"Let it Snow" Birch Ridge Inn Christmas Tree at Vermont Holiday Festival 

Last night, the Vermont Holiday Festival kicked off it's second year with a holiday party at the Killington Grand Hotel for Killington residents and guests. Several hundred people from the Killington region attended, each voting on their favorite decorated tree. Joey Leone provided the entertainment for the evening. Kim Harris of the Killington Road Group, and Casey Crompton of Casey's organized the event. The Festival opens to the general public today and runs through Sunday. In addition to decorated Christmas trees from local businesses, ski houses, and residents, the event also features a Santa's Workshop and storytelling for children. If you are up to Killington this weekend, it's a great take.

Killington saw some light flurries overnight, but we also had strong winds so there was significant scouring of surfaces. Mary went out skiing this morning. She reports that conditions are "Flat and Fast". Snow making operations were occurring in the Needles Eye area, and near the Snowdon Quad terminal. East Fall and Highline were groomed but very firm. Snowfall is expected later this evening. Forecasts vary from 2 to 4 inches upwards to a foot, depending upon which forecaster you like. We will know by later in the day tomorrow.

Christmas Cookies from Rutland Women's Shelter Cookie Swap 

If you are reading this blog, you probably know that the Winter Holiday period (and no I am not being politically correct... we do celebrate Christmas. Many of our guests and friends celebrate Hanukkah, and some celebrate Kwanzaa... and don't forget my favorite "Festivus") is a very busy time at Killington. But the locals need to celebrate too! So you find all kinds of activities crammed into the first several weeks of December, before the vacationing guests arrive.

Last night, locals had 3 events to choose from including the Rutland Women's Shelter Cookie Swap, the Killington Chamber of Commerce Holiday Mixer, and Vermont Holiday Festival Tree Decorating. I went to the Chamber mixer, Mary went to this Cookie Swap, and this morning, Mary and one of our assistants is up at the Grand Hotel decorating our entry into the Holiday Festival.

The Vermont Holiday Festival kicks off this evening with a holiday party for Killington residents and guests. The Festival opens to the general public starting on Thursday and runs through Sunday. It's a great time. If you are in the area you should try to attend.

Later this week, on Friday evening, we will be hosting Robert Haas who will be presenting wines from his Tablas Creek Winery in Paso Robles, at a Holiday Wine Dinner.

As a backdrop to these activities, the snow machine that hangs over Killington seems to have started up. We are in a period of constant snow flurries. Individually, they don't amount to much, but when taken collectively, they add up. Last night we received an additional inch of light fluffy snow at the inn to make everything white. I may be hobbling around on crutches, but the locals are out in force doing their favorite snow dances as we approach the Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus season.

I did not have a chance this morning to go out and take any pictures of the area. As some of you may already know, on Sunday I took a tumble which resulted in a nicely sprained ankle. I am currently hobbling around on crutches. Today was supposed to be a ski day, but so it goes.

Anyways, to make lemonade out of lemons, when the accident happened, I went to the Killington Medical Center at the base of Rams Head. I can tell you that the medical center is a beautiful, well equipped facility with a very friendly and compassionate staff. Fortunately, for me, they were not too busy on Sunday. It took me about 1 hour to have X-rays, a doctor consultation, have my ankle wrapped, and, of course, pay the bill. I have what the doctor called a "High Ankle Sprain". Hopefully, I will be back on the hill in 10 days or so... Thanks to my friends, Howie and Connie, for getting me to the Medical Center. Mary, fortunately for her, was on her way for one last visit with her parents in Boston before the holidays, so Howie and Connie graciously put up with my grumpiness and got me to the doctor.

Enough about me... There was no real snowfall that fell overnight at Killington. The big storm that had been talked about on the weather channel appears to have gone out to sea south of us. Temperatures this morning are in the 20's with an occasional snow flake drifting down. I am sure that the mountain is making snow as I hear the sound of the snow guns in the distance, echoing down the valley.

Birch Ridge Inn Snow Stake 

Last week, during the unseasonably warm weather, I took some time to construct a rudimentary snow stake to display the snow on the ground around the inn. I was able to find a reasonably sheltered location, within camera range of our Great Room. I will try to take pictures of it on a regular basis to give a sense of the natural snow cover in the area.

