About four hours and forty five minutes north of Manhattan, America's largest ski resort in the East sprawls across six mountain peaks. It's got 141 distinct trails, 32 lifts, and a mega 750 acres of skiable terrain -- 71 miles of trails in all. The longest trail is six miles long. This is Killington, and it's the Vermont resort of choice for the 2010 SKI BUMS Season.

Every winter, SKI BUMS orchestrates a mass exodus to converge at a resort in Vermont, and these weekends have become famous for a few things. One, it's the chance to spend three uninterrupted days of skiing and boarding -- an escape to the mountains that easily makes you forget the city. And two, the opportunity to get to know people in a way that you just can't when you're simply hanging out at a bar. Every year, the BUMS arrive in Vermont with folks they've only briefly met, and return home with a new group of great friends. It's an adventurous weekend... and all the more so when you're in a place like Killington.

One of the great things about SKI BUMS trips is the flexibility within our itinerary. We schedule social events, meet-ups, après ski afternoons and group dinner reservations, but you're always free to break away from the group and do your own thing if you like.

Itinerary overview

Thursday, February 4

• Travel day: see Transportation" for more information. Participants should be plan to be in Killington by 5:00 PM, which means that if you're in NYC, you should be ready to leave the city by noon.
• Evening: meet & greet welcome party, info distribution and lift ticket distribution. We'll get started around 8:00 PM.

Friday, February 5

• Early morning group photo, followed by our skill level grouping. We'll then break into smaller groups to explore the mountain!
• Lunch and Après-ski meet ups
• Group dinner (provided) and private party at the Wobbly Barn, which is undeniably the SKI BUMS most favorite bar of any ski resort... anywhere. Yeah.

Saturday, February 6

• Morning meet up to ski and ride Killington
• Lunch and Après-ski meet ups
• Evening 'cook out' in the condos, where the BUMS invite one another over for home-cooked meals. It's a tradition. :)
• Late night party at a local bar in Killington

Sunday, February 7

• Morning re-connect with your carpool to pack up, clean out the condos, etc.
• Ski and ride at Killington
• Late lunch / early après-ski to connect with your carpool and head home

*this itinerary is just an outline and is subject to change; our participants will receive a detailed itinerary at check-in.

The largest ski area in the East, Killington Resort also is also terrifically popular for it's fun-loving après-ski scene. With a youthful vibe and more than 71 miles of terrain, it's impossible to avoid a full day of fun here. Skiing Magazine ranks Killington at #2 this year, just behind last year's SKI BUMS destination, Stowe.

With an excellent skiing & snowboarding school, a great variety of beginner, intermediate and advanced terrain, a huge halfpipe and five terrain parks, you're in for a bundle of surprises. You'll have three full days to explore its six mountain peaks and ride on its rolling-hill trails that stretch to six miles long.

The Pinnacle Condominiums have been the SKI BUMS home base for three of our trips to Killington. They're conveniently located within just a quick drive to each of the Killington base areas, and each of our units has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and can sleep up to eight people. New for 2010, we're giving you even more flexibility within condo arrangements. You can choose to arrange your own condo, or SKI BUMS can put together a condo for you. It's up to you.

Amenities include:

• Full kitchen with all cooking essentials, including coffee filters, paper towels, garbage bags, dishwashing soaps, dish towels.
• Fresh linens including sheets, bath towels, wash cloths and bath mats and bathroom supplies such as bath soap, shampoo/conditioner, toilet & facial tissue are stocked prior to arrival.
• Comfortable living room with gas fireplace.
• Washer and dryer, TV, DVD player and VCR, and complimentary WiFi
• Access to the Pinnacle Spa, a an indoor recreational facility with a bar, a workout room, game room, TV lounge, sauna, steam room, and two hot tubs!

Condo bedding breakdown

Each of our units is a 3-bedroom unit.

• Every condo can be set up with 1 king bed or 2 twin beds in the first bedroom, and two twins in both the second and third bedroom.
• The living room features a pull-out queen sleeper sofa, which you may use if you arrange your own condo.
• There are two bathrooms, and a fully stocked kitchen.
• If SKI BUMS arranges your condo for you, you'll have 6 adults in your unit. If you prefer to arrange your own condo, you may house up to 8 adults in your condo unit.
• Killington cannot guarantee that our units will be adjoining other units within our group, so we can't take requests to select your next-door neighbors. Thankfully, all our condos are all located within easy walking distance of one another.

