Birch Ridge Snow Stake
makes return appearance 

Ah... Spring time in New England. Just when you though it was safe to book a tee time for the weekend, winter has returned to Killington. The region is being blanketed with a covering of heavy wet snow, with a high dose of altitude dependency.

At the inn, the Snow Stake has made a late season return. Thus far, we have received a couple of inches of snow this morning. Weather forecasters are predicting that 7 inches of snow should blanket the area before the storm finishes sometime Wednesday evening. (But, they have not been right yet this winter so why start now!) Road conditions in the Killington area at treacherous. Mary did attempt to go to Rutland just before noon time, but the Sherburne pass on Route 4 appeared closed. The good news, of course, is that the heavy snow will help ski conditions for the next few days.

Summitting Pico
Connie(right) and Judy
on Pico Peak overlooking Killington 

While there is still some skiing left in the 2005/2006 winter season at Killington, locals are starting to turn their attention to other pursuits. High on the list are spring escapes to warmer climates. it is impossible to have a conversation with some one without asking where they are going for vacation. (and No... Mary and I are still discussing where we will land between seasons.)

Last night, at the Grist Mill, a cocktail party was held to introduce Dave Soucy, the new head Golf Pro at Green Mountain National Golf Course, to the townspeople of Killington. Dave comes to Green Mountain from the Mount Anthony golf course. Several hundred people turned out to welcome Dave to town.

Aside from golf, the pursuit of the great outdoors is still high on everyones list. Hiking to the summits of mountains in the area is another way to enjoy the mountains without being on skis or a snow board. Recently our friend Connie, and several other local Killington ladies, summitted Pico. Connie has supplied the following story...

Today (Friday March 31) we finally summitted Pico on our snowshoes. After 2 practice tries, we succeeded on our third attempt. At about 10:25 this morning, we started out on "home run" with our snowshoes hanging around our shoulders since there was no snow on those wooded trails. We followed that trail across until we came to "mid pike" (?) at the base of the Summit Express chair. Slowly but surely we worked our way up "49er". We tried to hitch some snowmobile rides with the CVPS guys who were working on the towers at Pico Peak but they just waved, smiled and kept on going. It was the third day we'd run into them this week and we thought we'd become "good buds" but apparently not that good. Several groups of skiers passed us as we worked our way up; one group must have climbed up the Hershey Highway and skied down Pico. Midway up "49er" we stopped in the shade and had a bite to eat, some water and a rest. We finally found our trail and followed it to the view only to find that we had actually followed the "on ramp" to the Hershey Highway, a false summit but quite a booster to keep us going on to the peak. "49er" is much steeper going up than it seems when you ski down it. After 3 1/2 hours, we finally "summited". Perhaps it was a good thing we had no champagne to celebrate with at the peak as we may never have made it down again. We began our descent and 1 1/2 hours later were back at our cars and on our way home. A good time was had by all. For me, it's my swan song for the winter season as I start working at Green Mountain (National) on Monday. And for the Ladies, I hope they continue to find new and exciting adventures and continue to enjoy them all.

Peace Train
with artist Jim Boughton and Killington resident Sally Curtis 

In typical New England fashion, Mother Nature is having fun with Killington today. Thus far have experienced bright sunshine early in the morning with temps in the 60's. This afternoon, we are seeing a driving, cold, wet storm blow through the area, with nary a snow flake in sight, punctuate by strong winds.

The Bear Mountain Mogul Challenge is underway today over a Bear Mountain on Outer Limits. One of our inn guests is competing in the event, and several more were going over to Bear to spectate. I am sure we will get a full report from them this evening on the festivities.

Last night we hosted Jim Boughton, the Executive Director of the Chaffee Center for the Visual Arts in Rutland as the featured artist in our ongoing "Meet the Artist" series. Jim is very active in the arts community in Rutland and one of the driving forces in the "All Aboard Rutland" program.

"All Aboard Rutland" is a program inspired by the local arts community which will transform the streetscape of Rutland into a rail yard of artist-decorated train engines. The oversized toy trains will highlight the creativity of Rutland's local arts community by recalling and celebrating Rutland's railroad history. In the 1800's, the railroads fueled the areas economy by allowing local quarries to ship stone products around the globe. For example, much of the marble used in government building in Washington DC was originally quarried in the Rutland region and shipped south by rail. Last night, Jim had the first public showing of his creation for "All Aboard Rutland" with his work titled "Peace Train". The official kick off celebration for "All Aboard Rutland" will take place on Saturday April 29th. To learn more about the project, visit the "All Aboard Rutland" website.

Superstar in all it's Glory
bumped up for spring!
March 31, 2006,11:00 AM 

Temperatures in the 60's! Brilliant blue sky! Bumps! It's spring time in Killington.

Conditions on the mountain this morning were very soft and wet. Virtually nothing had been groomed overnight (or so it seemed), but it did not matter because temperatures at 9:00 AM were knocking at 60. I had a meeting to go to this morning at 11:00 AM (Killington Wine Festival set for weekend of July 14,15, 16... more on that in later posts) so I bypassed the base lodge and parked in the Bay 1 parking lot, put the boots on in the car, and walked directly over to the K1 gondola.

