Snow Making Operations on Downdraft at Killington on December 31st. 

Happy New Year from Killington Vermont!

Mary and I spent the evening tending to guests at the inn. This was our 9th New Years Eve at the inn, and it was thankfully uneventful. We had a nice crowd for dinner at our second seating. (A few no shows for the first seating---shame on you!... but so it goes) From our small sample, people were generally up beat about 2007. Of course, the people we spoke to were on a holiday at a ski resort, so the sample demographic was definitely skewed in one direction.

We met a lot of nice people over the holiday week. From past guests that have visited with us many times, to new guests enjoying the inn for the first time. Many of them are headed home as I write this, although we do have a solid week ahead of us.

Mary and I are both looking forward to getting out on the mountain. With the holidays it has been 2 weeks since we have had an opportunity to go skiing. A lot has changed on the mountain in since we were last on the hill, so we intend to partake of the slopes when we can this week.

I would like to thank everyone who has been doing snow dances. The ground around the inn is solidly white.... but Keep Dancing... we still need more snow!

Birch Ridge Inn with falling snow,
December 30, 2006 

We have had a very busy week at the inn. Along the way, there have been a series of minor "miracles" which have helped us get through the week. That is just the nature of owning a business at a ski resort during the holiday weeks. Whether it's the butter knives from Bert, Mary's sister driving in from New York to help out around the inn, new inn staff really stepping up and helping out, or just the great guests we have had this last week, we have truly been blessed with a great holiday this year.

So imagine my surprise when I woke up this morning to see the ground covered with 3 inches of light snow with snow still falling! Beautiful, light, white and fluffy snow. You can not image how this will lift the spirits of all of the locals and guests in the area! The next 2 days at Killington will probably rank in the top 5 busiest days of this weird 2006/2007 ski season. The snow could not come at a better time...even if I need to get my snow blower out this afternoon for a few laps around the parking lot.

Let it snow... Let it snow.... Let it snow!!!!

Killington Base Lodge, busy with holiday visitors. 

Words have trouble describing how great the mountain looks. After a few inches of snow, and a ton of snow making, the Killington Resort looks like the great ski resort it is for holiday visitors. Traffic in the area today is very high, with all of the mountains parking lots filled with skiers and riders enjoying the mountain. Snow making temperatures have persisted the last couple of days, allowing the resort to continue to open more terrain to spread out the holiday crowds. From my trip to the mountain today, it look like the Rams Head area was open top to bottom after yesterdays snow making. The resort is also pushing towards Bear Mountain, opening the return trail "Brearly" to be able to take advantage of the Bear Mountain parking lot.

Bread and Butter knives from Park City UT Thank You Bert!

Like the resort, this week at the inn is very busy. In the latest in a collection of "Christmas Miracles" to occur this week, this morning a care package arrived from Park City Utah. Our friends, Peter and Bert, live in Park City in the winter. In our restaurant, we use some eclectic bread and butter knives. Bert is always on watch for them when she travels cross country. Well today, 9 boxes of them arrived at our door. Not too soon either, as they will be put into service very quickly over this holiday week. Bert...Thank you..thank you..thank you..

Skiers and Riders queuing at the K1 Gondola at Killington 

Mother Nature.... Thank You!

Christmas week vacationers to the Killington area have been greeted the last 36 hours by mountains and countryside blanketed in a beautiful white patina. While only an inch or so deep in places, the white stuff has boosted the spirits those arriving, as news reports had them anticipating a dull grey landscape instead of beautiful white.

Killington is taking advantage of the cold temperatures and continuing to blow snow on the mountain. Today when I visited the hill, it looked like the resort was making an all out assault on the Rams Head area to get those trails up to snuff for families visiting the area of the next couple of days. Over the next couple of days, it looks like the resort will continue to receive some help from Mother Nature as cold temperatures and light snow is forecasted for the mountains.... Think snow!

