Snow fall measurements at the Birch Ridge Inn Snow Stake over the last 24 hours.

Snow fall measurements at the Birch Ridge Inn Snow Stake over the last 24 hours.

-- 9:00 PM Update --Snow at the inn has ceased for now. Minimal accumulation occured late this afternoon. As of now, the snow stake stands at 10 1/4 inches. Total accumulation at the inn for the storm was just under 7 inches at the inn.. --- Remember, the snow stake at the inn is at 1850 feet, about 800 feet lower in altitude than the K1 Base Lodge, and 2400 feet lower than the top of Killington Peak. Snow totals will vary with altitude. ---

-- 2:00 PM Post --The first major snow storm of the 2009/2010 ski season hit Killington this morning. Starting in the early morning hours, the area has been experiencing very heavy snow, high winds, and cold temperatures.

Overnight, a little more than 2 inches of snow fall was recorded at the snow stake by 8:30 AM. By mid day, over 6 inches of new snow was recorded at the snow stake, roughly accumulating at 1 inch an hour.

I did head to the mountain this morning with the intention of getting a few runs. Due to high winds, the K1 Gondola and the North Ridge Triple were not running. Only the Snowdon Quad was operational. Wind was traveling straight up the lift line. On my ride to the top, the lift stopped 3 times as very heavy wind gusts rocked the chairs back and forth.

White out conditions were present at the top of Snowdon at 10:00 AM. Snow surfaces were wind blown packed powder. Temperatures were probably in the high teens, low 20's. Visibility was near zero in blowing and drifting snow.

I tracked down Mouse Run to Great Northern, Chute, and Lower Bunny Buster. Conditions were pretty nasty, with multiple stops required to find the trails, and clear goggles. In addition, my camera lens froze after shooting the video below at the top of Snowdon. With no camera, white out conditions, end extreme cold, my day on the hill turned into an uncharacteristic 1 and done!

So you get an idea of conditions on the mountain, I shot a short video at the top of Bunny Buster and Mouse Run, looking down Killink towards Killington Peak. Killink is visible between the trees, but Killington Peak is totally invisible in the snow. The wind was howling like a jet engine.

When I took this video, I was sheltered by the trees between Bunny Buster and Mouse Run. Just after shooting this video, I headed left down Mouse Run, directly into the wind driven stream of snow you see in the video. It was an interesting run.

......Let it snow!