Skiers and riders at the junction of Chute and Mousetrap at Killington.

Skiers and riders at the junction of Chute and Mousetrap at Killington.

Mother nature...please give us a break!

I give Killington/Pico Ski Resort Partners, aka KSRP, a lot of credit. Other resorts have either thrown in the towel or not even tried. Mother Nature has not dealt the ski industry in the Northeast a good hand in trying to jump start the nascent 2009/2010 ski season. But once again this weekend, the Killington Resort is open for top to bottom skiing and riding.

The Killington Resort reopened today at 9:00 for skiing and riding on 7 trails from 2 lifts. While the resort has taken every opportunity to make snow that they have been presented in the last couple of weeks, ski conditions are "rustic" at best.

Full K1 parking lot. Skiers and riders just want to be on the snow! Click to enlarge.

Friends who have been at the mountain this morning, and who have stopped by the inn this afternoon, are reporting that surface conditions on the high mountain slopes in the North Ridge area are holding up, although they did suffer some deterioration with the r@!n storm that hit the area several days ago. The run out down Great Northern, especially below 3000ft, is in tougher shape. Resort employees were seen strategically placed along the run out, shovels in hand, to move snow onto any developing brown spots along the trail.

Due to the limited terrain, and the fact that Killington is the only ski resort currently operating in Vermont, crowds were reported to be bigger than prior weekends. The parking lot at K1 had at least 4 full bays of cars when I was on the mountain around 11:00 AM this morning.

The Killington Resort did announce late Friday that they would not be open for skiing and riding Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday leading into the Thanksgiving holiday. With limited terrain, the resort wants to conserve the slopes for skiers and riders anticipated during the Thanksgiving weekend. They have not yet made a call on being open on Thursday, Thanksgiving day. A lot depends upon what Mother Nature does in the next few days. We will just have to wait and see.......let it snow!