Vermont’s Killington Resort participated in National Safety Month this winter, featuring on-hill and base lodge safety activations all throughout the month of January into early February.
Alongside the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA), Killington Resort & Pico Mountain strive to educate skiers and riders about all facets of on-mountain safety during the month of January. Killington Resort also worked alongside Chauncy Johnson, founder of the Snow Angel Foundation and its #RideAnotherDay campaign, who visited Killington & Pico during January and February.
The Snow Angel Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization that raises awareness and educates skiers and snowboarders on how to prevent on-mountain collisions. In 2016, after a tragic ski collision that took their five-year-old daughter’s life and left Kelli with a severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), Chauncy and Kelli Johnson launched the “Ride Another Day” safety campaign to help prevent similar collisions.
They formalized that work in 2023 by creating The Snow Angel Foundation, expanding their mission to reach not only the ski industry but also kids, teens and families through education and awareness around safe skiing.
On select Saturdays throughout January and into February, Killington’s Patrol and Mountain Safety teams hosted burrito giveaways at the top of the Snowdon Six Express, where members of both teams spoke directly to guests about ways to ski and ride more safely on the mountain. One further burrito giveaway was hosted at the base of Pico Mountain on Sunday, Jan. 11, where Johnson spoke to guests about his own experience founding the #RideAnotherDay campaign.
In total, over 1,300 burritos were given away across all five activations, and numerous guests signed up for an accompanying gear sweepstakes from Mammut, whose partnership with both Killington & Pico and commitment to safety education helped spearhead these activations.
During his visit in early February, Johnson also conducted several speaking engagements around the Killington community. He spoke to children at both Killington Elementary School and Killington Mountain School, sharing his message about preventing on-mountain collisions with the next generation. He also spoke with supervisors and managers across all departments at Killington & Pico, as well as with each of the Park Crew, Patrol, Mountain Safety, and Ambassador teams, ensuring his messaging could be accurately passed along by staff members going forward.
On Feb. 6, Johnson hosted another meet-up inside Killington’s K-1 Lodge, where several pieces of merchandise donated by the Snow Angel Foundation and the resort’s partners were auctioned off in support of the Snow Angel Foundation. In total, over $1,400 was raised during the auction in just over an hour, with Killington also donating an additional $5,000 to the cause. The following day, Johnson appeared at Killington’s final on-mountain burrito giveaway of the season, capping off a week where he also attended the NSAA’s Eastern Winter Conference hosted at Killington Resort.
During the NSAA Eastern Winter Conference, members of Killington staff moderated and participated in a panel titled “Search and Rescue: The Relationship Between Areas, Agencies and SARs”, where practical insights were shared with many attendees from other East Coast ski resorts. Topics included both how to respond appropriately to Search and Rescue events and how effective communication with guests can help prevent such incidents. Soon, Killington Resort will be sharing and promoting an instructional uphill safety video featuring insights from members of its Mountain Ops staff as well as from Josh Eckler, director of Killington Search and Rescue.
On Feb. 7, the Eastern Division of the National Ski Patrol (NSP) awarded a certificate of appreciation to Killington Resort in recognition of all the NSP events that have been hosted at the resort over the years.
Notable gatherings include the Eastern Division Examiner’s Clinic, the Eastern Division Patroller’s School, the Eastern Division Certified Patrol Clinic, and, in years past, the Eastern Division Certified Exam and the 40th anniversary of the NSP’s Certified Program. Next year, Killington will host the 50th anniversary of the NSP’s Certified Program.
Killington Resort has also promoted on-mountain safety through originally produced social media content. While highlighting the first burrito giveaway of the season, Killington’s Patrol team was documented talking to guests about Your Responsibility Code, the ten core tenets of skier and rider safety created by the NSAA.
Members of the Lift Operations team helped create an instructional video about lift safety, including detailing the differences in loading onto a detachable vs. fixed-grip chairlift. They also created a video highlighting freestyle terrain signage, including the Park SMART Terrain Park Safety Initiative also developed by the NSAA. Over 70 staff and volunteers took part in the Snow Angel Challenge video, which was released ahead of the aforementioned donation to the Snow Angel Foundation.
