenance team, shares some similarities to the old building while sporting a number of key upgrades. Both the main entranceway and the employee food preparation area were re-designed, improving both guest and staff comfortability. Though total capacity remains unchanged, guest feedback influenced us to bring in smaller tables to the space, which can be left separated for a more intimate experience or re-configured to accommodate larger groups.

The menu was also re-imagined, inspired by Executive Chef Will Klinkenberger and his goal to create “French cuisine mixed with alpine comfort.” Bestseller from years past like the Turkey Croissant and Yurt Maple Milkshake return, while new options like the Truffle Croque Monsieur and the Snow Wine, a unique mulled wine blend made each day from 2-4 different red wines, look to become new staples. Much of the menus dairy and greens are sourced locally, while the rest of the ingredients come only from select local & regional distributors. There are also more soup options than in the past, and the wine menu includes small descriptors for each selection to help with pairing.

Finally, the new building comes along with new hours, as the previous 10:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. hours have expanded to Thursday through Monday for the winter 25/26 season. Plus, we’re now accepting online reservations! Though reservations are recommended through this link, walk-ins are permitted when capacity allows.

Skyeship Gondola Gets a New Look

Superstar isn’t our only iconic lift that got a fresh makeover ahead of winter 25/26. The Skyeship Gondola now has a whole new fleet of cabins, 116 in total, plus a newly renovated gondola barn in our Needles Eye area (between Stage I & Stage II). These enhancements were brought about to improve reliability and comfortability on one of our most important lifts.

The new Skyeship cabins, manufactured by Sigma, look similar to the cabins installed on our K-1 Gondola in 2018, and deliver a noticeably quieter, smoother, and more reliable ride than the old cabins. The updated cabin design includes improved door mechanisms that operate at the top of the lift rather than near the base, reducing the chances of freezing and improving consistency during cold and variable winter conditions. The snowboard racks outside each cabin are also improved, meaning guests should now place their snowboards in the racks on the Skyeship Gondola instead of bringing them inside. The new cabins hang about 9” lower than the previous Skyeship cabins, which required the loading decks at the base, mid-station, and summit to be lowered during the summer of 2025.

The improved Skyeship Gondola barn, located near the Jerk Jamaican Mountain Grill, also saw some positive changes during the summer of 2025. Beyond the repaired and freshly painted exterior, the inside is where the magic happens. A revamped heating system and three upgraded service bays were installed for our Lift Maintenance staff, all to reduce overnight cabin icing and provide a more modern and comfortable working environment for our lift mechanics.

Skyeship Helps Give Back

We’re aware that a lot of people start smaller than The Beast, but we want as many people as possible to be able to get on the hill each winter. Because of this, we’ve committed to supporting smaller local resorts through our new Community Mountain Support Fund. The initial funds allocated to this program came from auctioning off the original Skyeship Gondola cabins during the summer of 2025. Along with support from the Killington World Cup Foundation (KWCF), proceeds from the auction totaling over $150,000 have been allotted to assist community mountains with their upcoming infrastructure projects.

We’re proud that a lift that has helped create memories here can pave the way for more winter memories to be made elsewhere. More information about Community Mountain Support Fund will be shared in the future.

Superstar Gets a Six-Pack Chairlift

Killington’s newest chairlift, the Superstar Six, opened up to the public for the first time on Saturday, November 29th, 2025. It is a high-speed, six-person chairlift, and is the first chair in Killington’s history that was manufactured by Doppelmayr. The lift replacement itself cost $12 million, part of a larger $38 million dollar commitment to resort infrastructure improvements completed during the summer and fall of 2025.

The original Superstar lift, a first-generation detachable quad from the Yan Lift company, was built in 1987, making it one of New England’s oldest detachable chairlifts by the time it stopped spinning for the final time on April 13th, 2025. Over the course of its lifetime, it was retrofitted by Leitner Poma in 1997. It also served the best female skiers in the world during eight Killington Cup events from 2016-2024, which included 704 continuous hours of the lift spinning with no downtime.

With this new lift, guests will notice a few changes in addition to the chair size. The lift maze will be reconfigured for easier loading and the lift will spin clockwise, similar to the Snowdon Six Express. Unlike the Snowdon Six, this new lift does not have a bubble, both because of challenges with storage and because Superstar is a relatively quick ride that’s mostly protected from wind by the tree line. Though each chair’s capacity increased from 4 to 6 and the ride speed increased by around 15%, the total number of chairs decreased from 95 to 56, meaning Superstar’s overall uphill capacity remains nearly the same as before. Along with the new maze and fewer chairs, each chair’s safety bar now rests between the legs of each guest, making the loading experience easier and more ideal for children.

With it being our newest lift, the Superstar Six is now our most automated lift as well. It's able to sense both wind speed and direction and automatically slow down the lift speed when needed, a process that generally needs to be done manually on older lifts. If a child has difficulty getting on the lift or a guest loses a piece of their equipment, certain chairs can be marked to get slowed down automatically at the lift’s unload station. The backup diesel-powered generator and two-story repair barn, found on your right upon exiting the lift, are two further modern features that will keep this new Superstar lift running more consistently, even through potentially inclement conditions.

The Superstar Six also gained a couple vertical feet of aerial lift on its predecessor (now 1201’ instead of 1199’) to make the unloading experience at the top of the lift smoother. Unless a snowmaking whale from the “Superstar Glacier” is present above Superstar’s headwall, gone are the days of lengthy uphill pushing to get from the lift’s unload to trails like Skyehawk, Great Eastern, and more.

K-1 Lodge Becomes the East's Premier Base Lodge

Originally scheduled to open for the 2020-21 ski season, the new K-1 base lodge was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Construction was suspended in March 2020 to comply with Vermont's Stay Home, Stay Safe order. We are thrilled to now welcome the public into the new-state-of-the-art K-1 Lodge. The new three-story lodge designed by Breadloaf is over fifty percent larger than the pre-existing lodge (going from 37,000 sq. ft. to 58,000 sq. ft.) and includes a full-service bar, enhanced dining, additional seating, and unobstructed 180-degree views of the beautiful Vermont mountain landscape.

Breadloaf, the designer of the building, is the same firm we worked with for the remodel of the Killington Grand Hotel lobby and Preston’s Restaurant. The building features many of the characteristics that make the Peak Lodge such a desirable destination for Killington visitors including an open floor plan featuring mixed seating arrangements, floor-to-ceiling windows, a grandiose fireplace, and an upscale food court set to offer fresh, farm-to-table cuisine. This project also included a re-design of the bus turnaround, skier drop off zone and the upper parking bays.

The first floor of the facility is home to tickets, Killington Sports retail shop, rentals and a free bag check. The second floor features the food court with plenty of seating, a roaring fireplace and guest services. The food court offers a variety of food options, all cooked fresh to order using ingredients sourced from local farms and purveyors. The new kitchen and service facility will allow us to truly transform the quality and variety of food we’re able to offer at K-1. Additionally, with the switch from upcycled dining wear to fine china, we’ll further improve our sustainability efforts within the food and beverage department. You can find a full-service bar on the third floor, which will offer a bar food menu, much like the Peak Lodge and overlooks of the second floor with sweeping views out of the wall of windows facing the Killington basin and Superstar.

A time lapse spanning the earliest days of construction