Killington-Pico Rotary Ice Out Hut
(photo supplied by Killington/Pico Rotary Club)

Killington-Pico Rotary Ice Out Hut
(photo supplied by Killington/Pico Rotary Club)

With the holidays fading quickly into long term memory, it's good to remember that life goes on at Killington all year round. One of the interesting items which has crossed my desk is the announcement by the Killington-Pico Rotary Club of their Ice-Out contest.

The Killington-Pico Rotary Club each year engages in several fundraising projects, such as a golf tournament, pancake breakfast, ski chairs, football raffle tickets, Christmas tree sale, etc. The proceeds from such events help to support various local, national and international charities.

This winter, one of the Rotary Club's fundraising efforts is an Ice-Out Contest on the Grist Mill Pond. The object of the contest is for the ticket purchaser to guess the month, day, hour, minute and second that the ice will "go out" on the pond. The moment of Ice-Out is determined when a 72-pound concrete block drops through the ice. A timing device will determine the exact moment of Ice-Out. The Killington-Pico Rotary Club Ice-Out Hut will be visible for all to monitor the ice-out process on the Grist Mill pond.

This "Ice-Out" contest is a 50/50 event meaning that half of the proceeds (up to $20,000, as limited by Vermont State Law) will be awarded to the winning "Ice-Out" entry. The other half will go toward the Rotary club's projects and charities. Ice-Out tickets are $1.00 per entry and can be printed from your computer at www.KillingtonPicoRotary.org.

In terms of skiing and riding at Killington today, Chef Frizzie was out this morning. He reported that conditions were similar to what we encountered on Tuesday, with the addition of several inches of new fluff on top of the machine groomed granular surface. Temperatures seemed a bit cooler at the peak, as the wind was blowing and drifting the newly fallen snow. (But being a ski resort in winter, new snow is a wonderful thing.)

The forecast calls for snow showers all week, which should continue to do nice things for Killington base depths. Overnight at the inn we received just over an inch of new snow, with more expected each day this week.

....Let it snow!