The Snowguns Are On at Killington. Here's How the First Weeks of Winter Actually Unfold

Temperatures dropped below freezing early on Saturday, October 17, and Killington's snowmakers started 165 guns across five trails. Four of them are on the North Ridge: Rime, Reason, Upper East Fall and Upper Great Northern. The fifth is Superstar. According to the resort's announcement, that first run came a full two weeks ahead of last year's.

That list of five trails tells you a lot about the next month. Killington's opening weeks follow a pattern that has repeated closely over the last two seasons. Expect one gondola, one lodge, one pod of advanced terrain and a walk out at the end of the day.

What the first guns say about the map

Four of the five trails getting snow are in the North Ridge area. That matches how Killington describes its usual start on its hours and operating schedule page. Terrain opens on the North Ridge, reached by the K-1 Gondola and the Peak Walkway, and walking is required until skiing runs top to bottom.

Superstar is the exception, and it's carrying 50 of the 165 guns. That snow has a fixed deadline. Superstar hosts the Stifel Killington Cup on November 27 to 29, 2026. The other 115 guns are building the terrain that opens first.

Compare that with last year. When the resort announced its 2025/26 opening, it said 175 snowguns ran during the first cold window, the most ever for the start of a season at Killington, and that it scaled up to 225 guns later that week. So the fall of 2026 started with slightly fewer guns than last year's record first window, but two weeks earlier on the calendar.

Two openings, one template

Killington doesn't announce an opening date in advance. The hours page says the snowmaking team goes to work as soon as temperatures allow, and the opening date is announced once it's confirmed. As of the October 17 announcement, the resort had no date scheduled for winter 2026/27. The last two openings are the best guide to what comes next.

Both openings came in mid-November, two days apart on the calendar. Both used the same two lifts. Both started with a passholder-only day before the public opening. In 2025 the resort called its opening-day terrain a record number of trails for an Opening Day at Killington, and still offered no beginner terrain. Ski Vermont's posting of the 2024 release described the same advanced-only start. That year, other passes, tickets, vouchers and reciprocal discounts weren't accepted on day one, and children six and under could get a free ticket with a season passholder.

The free lunch is the perk passholders remember. In 2025 the resort described a complimentary Opening Day lunch for passholders as a long-standing Killington tradition. The 2026/27 details haven't been published yet, so the opening announcement will confirm whether it returns this year.

The Peak Walkway sets the length of the day

Until skiing runs top to bottom, the North Ridge is a pod you ski into and walk out of. The 2025 release said walking on the Peak Walkway would be needed "for the next couple of days" to get back to the base.

Killington's published early-season schedule shows how that shapes the day:

1. Lifts run seven days a week, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
2. The last gondola ride up is at 3:00 p.m.
3. While walking is required to exit, the last run down the North Ridge is also at 3:00 p.m.
4. Some days you walk the Peak Walkway both down and up. On others you can ski from Killington Peak to the North Ridge and only walk up at the end of the day to ride the gondola back to the K-1 base.

The listed hours run to 4:00 p.m., but in practice the skiing ends at 3:00. Anyone planning a late first run, or meeting friends after work, has an hour less than the lift hours suggest.

The walk-out phase usually doesn't last long. On the 2025 opening day, crews were already making snow on Upper Double Dipper and on Great Northern down to Lower Ridge Run, aiming for top-to-bottom skiing later that week. Those are the trails to watch on the Mountain Report once opening day is announced, because they connect the North Ridge pod back to K-1.

One base lodge until December

The early season also runs from a single base. Killington's hours page lists K-1 Lodge as open from opening day through closing day. The other lodges open in stages:

• Ramshead Lodge: late November or early December through mid to late April
• Snowshed Lodge: mid-December through mid-April
• Bear Mountain Lodge: mid-December through late April
• Skyeship Lodge: late December through late March

Until Ramshead opens, everything on the mountain runs through K-1. Last year, guest services and pass help were on the first floor of the K-1 Lodge, and the service desk opened the day before opening day. The resort also suggested checking that your One Pass RFID card is active before arriving to help avoid delays at the ticket windows. With one base serving the whole mountain in the opening weeks, that check matters more than usual.

On the mountain, food in those weeks has come from three places: K-1 Lodge, Peak Lodge and the Subie Shack at the base of North Ridge. The bigger dining options open later, along with the lodges that house them.

A new lunch stop on the Access Road

The off-mountain early season has a new option this year. Apricity Tavern opened Wednesday, September 2, at 747 Killington Road in the former Rivershed building, as Mountain Times reported in August. The Rivershed closed at the start of summer 2025, and the property went up for sale that fall. Ben and Barb Lupien, who own the Garden's Dream garden centers in Connecticut, bought it in March 2026. Mountain Times reported that the Lupien family has split its time between Killington and Connecticut for 25 years.

Apricity's schedule fits early-season skiing well. In the same Mountain Times piece, Lupien explained why the restaurant serves lunch:

"We feel like there was a lack of lunch places."

Mountain Times reported that Apricity plans to serve lunch and dinner and open earlier in the day than the many places that wait until late afternoon. On days when the last North Ridge run is at 3:00, the restaurant's planned "2:30 p.m. Club," with live music from 3 to 6 p.m., starts about when early-season skiing ends. The menu leans toward seafood that Lupien says comes in fresh from the Boston market: seared scallops with maple glaze and brown butter, mussels in white wine, lobster stew and house-smoked salmon pâté. There are also Wagyu burgers, lobster sliders and entrées like cast-iron New York strip and smoked duck breast. It has already started hosting community events. A letter in the Oct. 7 Mountain Times thanked the tavern for hosting a Killington Active Seniors dinner on September 27.

When the template ends

The North Ridge phase lasts until the second job for this snow arrives. With 50 guns already on Superstar for the Stifel Killington Cup on November 27 to 29, the resort has a fixed deadline for at least one more major trail. Mikaela Shiffrin has announced she'll race in both the slalom and the giant slalom. Between opening day and that weekend, the mountain grows from the North Ridge outward. The resort's Mountain Report and the Killington App show which trails and lodges are open day to day.

If you're timing a ski-season arrival around opening day, or want to talk through the K-1 and Killington Road side of the mountain before winter fills in, Beckman & Hurley Group is glad to share what we're seeing as the season gets started. Request a Concierge Consultation and we'll pick up the conversation from there.