Killington Peak, 9:00 AM, November 10, 2005

Killington Peak, 9:00 AM, November 10, 2005

or is it the "Wizard of Id"......When I went up to the mountain to take this mornings picture, I had this very weird feeling. It was only reinforced when I got back to the inn and read this mornings Rutland Herald.

First to the mountain... it is another classic "Twig Season" day; cold, blustery, dreary,grey. The heavy rains last night have given way and been replaced with a chill that sinks into the body. A very loud sleet/hail/ice particle shower is happening at the inn, bouncing off the slate roof and windows. At 9:00 AM, Killington Peak had a 'Where's Waldo" character to it. Heavy Fog/Clouds shrouded the peak, half way down Double Dipper. The Killington resort has told us that they intend to restart their snowmaking system this afternoon. My guess is that the fog will need to dissipate substantially before that will happen.

When I got back to the inn, my 'Where's Waldo" feeling was reinforced by another installment of the "Mouse that Roared" in the Rutland Herald. On the front page, the Herald described a meeting in New Hampshire of the "New Hampshire Killington Incorporation Commission". This 3 person commission, created by the New Hampshire legislature, has been tasked to work with the Vermont legislature to hammer out the details between the states to allow Killington to secede from Vermont. The New Hampshire commission is writing a letter to Vermont political leaders including Vermont Gov. James Douglas, Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie, Sen. President Pro Tem Peter Welch and House Speaker Gaye Symington to encourage them to get Vermont moving to resolve Killingtons secession efforts. While having little news value, the Rutland Herald article once again provided a little poke at Vermont for failing to address the problems of Killington created by the tax structure of the state. The full article can be found at the Rutland Herald. (Editors Note: At the last two Killington town meetings, I have voted to allow the town of Killington to pursue secession from the state of Vermont. The tax structure of the state is very damaging to citizens of resort towns in Vermont (in my opinion)...The Vermont legislature has shown no desire to correct the inequities, and why would they as they can continue to shake the money tree and only affect a very small percentage of the Vermont electorate. However, they are in danger of killing the goose that laid the golden egg.... but this is another story altogether. I am sure that you will read more about it in the future.)