Killington Peak in a gray overcast 

Since mid week we have been hearing about high temperatures and r@!n in the forecast for today. Well.... It did not happen. Those who came to Killington today for some skiing or riding were greeted with sunny skies and comfortable temperatures this morning with a gray cloud cover developing all afternoon.

Inn guests as they come back to the inn are reporting great snow surface conditions. First time skiers are coming back a little tired as surfaces have softened up with the rising temperatures. Experienced skiers and riders are just saying it is great! A beautiful bonus versus what had been predicted earlier in the week.

If you believe the weathermen, and the track record is questionable, they are predicting light showers this evening, possibly snow in the mountains, clearing out by daybreak. Hopefully, tomorrow is another nice day to be on the mountain. Let it snow!

Under the guns on Superstar 

Whoa... probably one of the 5 best ski days of the 2006-2007 ski season! It was that good!

Last night at the inn the temperature hit -17F just before 2:00 AM. When I went to bed, my expectations were pretty low. I figured that the day would require extra body armor and frequent loops on one of the boxes. Boy were my expectations all wrong.

When I got to the mountain this morning, just before 9:00 AM, the temperature in my car read 2F. Now that may sound cold, but when there is no wind, a beautiful blue sky with a glowing warm sun, and you are expecting -10..well it was almost time to break out the bathing suit. We started out by doing 5 very fast loops on Superstar. The resort was blowing snow on the upper headwall, which was by definition nice soft powder. Middle and Lower Superstar were groomed sweet. I am not sure if the resort had tilled the surface over, but the surface was nice and soft. We just ripped side to side GS turns at high speed, as the 4 of us basically had the trail to ourselves.

As we were doing our fifth run down Superstar, a bus or something must have pulled in, because as we were going back up the lift for number 6, our beautiful soft empty trail was now filled with a variety of skiers and riders, so we decided to head south to Bear Mountain. We took the requisite loops down Bear Trap, Bear Claw, Wildfire, and Outer Limits. All were in good shape, although I would guess that neither Wildfire nor Outer Limits had been groomed overnight. Each had a slightly different firmness than the other runs we had taken. But by this time we were in full cruise mode. We were not making many wide turns because the crowds had picked up, so the fact that OL and Wildfire were firm did not really matter much.

We followed our usual route over to the Needles Eye area. The Needles Quad was running, which meant we could cover a lot of terrain with a short hop lift. Needles Eye was a lot like Wednesday, with loose packed powder on a medium firm base. The bump line was still in good shape on skiers right. I jumped in for a half a dozen bumps, but the guys were just cruising so fast, I needed to hop out to keep up. We hopped over to Bittersweet, took another run down Superstar (it was still great) then traversed over to the Snowden quad for a little cooling down before heading in.

On Snowden, we pushed down Chute to the Poma Cutoff. We did not want to go back down to the K1 if we could avoid it so we then headed to the Glades...er North Ridge. On North Ridge, Rime was in beautiful shape. Of course it seemed like we were on the North Ridge Chair for 10 minutes for a 30 second run down Rime. We did this a couple of times then decided to call it a day with a run down Double Dipper. What a surprise!

Double Dipper was better than Superstar! Because the Canyon Quad was not running, there was no one on Dipper. I took skiers right which was ankle high soft powder from the crest of Dipper to lower Downdraft. Unreal. Bill B went down skiers left and reported similar conditions. Howie went down the middle and said he hit a couple of areas where he skidded a little. Bill B and I decided Dipper was a do-over, so we headed to the K1 box for the lift up. We took one more run down Dipper and called it a day.

All told, in about 2 hours and 45 minutes we did 17 runs. We would have easily done 5 of 6 more had the Canyon Quad been running, as we did not touch Cascade, Downdraft or East Falls. Without question, it was just a great day to be on the hill. One of the best this ski season! Let it snow!

Snow Stake in an open field surrounded
by forest at the Birch Ridge Inn 

When the alarm went off this morning at 8:00 AM, I had every intention of getting up to go skiing. But outside, the sky was overcast, the temperature was minus something, the wind was howling, and light snow was falling. Brrrr! So I must admit, I rolled back over. I bad.

This afternoon at Killington the wind is still blowing, but the cloud cover and snow showers have given way to beautiful blue skies. Temperatures are a bit on the cool side, but our inn guests are still out enjoying the mountain. Something I will do tomorrow. Let it snow!

Killington Peak on a Blue Bird day 

Cool crisp temperatures, light winds, 100% blue skies... a great day on the trails of Killington.

After yesterdays chill, and Killington's town meeting, it was great to get back on the slopes this morning. Last night temperatures got down into the -10F region, so we were a tad slow this morning getting to the hill. We arrived at 9:30 AM to find prime parking spots in the first row still available. When we arrived at the K1 base lodge, the temperature in my car read -6F, which apparently scared some people off the hill today. But what a beautiful day.

