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Killington sale officially completed, $30 million to be invested in new ski lifts and upgrades
Sold to local investors for an undisclosed amount, the Vermont ski area announced it will make some prominent changes by 2025.
A little over a month after it was first revealed, the sale of Killington Resort and Pico Mountain by ski area operator POWDR to a group of local investors has officially been completed.
The announcement of the deal (which formally occurred on Sept. 27) was made on Monday morning in a release issued by Killington. The Vermont-based ski area said that the new ownership group — led by Adage Capital Management co-founder Phill Gross and auto maintenance franchise owner Michael Ferri — has promised to spend $30 million on mountain-specific improvements.
Killington did not disclose the final sale price, nor the complete list of the 16 investors who comprise the Killington Independence Group (aside from Gross and Ferri). POWDR and Great Gulf (a residential development company that simultaneously revealed a new plan to build a “village” of at least 200 ski-in/ski-out properties) are listed as investors. While the price of the sale was not provided, Killington did claim that it was “notably completed with zero net debt.”
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The prominent details of Killington’s post-sale plan include changes to two of the current lifts: The Superstar Express Quad will be replaced in the summer of 2025 with a high-speed six-pack lift.
The Skyeship Peak gondola will also get a facelift: The ski area will replace all 116 gondola cabins in the summer of 2025, as well as build a new storage “barn” to house the gondolas. Per the announcement, the new cabins will “look similar to the current K-1 gondola cabins.”
In addition, 1,000 new snow guns will be added at Killington and Pico over the next two years, and expansions will be made to the summer mountain-biking trail network.
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An interesting admission made by the resort is that the replacement of the Superstar quad with a six-pack lift could potentially impact the capacity to either host the annual Killington Cup event in 2025 or handle the usual spring skiing scene earlier in the year.
“We will be unable to replace this lift without having an impact on spring 2025 skiing and riding or the World Cup,” said the Killington announcement. “Exact details on the installation schedule aren’t finalized with Doppelmayr, the lift manufacturer, but we do plan to make more snow in the North Ridge and Canyon area to offer late spring skiing and riding. We are committed to the longest season in the East and would offer late spring skiing and riding elsewhere on the mountain for one season.”
In the short term, the new ownership will keep much of the current personnel group in charge.
“The management team, we’re not going to tell them how to run the mountain, we’re just going to let them do their jobs,” said Gross. “We’re going to make sure the resources are there to upgrade the facilities and make the mountain the best, best place it can be and support the local community.”
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One area that will be changed is the resort’s board of directors. The new board will include local business leaders John Casella (of Casella Waste Management), Carolyn Kepcher (owner of the Snowed Inn), and Killington Mountain School board member Mike Hone.
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