"Burn Pile"
April 26, 2006 

The spring transitional season has arrived.

As reported, 10 days ago, Mary and I closed the inn for the 2005/2006 winter season. However, it's not vacation time yet. While we have played a couple of rounds of golf (one at Proctor Pittsford, one at Green Mountain National... Both courses are in great shape by the way!), the majority of our time has been spent working in and around the inn to prepare for the summer season.

We have just finished completely refurbishing the inn's kitchen. Each year we take everything out of it, repair any damage, wash everything (twice!), and repaint. It takes about a week, but everything looks great after it is done. Right now, Mary is working on refinishing the slate floor in the restaurants dining room. For those of you who know the dining room, the slate floor is covered with a sealer to keep it looking nice. Mary is stripping all of the sealer off the floor this year, before putting down a new coat. It has been a couple of years since she has done this, so, needless to say it is a lot of work.

Outside, we have been cleaning up all kinds of debris from the winter. While we did not have a lot of snow last season, we did have some particularly nasty events which caused a lot of tree damage. The heavy snow storm last October did considerable damage to a number of both large and small trees. I have been out in the forest around the property for the last two days with our chef cutting down dead and damage trees, and hauling it all out for disposal. No we did not go camping, today's picture is not a camp fire, but remains of a large dead tree that fell near the driveway last fall being burned for disposal.

In between all of this, Mary and I are planning to get away for a few days, and I am reworking our inn's website. My posting rate will probably be down for the next month of so, as we work around the inn, but I will try to get back to the blog every week or so to give you an update on what is going on.

Happy Easter 

Happy Easter from Killington Vermont.

We officially closed the inn for the 2005/2006 season this morning, when the last 3 guests checked out around 11:00 AM. The inn will be closed for maintenance and staff vacations for about a month, opening back up to kick off the 2006/2007 season in late May. The restaurant will be closed a little longer, reopening for the summer season on Friday June 23nd.

Today, to celebrate Easter, we went to The Castle in Ludlow Vermont for Easter brunch with 19 of our local friends. This was the last get together of the group for a couple of months, as many are leaving this week for points south. The few of us who will still be here for the next couple of weeks used the opportunity to plan several golf excursions to local courses in the coming days. The Castle put on a really nice brunch buffet to celebrate Easter. We also were able to get reacquainted with an old friend from our ski house days who is now the general manager of the establishment. It is a beautiful building, the food was good, we had a great time.

On the golf front, from local reports, Rutland Country Club, and Neshobe Golf Course are both currently open. Proctor Pittsford will be opening soon. Green Mountain is due to open next weekend (front nine only), and the Killington Golf Course is due to open on May 5th. Local courses have been reported to be in good shape with little winter kill. All I can say is that in between yard work, painting, and general repairs, Mary and I intend to chase the little white ball around the countryside over the next couple of weeks to get our games in shape for the summer. I will post some pictures from our excursions and report on the conditions of the courses for those of you planning to visit in the early summer. Happy Easter!

Killington and Superstar
in the late afternoon
April 11, 2006, 6:15 PM 

If you are interested in making a few turns on the mountain before the end of the 2005-2006 ski season, I suggest that you do it soon. Temperatures in Killington this week are in the 50's and 60's, creating spring skiing conditions on the mountain.

The resort significantly reduced operations this week. According to the ski report we receive each day, the mountain is operating only 4 lifts during the week. They include Super Star, K1 Gondola, North Ridge Triple (aka Glades), and Snow Shed Quad. It is uncertain what lifts they plan to run this weekend, but the resort's website is projecting 3 lifts on 35 trails (my guess is that they will close Show Shed). Killington has not yet announced a closing date for the season. A newspaper report today in the Rutland Herald again said that they planned to operate into May. The operative words on this report are "planned" and "into May". Previous articles quoted Killington officials saying that the resort would stay open for skiing and riding through May 15th.

