This is quite a confusing mountain for first-time Killington riders. Half of our snowboard writer's day was spent stopped and studying the trail map, trying to figure out where she was and how she got there, when she wanted to be two peaks over. If you're going to make the most of your time here, either take a free "Meet the Mountains" tour or befriend a local. Be aware that some roped-off trails are not visibly marked until it's too late—around a bend or over a knoll—which means you'll have to hike a few feet back to the open trail.

Parks and pipes
Killington’s signature terrain park on Bear Mountain has a 425-foot long superpipe featuring 18-foot walls cut by a Silver Zaugg, a boardercross course and numerous hits, rails and boxes on Bear Trap and Wildfire. There's a good chance you’ll see Killington’s Park and Pipe crew, who are serious riders and hardcore jibbers, buttering up the transitions between jumps and hand-grooming park features or testing the product. Many park features have two differently sized approaches, one for the intermediate jumpers and one for advanced. The park has six rails, eight jumps, a quarterpipe and other features. Transitions between jumps are smooth, and the crew works harder on the landings than average.

The intermediate-oriented Timberline Terrain Park, at Rams Head, has a halfpipe, along with its numerous rails, hits and boxes. The minipark on Reason is usually the first to open each season and generally has a few rails, boxes and a few hits. Easy Street is a beginner park.