Snowman Christmas ornament waiting to be hung on the Birch Ridge Inn Christmas Tree 

I don't know what it is, but the holiday season seems to be coming awful fast this year. But then again, it has been many years since we have been able to ski so much open terrain in November and early December. So far this season I have lost 10 half days to the mountain, instead of being at the inn working...and Monday morning looks like it will be the first real powder day of the season! I wonder what I will be doing at 9:00 AM?

All levity aside, the inn is coming together quite nicely for the Christmas season. The Christmas tree that we cut down on Tuesday is now proudly on display, fully decorated, in the inn's Great Room. Mary has done a great job again this year. She has the patience to put on each strand of tinsel individually, and it shows.

I have gotten all of the lights up on the outside of the property. If you were on the Killington Road around 3:00 on Saturday afternoon, you might have noticed a guy climbing a tree in front of the inn...That was me! I only needed to get up into the trees 10 to 12 feet of so. But being decked out in a winter jacket, ski pants and boots (the temperature was pretty crisp for working outside), the climbing was "interesting". I don't think I have climbed trees since I was 10. But with the help of our assistant, Mickalyn, the job got done.

For most of the day today, it has been snowing at Killington.

Snowgun at Superstar Quad leading to Snowshed. (Click to enlarge.)

Temperatures are in the low teens, so the snow that has been coming down is a very dry, light powder. In the early afternoon, when I took the snow stake picture, we had picked up about an additional inch of accumulation. I have not checked since, but gauging from the covering on the cars and walks around the inn, I would say we have gotten another 3 or so inches during the afternoon. I get the real number in the morning when I take tomorrows snow stake measurement.

The resort is continuing to take advantage of the cold weather to make more snow. Snow guns were in operation again today all over the mountain. Many snow guns were very visible making snow between the Superstar Quad and Snowshed, which is the next base area Killington plans to open. And for a little Killington trivia for the mornings coffee discussion, the resort has made so much snow on Double Dipper that there was a small avalanche on Saturday. The slide took place about half way down the lower headwall. A major cut opened up, leaving a huge pile of refrigerator sized chunks of snow at the base of the trail. The good news is that no one was hurt. Ironically, snow making pipe got badly mangled.

From here on in, the activities at Killington will accelerate right into the Christmas Holidays. The week marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Killington Ski Resort. The resort has all kinds of activities planned next weekend to mark the anniversary. If you can make it, it looks like it will be a fun party all weekend.

The following weekend sees the return of the Vermont Holiday Festival to Killington. Scheduled to take place between December 18th and 20th, it is returning for it's 5th year at Killington. Mary is already working to get the decorations for our tree at this years "Festival of Trees" ready. Check out the Vermont Holiday Festival website for additional information.

Until tomorrow.....let it snow!

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!