Guests at our inn are reporting that snow coverage on the mountain is good, all things considered. Snow surfaces have been freezing overnight and softening up by mid morning, in usual spring fashion.

Killington and Superstar from
Second Green at Killington Golf Course
April 9, 2006, 12:15 PM 

Lots of things to contemplate today. Is this this last snow stake of the season? Do I go out on the mountain again for a few more turns? Will Phil Mickelson, Fred Couples, or Tiger Woods win the Masters? Or will a relative unknown, Chad Campbell, do what needs to be done? Life is full of conundrums.

Today is a beautiful spring day at Killington. Temperatures are in the low 50's around the inn with a gentle breeze. The snow from last week's storm has basically melted away around the inn. I would guess that we may have seen the last snow stake of the season is one believes Accuweather, as they are predicting that temperatures will be in the high 50's and low 60's for Killington for the next 15 days. But given how wacky the winter was, anything could still happen.

Skiing on the mountain is still going strong. Reports from yesterday were unenthusiastic at best. Yesterday stayed cold on the mountain all day, so conditions were very firm and icy. People I have spoken with today about the mountain are much more upbeat. With the bright sunshine, surfaces have soften up and spring skiing and riding has returned. The Resort over the next few days will be consolidating operations. Bear Mountain will be closing this weekend. Snow Shed and Rams Head are not far behind, if the do not close today. We will see what tomorrows trail report has to offer to be sure.

Of course, this afternoon, if you play golf, it's all about the Masters in Augusta Georgia. Mary and I have been trying to arrange our work today so we can sit and watch what should prove to be an exciting final round. It is all just a precursor to getting out on the course ourselves over the next couple of weeks to start chasing the little white ball. Soon...

Howie at Green Mountain National
July 24, 2005 

The snow that we got earlier this week is still hanging on around the inn today. The ground is still mostly covered, but I would expect it to be gone by the end of the weekend. The local weather forecast is calling for damp tonight, possibly ending in snow flurries, followed by at least 2 sunny days with temps approaching if not exceeding 50.

I have not had a chance to get up on the mountain this week. (more on that later) From the conversations I have had with people around town, conditions are holding up quite well for spring skiing. It would appear that this is the last weekend for Bear Mountain. Killington has not set an overall closing date as yet. Usually they are able to have the ski season extend well into May or June, but given the small amount of snow we have received, it is impossible to tell what will happen. We will know in a few weeks.

Skiing this week has taken a back seat to getting the inn going for the summer season; so much so that I decided to put a picture of Howie playing golf on Green Mountain National last summer as today's picture. I have received golf rates from both Green Mountain National and the Killington Golf Course over the last couple of days. That has kept me busy creating golf packages for the summer to promote to visitors to our inn. If you are interested in a golf package, you can visit the Birch Ridge Inn's Golf Package Calculator for a full quote.

On the golf front, we spent a pleasant evening last night with Dave Soucy, the new Golf Professional in charge of the Green Mountain National Golf Course. Dave has been busy the last couple of weeks being introduced to the community at various public functions. To his credit, he is also reaching out to local businesses to talk about the golf course, and his plans for the up coming summer. Right now, it looks like Green Mountain National will open it's driving range around April 22nd, and be open for play around April 29th. Of course, the weather in the mountains can be wacky this time of year, so anything can happen. But Dave is really excited to get the golf season going this year at Killington. Mary and I look forward to working together with Dave to promote golf at Green Mountain National.

Killington in all it's Glory
April 5, 2006, 10:30 AM 

I have taken pictures basically every day for the last year in various locations around Killington. On many days the mountain looks pretty and peaceful. The seasons come and go, with the mountain forming the consistent thread through life in the area. But, without question, today is one of the few days where the view of the mountain was absolutely stunning.

A light snow fall covered the region yesterday with a blanket of snow ranging from 2 to 6 inches deep. Add to the snow a stunningly blue sky accentuated with puffy white clouds. Add the mountains of Killington as a backdrop. Voila... a very beautiful day indeed.

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.