Central Vermont is home to “The Beast” (AKA Killington), one of the largest ski areas in the Northeast. Killington has always been known for its renowned skiing, and in recent years has also gained a reputation for summer mountain bike operations. K-Town is currently in Phase three of its Mountain Bike Park expansion, and things are looking good! After hearing all the buzz from the past few years of building new trails, we headed to The Beast over Labor Day weekend to sample some fresh dirt.
Killington runs three lifts for mountain biking: Snowshed, the K-1 Gondola, and Ramshead. Snowshed serves up wide, flowy beginner and intermediate trails all accessible from a quick high-speed quad. This means fast laps. We headed over to Blue Magic and were greeted with wide berms, fun rollers, and jumps of various sizes and styles top to bottom. Blue Magic was fun to ride at any speed, either rolling or gapping out whichever features tickle your fancy.
After a few quick laps thanks to the high-speed Snowshed quad we headed over to the K-1 Gondola for some DH action. We cruised down to Cable Trail to sample some revisions on an old classic. Cable Trail has been a Killington staple for a few years, and has only changed for the better: we were happy to discover some new berms and rollers mixed in with some classic roots and rocks to round out the trail’s mix of natural and manmade features. We opted to take Yo-Vinny down for some rooty and rocky DH action before heading to the new flow trails on the Ramshead side.
The highlight of our day was riding Black Magic, Killington’s new large excavated jump trail. We had seen various photos and videos and could not wait to sink our tires into some fresh dirt. Black Magic did not disappoint! The trail started with some high-speed overhead berms perfect for sampling some g-forces, and then opened up into various jump lines full of tabletops, hips, rollers, and more manicured overhead berms. A favorite part of the trail was near the bottom, with fresh new back-to-back hips that could be ridden as large or small as riders chose.
What’s the best part about Black Magic? It’s long. Just when you think you might have hit the last berm, another jump line appears in front of you and you start smiling ear to ear. The trail wasn’t done when we visited, but it looks like the Gravity Logic and Killington crews were going to wrap it up shortly. Who knows, by the time this story goes live Black Magic may be done top-to-bottom.
Killington Bike Park has come a very long way in a few short years, and doesn’t appear to be slowing their growth anytime soon. The park offers 3 lifts, each serving unique terrain sure to please any rider. We recommend planning your visit immediately to sample all the miles of new trails- we were there only one day and barely scratched the surface.
Thank you Michael, Ben, and the Gravity Logic and Killington trail crews! For more information, visit www.killington.com, and view theor trail map here!
