Does the woolly bear predict a long winter? 

Finally, it has started to snow. In addition to the mountain experiencing light snow for the last couple of days, the overall Killington area saw some snow last night. Snow flurries are still lingering in the air today, generating a palpable sense of anticipation in the local community for the ski season to come. Snow around the inn melted quickly this morning, as the ground is not yet frozen. But it is a start.

This weekend at Birch Ridge, chef Stephen "Frizzie" Byrnes will be presenting "The Feast of the Woolly Bear". Of course, folklore has it that the smaller the stripe of the woolly bear caterpillar, the longer the winter. Seems like something to acknowledge and celebrate!

Years ago, many of the chefs of Killington got together and had a little pre-winter feast. Your basic eating, drinking, and carrying on prior to the hard work of the winter to come kind of affair. It was nicknamed, "The Feast of the Woolly Bear". Chef Frizzie has decided to re-interpreted that celebration over the weekend for dinner guests at Birch Ridge.

In addition to our regular menu, Frizzie will be preparing a special menu to pay homage to the Woolly Bear. The menu will include:
- Woodland Mushroom Soup with crispy leeks and white truffle oil
- Bird's Nest Salad of fresh greens, sweet carrots and sprouts, lightly dressed, with Vermont Chevre
- Seared Red Venison Chop, served medium rare, with sweet potato puree and a port wine glaze
- "Feast of the Woolly Bear Cake". Layers of light and dark chocolate with raspberry coulis

The price for the "Feast of the Woolly Bear" dinner is $49.00. For an additional $20.00, I will pair each course with a specially selected glass of wine from the Birch Ridge Inn wine cellar. Tax and gratuity are not included in the price.

Now bring on winter! Let it snow!

Killington Peak with the first snow of the winter. 

The first snow of the winter season fell on Killington Peak early this morning. The storm which pushed through the area last night brought a mix of precipitation. While a cold rain fell at the K1 Base Lodge and along the Killington Road, the mountain saw light snow to about the 3000 foot level.

The snow that fell is no where near the amount needed to open the resort for the season, but it is the first promising sign that mother nature has not forgotten Killington. Local weather forecasts indicate that cold temperatures will be settling over the region over the next 10 days, which should allow the mountain to mount a sustained effort to make snow on selected trails. If all goes well, the resort should be able to hit their planned opening on November 16.

Let it snow!

Stacking wood for the winter. 

With fall foliage gone now for a few days, attention around the inn has switched to preparing big time for winter.

In the virtual world, all of our web advertising has been redirected towards the upcoming ski season. Our main website, birchridge.com has been changed over from a summer golf theme to a winter ski theme. All of the pricing details concerning creating ski packages for visitors to our inn have been resolved and programed into a ski package calculator to allow guests to create ski packages while staying at our inn.

In the physical world around the inn, cleanup from the fall is in full swing. The staff is coming in every day this week for a few hours to rake leaves from around the inn. The first load of wood for the fireplace in the great room has been delivered and stacked. The list seems endless when we look at it each year, but it is all quite predictable just as summer turns to fall.

My morning ride up to the mountain did not reveal much. Killington Peak was solidly blocked in by the Killington Cloud. From KBL it was impossible to tell if any additional snowmaking was done last night, although I doubt it as it appears a temperature inversion developed overnight. There was still a lot of activity on the mountain, just the same. I saw lift technicians running the Superstar Chair this morning. People were continuing to paint in the base lodge area. And a Sysco truck was making deliveries to KBL in obvious preparation to open the lodge to the public.

Ski season will be here soon. Oh well...back to my chores. I need to get a few more things done before my ski season can begin.

Let it snow!

Snow Guns operating at Killington.
Click on the picture to enlarge. 

What a great time to live in Killington! The Boston Red Sox win their second World Series in 4 years. The New England Patriots are undefeated midway through the football season. And the Killington Ski Resort is blowing snow to get ready for the ski season.

With cold temperatures finally infiltrating the area, the Killington Ski Resort kept blowing snow all night. At 9:00 AM this morning, snowmaking was clearly visible on the top section of Double Dipper, Reason, and Rime. From what I could see from the base area, it appears that snow blowing operations are confined to the area above Great Northern, with some guns also operating on lower Rime. Snowmaking at this point is not top to bottom on Rime as snow was not visible on Rime at the base of the North Ridge Triple. With the current weather forecast indicating cold temperatures every night this week, it will be interesting to watch the progress of snow making as the resort readies for the winter season.

Let it snow!

Solitary Snow Gun blowing snow on Killington. 

We have a long way to go before we can put the ski's on, but the Killington Resort has started their snowmaking system this afternoon.

In what is probably a simple test of the system, a solitary snow gun blowing snow on "Reason" near the top of the Canyon Quad is plainly visible from the Killington Road. Temperatures near the base of Killington are in the high 30's this afternoon. According to our chef, who hiked to the peak this morning, temperatures at the peak were below freezing with a strong wind. Clearly the snowmaking team at Killington decided conditions were favorable to blow the first snow of the season.

Amended @ 6:00PM - Since 4 PM, reports from friends in the area indicate that the snowmaking efforts may be more than a simple test. Multiple snow guns are now operating on North Ridge (formerly known as the glades). While Killington has not made any public statements, they have posted pictures of the ongoing snowmaking operations on killington.com.

Let it snow!

Killington Peak awaits first snow
behind a freshly painted Killington Base Lodge. 

How about those Red Sox!

It is a very quiet week in Killington. The fall foliage visitors, who descended upon the area from all over the world, have moved to the south. Local business owners, Mary and myself included, are busy preparing our operations for winter. We have a list of maintenance activities to complete in the next few weeks. We also have several open positions to fill (Chef's Assistant and Restaurant Server) to bring our inn' staff to it's normal winter complement. I have also started my fall task of tasting wines to add to our winter wine list. It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it. (It is actually a lot harder than one would think.)

I just got back from a trip to Boston to play golf with my brothers in a tournament at Belmont Country Club to support the Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund. This is the 4th year for the tournament which reunites guys who caddied at Belmont. I was one of the lucky ones who got a golf scholarship through the Ouimet Foundation to go to college, so being able to give back now to that cause so kids today can go to school has some real meaning for me.

Back at Killington it is hard to comprehend the weather we are having. We did have a frost last night, but not significant enough to turn the mountain white. Up to this point the weather has been too warm to allowed the resort to begin snowmaking to prepare for the scheduled opening in mid November. Last year at this time we were dealing with the first snows of winter. We have not even seen a snow flurry yet this year, so it's hard to gauge when ski season will really begin. But one thing I can say for sure is that this is New England. The expression "If you don't like the weather...just wait a minute" really does apply.

Let it snow!

Putting out the Snowstake
for the 2007-08 Winter Season 

It is hard to believe that last year at this time Killington was seeing it's first significant snowfall.

Temperatures around the inn today are in the low 70's with beautiful sunny skies and a light wind. What happened to fall?? All in all it was a great day to work outside. I got the woodpile moved to it's winter spot. I did some light maintenance to a few things around the inn, and I put out the snowstake for the 2007-2008 winter season.

I will admit, it felt a little odd putting up the snowstake dressed in shorts. But then again, it is October 21st. Many years by now we have seen several days with significant snow, and the mountain would have a cap on snow on the peak. Not this year... so it goes. It will all come soon enough, we hope!

Let it snow!