Killington Peak...soft snow and sunshine! 

Mary and I rarely get a chance to get out to ski on the weekend. But our guests do. Suffice to say there will be a lot of goggle tans at work around the Northeast on Monday morning.

Guests have reported that the mountain is full of nice soft snow and beautiful sunshine. Many were out for 6 hours or more on Saturday, coming back to the inn for a beverage and a short nap before dinner. Today is more of the same. Everyone has big grins on their faces. One said to me that they felt like they were a kid again, playing outside in the snow all day.

......let it snow!

"Blue Sky and Bumps" - Upper Vertigo at Killington 

Today was one of the top 10 ski days for the 2009-2010 season.

Beautiful blue sky. Mounds of soft snow. Moderate temperatures. It is hard to ask for more.

The snow storms of last week and the overcast of earlier this week have cleared to leave the Killington Resort set up for a great weekend of early spring skiing and riding. Wether you choose Bear Mountain and direct south facing sun, or Killington Peak with shaded soft trails, you can not go wrong skiing and riding Killington right now.

We started our day with a very high speed warm up run down Super Star. The trail was both perfectly groomed and bathed in early spring sunshine this morning at 9:00 AM. It was just a great run to start the day.

We followed with runs through Bear Mountain. Skye Burst, Wild Fire, Bear Claw, Bear Trap, and Dream Maker were all skiing great. Snow conditions in the morning had some firmness down the middle of the early runs where snow melted yesterday and refroze over night. But who needs to ski down the middle of the trail when the sides of the trails continued to feature delightfully soft packed powder snow to ski on.

Traversing over to Needles Eye we found soft conditions on groomed surfaces on Needles, Cruise Control, Great Eastern, Bitter Sweet and High Road. Vertigo was bump covered. Bumps on middle Vertigo were generally well spaced and allowed for a good pace. The lower section below the old Snow Shed Crossover were somewhat disorganized and choppy, but skiable just the same.

Skye Lark and Super Star continued to ski well on mid morning return runs. Upper Ovation had some nice soft regular bumps down skiers right which where were fun. We did not ski lower Ovation. It was also bump covered with what looked like Volkswagen sizes bumps.

The final runs of the morning were taken off Killington Peak. The trails off North Ridge were all nicely soft. Upper East Fall was basically groomed flat with lots of soft powder to carve up. Rime and Reason were more of the same.

Highline was closed for race training, so we did not have a chance to try it out. The Chute off of the Snowsdon quad rated a do over. It's snow surface was also quite soft on skiers right, which when added to the trails natural compound fall line made for some very nice runs.

Crowds at the mountain early were hard core skiers and riders. The base lodge was very crowded this morning at 9:00 AM. The crowd quickly dispersed around the resort, however, as all of the resorts terrain is available for play. By mid day there was an influx of weekend visitors starting to head out on the slopes. With the weather forecasted to be sunny and in the low 40's during the day, weekend skiers at Killington should be in for a treat.

......let it snow!

Skye Peak from Bear Mountain 

Today was one of those black and white days on the ski trails at Killington. Another winter storm, this one a little weaker that previous, is passing to the south of the resort. In the storms wake, we have a bright, yet overcast sky. The whiteness of the sky is merging with the snow covered peaks of the Green Mountains. Add in black tree trunks dotting the mountain peaks and the visual is basically devoid of color, creating a black and white background for any activities taking place outside.

The low contrast ratio between the white sky and the white snow created some minor vision problems for my young eyes. But for the most part, seeing the snow was not a requirement. On most trails the snow was soft and pliable. Where there were bumps, the trough between bumps provided just enough contrast to allow you to pick out your line.

There were a few anomalies today to skiing which required some adjustments. At Bear Mountain the middle of groomed trails was decidedly firmer than the trail edges. This was probably due to some surface melting yesterday in the trail centers that froze overnight after the trail was groomed. Once you figured that out, there was at least 10 feet on either side of most trails that was nice and soft to ski on.

On the Killington Peak - Killington Basin side of the resort, surfaces were generally softer. The most likely explanation is that there was less surface melting, and subsequently less re-freezing overnight. What ever the cause, the surfaces on the Killington Peak side of the resort had a more packed powder feel than the hard pack on some trails on Bear Mountain.