As a disclaimer, please remember that the inn is at approximately 1900 feet. For those of you who know Killington, this translates to roughly the elevation of the Needles Eye Skyship terminal. The K1 base lodge is at approx 2200 feet. Also keep in mind that Killington has the worlds largest snow making system, so the natural snow does not represent the snow cover that you would find on many of the trails at Killington. However, it will give a good approximation of the snow cover that occurs at Killington during the many winter storms we usually experience.

The snow stake itself is just a 2 by 4 with 2 yardsticks attached, marked with 3 inch graduations. The snow at the stake for todays post is at the 3 inch mark.

Killington Peak, December 3rd, 2005 , 11:30 AM 

I am actually posting this entry quite late for Saturday. It has been pretty busy around the inn, which is a good thing...

More and more of our winter friends are returning to open their ski houses and take in some December skiing and riding at Killington. From speaking with many of them, today offered a melange of conditions. The day started with brilliant blue skies and some puffy clouds. The mountain was pouring it on with snow guns blasting away. But there was this little thing called wind which made things interesting. Temps were in the low to mid 20's, but the combination of blowing snow and 30MPH winds caused an early exit for many today. The reports that we received indicated that the mountain had moderate crowds, but because of all of the weather "problems" earlier in the week, the terrain when the resort opened was somewhat limited. Later in the day, trails like Cascade, where they were blowing snow all day, were opened which helped spread out some of the people.

Todays picture was taken from the parking lot of the Grand Hotel, shooting over the Snow Shed Base Lodge to Killington peak. It was taken at approximately 11:30 AM on Saturday from the corner of the hotel, in the hotel's shadow to eliminate lens flare.

Killington turns white on December 2nd, versus the mud of December 1st. 

One need to remember that the official start to winter is still a couple of weeks away. The cycle of snow/no snow inevitably repeats itself each year. This year is no exception. Today, Killington is experiencing temperatures in the mid 20's with light, blowing snow. For today's picture, I tried to take the same basic mountain shot as yesterday. I superimposed yesterdays picture, corrected for perspective, and created a small animation to show you the changes that have taken place overnight. As you can see, a little snow can go a long way at a ski resort.

From what I could see at the mountain, the resort has been concentrating it's snowmaking efforts on Killington peak. Snow making appeared to be taking place in the Glades, Rime, Bunny Buster, etc. At 10:00 AM this morning, snow making had not resumed at Rams Head, Snow Shed, or lower Bittersweet.

Back at the inn, we are preparing for the "Meet the Artist" night with Vermont Sculptor, John Tidd. The inns Christmas tree is completely decorated for it's maiden public viewing this evening. We took pictures of the tree from late last night while the inn was quiet. I don't know how Mary does it, but somehow she was able to completely decorate a 13 foot tree, and the inn, in under 3 days.

Christmas Bear Ornament on Birch Ridge Inn Christmas Tree 

Mary is continuing to make great progress with the inn's Christmas tree. Many of the ornaments were placed on the tree last night and this morning... each one has it's own story.

The one that is perhaps most challenging to deal with is the little bear. It was given to Mary by her nephew Scott. When life was simpler and he was deployed in Germany, he acquired the ornament and sent it to her. This Christmas, Scot is deployed in Iraq. Scot.. just remember we are thinking of you...

The weather at Killington today, while is it definitely colder, is not yet to snowmaking temperatures as of noon time. Heavy cloud cover blanketed the mountain when I went up to get some pictures. The picture to the right is a distance shot taken from the Killington Road of the junction on Mouse Trap and Lower Bunny Buster. The damage by the NCP of the last several days is clearly visible, however, you can also see that the terrain is still quite passable for skiers and riders.

From the K1 base area, snow guns were set up and ready to fire on Bunny Buster and Chute. I presume from what I saw that they are also out and ready to go on the upper elevations. If the resort sticks to their normal modus operandi, they will begin to blow snow on open trails to resurface them, prior to attempting any trail expansion. A weather system is due to move in from the mid-west later this evening with the promise of some natural snow. That will certainly help improve conditions on the mountain.