Mary on new Bittersweet 

It was not the prettiest of days, but if you were a Star Trek fan you will recognize the term "It was glorious".

Today was my first day back on the mountain since before Thanksgiving. The weather was overcast. A light something was falling from the sky. It was alternating between wet and freezing on your goggles before finally turning to snow. The wind was just howling at 9:00 AM. The resort was trying to run the K1 gondola. We would have nothing of it. We headed to the Superstar Quad. It was glorious!

Snow surfaces off Superstar were delightfully soft. As a warm up, we decided to head over to Bittersweet, as we had not skied it before the Thanksgiving recess. The first runs were groomed beautifully. The feed into the bypass around the Bittersweet Headwall was perfectly natural. It was just a nice, groomed cruiser. Killington purists will probably be outraged, and on a powder day their outrage will be well placed. But for most days, the fall line of the new Bittersweet trail will work just right as a break from some of the steeper terrain off Superstar. Today it was glorious!

By 9:30 Am, as we are taking our fourth lap on the Superstar Quad, the K1 gondola was knocked out of commission by the wind. It was just howling. When you got off the top of the quad, you needed to have a plan in mind. Would it be the Superstar headwall, or a trek over to Skylark. Because if you hesitated, the wind just pushed you in what ever direction your tips were pointed. It was glorious.

Skyelark was nicely groomed from the top to the lower section off High Road. By 10:00 AM nice soft mounds (they were not bumps) were developing where skiers and riders had moved the groomed snow. They were just enough to keep you on your toes, as visibility in what ever was falling from the sky was pretty poor. But the skiing was just glorious.

Superstar from the top to the lower headwall was groomed flat. Snowmaking whales were present in middle Superstar to give the slope some character. Once one skied past the High Road cutoff to Bittersweet and Skylark, I swear that many sections of Superstar sounded "hollow". It was definitely a weird sound, especially since a few of the runs were skiing by braille. But overall the snow surface conditions on Superstar were just glorious.

The Lower Superstar headwall was not groomed. On our first runs, our initial reaction was to hold back, as we had expected it to have a frozen, crusty feel. It didn't. We were surprised. It was glorious!

Lower Superstar was a nice mix of small mounds and small bumps. Whereas the other trails off of the Superstar Quad were definitely cruisers, Lower Superstar got the legs working nicely. There was no worry about being cold, as the bumps kept causing you to look ahead and complete your turns. As the snow was soft, overall it was not really technically challenging, but it was a nice little work out for the legs. Absolutely glorious.

And by 11 we were done. I lost count on how many laps we made. It was just glorious.....let it snow!

Christmas Trees being loaded into a friends pickup truck 

It was supposed to be Christmas Tree Monday but Mother Nature intervened. So it turned into Christmas Tree Tuesday!

Yesterday, Mary and I, with a group of friends, traveled to Danby Vermont to harvest Christmas Trees. All told, we fresh cut 5 trees at the Smokey House Center in Danby Vermont. 3 of the trees, including the one for the inn, stood almost 20 feet tall at the farm. The others were a demure 8 feet.

The Smokey House Center in Danby is an interesting organization. It is designed as a 5000 acre outdoor classroom to teach farming, forestry and ecological research to middle and high school students. Farm products are raised under the auspices of the Smokey House Youthwork Program... a hands-on, work based learning program for area teenagers. Year-round, Smokey House teaches farming and forestry activities. In the process, they grow vegetables, blueberries, and Christmas trees, make charcoal and maple syrup, raise livestock and market these products to the community.

The Christmas Tree we cut down for the inn trimmed out at just under 14 feet when we raised it in the Great Room at the inn. Mary will be working all this week to decorate it. This years decor will be traditional featuring multicolored lights and heirloom ornaments.

The Christmas Tree at the Birch Ridge Inn will be on display in the inn's Great Room through the early New Year.....let it snow!

Killington Peak waiting the approaching storm 

The first holiday weekend of the 08/09 ski season is winding down at Killington. And by all indications, it looks like the season is off to a good start.

Thanksgiving weekend is the most fickle of the holidays during the ski year. Many years the mountains are green. Some years skiers and riders are treated to a "ribbon" of a ski trail when Mother Nature challenges the industry. This year, however, the Killington Resort has had several weeks of great snow making weather, combined with a healthy dose of natural snow, resulting in excellent holiday ski conditions. And by several indications, the skiing public responded.

Killington is always a paradox at Thanksgiving. It is never "full" in the true sense of the word. The hard reality is that many skiers and riders in the Northeast have other obligations this weekend which prevent them from visiting their favorite resort. On the other hand, there are still many who look at Thanksgiving as their first opportunity to hit the slopes. The wild card in the mix is the about of skiable terrain that is open to support those skiers and riders who make the Thanksgiving pilgrimage to the mountains.

This year, the Killington Resort had about a third (plus or minus) of their skiable terrain open this weekend. Even with the K1 parking lot full, and the Ramshead, Vale and Snowshed parking lots 1/2 full, the amount of open terrain was able to spread skiers and riders out. The net of it all left our inn and restaurant guests very happy about the on mountain conditions. And when you run a business in a ski resort town, that's a wonderful thing!

As guests leave the area this afternoon, the mountain once again is waiting for an approaching storm. The National Weather Service indicates that we may be in for a nasty 36 hours with a combination of snow, sleet and freezing r@!n. To which I can only add... Let it snow!

