• King Pine Ski Area in East Madison has had the snowguns on to get ready for its planned Dec. 17 opening, during which they will once again do their canned food drive.
The area added inventory to their rental fleet including 358 sets of skis and bindings, 486 sets of ski boots, 600 ski poles, 289 helmets, 113 snowboards, 113 snowboard bindings and 174 sets of snowboard boots.
Grooming at King Pine will be enhanced with the purchase of a new Prinoth Bison snow groomer, purchased by the Hoyt family at a cost of $319,000.
Notes Marketing Director Thomas Prindle: “In addition to annual lift and snowmaking infrastructure maintenance, our team was hard at work this past fall excavating sections of the ski area to expand our employee parking lot and the fill from that was repurposed to grade the Bear Rug hill so that the carpet lift could be installed in a more permanent manner reducing wear and tear and hours spent installing and uninstalling annually.”
A new outdoor food and beverage service window, the Trails End Tavern Express, has also been added to the main base lodge along with additional outdoor seating.
Off-season investments in technology are improving on-mountain Wi-Fi access points for better connectivity and will enable the introduction of a ticketing sales and redemption point.
It will also allow for limited food and beverage sales at a new and larger snow tubing “shack.” “We also will have a new summit webcam available for public viewing in addition to our base area webcam,” said Prindle.
Protocols include face coverings required in all indoor public spaces when not actively eating or drinking.
No bags or items to be left in the base lodge and no storage space or “cubbies” available inside. Guests will need to leave bags in their cars.
Food or beverages not purchased at King Pine cannot be brought into or consumed in the base lodge. Any “brown bagging” will need to take place at guests’ vehicles or an available outdoor seating area. For more, go to kingpine.com.
• Attitash Ski Area in Bartlett is scheduled to open “within a week,” according to Vail officials as of Dec. 2. With the addition of snowmaking on Wilfred’s Gawm, Turkey Shoot and Ammo Pitch this season, Attitash now has snowmaking coverage across 90 percent of its trails. New fire pits in the Bear Peak base area are the perfect spot for a toasty après. Attitash Terrain Parks are more tricked-out than ever thanks to a dozen new features.
In summer 2022, Vail Resorts plans to replace the East and West Double-Double chairs with one fixed-grip four-person chair will improve reliability and enhance the overall guest experience at Attitash. For more, go to attitash.com
• Wildcat Mountain in Pinkham Notch was scheduled to open Dec. 3. New this winter is revamped snowmaking that will help set up good conditions throughout the season, while new chairs on the Wildcat Express lift will help skiers and riders get up to get down.
At both Attitash and Wildcat, as part of Vail Resort’s stable of 34 resorts, Vail Resorts will not have a mountain reservation system this season and will load lifts and gondolas at normal capacity, optimizing guest movement around its resorts.
Face coverings will be required in indoor settings, including in restaurants, lodging properties, restrooms, retail and rental locations, and on buses. Face coverings will not be required outdoors, in lift lines, or on chairlifts or gondolas, unless required by local public health. For more, go to skiwildcat.com.

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