Christmas Gifts 

All around town, anticipation is in the air. Christmas week is upon us. Guests are traveling from all over the world to visit Killington. Innkeepers, and Shop Keepers, and Restauranteurs, and ski instructors, waiters, waitresses, bar tenders, taxi drivers.... they are all ready for what can be the busiest week of the winter season.

And it finally snowed!!! (yea) ...not the light powdery kind that I would close the inn for to take a few turns... but the ground is white none the less. I actually needed to use a snow shovel this afternoon to clear the heavy wet snow off of the walks around the inn. And our plow guy is due momentarily to get the stuff off the parking lot...It's great!

Now if we could just get a few feet of the white stuff, I might actually be able to fire up the snow blower.....Think snow!

What ever you may have given or
received, we hope you had a very
Merry Christmas. 

As I write this on Christmas night, I hope that you had a very nice holiday weekend. We were blessed with a lot of nice guests in the inn over Christmas. Many have become friends in the last 9 years of running Birch Ridge; we hope that many more will become friends in the future.

In many ways, although this was our busiest Christmas ever at the inn, it was one of our easiest. We have a great staff working for us. Michalyn our assistant, has pulled double duty all weekend, working the house during the day and in the kitchen at night. Steve, aka "Frizzie", has been feeding an veritable army of people (for our size of restaurant) all weekend long. John D has been holding court in the bar, alternating between ski movies, Christmas carols and football. (So much for Dallas). Ryan our Sous Chef is coming into his own, cranking our some very nice appetizers and desserts for the holidays. And our newest employees, Briana and Merissa did a great job tending to people in the dining room. Last but not least, Mary and I are also fortunate that we were able to call on one of our first employees, Anne, to come in and help out with all of the linens during the day. We have a busy holiday week ahead of us, but our team, together with our guests, have really made our Christmas very enjoyable.

Bill and Mary in front of the Christmas Tree just before welcoming guests on Christmas Eve

Thank you all!

And to top off our Christmas festivities, at 9:00 PM this evening it started to snow! Nice white flakes are blanketing the ground around the inn. Forecast totals for this storm vary wildly, as the accumulation will be altitude dependent, but it looks like Killington did really have a White Christmas this year. I will follow up with a new snow stake during the day tomorrow. In the mean time... Think snow!

Solitary Snow Gun working diligently at Bear Mountain 

(Ed note: I am not exactly sure what date to call this post, as I am actually writing it at 2:15 AM on December 23rd. But since most of the activity took place on December 22, I will stick with that headline date.)

Today was a day of wacky contrasts in Killington. Earlier in the day, the sun was out, temps were in the high 20's to low 30's. Killington was making snow all over the front side of the mountain. As today's picture shows, they even had a lonely snow gun running at Bear Mountain to begin getting that mountain segment open.

All around town today, delivery trucks were zipping up and down the road. Almost every local I spoke with had a manic level of optimism, brought on by a sense of deja vu... or is it just wishful thinking... it is hard to tell. One thing was very certain in my comings and goings around town today: Christmas week is at our door steps. One of the most important weeks of the ski season is upon us, and the landscape is a dull grey except for the beautiful ribbons of white carefully painted on the mountains.

Our inn is very busy this weekend, so I went to get changed for dinner a little early this afternoon. Usually I am working away until around 5 before I change, today, I stopped at 4. When I left the front of the house at 4, the sky was a dull grey. The weatherman had predicted a storm was to move into the area around midnight. By the time I returned to the front of the house at 4:30, almost 1/2 inch of ice was encasing our front walks and driveways...the weather changed that quickly.

Tonight the weirdness continues. The temperature outside the inn while I write this is 27 degrees. By all rights, we should be in the middle of a howling snow storm, as the wind is swirling around the inn. But it is coming down liquid and freezing over everything. In the grand scheme of things, frozen is better than nothing. The walks can be salted, the drive way sanded, and the snow surfaces can be groomed. And tomorrow when the weirdness blows over, the resort will be at it again, expanding the ribbons of white on the mountain, to spread some Christmas cheer for all those planning on visiting Killington during the holiday season.