Killington Vermont with snow flurries on the horizon 

Black Friday... it is an interesting moniker... Even though we have been skiing and riding for several weeks, most people still look at today as the start of the winter season. Of course you could be shopping!

We have a nice group of people at the inn this weekend. Some have escaped the shopping mania that seems to capture everyone's imagination this time of year. Others came to Killington for their first on mountain experience of the season. In both cases, the resort is ready, running 12 lifts today to accommodate skiers and riders of all levels.

Throw in some cool temperatures, a few snow flurries..and turkey sandwich for lunch...Not a bad Black Friday indeed. Let it snow!

Finishing up hanging lights outside the Birch Ridge Inn 

Yesterdays snow storm unfortunately ended as a cold NCP before clearing the area early this morning. Total snow accumulation at the snow stake, after compression and settling is 3 inches, bring the stake up to 6 1/4 inches. It's hard to fathom as the ground has been white for a few days, by 6 inches of snow on the ground is actually quite good going into the Thanksgivin Holiday

Today was a clean up day around the inn to get ready for Thanksgiving. In addition to cleaning up outside after the snow storm, I finished hanging the outside lights around the inn. We had a light service come to the inn a few weeks ago to hang lights on the outside of the big A Frames in front of the inn. Mary and I take care of all of the other exterior lighting (as we don't need a cherry picker to reach it!). Todays task was very simple....drape a small pine tree on the Killington Road with Christmas lights, and finish putting lights on the railing on the front porch. Temperatures were about freezing, so it was not a bad day to work outside....so it goes.

Where ever you may be this holday weekend, enjoy....be happy...give thanks...and think snow!

Snowstake at the Birch Ridge Inn, Killington 

A classic early winter storm is sweeping over the Killington Region. The mountainous areas of Killington, including the Killington Road and the Birch Ridge Inn, are receiving heavy snow. Low lying areas in Rutland County are getting heavy NCP.

Snow started in Killington in the very early morning hours. As of 11:30 AM this morning, 4 inches of heavy snow had already fallen at the snow stake, adding to the 3 inches that were being recorded yesterday. Snow accumulation rates around the inn are approaching an inch an hour. As the inn is at approximately 1850 feet, I would guess that snow accumulations are slightly higher on the mountain with higher elevation. (Killington peak is at 4241 feet)

Temperatures at the inn are just at the freezing point. The snow that is falling is heavy with high moisture content, but it is all snow. There does not appear to be any NCP mixed into it around the inn. Assuming it stays snow in the mountain, it should set up the resort nicely for skiing and riding over the Thanksgiving holiday.......let it snow!

Snow making operations on Superstar seen from Snowdon Quad 

Killington is continuing to aggressively make snow to expand terrain as we enter Thanksgiving week.

Today on the mountain, conditions were generally soft packed powder. Most of the surface is man made, but Mother Nature has been cooperating with snow flurries overnight. On the mountain, it is hard to believe it is only November.

Rime, Reason, (Upper) East Fall, and Great Northern sustained moderate weekend crowds quite well. These trails were all groomed overnight. All are covered with considerable base depths of man made snow. Highline was groomed overnight as well. The surface was much firmer than the North Ridge area, but quite skiable.

I am torn on the run of the day between Skylark and Superstar. Skylark was groomed soft and sweet to the High Road cut off to Lower Bittersweet. Mary and I did this a couple of times. But each time up the Superstar chair, I was eying upper Superstar. Snow guns were pumping out snow, but there were a lot of obvious lines down the trail that you could see from the lift. When Mary called it a day, I gave it a try.

Snow guns have been operating for days on the Superstar Upper Headwall and along middle Superstar. Large whales had formed, as they trail has not been groomed out. The whales formed huge mounds in the middle of the trail. I had a great time skiing up and down them untill I got to the High Road cutoff. The last whale dropped off like a cliff. The good news is I saw it in time so I could make a couple of turns to get around it. Otherwise, it would have been some pretty big air, which would not have been pretty this early in the season. For people who like skiing in the snow, Superstar was it... For eveyone else, you could not beat Skylark today.

Killington is continuing to aggressively expand terrain. Ropes were dropped today on East Fall (yes.. the real East Fall not the renamed East Glade) Snowmaking was continuing all along it and on the run out back to the K1 Base Lodge. Snow making was also taking place on Upper and Middle Bittersweet. When we left around noon, Upper and Middle Bittersweet were not open to skiers and riders. But, I would guess it is only a matter of time.

In the mean time, all of town is abuzz about the coming storm. Weather forecasts in the area are all over the place, as it appears that the storm will be NCP (non-crystaline precipitation...we never mention the r word during ski season) in the Rutland area. The big unknown is the temperatures in the mountains. Local forecasts call for temps to be hanging right around freezing. We will know soon. The weather forecast for the rest of the week is calling for constant snow flurries and snow showers, after the main front passes Tuesday.

Given the amount of snow the Resort has made, and the number of trails they have covered, no matter what happens in the next 36 hours, Killington will go into the Thanksgiving Holidays with more terrain open in a long time. To put it in perspective, today was my 6th day on ski's in November. Since we moved to Killington full time 12 years ago, I don't think I have ever skied 6 days in any previous November. And the snow guns are still making snow as I write this.......let it snow!