Snow removal from back roof of Birch Ridge Inn 

Sunday and Mondays snow dump yielded some great ski days earlier this week. Locals and guests alike enjoyed what Mother Nature gave us. But while guests are still playing on the slopes, work is going on all around town to clean up from the storm and, dare I say, get ready for the next.

In virtually every business around town, front end loaders, snow plows, or snow blowers have been used to move back mountains of snow. Many people, yours truly included, have also been out removing snow from building roofs using a variety of implements. On our flat roofs, I have a nice 3 foot wide scoop to push the snow. For steeper sections, I have a roof rake with 18 feet of extensions

As they say, life is full of trade offs. When it comes to moving piles of snow, you do what you have to do, so that the next time you can go out and play in the snow again!....Let it snow!

Which line do I take?
Or should it be the untracked
down the right side?
Larry (Ruts) at tbe base of Highline 

The snow stake on yesterdays post should have been the give away. The last 2 days at Killington were "epic" to use a superlative. As good a two day stretch of fresh powder as we get here in Vermont.

Yesterday, skiing and riding was in a full white out with blowing and drifting snow on the mountain all morning long. Today, while there was still plenty of wind, the sun was blazing revealing all kinds of sweet lines through the snow.

The run of the day, for those not interested in trees, was probably Upper Royal Flush to Highline. Upper Royal Flush was knee to waist deep powder with plenty of fresh untracked lines. Highline was covered in some of the nicest, deepest, powder bumps you would ever want to ski. Easily waist high in places. And you had a choice... you could either bump off them or blast through them....there were nice, soft, and very forgiving.

Our day today started on the K1 for a run down Cascade. Cascade was ungroomed, powder, bumps with many places suffering from wind blown compaction. Turns were earned, in a fun way, as the Cascade was very soft.

At Bear Mountain, Wildfire was soft bumps from top to bottom. Upper Wildfire looked like there was one pass of grooming on skiers right. Skiers left was monster soft bumps. Some of the back side troughs were a little slick, but there was really no reason to be there other than bouncing bump to bump. Bear Trap to Bear Claw was basically groomed from top to bottom. It was very soft. On a Saturday, it would have significantly bumped up, but because skier traffic was light, the trail was staying fairly flat. Upper Dream Maker had sections of untracked powder on the edges with big soft bumps down the middle. Cruise Control was groomed out, although probably before it had stopped snowing as it still was well covered and untracked in spots. Needles Eye was ungroomed. We did not have a chance to ski it, but from the Skyship it looked like people were having fun cruising through the pow.

Back on the Killington side of the mountain the Superstar Quad was down due to wind (it was howling). So it was one run down Sky Lark and in. Upper Skye Lark was groomed, probably to capture the snow from the wind. Lower Skye Lark was huge bumps on skiers left, with smaller versions down the right side.

All in all, two great ski days...and we are not yet into March!....Let it snow!

Click on image to enlarge 

Do I need to say anything else!.....Let it snow!

Heavy snow falling around the Birch Ridge Inn at Killington 

Heavy snow has overspread the Killington area. Light snow began falling early this morning, greeting resort guests with a coating of white on exterior surfaces. Precipitation has picked up significantly this afternoon, with blowing and drifting snow the norm.

The weather service has posted a winter storm warning across the region ending at 7:00 PM on Monday. Total snow accumulation across the Green Mountains (read Killington Peak) could approach 20 inches. And this isn't even a March snow storm yet!.......Let it snow!

Superstar at Noon. Lift on wind hold due to blowing and drifting snow. 

Presidents week visitors have faced a good but difficult couple of days at Killington. Good from the standpoint that Mother Nature is blessing the area with copious amounts of snow...difficult because the snow is blowing and drifting, resulting in many lift holds at the resort.

Over 7 inches of snow has fallen around the inn during the last 36 hours according to the snow stake. Quite possibly, more may have fallen, but heavy winds are blowing the snow away from flat surfaces (like the field the snow stake lives in) and moving it into great piles wherever it encounters an obstruction.

At the resort this morning, all of the lifts at Snow Shed and Superstar were closed due to the wind. The K1 lift and the Rams Head lift were operating. I would guess that the Snowdon Quad was operating as well, but because of blowing snow I could not see it from the K1 base lodge where I took this mornings picture of Superstar.

The weather service is predicting additional snow the next couple of days as the storm spins out of the area. The current forecast for tonight is for an additional 2 to 6 inches, with snow flurries continuing through most of the weekend. It should be a great weekend to ski and ride Killington!.......Let it snow!

Mousetrap 

Light crowds, moderate temperatures, and machine groomed packed powder greeted skiers and riders at Killington today.

Mary and I had an opportunity to get out on the slopes today for a couple of hours. We took runs of Rams Head, Snowdon, Killington Peak, Bear Mountain and Sky Peak. With the exception of a couple of trails, everything we skied was covered in a 1 to 2 inch film of machine groomed packed powder on a firm base. Todays picture, from the Snowdon Quad looking at Mousetrap, give a good representation of todays overall conditions.

The one exception we experienced was Dream Maker. The freestyle park, due to lack of skier and rider traffic, was still relatively soft and pliable. Groomed corduroy was still visible at noon time, when we skied the trail. People we spoke with on the lift also mentioned that Ovation was also relatively soft, as the resort had made new snow on it over the last couple of days. Unfortunately, time constraints prevented us from trying it out.

All eyes are now pointing to the western sky. A snow storm coming out of the Great Plains is forecasted to cover the area in 8 inches of new snow by mid day Thursday. Light snow began falling at Killington around 4 PM this afternoon. Snow is predicted to fall all night, which will significantly soften up surfaces on the mountain.......Let it snow!

"Bumps Course" snow sculpture on hill in front of Birch Ridge Inn. 

Mary and I survived the combination of Presidents Weekend and Valentine's Day relatively intact. We had a very nice group of guests who stayed with us over the weekend. The restaurant was also very busy. Overall, it was one of the strongest weekends of the ski season.

As part of the catch up process, today I finished working on our entry in the Harpoon Brewery Killington Snow Sculpture Contest. The theme of this years competition is Killington's 50th birthday. Our entry "It's all about the skiing" is a bumps course laid out on the hill in front of our inn. As it really is "All about the skiing" in winter, we felt it was an appropriate way to pay homage to the resort.

Of course, with the holiday weekend and week, neither Mary nor I have had an opportunity to travel to the hill to "point em down hill". Hopefully later in the week.......Let it snow!