Killington, VT – A pair of ski resorts opened on Saturday to launch the ski and snowboard season along the East Coast.

At 10 a.m. Killington Resort in Vermont got the upper hand on Maine’s Sunday River, which started loading lifts at 10:01. Killington skiers made laps on 600 vertical feet of the resort’s Rime trail, serviced by the Glades Triple chairlift. Over at Sunday River it was the resort’s upper T2 run that was open, with lift service provided by the Locke Mountain Triple.

The pair of openings occurred as an unusually cold October storm chugged up the East Coast, delivering three inches of new snow at Killington for Saturday’s opening. The storm is expected to reach Sunday River tonight.

In southern Vermont, the new snow decorated the Launch Pad pre-season rail festival at Mount Snow, where a large contingent of skiers and riders showed up to get their jib on with an assortment of rails and terrain features.

Woodbury Ski Area in southwestern Connecticut hoped to beat its bigger rivals by opening Saturday morning, but the resort’s webcam view on Saturday afternoon showed a wintry scene but little if any activity on the slopes. Woodbury owner Rod Taylor did not immediately respond to a request for further information.

Sunday River will keep things going through Monday, then close before re-opening next weekend. Killington will operate again on Sunday before re-evaluating the situation for the coming week.

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