"The Canyon" at Killington. The junction of Double Dipper, Down Draft, Cascades, and East Fall from the Canyon Quad. 

With Town Meeting Day on Tuesday behind us, today was the day for many Killington residents to head out on the mountain. And a beautiful day it was! Temperatures were in the low 20's; the wind was light; and sunshine was at near 100% with just a few high clouds drifting over Killington peak.

Snow surfaces across Killington consisted of a very firm base covered by a 2 to 3 inch layer of machine groomed loose granular over most of the trails. Trails that were not groomed overnight were fairly slick hardback and not very appetizing.

A lot of the mountain was closed off today for a variety of reasons. At Bear Mountain, Lower SkyBurst , Lower Dream Maker and the Super Pipe were closed to allow the resort team time to build the course for the US Snowboarding Grand Prix. The Grand Prix will take place at the Killington Resort on March 13, 14 and 15. In addition to the closures at Bear Mountain, Needles Eye was set up for race training, and ski bum races were being held on High Line, limiting some of the available terrain. 100% sunshine and moderate temperatures more than compensated for the trail closures, however, as the rest of the mountain was fully open.

Super Star, Bitter Sweet, Sky Lark, High Road, Dream Maker, Skye Burst, Bear Claw and Lower Wildfire were all in good shape. Upper Wildfire was not groomed and very "interesting" One of my turns went through a 270 degree rotation before coming to a stop on what can only be called blue ice. Needless to say, Upper Wildfire was not a do over. Outer Limits also looked very firm and unforgiving. The bright sun probably softened it up during the afternoon, but when we were at Bear Mountain before 10 it did not beckon a second look.

On the Killington Peak side of the resort, the sun has returned. The trilogy of Cascades, Double Dipper, and East Falls were very fast cruisers, each worthy of do overs in the late winter sun. They were made all the more tempting because the Canyon Quad was running today.

The North Ridge area and Snowdon were also nicely groomed. I did take a peak at North Star and Great Bear, but the do overs in the Canyon left me with too little time to do any exploring off the Snowdon Quad.

200 local residents attended yesterdays town meeting in Killington. The meeting was relatively uneventful, with the exception of the election of a new select board member. Sitting Selectmen Norm Holcomb was defeated in his re-election attempt by Chris Bianchi. Norm had served as a selectman in Killington for the last 9 years. While Killington Voters wanted a change, I also know from speaking with many of them that they thank Norm for his long service to the community.

Also at town meeting, both the School and Town budgets easily passed. The newly formed Economic Development and Tourism (EDT) committee gave their first formal report on their organizational activities. And there was some discussion on servicing of debt for the Green Mountain National Golf Course. Overall, however, it was a very tame town meeting by recent Killington standards.

Until the next time........Let it snow!

Superstar Lift Line, 9:00 AM 

An old fashioned Nor'Easter has traveled up the Atlantic Seaboard of the United States whipping snow and moderate winds into Killington today. Snowfall accumulations are light, in the 2 to 4 inch range, with blowing and drifting snow the order of the day. Total snow accumulation in the Killington area is still in doubt. Different forecasts are predicting different results. It all depends upon how quickly the storm departs the Gulf of Maine, and how much wrap around snow builds up in the Green Mountains. We will see for sure tomorrow morning.

Mary and I did have a chance to get on Killington today to take some turns. For the most part, surfaces were firm with and inch or 2 of new snow cover. Skier traffic on the mountain started very light today, probably the result of the blowing and drifting snow keeping ski week vacationers in their lodging facilities a little longer than normal today. By 11 AM the mountain seemed like it had its normal mid week crowd.

The run of the day was definitely Dream Maker from the top. Dream Maker was groomed relatively flat with 3 to 4 inches of new snow drifting onto the top section. The terrain park in the lower section was also well covered new snow resulting is a soft surface.

On the "Business" side of the resort, there are a couple of things to note. First, tomorrow, Tuesday March 3rd, is "Town Meeting" day in Vermont. The Killington Town Meeting will commence at 10:00 AM at the Sherburne Elementary School. A copy of the town meeting warrant can be found on the town of Killingtons' website.

The second item to cross my desk today is that the Killington Resort announced their season pass prices for the 2009/2010 season. Pass pricing can be found on Killintons' website.

Several important items to note about todays season pass announcement from Killington. The first is the length of the ski season: "...A Killington season pass includes Pico Mountain and is valid from early November through early May, weather and snow conditions permitting..." For the last 2 years, the Killington resort has quoted the season pass as being valid through early April. Early season closing was viewed by many as being a mistake which caused damage to the historic Killington Brand of being the "First to Open, Last to Close" for skiing in the eastern United States. The return of skiing and riding into early May will help restore Killingtons reputation for quality skiing and riding through our the whole season.

The second item to note is that "Unlimited season pass holders receive a 30-percent savings off KillingtonÕs popular Max 5 ChildrenÕs Ski and Snowboard School Programs." When Powdr bought into the resort as the resort operator, one of the changes they instituted was a significant price increase on children's programs, which impacted many season pass holder families. Since children of current skiers and riders are the future of the overall ski industry, the price change for children's programs for season pass holders is another positive step........Let it snow!

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!