The Beast of the East is ready for even more upgrades.
Killington Mountain Resort in Vermont just finished a 2025-26 season that debuted major upgrades: the new Superstar Six lift, over 1,000 new low-energy snow guns, new maintenance barns, lodging upgrades, and more. The upgrades followed a major $40 million investment, but the resort is not done making changes.
This summer, Killington will pour another $25 million into infrastructure upgrades across the resort. The upgrades will range from lift upgrades to summer attractions to resort dining. This takes the total investments since the group of private investors, Independence Group LLC, took over the resort two years ago to $65 million.
These are some of the upgrades the resort showcased.
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The Snowdon Triple to the Snowdon Quad
Killington is currently in the process of replacing its Snowdon Triple, which has been operating since 1973. In its place will be the Snowdon Quad, a fixed-grip quad chairlift manufactured by Doppelmayr. While a fixed-grip will be slower than a detachable, it will allow the Snowdon Quad to continue spinning during high winds and other tough conditions. The resort has earmarked around $7.5 million for the upgrade. The upgrade to a quad chair will give the Snowdon a 33% increase in capacity and a slightly faster ride than its predecessor, plus a backup generator that can run the lift at full speed in case of a potential power outage.
Killington began working on the new lift back in April and has already completed the teardown of the triple chair. Construction crews have been making holes for the new towers and terminals. The new lift is expected to be completed “near the start of winter 2026-27,” according to the press release.
More Snowmaking Upgrades
After implementing 1,044 new low-energy snow guns last season, Killington is ready for more snowmaking upgrades. Pipelines and 23 snow guns will be added to the Conclusion trail, which has not had active snowmaking in nearly a decade. The resort will also replace pipelines at its Bear Mountain area, and will add two high-capacity fan guns to Mouse Trap and Skyeburst trails, whose existing fan guns will be relocated.
Lift Maintenance
$1.3 million will be invested into lift maintenance upgrades at both Killington and its sister resort, Pico Mountain. Killington will focus its maintenance on the Needle’s Eye Quad, Skye Peak Quad, Skyeship Gondola, K-1 Gondola, Bear Mountain Quad, and Pico’s Summit Quad. The work will include “acceleration and deceleration systems, drive and brake upgrades, tower work, and other key components, all aimed to boost lift reliability and the guest experience.”
Restaurant and Dining Upgrades
Killington had already announced the expansion of its ski-in ski-out Jerk Jamaican Mountain Grill due to its popularity. The expansion included more indoor seating, an expanded deck with 100 outdoor seats, more indoor bathrooms, a full bar, and improved food preparation and storage spaces for staff. Those upgrades will be further increased in the coming years, with the building being renamed the Needle’s Eye Lodge. Further expansion will see a completely new building, with construction set to take place in summer 2027. The Jerk Jamaican Mountain Grill is expected to remain open during the 2026-27 winter season.
The resort also upgrades its checkout process at the Snowshed Lodge, with a new AI checkout process that uses 3D cameras to scan items. According to Killington, this new process is 400% faster than a traditional point-of-sale checkout.
Summer Operations Improvements
The resort will see various improvements for this summer’s operations, starting with a new remote-controlled Moritz crawler, a compact machine that assists with trail construction and maintenance. The Moritz is built to operate on steep and hazardous terrain where larger equipment struggles. The machine will arrive at the resort later this summer and will be immediately put to use to support bike park maintenance.
Bikers will also be able to enjoy Killington’s new 1.5-mile Bike Park trail, set to open later this summer. Accessible from Lower Blue Magic on Ramshead, the new blue, single-track hybrid trail will give bike park riders another run to be excited about. A new dual slalom course and jump line will also be added at the Ramshead area this summer. The resort regularly posts updates on its Bike Park Instagram page.
Rounding out its summer improvements are new additions to its Adventure Center, which will open a new Beast Tower and Climbing Wall ahead of Fourth of July Weekend. A new Trampoline Jump will also be added, along with a larger Roaring Brook Mining attraction and more lawn games.
