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Fickle New England weather brought fog and drizzle to the slopes of Killington Resort Sunday, but hometown favorite Mikaela Shffrin shined through with two winning runs to take top honors at the FIS Ski World Cup slalom.

The biggest party in the Northeast ski world is coming up Nov. 23-25, with the Killington World Cup bringing the best women’s technical alpine skiers in the world together with big name live music, movie screenings and the raucous Killington crowd that loves to celebrate all things winter.

With just five weeks away from the Killington Cup women’s FIS Ski World Cup, Killington has fired up the guns to pump the white gold onto its slopes. 

The K-1 Gondola is just one of many lifts at Killington to get upgraded equipment. (Killington/Facebook)

Carrying the momentum of a commitment to host the Audi FIS Ski World Cup in 2017 and 2018, Vermont’s Killington will offer a number of upgrades this coming season. Killington’s parent company, POWDR, has invested $5.7 million in capital improvements at Killington and Pico across the properties’ year-round attractions. 

The apparel trend is bold bright colors with contrasting zips and pipings, along with the continuation of plaids and prints as seen in Obermeyer apparel at the Boston Expo. (Karen Lorentz)

Skiing and snowboarding are all about experiences and memories. To make yours excitingly awesome this winter, check out these tips and trends.

Be part of something really big

Killington is hosting the Audi FIS World Cup Women’s Giant Slalom and Slalom races Nov. 26-27 and anyone can attend the events for free. Spectator standing areas can accommodate 7,500 visitors daily at the base of the Superstar trail; jumbo screens will provide enhanced viewing of upper course. Free parking, shuttle service.

Learn more about all the events over the holiday, or if stuck at home, watch the second runs on NBC TV Saturday and Sunday at 3:00 p.m.

Snow discovery benefits

New Hampshire's Ragged Mountain is offering three free lessons with free lifts and Rossignol rental equipment included so as to make “learning to ski affordable,” says Ragged’s Ben Hall of the new learn-to ski or ride program for ages 7 and up.

Ragged’s new program joins innovative learn-to programs from Elan, Rossignol, and Burton at participating areas nationwide. The three- or four-day programs (lifts, lessons, and rental equipment) reward first-timers with free equipment or season passes upon completion.

Pat’s Peak Passport Plus program rewards with Elan skis and a free season pass for the first 100 customers ages 18 and up.

Loon’s intensive first-timer weekend program rewards with a free pair of Head skis, boots and bindings .

Tips on trends, products

“Skis that carve are trending,” says Kelly Davis, SnowSports Industries America (SIA) research director who notes a “backing away from 120-mm wide waists on groomers.” There’s a widening variety of snowboard shapes, and lighter skis and boots are trending along with a return to wool for base layers and socks, Davis said.

New, easier “lens-switch systems” and a heat feature to cure the fogging problem are among goggle trends. But the hottest trend is smart goggles with Davis predicting everyone will soon be wearing them.

Smart goggles incorporate a small display within the goggle that allows users to access all kinds of info, from who’s calling on their cell phone to their own ski data (speed, mileage, vert) to GPS apps and resort maps. Smart goggles like Oakley’s Airwave models use a powerful wearable computer with sensors and networking capabilities.

The Therma-Phone Protector was officially launched at the Boston Ski and Snowboard Expo. It’s a soft, compact, flexible phone case with many layers designed to keep your phone operating in cold or hot temperatures — comes with heat packets to insert for extreme cold. James Hermanowski said cell phones are designed to operate in certain temperature ranges and fail when they exceed those limits — the protector solves that problem.

Killington grooms out Superstar in preparation for the first World Cup in the East in 25 years. (Killington)

Vermont's Killington Resort received the official approval from the FIS (Internal Ski Federation) for the Thanksgiving weekend Audi FIS Ski World Cup women's giant slalom and slalom events. Meanwhile, resorts across the country struggle to open for the 2016-17 season due to warm temperatures and lack of natural snowfall.

Killington is capitalizing on every snowmaking opportunity. (Killington/Facebook)

UPDATED 10-26-16: With long-term sights set on the longest season in the East, and short-term sights on the AudI FIS World Cup, Killington kicked off the 2016-17 season in the Northeast for season pass holders on Tuesday, Oct. 26.

