Basecamp podcast: Killington’s Mike Solimano isn’t sweating record temperatures just yet

Killington's new lodge will double the size of its old one. (Killington Image)

The Beast is getting bigger. 

Leave it to Killington Mountain Resort to head into the 2022-23 skiing and riding season on a big note. As the resort hopes temperatures, eventually, dip to more-friendly snowmaking levels in preparation for the World Cup at the end of the month, it is also putting the finishing touches on its new K-1 base lodge, which should double the capacity of the old one.

The new lodge should transform the base at the self-proclaimed “Beast of the East,” turning one of New England’s top skiing and riding destinations into a base package which the resort has been preparing for years. 

On this edition of New England Ski Journal’s Basecamp podcast, Killington president and general manager Mike Solimano joined hosts Eric Wilbur and Mike Specian, to preview the Killington Cup, the resort’s recent building developments, and shares his favorite trails to tackle when the snow finally does start falling. 

Listen:

Highlights from this edition of the Basecamp podcast

On getting Superstar ready in time for the World Cup: 

Solimano: I’ve been trying not to stress about it. We’ve had some warm years before and we’ve always been able to pull it off. Generally, about five days of real snowmaking temps is probably the bare minimum,” Solimano said. “We usually try to put five, seven, 10 feet of snow on that trail and pack it down. So we really want to pound it pretty hard.

On Mikaela Shiffrin’s struggles in the Olympics: 

Specian: It’s easy to sit back in your armchair and throw stones sometimes. Nobody that I know of has done what Mikaela has done in four disciplines. It’s like winning the World Series, the NBA Championship, and the Super Bowl all at once. Speed events and technical events are so different. Mikaela is capable of running in all of them, which is unheard of in this day and age of specialization. She is truly the Michael Jordan of skiing.

The podcast can be streamed at skijournal.com/podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple, Spotify and Amazon.