Here's all the key information for our transportation plan for the weekend.

SKI BUMS coordinates a shared carpool for our Vermont weekends. You must submit a Carpool Form by Monday, January 4th. After this date, SKI BUMS can not help you find a ride or provide riders for your vehicle. You'll need to make your own arrangements.

Submit a carpool form >

Planning your weekend:

• Departure time: You should plan to be at Killington for check-in by 5:00 PM on Thursday. Therefore, if you're in New York City, you should be ready to leave the city by noon. We'll have additional participants coming from Boston, Philadelphia and Washington, DC, but if you're in one of these cities, it'd be smartest to make your own carpool arrangements.
• Equipment and luggage: Before submitting your carpool form, you'll need to know if you're bringing equipment or renting it. If you're driving, you'll need to tell us if you've got space (or a ski rack) for equipment. We'll need to line up those who are bringing equipment with drivers who have the capacity to carry it.
• Return time: We plan a late lunch / early après-ski for our participants to meet up with their carpool and head home. Most participants leave Killington around 3 PM, but it's up to you and your carpool to decide.
• Flexibility: If you're participating in our carpool, flexibility is key. Please understand that some may want to avoid traffic, while others may want to get in a full day on the slopes. A little flexibility goes a long way, but you may include your desired departure and return times on your carpool form.

Submit a carpool form >

You may prefer to fly to Vermont to save time. Continental, Delta, JetBlue and US Airways offers round-trip flights between NYC and Burlington, Vermont. You may rent a car or take a taxi between Burlington and Killington. For more info and flight schedules, click here >

Once we're up at Killington, we'll largely rely on one another's cars to get around, but there's also a free Killington shuttle bus system that travels between the Killington Condos and the Killington base areas. Buses arrive and depart on a 20-minute intervals during the day. There are also cheap taxi shuttle vans that service the Killington area bars, restaurants and grocery stores, so it's always easy to get around.

Talk to anyone who's been on a SKI BUMS trip and they'll tell you that the singular best reason to join a trip with us is simple: the people you'll meet. SKI BUMS attracts a fun-loving group of outdoorsy, laid-back, friendly and outgoing men and women who are chill and out, and SKI BUMS designs our trips to make it extra easy for you to get to know them.

There's a big reason why our trips to Vermont are always so popular -- they're really just mountains of fun. Killington is especially well-loved for its après-ski scene, and the BUMS always return from our weekends in Vermont with a whole group of new friends. If you've never taken a trip with us, we like to provide some extra perspective on all the decisions that go into our planning. It's a bit of the backstory on what makes this trip unique -- from your trip planners -- and it'll give you a clearer sense of what to expect.

SKI BUMS makes pricing and payments easy; you can pay with any major credit card, cash or check.

NEW THIS YEAR: 2 PART PRICING

Our members asked for greater flexibility in how they break down the cost of our condos. New this year, participants will pay for the trip in two portions:

• Lodging Portion -- This simply covers your condo reservation for the 3 nights.


• Event Pass -- This covers your 3-day lift ticket, our event space cost, and our private dinner & party at the Wobbly Barn on Friday night -- where dinner is provided.

All participants must purchase an Event Pass, which includes your 3-day Killington lift ticket and all our weekend events, including our welcome party, our private party at the Wobbly Barn, and our dinner on Saturday night.

After Dec. 31st, there is a late fee for Event Pass purchases. If you're already signed up and you still need to purchase your event pass, click here >

If you would like to join this trip but you do not ski / ride (or you've got a season pass for Killington), contact us to set up a special-price Event Pass for you. We're happy to do so.

There are two different plans for the lodging portion of this trip:

• Condo Captain plan -- New this year, you may reserve an entire condo, and offer space to whomever you would like to share your condo space -- up to 8 adults per unit. One person will pay the entire Lodging Portion for everyone in his or her condo -- it's up to you to collect payment from your condomates and settle up. Note: All participants must be SKI BUMS members and pay membership dues, and all participants must purchase an Event Pass. There are no exceptions to this policy.