Following a storm Sunday morning that brought snow to higher elevation peaks across the Northeast, Killington added to the five-plus inches of natural snow with snowmaking both on North Ridge ski trails Rime and Reason for public use, and Superstar trail, where the Audi FIS World Cup will take place November 26-27.

The first turns of the season were dedicated exclusively to Season Pass and Express Card holders, and the resort opened to the general public on Wednesday, October 26, 2016 at 9:00 a.m.

“With the World Cup coming up next month, we have been anxiously waiting for cold temperatures here at Killington, and now that we have a favorable window of snowmaking weather, our mountain operations team is running full steam ahead to make sure we’re once again the first ski area in the East to open for the season while also beginning production on the Superstar World Cup race course,” says Mike Solimano, president and general manager of Killington Resort and Pico Mountain. “After last season we are not taking anything for granted and will continue to make snow at every possible opportunity, at every elevation with the necessary temperature and humidity conditions.”

The World Cup season wrapped up Sunday with another sunny and warm spring day in the Swiss Alps at the World Cup Finals with men’s slalom and women’s giant slalom. David Chodounsky (Crested Butte, CO) just missed the top 20, while Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle-Vail, CO) showed promise in GS despite skiing out in the first run.

Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle-Vail, CO) provided another dominating slalom victory – her fifth win of the season – Saturday at the Audi FIS Ski World Cup Finals in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

The Audi FIS Ski World Cup Finals kick off today (Wednesday, March 16) at the site of the 2017 World Championships in St. Moritz. The sun is shining, the track is reminiscent of that Colorado buttery smooth snow and globes are up for grabs. Plus, nearly all World Cup Finals events will be shown live on NBCSN.

Andrew Weibrecht (Lake Placid, NY) just missed a podium spot to lead three Americans into the top 20 in Sunday’s Audi FIS Ski World Cup super G.

Mikaela Shiffrin absolutely crushed the competition Sunday, winning her 18th career Audi FIS Ski World Cup slalom in Jasna, Slovakia. Shiffrin’s winning time was 2.36 second ahead of Switzerland’s Wendy Holdener in second. Home crowd favorite Veronika Velez Zuzulova was third.

UPDATE: A day after winning the slalom by over two seconds, Shiffrin took 14th in the Audi FIS Ski World Cup giant slalom in Jasna, Slovakia.

UPDATE FEB. 29: From Lindsey Vonn's Facebook: "So the MRI shows a pretty substantial fracture in my tibial plateau. MCL looks decent as well as the rest of my knee. Now I will talk to my trainers and make a plan. I'll keep you guys updated. Big thanks to everyone who helped me get through today and to the fans that always supported me!"

Lindsey Vonn, in the lead for the overall World Cup title, crashed in the soft snow Saturday morning in Solder-El-Tarter, Andorra on a windy, snowy super G course. She was evacuated from the hill on a sled.

Lindsey Vonn was looking to distance herself from Switzerland’s Lara Gut in the battle for the overall World Cup title, and put on a show for the 7,000 screaming fans at the Audi FIS Ski World Cup city event in downtown Stockholm Tuesday night.

The battle continued between Lindsey Vonn and Switzerland’s Lara Gut for the overall World Cup title at the Audi FIS Ski World Cup super G Sunday in La Thuile, Italy. Liechtenstein’s Tina Weirather won her fifth career World Cup race as Gut was second and Vonn third.

Lindsey Vonn wrapped up her eighth overall World Cup downhill title, and moved back into the overall World Cup lead following her second place downhill finish at the Audi FIS Ski World Cup Saturday at La Thuile, Italy. American Steven Nyman finished second in the men’s downhill at Chamonix, France.

It looks to be a big weekend for the Alpine World Cup men and women in France and Italy as well the return the famed American Birkebeiner Nordic race in Hayward, Wis.

Olympic and World Champion Mikaela Shiffrin from Eagle-Vail, Colo. returned from injury to once again dominate the Audi FIS Ski World Cup slalom Monday, taking her 18th World Cup victory Monday at Crans-Montana, Switzerland. Heavy snows had cancelled races Saturday and Sunday.

New day, same result. Lindsey Vonn crushed the Kandahar downhill course in Saturday’s Audi FIS Ski World Cup at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany to take her record 76th World Cup victory.