Town Meeting Followup Article 10 which would have authorized the town to acquire $1.4M in general obligation bonds to purchase and improve a 37 acre tract of land across from the Grist Mill on the Killington Road, also know as the Fireside Property, went down to defeat yesterday. Killington residents voted 145 YES and 205 NO to defeat the ballot initiative.

......let it snow!

News from the Town of Killington 

The town of Killington convened it's annual town meeting promptly at 10:00 AM this morning at the Sherburne Elementary School. The mood of the assembled citizenry of Killington was somewhat subdued this year, versus some of the town meetings of the last couple of years, but the meeting was not without controversy and a few surprises.

M.B. Neisner was elected Town Moderator and immediately took charge of the meeting. Following some administrative procedures to approve year end reports, M.B. lead the group to elect Town Officers to fill vacant positions.

In the town officer elections, many of the positions went with one unopposed candidate. Included in this group were Pat Keim as Town Treasurer; Whit Montgomery as Second Constable, Red Glaze as Grand Juror, Ken Keim as Town Agent, Anne Marie Blackman as Trustee of Public Funds, Pat Zack as Cemetery Commissioner, and Mary Hogstrom as a Library Trustee.

Town officer elections did yield a few surprises in the contested elections. Incumbent Selectman Jim Blackman was defeated by challenger Jim Haff in a vote of 101 to 140. Mr. Blackman had been an outspoken proponent of Article 10 on the town meeting agenda, the purchase of the Fireside Lodge Property for use by the towns Economic Development and Tourism Commission as an events venue. Mr. Haff has been an opponent of Article 10. As Article 10 is being decided by Australian Ballot with polls open until 7:00 PM this evening, it is difficult to say what the fate of Article 10 will be. But Mr. Blackman's defeat took many at the meeting by surprise.

The normally quiet election of a new Town Lister also brought a challenge. Incumbent Town Lister Pat Whalen was defeated by local realtor Butch Findeisen in a lopsided vote of 31 to 157. Over the course of the year, there has been a far amount of controversy between the Selectboard and the Town Listers regarding the appraisal process being used by the listers to assign property values in town. This controversy clearly spilled over into the listers election this year at town meeting.

The remainder of the meeting was fairly straight forward. Town citizens approved a General Fund Budget of $2,834,639 as Article 8. They also authorized the selectboard to borrow approximately $380K to cover a budged deficit in the towns Golf Account to manage Green Mountain National Golf Course as article 7. Questions were raised concerning the Golf Course Budget, which will probably bring further scrutiny to the operation in the coming months. However, at Town Meeting the need to authorize the selectboard to borrow additional monies was a fait accompli quickly recognized by the citizens attending the meeting.

Several awards were handed out during the meeting. Andy Reid was given the "Volunteer of the Year Award". Norm Holcomb was also given a plaque by the selectboard in recognition for is years of service to the town as a prior selectboard member.

The remaining open issue to be resolved at this years meeting is the status of Article 10 which would authorize the town to acquire $1.4M in general obligation bonds to purchase and improve a 37 acre tract of land across from the Grist Mill on the Killington Road, also know as the Fireside Property. Article 10, as it is a bond issue, is to be settled by an Australian Ballot. Polls are to be open at the Sherburne Elementary School until 7:00 PM to allow those who could not attend the town meeting a chance to vote on this item. It will be interesting to see how this article will turn out once the votes are counted.

......let it snow!

Killington Peak still in the storm. 

A full five days after the main event, weather at the Killington Resort is still being impacted by last weeks Noreaster.

Overall today, ski conditions were excellent on soft powder and packed powder surfaces. Elevations above 3000 feet were still solidly in the clouds spinning in from the east associated with last weeks storm. While there was minimal impact on Bear Mountain, upper trails on the Killington basin side of the resort were in the clouds.

Bear Claw, Bear Trap, the Stash, Skye Burst, Cruise Control, Bitter Sweet, Skye Lark and Super Star all are nicely covered in soft snow. Skier traffic is creating bumps in the snow, which with the flat light can make the ride "interesting". The Upper Super Star headwall was totally in the clouds. While being soft and pliable like the rest of the resort, huge drifts at the top of Super Star left one with a question about the level of bumps on the headwall, resulting in cautious skiing and riding for most in attendance.

