Rams Head and Pico Peak from Super Star 

Just a beautiful day for skiing and riding at Killington. Near 100% sunshine combined with several inches of light fluff overnight made for a nice day on the slopes. The only downside was that temps were in the single digits with a gusty up slope wind. Some places in the sun and out of the wind were nice and warm. Some others where wind was a factor were on the cold side. But overall a very nice day.

Official use of Snow Blower!
First time this season! 

I did not head to the mountain this morning. Over the last few days, we have had a fairly constant light snow. I have not though much of it, basically just pushing it off the front walk for our inn guests. But, with the weekend coming up, I though doing a little outside maintenance around the inn was in order. And I was a little surprised.

We have all heard on the news about western New York getting buried by lake effect snow. What most people do not realize is that the residual moisture that does not fall on New York winds up in the Green Mountains. And Killington, being the highest peak from here to Lake Ontario, acts as a big moisture trap, capturing anything that blows bye. In the summer, that means wet weather (They don't call them the Green Mountains for nothing!). In the winter, it means snow.

So today, I hauled out the roof rake and snow blower. I had used each once before this winter on trial runs to make sure that they were in good repair. But today was the real thing. On every flat surface around the inn where there was some kind of barrier, 2 to 4 inches of light snow had drifted in covering the surface. Now we have not gotten 2 real inches of snow overnight. The snow stake is only registering a minor increase, but what snow we have received has been blown into drifts where ever a break stops the wind, making life just a little more interesting. And it is still snowing, with the weather service predicting the potential for 4 to 6 inches overnight in some spots. (They really don't know where... it is the luck of the draw where the wind blows the lake effect moisture.)

Bottom line to all of this... If you are a property owner planning to come to Killington this weekend, you may need to do a little snow removal, depending upon how snow has drifted around your property. For everyone else, the mountain should be just getting better and better. I know I will find out tomorrow as it will be another ski day for me, so as I look out my office window, I can only think: "Let it snow!".

Mary going over first hit on
Upper Bear Claw 

We are starting to get spoiled. Other than being a little cool, Killington is just in great shape.

When we got to the mountain this morning, it was a beautiful bluebird kind of day. While we were in the K1 base lodge putting on our boots, the situation changed at Killington Peak, with a large grey cloud moving in. We took the box up to the peak anyway, but instead of doing warm up laps off the K1 Gondola, we decided to traverse to Bear Mountain which was still in radiant sunshine. it was a really good move.

The top of the Superpipe on lower Dream Maker at Bear Mountain

Bear Mountain was in beautiful shape this morning. The parks on Bear Claw and Bear Trap and Dream Maker were covered with an inch or two of fresh snow over a nice groomed surface. With very few people on the mountain, and really consistent snow surfaces, we found ourselves just cruising through the parks. We had a lot of fun bouncing up and down the various terrain features. While I did not capture a picture of it, Mary even found herself taking a little air off some of the ramps, particularly on Dream Maker. (And yes, she made all of the landings!)

It is just amazing all of the snow that the resort has blown on the mountain in the last few days. Everywhere you go, you will find huge whales of snow blown onto the trails. With the warm weather we had earlier this season, it almost looks like the resort has created a little protection in case of an early spring. On skiers left on Outer Limits, the resort has blown a huge mound of snow several hundred feet long and 20 or so feet high. Last year, they used this area to build a jump for the aerials competition as part of the Spring Freestyle Championships held at the end of March. I am sure that they will use this whale of snow for that purpose, if they do not have to spread it around the slope before then.

Snow Whale on skiers left on Outer Limits

Before heading back to the Killington Peak side of the resort, we took a run down Great Eastern all the way to the Skyeship station on Route 4. We have been telling our inn guests to take this run over the last couple of days, so we though it would be a good thing to check it our first hand. Snow coverage on Great Eastern was very nice all the way down to Route 4. We did not do side trails, like Home Stretch, so I can not comment on them, but if you are looking to take beginner skiers on a nice ride, Great Eastern would certainly give them a chance to test their ski legs and see more of the resort than just Snowshed and Rams Head.

On the Killington side of the mountain, snow making operations are continuing on High Line. Huge amounts of snow have been blown on to High Line in the last 48 hours. Snowmaking had suspended on Superstar, although it looked like there were a couple of hours of snow making on Bitter Sweet. Bitter Sweet was generally soft from top to bottom. There was a very strong up slope wind on Lower Bitter Sweet. Both Mary and I were able to ski straight down lower Bitter Sweet with no turns because the wind was so strong.

Snow guns covering High Line

I finished up the day, as I often do, with a run down Superstar. The upper headwall, while not as soft as last week, still had a nice covering on it, allowing for some nice turns with little skidding. Middle Super Star was just set up for cruising this morning. Last nights snow put a nice soft layer on top of weeks of man made snow. Lower Superstar was wind blown in spots. I went down skiers left close to the trees. The wind had blown some snow into this area paving the way for a few nice soft turns on my final run before heading back to the inn.

