Christmas Bear Ornament on Birch Ridge Inn Christmas Tree 

Mary is continuing to make great progress with the inn's Christmas tree. Many of the ornaments were placed on the tree last night and this morning... each one has it's own story.

The one that is perhaps most challenging to deal with is the little bear. It was given to Mary by her nephew Scott. When life was simpler and he was deployed in Germany, he acquired the ornament and sent it to her. This Christmas, Scot is deployed in Iraq. Scot.. just remember we are thinking of you...

The weather at Killington today, while is it definitely colder, is not yet to snowmaking temperatures as of noon time. Heavy cloud cover blanketed the mountain when I went up to get some pictures. The picture to the right is a distance shot taken from the Killington Road of the junction on Mouse Trap and Lower Bunny Buster. The damage by the NCP of the last several days is clearly visible, however, you can also see that the terrain is still quite passable for skiers and riders.

From the K1 base area, snow guns were set up and ready to fire on Bunny Buster and Chute. I presume from what I saw that they are also out and ready to go on the upper elevations. If the resort sticks to their normal modus operandi, they will begin to blow snow on open trails to resurface them, prior to attempting any trail expansion. A weather system is due to move in from the mid-west later this evening with the promise of some natural snow. That will certainly help improve conditions on the mountain.

Snow Shed Base Lodge, November 30, 2005, 11:00 AM 

When I woke up this morning, there was a very strange green glow coming through the bedroom window. No.. UFO'a had not landed in the back yard of the inn....However, all of the beautiful snow we had received last week just before Thanksgiving was now coursing through the Roaring Brook headed for the Connecticut River. In it's place, was a beautiful emerald green lawn, enriched with the nitrogen that had been fixed in last weeks snow. Twig season has returned.

It does not look like the lawn will stay green for very long. The weather channel is predicting that winter will return late this evening with snow fall predicted for the next 3 days. We can only hope, because, as you can see from todays picture, the ski resort needs a good white dump.

Back at the inn, Mary continues making progress decorating the Christmas tree. Late yesterday she had completed stringing all of the white lights that will adorn this years tree. She has started putting up the ornaments today; aiming to complete the process by early Friday where the tree will be shown in public for the first time at the "Meet the Artist" night with Vermont Sculptor John Tidd.

Christmas Tree raising in Great Room at Birch Ridge Inn 

It is very hard to find anything good about the weather outside today at Killington. Temps are in the 50's. Strong Winds, Driving NCP... Not a great day to be at a ski resort. However, this too will pass. Winter is slowly establishing itself in the east. By the end of the week, the local weather is once again predicting multiple days of snow to cover the mountains.

This week, however, we are probably lucky that the snow is not on the hill to tempt us.... for this week is the week the Christmas Tree gets put up and decorated for the holiday season at the inn. The Monday after Thanksgiving is traditionally "Christmas Tree Monday". I head out into the woods with some friends and cut down a tree for the inn. This year was no exception, except the friend with the truck, and you know who you are, choose to stay in Florida to tend to hurricane damage to his property... of all things.. Never matter, we got the keys to his truck and "borrowed" it anyway.

The tree for the inn stood 23 feet in the forest. By the time we cut it down and trimmed it, it was about 17 feet on top of the truck. We also cut down a tree that trimmed out to 11 feet for the friend in Florida.

Once we got the tree to the inn, after a lunch appropriate for the mighty woodsman we were pretending to be (hum the lumberjack song here), the process began to "fit" it into the Great Room. After 3 attempts and much use of the chain saw, the tree was whittled down to it's final standing height of 13 Feet 9 Inches.

It will take Mary most of the week to decorate the tree. The official first event where the tree will be shown in public is the "Meet the Artist" night we have planned at the inn this coming Friday.

Robert Haas, Tablas Creek Vineyards 

On Friday Evening December 9th, Birch Ridge is pleased to announce that the renowned Robert Hass will be at the Birch Ridge Inn to present wines from his winery, Tablas Creek of Paso Robles California. As founder of Vineyard Brands, and Managing Partner of Tablas Creek since its formation in 1989, Haas has consistently spoken in favor of organic viticulture, minimum-intervention winemaking and wines of terroir and sophistication. Chef Stephen Byrne will pair the wines presented by Robert to create a festive dinner in advance of the holidays.

The menu for the evening includes Filet of Sole Roulade, stuffed with Maine Crab laced in sauce Maltaise, paired with a Roussanne; Roasted Red Pepper and spinach påté wrapped in sliced carrot with red onion rosette, served with a Tablas Creek Rosé; and Noisettes of Lamb, herb rubbed, topping a Yukon gold potato cake and Rosemary demi glaze accompanying an Esprit de Beaucastle Red. The evening will begin in the Great Room of the Birch Ridge Inn with appetizers and a Cote de Tablas Blanc. To finish the evening, a Tablas Creek Syrah will be paired with Parmesan cheese cups filled with fresh fruit, a rich pastry cream, Danish blue cheese and a cassis reduction.

The first wine will be presented at 7:00 PM in the Great Room Lounge at Birch Ridge, followed by dinner in the Inn's restaurant starting at 7:30 PM. Mr. Haas will present each wine with a brief discussion.

The price per person for the evening is $79.00, not including tax or gratuity. This price is inclusive of the evening's wine and dinner. Reservations are required, and can be made by calling the Birch Ridge Inn at 802.422.4293, or 800.435.8566. Lodging packages are also available.

Also, don't forget... The Birch Ridge Inn will be host local artist John Tidd in conjunction with the Killington Arts Guild, at a "Meet the Artist Night", on Friday, December 2.

Snow at Birch Ridge Inn, November 26, 2005 

Very mild, early winter, day in Killington, Light, lake effect, snow has fallen most of the day. Small accumulation, perhaps an inch or so. Just the right temperature and snow conditions to take a walk (if you had other things which kept you from going to the mountain to ski). Guests at the inn are reporting moderate crowds; clearly the persistent snow fall has allowed the Killington Resort to continue to open more terrain and spread people out. Local business owners we spoke with on our walk report having a pretty good weekend. The pace of business appears to be "busy" but not "frantic" like it can get at Killington during holidays later in the winter. All in all, a good start to the winter season.

More Snow at Killington, November 25, 2005 

It's been interesting watching the financial news networks talking about all of the people out shopping in the malls down south today, aka Black Friday. People in Killington today, if they were inclined to head to the mall, probably arrived a little late this morning as the region was again covered in snow overnight. Temperatures at the inn were in the single digits. The snow that fell was a nice dry powder.

I have been out with my snow blower the last couple of days clearing walks around the inn. The snow is a beautiful sight to see. Because of the holiday weekend, I have not been up to the mountain, so I can not give you a first hand report. (Remember, I do most of my skiing midweek.) However, the initial prediction of good crowds on the mountain appear accurate. Killington is running 14 lifts to service 61 trails. This is up from last Saturdays count of 15 trails and 3 lifts... so you get a sense of how much snow we have had at Killington the last few days.

What's Thanksgiving without a turkey? 

Where ever you were in the world today, if you are American, you understand the holiday of Thanksgiving. We were blessed this year with great friends and acquaintances joining us for dinner at the inn. We also were fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to speak with many family members and friends all over the world.

While we were preparing and eating dinner, Killington received, at least at the inn, over a foot of fluffy new snow. Around the inn in about a week we have gone from green lawns to 2 feet of snow on the ground. It's a wonderful sight! Happy Thanksgiving!