Armenian Innkeepers visit the Birch Ridge Inn 

It has been a while since I have done any public speaking which required simultaneous translation, but today was different. Kim at the Killington Chamber of Commerce asked me to host a group of fellow innkeepers from Armenia along with representatives of the Armenian Tourism Development Agency. The group are visiting Vermont on a trip sponsored by the Vermont Council on World Affairs. In addition to showing them our inn and discussing innkeeping, the primary reason for the visit was to discuss how chambers of commerce and lodging establishments work together to promote travel and tourism. Due to the nature of the group, the presentation included simultaneous translation into both Russian and Armenian.

For those of you who need an atlas to find Armenia (I went to wikipedia), you will find it landlocked between Turkey, Georgia, Azerberijan and Iran. Up until 1920, Armenia has been an independent country. In 1920, Armenia was on the loosing side in the Turkish-Armenia war, was forced to demilitarize, and was subsequently invaded by the Soviet army. In 1991, when the Soviet Union broke apart, Armenia regained it's independence.

In the last 4 years, the Armenian Government organized the Armenian Tourism Development Agency to promote travel and tourism to Armenia. Structures such as Chambers of Commerce, are just being established in Armenia. This group was on a fact finding mission to determine the different aspects of how lodging properties and chambers of commerce work together.

Of course, while I was learning how to say "Good Morning" in Armenian - "bari luis" - Mary was out skiing in the 6 inches of fluff that fell overnight on the mountain. Ski conditions at Killington continue to be excellent on powder and packed powder surfaces. At the inn we received another 4 inches of snow, with a major storm predicted to move into the region on Thursday. Let it Snow!

The Easter Bunny and his chick 

Happy Easter from Killington. It is interesting how the celebration of the resurrection morphed into an orgy of chocolate Easter eggs and marshmallow peeps. We hope that where ever you may be in the world, that you have had a very Happy Easter!

Meanwhile at Killington....The calendar says April. We are between the vernal equinox and the summer solstice, so it is supposed to be spring. And it is still snowing at Killington. It is a wonderful thing. It has been quite literally snowing at the inn all day today. Nothing severe mind you, just fluffy light snow fall continuously from the sky. Let it snow!

Light Snow continues to fall on Killington Peak 

Although the weather at the inn, less than 1 mile from the main Killington Base Lodge, is only cloudy, up on the mountain light snow continues to fall. The Killington Cloud has produced a continuous light snow fall, even though the primary storm moved out of the area more than 24 hours ago. And we though spring had arrived! Let it snow!

Powder covered trees as seen from
the K1 Gondola midway up Cascade 

Oh my God! At the inn this morning when I woke up, on top of the 9 inches of snow we received yesterday was a new, fresh 5 inches of champagne bubbles. Unheard of at Killington in April...but there they were, just waiting for my powder skis.. Oh boy!

I tried to get out of the house before Mary had any ideas of me doing work around the inn this morning. Almost made it... I think she was watching for me at the front door. So we agreed I would be home by noon....The art of living and working together is compromise... but there was fresh powder waiting... so off I went.

I met up with Bill, Howie and Walt at about 8:45. There are no friends on a powder day... but off we went. We took the K1 Gondola up. The snow cover on the trees was just incredible. You need to remember that all of the snow pack was out of the trees last week. Everything on the trees is 100% natural, newly fallen snow.

When we got to the top, Howie and Walt dawdled a little. As Bill and I headed toward Cascade, that was the last we would see of them until we met up back in the base lodge at 11:30. Oh well.. we started the day together at least...

For my first run, instead of taking Great Northern to Cascade, I decided to take FIS. It is just a little trail, maybe about 300 feet long. I hit a little icy bump just at the top, then pitched right into the light brush on skier right. Waist deep powder. Waves of powder flowing up my chest over my head as I skied straight down the trail. Probably as close to a Warren Miller Movie experience I will ever have. Bill meanwhile bombed down Great Northern. He was probably 300 yards ahead of me past the warning rope on Cascade. No friends on a powder day!

I had my vintage Volkl Vertigo powder skis on. (In April in Killington!..go figure!) They just floated on top of the powder down Cascade on skiers left. They just burst through any bumps created by earlier skiers. Just a few very little mid course correction turns. It seemed like the fastest run down Cascade in my life, never out of control, but powder flowing and going everywhere... I think I forgot to breath, because by the time I got to the junction with Downdraft I was sucking big breaths of air. I caught a glimpse of Bill just going bye the non functional Canyon Quad headed back toward the box, so I could not stop. I crouched into a full tuck to go down Spillway and caught up to Bill just about at the bottom of Highline. An unbelievable first run!

We did 6 more runs like that between Northridge, East Falls, and Double Dipper. Everywhere we went we found this beautify light champagne powder. Of all the trails in the Canyon, Double Dipper was probably the most difficult. Like Highline yesterday, the middle of Dipper was icy bumps as it had not been groomed. Skiers right by the trees had an enormous amount of powder that was blown in by the wind. But even then, on the fat Volkl's, which are designed for running in powder, it was basically 4 or 5 turns up to your knees, stop and suck in a deep breath, and repeat.