Needles Eye was closed today for the Vermont State J3 championships co-hosted by the Killington Ski Club and the Killington Mountain School. 13 and 14 year olds from around Vermont have been competing at Killington since Friday. Several hundred people were lining Needles Eye to watch the races.

Tomorrow in Killington is Town Meeting day. The meeting, held at the Sherburne Elementary School, starts at 9:00 AM with a review of the school budgets. The town meeting begins at 10:00 AM. As is usually the case, there are a variety of items on the agenda which should make an interesting day of it.

......let it snow!

Enough said. 

The Noreaster is still spinning to the south of us, roughly over New York City. Late last night, snow fall was interspersed with r@!n and very high winds, creating quite the mess in the morning.

The resort had a very hard go of it. Blowing and drifting snow were clogging many spaces. At 8:45 when I arrived at the K1 Base Lodge, the only lift that was turning in anticipation of being open was an old double chair lift on Snow Shed. High winds had closed the K1 off Killington Peak. A power failure had everything from the Super Star quad to Bear Mountain closed. Lift attendants were cleaning the Snowdon and Rams Head quads to try to get them ready to go.

We held at the K1 base lodge till around 9:45 waiting to see if the situation improved. Rams Head did open, but the Snowdon Quad was still on wind hold, so we decided to make it a Johnny Boys day. After a short ride down the Killington Road, I had the celebrated "Johnny Boy" as my breakfast choice. (Basically Eggs Benedict with a Jalepeno cheese sauce instead of Hollandaise.)

After breakfast, I drove back to the mountain. By now the Snowdon and Rams Head Quads were loading, but everything else was at a standstill. We made the right choice.

The rest of the afternoon was very productive for me, in a perverse sort of way. I spent the whole afternoon on the roof of the inn, moving 3 feet of snow. It's a Vermont chore that you have to do. Especially if you want more snow to fall the next couple of months....

.....let it snow!

Resort workers struggling to remove snow from the base of the Summit Express at Pico 

Can you say Sierra Cement?

Yesterdays high moisture content snow set up overnight, virtually eliminating any dreams of having a powder day 2 days in a row.....So it goes....

Heavy wet snow has continued to fall on the mountains surrounding Killington in the wake of yesterdays snow storm. Little or no additional accumulation is taking place on snow covered surfaces, as the underlying base is compressing with the weight of the new snow. Road surfaces have been getting better through out the day, as crews had a chance to move all of the snow we received yesterday.

Heavy snow is forecasted through out the weekend, as the storm to the east of us spins up in the Gulf of Maine. While non crystalline precipitation if falling at lower elevations like Rutland, the mountains are receiving all snow up to this point.

This morning I headed over to Pico in the hopes of enjoying another day of untracked surfaces. Pico was slow to start, as lift crews struggled to clear snow from all of the lift loading and unloading areas, and the last grooming machines out on the mountain returned to their respective garages. While I was there, the upper lift, the Summit Express, did not open, so skiing and riding was limited to terrain serviced by the Golden Express Quad.

The failure to operate the Summit Express initially caused disappointment in the assembled masses. That was quickly subdued as skiers and riders one and all started auguring into ungroomed trails off the Golden Express. Yesterdays magnificence set up overnight into multiple feet of heavy, moist snow. There was high entertainment during the lift rides as we observed skiers and riders alike travel 10 feet between falls. Fortunately for many, a snow mobile had gone up the middle of Expressway under the chair. Once people found its "chute" through the snow, they traded auguring in for a bobsled run down the hill. But they were able to get down!

Grooming machines had worked on Fools Gold, Gold Rush, Lower Pike, and Swinger, providing a path for people to take from the lift. Surfaces groomed early were covered with an inch or so of new snow. Broad swaths of the trails were ungroomed. We all ventured in to these spaces several times. As long as you carried enough speed, you were able to negotiate several hundred yards. After that, as your speed dropped off due to friction with the surface, it became obvious that it was time to head back out onto the groomed trails to accelerate for the next foray into ungroomed territory. Those who did not pay attention to their speed either ate the snow when they entered the ungroomed track, or needed some kind of push to exit.

Grooming machines should be all over the mountains the next few evenings. Adding a few inches of new snow on top of deep base depths should provide for a lot of nice skiing and riding in the mountains at Killington this weekend.

.....let it snow!