Over the next couple of days, the weather forecast calls for temperatures to moderate (highs in the low 20's) with snow showers and snow flurries occurring every day. It should keep everything nice and white. Let it snow!

Killington Peak up the K1 Gondola Line 

Today was again on the cool side, but nothing like yesterday. Temperatures were in the single digits. There was a light up slope wind. Since this placed the breeze on your back on most chair lifts, they were quite manageable today. When you add in beautiful blue-violet skies with some high clouds and lots of sunshine, it was a pretty good morning to be out on the hill.

The word for the day on most skiable slopes was corduroy. With the exception of Highline, Cascade, Upper Wildfire and Needles Eye, everything we skied today took on the look and feel of a nicely groomed cruiser. Because there were few people on the hill, sweeping side to side GS turns at speed was the predominate ski style of the day. It was just a nice day to let the skis run.

The trails that weren't quite there, were interesting. Snowmaking operations were ongoing at Highline. Upper and Middle Cascade were great. Lower Cascade required an oral exam to count your fillings at the bottom. It had been groomed during the night, but the groom was very "lumpy" resulting in a huge amount of chatter and vibration as you skied down the lower portion of the trail.

We did not do Needles Eye as we could see from the Skye Ship that it had not been groomed overnight. According to several friends I spoke with, it was very slick and frozen. it was a good trail to bypass.

Wildfire on the other hand was interesting. Snowmaking operations had taken place recently on Upper Wildfire. The surface had not been groomed out. It was a combination of silky smooth surfaces punctuated by windblown sections. While being quiet skiable, it kept you on your toes versus some of the other cruising trails. Lower Wildfire on the other hand was generally magnificent. Nice snow on skiers left all the way to the bottom. It was one of the trails that qualified as a do-over today.

All in all a very nice early February day to ski.

Howie (on right) and I at "Johnny Boy's" 

Last night when I retired around 2:00 AM the temperature was a brisk -15 at the inn. On the mountain, there is a code for morning activities, so before I went to bed for the night, I left Mary a note telling her that if my friend, Howie, called, that Mary should find out where breakfast was going to be held. At 8:00, Howie called. He was heading out of the house to go to the mountain, so I started to put on my ski clothes. At 8:05, Howie called again and said the code words "Johnny Boy's". Breakfast was on!

Over the last several years, Johnny Boy's has become a local institution for breakfast on the mountain. Located in a small building in front of the Comfort Inn and beside Surefoot, on the Killington Road, it is a place where many locals go for breakfast in the morning, before or after skiing or golf depending on the season. This morning, the place was packed with people who were in various stages of denial about their desire to go skiing and riding today. Of course, Howie and I had no guilt at all about our decision. A county omelet was headed my way.

Killington Peak in a wind whipped cloud of snow

This morning when I headed out of the front door of the inn, the temperature was a balmy -9F. I drove up to the mountain to take a peak before breakfast. The wind on the hill at 9:00 AM was just howling. Snow was being kicked up from everywhere into a massive fog over the mountain. The K1 Gondola, Snowdon Triple and Quad were all running, virtually empty. The Superstar chair was not even prepped for operation; the chairs still encrusted with snow blown on them during the night. It was not a very pleasant sight, but it reinforced our decision to forgo skiing and do breakfast instead. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

One final note as a follow up to a posting from last week... this mornings Rutland Herald had a very nice article about Howard "Howie" Zack. It's worth a read.

Killington Peak in a snow squall 

As an innkeeper, Sundays are usually quiet. Superbowl Sundays are a little more so than usual; this one especially since there is no Northeast based team in the big game.

Inn guests returning to the inn from the mountain reported excellent conditions with light crowds. "Sublime" is how one guest described the mountain today. "The best day of skiing they have had thus far this season".

As the afternoon comes to a close, temperatures in the area are chilling down to single digits. While on our walk this afternoon, a brisk breeze was blowing, making the cold all the more biting. The sky was a dull grey, which most of the time would be foreboding, but in this case it was causing light snow to fall on the mountain. And snow at a ski resort in February is a good thing. Let it snow!

Super Pipe at Bear Mountain opens for season. 

The little storm we had overnight dropped about 2 1/2 inches of snow around the inn when it was all said and done. It seemed like more when it was coming down, as it snowed from late afternoon till after midnight, but the snow stake tells no lies. Light snow is continuing to fall on the mountain, adding to accumulations at higher elevations.

Killington opened the Super Pipe at Bear Mountain today. Occupying most of the space on the Lower Dream Maker run out to Bear Claw, the pipe was seeing a fair amount of use this afternoon. Killington is now up to 70 miles of terrain open across 7 mountains; the most terrain in the east. With snow falling every day, and lots of snow making, the resort has made a tremendous turn around in open terrain in the month of January, just in time for February and March ski vacations.