  Condo Captains must provide the names of their guests by December 12th. Condo Captians' guests must be SKI BUMS members and purchase their event pass by December 31st.

• Flexible Condo plan -- Also new this year, you may sign up for a slot in a 6-person unit, and make one roommate request. You do not need to have a roommate in mind; we're happy to arrange roommates for you. As always, you can tell us what kind of atmosphere you prefer, and we'll do all we can to put you with other members who share your preferences.


The Nitty-Gritty -- A few things to consider:

• If you're a group of four people who want a 6-person condo but you need another 2 people, it's going to be up to you to find those other two people, and choose the Condo Captain plan if you want to be guaranteed that you'll be in a unit together. Feel free to use the Wall of our Facebook Fan page if you're in the mood to recruit a few new condo-mates.
• If you choose the Flexible Condo option, you're guaranteed to have your own bed. We're not putting anyone into the sleeper sofas.
• We're predicting that about half our participants will arrange their own condos, and the other half will choose the Flexible Condo option. That's what we've seen in the past -- and as our previous Vermont attendees can tell you, letting us assemble a condo for you is a killer way to make some awesome new friends. It happens every year. So, if you don't have a full unit in place, don't fret!

Space is limited.

SKI BUMS restricts the number of our participants for all our trips. In the event that this trip sells out, SKI BUMS members may add their name to our Wait List, but we cannot guarantee that wait list spots will become available.

You are not confirmed for this trip until you have provided your information and submitted your payment. You must be a current SKI BUMS member to join any portion of a SKI BUMS trip.

Tell me about SKI BUMS membership >

To sign up: provide your info and payment:

• First, you'll provide your information. After you've submitted your sign up form, you'll be directed to our payment page for your event pass and lodging portion; we use PayPal, the internet's most trusted payment system. You do not need a PayPal account to make a payment, and if you prefer, you can pay with cash or a check.

• You may add on equipment rental or group lessons up to two weeks before our trip; the deadline for adding one of these items is Thursday, January 21st. After this date, SKI BUMS cannot provide a group discount for rentals or group lessons.

Cancellation policy

• Before December 6, 2009: $45 cancellation fee. From December 7 - December 31: $800 fee for Condo Captains, $200 fee for Flexible Lodging, $100 for Event Pass. After January 1: no refund. SKI BUMS very strongly recommends the purchase of travel insurance to guard against unforeseen cancellations.

  Get a travel insurance quote >

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How many people participate in each SKI BUMS trips?

A: The maximum number of participants for this trip is 75. SKI BUMS limits the size of each trip to keep things fun, and to help cultivate a real sense that you're part of a great group of new friends -- not part of a crowd.

Q: I know the trip is sold out, but what if I'd like to make my own lodging arrangements and join the trip? What if I'll already be at Killington, and I just want to ski with you guys a lil' bit?

A: SKI BUMS allows a small number of off-property participants to join each trip by making arrangements in advance. As of late December, we've already reached our maximum number of off-property participants. We do not permit non-members (or members who haven't made arrangements with us in advance) to join any element of group trips, including meet-ups on the mountain to ski and ride, apres ski, lunches, dinners, and parties. We enforce this policy; limiting the number of participants is the only way to maintain the tight-knit atmosphere that our trips are famous for.

Q: Do I need to have a roommate (or condo-mate) lined up before I sign up for this trip?

A: Not at all; about half of our trip participants sign up without a roommate in mind. You can tell us about your roommate preferences during sign up, and we'll be happy to provide a roommate for you.

Q: What if something happens, and I need to cancel my spot on the trip?

A: See the "pricing" tab for the full cancellation policy. SKI BUMS highly recommends the purchase of travel insurance to assist you in case you need to cancel your booking. If you have booked this trip and you need to cancel, click here >

Q: What if I'd like to arrive early, stay late, or purchase this trip without lift tickets.. can I do that?

A: SKI BUMS is happy to set up a custom trip for you; simply contact us to tell us what you'd like to do.

Q: Can you accommodate those with special dietary needs?

A: Sure thing. If you're a vegetarian / vegan, you keep Kosher, or you have any other special dietary needs, just tell us on the sign up page. We'll make sure our evening dinners are specially prepared for you.

Have a question that wasn't answered here? See additional Q & A's on our informative FAQ page >