After that, I went back to my car to get my normal skies (Fischer RX8's) as the trails were getting pretty chopped. We did a few runs off the Snowdon Quad. The snow was so soft and pliable, that it was just a delight to do some high speed cruising. All through the morning, it had been snowing. It also seemed like the temperatures had been dropping...although we were so warmed up on the powder runs it could have been just a reflex action to slowing down. What ever the case, by 11:30 we had had enough...

When we got back the K1 base lodge, Howie and Walt were waiting. Friends just know where to meet on powder days...

New Passport has arrived

Passport Update When I arrived back at the inn from the mountain, the Post Office had delivered an Express Mail envelop from the US State Department with my new passport. Including a weekend, the turn around time to expedite the passport request was 8 days... beating the 10 business days quoted on the State Departments web site. I am impressed! A branch of the government that exceeds expectations! All this and a legitimate powder day at Killington in April.. life is good. Let it Snow!

Upper Bear Claw.
(I took the line down the right up against the trees.) 

The weathermen got this one right! Last night, a late winter storm moved through the region blanketing Killington in snow. Accumulation at the inn was close to 8 inches. At Killington Peak, it is possible that accumulation approached double that amount. Certainly Killington Peak received over a foot of new snow.

If you notice, I am not calling the precipitation from last nights storm "Powder". I am also not calling it "Wet Cement". It was some where in between. Snow on the mountain and around the inn was certainly heavy and high in water content, but it was not wet or slushy. While skiing today, you could definitely feel the bumps of snow being pushed around by other skiers and riders, but you were also able to push thru them if you had enough momentum.

I took several runs off Killington Peak. Cascade was very sweet with knee to thigh deep shots down skiers right on Middle Cascade. Highline was "interesting" to "ugly" depending upon the line you took. Highline had not been groomed in several days so the middle of the trail was filled with icy bumps. Skiers right, near the starting gate for the Ski Bum races, aka "World Cup Wednesday", was better, but even with over a foot of cover you still hit a bump crest or two.

Bear Mountain was also in nice shape overall. I entered the region on Upper Bear Claw, figuring most people coming off the Outer Limits Chair would be taking Bear Trap. I was rewarded with a nice, lightly tracked, line down skiers right up against the woods. You can see from todays picture that a few boarders had been down this trail before me. On skis, I was knee to thigh deep most of the way down to the junction with Bear Trap. It was just a great run.

Passport Update Last nights and todays snow fall has interrupted mail service at Killington. We did receive a call from the Postmaster telling us that an "Overnight Express Mail Envelop" had arrived that will be delivered tomorrow because of the storm. New passport possibly? So it goes....

Snow has continued to fall all day at Killington. Air temperatures are just at the freezing level, so snow is not accumulating on roadways or cars that have been cleared of snow, but it is still piling up on uncleared surfaces. From what I saw on the mountain today, after the trails are groomed, I expect that this coming Easter Weekend will feature several days of great cruising. But as it is still snowing...who knows? Let it snow!

Lone skier traversing across the front of Superstar 

A winter storm is moving though the Killington area today. Precipitation earlier this morning was sleet and freezing r@!n. As the storm progresses it is supposed to change to all snow. Total snow accumulations are being predicted in the 6 to 12 inch range depending upon which forecaster you prefer. Road conditions are interesting at best, but should get better as the precipitation changes to all snow. The easiest way to say it is that it's a pretty nasty spring day outside, but we could use the snow to refresh the slopes.

Passport Update From the web site of the US State Department: "U.S. Passport Application Status. Thank you for submitting your passport application! We have finished processing your passport, and it has been mailed to you. You paid for overnight delivery. This means you should receive your passport on or about 04/05/2007. If you have any additional questions, please contact the National Passport Information Center."

Not bad. Pretty good turn around if it arrives as stated! Let it snow!

Mary in her new Killy ski jacket 

All season long, Mary has been talking about buying a new ski outfit. Bucking todays fashion trend of ski separates, however, she has skied most of the season in her red one piece. Well, today was the day.

As it is a rather dreary day at Killington, Mary decided today would be the day to visit some of the local ski shops to find a new ski jacket. This time of year, there are a lot of great deals on equipment and apparel, so Mary decided to do some shopping for next season.

After trying on several different ensembles, Mary called me to meet her at the Forerunner Ski Shop on the Killington Road to see what she had picked out. When the fashion show was over, Mary decided on a red mid-length jacket manufactured by Killy. It comes with all the bells and whistles including a powder skirt, hood, balaclava, goggle chamois, lots of pockets, and detachable fur trim (so Mary) used for apres ski glam (I guess?). It also has a handy dandy ski pass holder built into it's sleeve. I have had a Killy jacket for several years, and this is a feature any season pass holder would not be able to live without once you try it.

While she was still at the Forerunner, Mary also picked up some high visibility Oakley ski goggles to add to her ensemble. So, while today was not a ski day, it did turn out to be a good day for ski related shopping. Let it snow!