4 runs in the Glades as a warm up had my legs rubbery enough to do East Falls. East Falls had been in direct sunlight for about 4 hours, resulting in very soft snow with the consistency of cream cheese. The only down side to doing East Falls was that the Canyon chair had not yet started to run, requiring a run out on Spillway. To quote Marlon Brando --- "The horror".. Spillway was a meat market of upside down snow boarders, face planted skiers, and walking telemarkers. All mixed with a nice brown slush. But it was the only way back to the box, so you make your turns and take your chances.

After a quick trip up the K1, I went down Cascade. Nice soft ice cream bumps. But again, I had to take Spillway. Oh boy.. it was nasty again.

One more trip up on the box, because I was not yet ready to call it a day. I thought I would take a run over on Snowdon, but when I got to Double Dipper, I saw that the chair was loading, so I needed to complete the trifecta. Dipper still had some firmness (if you can call it that) along the tree line on skiers right. But again, nice soft, little, bumps.

I finished the day by taking the Dipper chair and traversing over to Snowdon. The cross over to Snowdon, Great Northern, featured a few "pond skimming" events, but Snowdon itself was holding up pretty well. By 11:00 AM, I have finished a couple of loops from the Snowdon Quad, so I called it a day to go off to my meeting. As I am getting in the car, I have this funny feeling. I don't know if I have just skied my last day of the 2005/2006 season, or if the mountain will give some bonus days over the next week or two. We will see next week.

The works of Jim Boughton
presented at the Birch Ridge Inn
March 31, 2006, 6:00 PM 

The Birch Ridge Inn and the Killington Arts Guild are hosting an evening with Jim Boughton, a local artist, on Friday, March 31st. Jim has been with the Chaffee Center for the Visual Arts in Rutland, Vermont for the past four years and currently serves as its Executive Director. Jim has been a professional artist for years doing illustration work and commissioned pieces. Jim works in a variety of mediums but specializes in pastels; his subject matter consists of creative portraits, nature scenes and surreal subjects.

Jim was very involved in Brandon's last two community fundraisers; the painted birdhouses and last year's "Brandon Rocks". Many artists from the area painted Rocking Chairs for the Brandon event. Jim's rocking chair, which went for $1,200. at the final auction, will be on display at the "Meet the Artist night" at the Birch Ridge Inn.

Jim also is involved in Rutland's current community-wide event "All Aboard Rutland". This is an event that will take place this summer in the area and features trains painted by local artists to celebrate Rutland's railroad history. This summer over fifty wooden trains decorated by local artists will be on display throughout Rutland. Come and see Jim's "Peace Train" before they are presented to the public.

As well as a fine artist, Jim is a graphic designer and has a degree in computer programming and web development from Montclair State University. He has taught computer classes for the last three years at the Chaffee Art Center.

The public is invited to attend this presentation in the lounge area of the Birch Ridge Inn, where along with actual displays of his work, Jim will share his penchant for and devotion to representation in various mediums. From 6:00 to 8:00 PM coffee and little nibbles will be available as well as a cash bar. Following the presentation, persons wishing to join us for dinner can make reservations by calling the Birch Ridge Inn at 422-4293. Persons wishing further information regarding the presentation may call Sally Curtis at 422-3852.

Billy Mac and Bill Vog
bid goodbye until golf season
March 29, 2006, 11:45 AM, at Sushi Yoshi on Killington Road 

You just can't make this stuff up. It was another blue bird spring skiing day at Killington. Temperatures in the low 50's, 100% sunshine, no wind...just beautiful.

Today's festivities started with 3 laps on Superstar, which was groomed soft and sweet. We took an early run down Bitter Sweet. It has not been groomed so it was still crunchy. We followed up with a run down Skye Burst and Cruise Control. Both had soft snow with a consistency between vanilla ice cream and mashed potatoes. They were both a lot of fun pounding thru some nice soft bumps. We then hit the Glades and Snowdon areas. The Glades were still nicely firm (gave the legs a little rest). Snowdon was soft thru the middle, but a little wet at the bottom. To finish our day on ski's, we traversed across the top on Frost Line for one more run down Skye Lark and Bitter Sweet. A nice morning of skiing.

The phrase of the day was "Point them down hill", in honor of Billy Mac. He is one of the weekday regulars from the Snow Cats Ski Lodge in Mendon, and a former bartender at Birch Ridge, who put their ski's away for the season today. A small lunch was held in their honor at Sushi Yoshi. The Snow Cats are departing the winter scene at Killington because "There are boats to launch, and little white balls to chase" down south. But, the Snow Cats promised to reappear in late May to play golf in Killington on Memorial Day Weekend. In the mean time, we will just have to keep skiing in their absence.

Killington Peak
from base of Superstar Lift
March 28, 2006, 11:15 AM 

At the risk of getting boring, today was another really nice ski day on the mountain; beautiful blue skies, temperatures in the high 40's; no wind or crowds.

Our journey today took us thru the Glades, down High Line and the Canyons, across to Bear Mountain, Cruise Control and Needles Eye, with finishing laps on Super Star and Bitter Sweet. The upper parts of the mountain had soft creamy bumps, the lower reaches, particularly over at Bear, featured wet beach sand. After completing a run down Lower Wild Fire through the terrain park, Mary commented that skiing today could even be considered cardiovascular. With the warm sun, the little work out we got felt great! Golf season will be here soon enough.... we have a few more weeks to enjoy some great snow at Killington.