Because the Canyon Chair was not running, we took the K1 gondola and traversed right over to Bear Mountain. Bear Claw, and Bear Trap were nicely groomed, although because there was not much traffic and the cold temperatures, the first few runs down were on the firm side. Wild Fire was excellent. Nice light creamy powder. The terrain park on Dream Maker was also a lot of fun. On all 4 trails it seemed like we were the only people skiing as we were able to do broad side to side traverses down each trail.

After a half dozen runs at Bear, we headed over to Needles Eye. Cruise Control was primed for just ripping downhill. The surface was powdery soft and very consistent; just right for high speed GS turns. Needles Eye itself was more of the same with an added bonus. A really nice soft low bump line was in place on skiers right. I went down the bump line on all 3 of our runs down Needles. 20 or so bumps on the upper side of the Snow Shed crossover and 20 or so pumps underneath. A lot of fun and I did not have to wait for Mary at the bottom as the bumps slowed me down just enough!

After Needles, we did a couple of runs down Skye Lark. Lower Skye Lark was a little firm, but by this time we were skiing so fast it was all carving turns right to the Superstar chair.

When Mary headed in, I did 4 loops on Superstar. The upper headwal was very nice, soft and pliable. Middle Superstar was set up for high speed cruising. Lower Superstar had a few skid plates on the middle and on skiers left. Skiers right on lower Superstar had some nice soft snow lines with a few low bumps. On a couple of the runs I went right down to the bottom on the chair line, cutting off to the left at the rope. Usually I prefer the compound fall line of skiers left on lower Superstar, but the snow on the right was just really nice. Overall, just a really nice day on the mountain.

Update on the sale of Killington by ASC to SP Land

If you are interested in additional information on the sale of Killington, the purchase agreement between American Skiing Company and SP Land Company for the transfer of ownership for the Killington and Pico Ski Resorts has been posted on the Securities and Exchange Commissions Edgar database. By definition, it is filled with legal mumbo jumbo, but it does list the specifics of the sale. Since SP Land is a privately held company, it will probably be one of the last public documents posted on the transaction as well. It is an interesting read. Let it snow!

M.B.Neisner moderating the Killington
2007 Town Meeting 

Killington's exercise in civic responsibility went off with few controversies at 2007 Town Meeting held today. Well over 200 people, including 190 local voters, attended the meeting held in the Sherburne Elementary School gymnasium

The day started with the school board meeting, where except for a few grumbles about the State of Vermont's education finance law, Act 68, there was very little discussion. Primary discussion on the school budget centered on the computation of equivalent students, and the impact of tuition students on the calculation of per student expenses. In a voice vote, the town passed a school budget of almost $1.3 million to fund education of the towns children.

At approximately 10:10 AM, M.B. Neisner called the Town Meeting to order. This year, the meeting was a model of civility with no ad hominum disagreements taking place. In the selectman's race, Jim Blackman beat out Chris Karr to win the seat being vacated by Walter "Butch" Findeisen. Of the almost 200 votes cast, Jim Blackman won the seat with about 59% of the vote cast in his favor. Congratulations Jim!

The item which brought most residents to Town Meeting, item 7 to assess a $0.03 real estate tax to fund economic development, barely warranted a discussion. Chris Karr and Bill Bauer, the local businessmen who originally proposed the measure, asked the town to delay voting on the measure to allow for more time to develop a community consensus on funding, and to understand the ramifications of the sale of Killington by ASC to SP Land. On a vote by ballot, just over 50% of those voting agreed to table the issue until a later date to allow more time to consider the measure. This short circuited further debate on the item at the Town Meeting. As it now stands, a request was made at Town Meeting for a committee to be formed to study the matter. When the study is completed, it will be up to the selectmen to call a special town meeting to consider the matter, or let the issue drop. It will be interesting to see how this article evolves over the coming months.

The only real period of acrimony occurred when State Representative Dr. Harry Chen addressed the town meeting. Several citizens pressed Dr. Chen to get more aggressive in representing the wishes of the town to the State Legislature in Montpelier. Dr. Chen did commit to reflect the towns wishes to the leadership in Montpelier, with the caveat that he represents 4 towns and he needs to make sure to represent all of the people in each town. While it was a very honest statement, it was not well received by some of Killington's residents. At the end, however, Dr. Chen was thanked for venturing out into a perceived hostile crowd, and given a warm round of applause upon finishing his talk.

On the skiing side of the resort, temperatures this morning at the inn at 9:00 am were a balmy -7F with strong gusty winds. By 1:30 PM when I left town meeting, temperatures had risen to a warm -1F in bright sunshine. It was probably a good day to be inside. Let it snow!

Snow continues to fall on Killington Peak 

Today was a pretty good day on the mountain. Light snow was falling most of the morning. Surfaces were machine groomed soft packed powder. Just a nice morning to be on the hill.

We did a variety of terrain this morning, and it was all good. Highline was politely firm, allowing nice sweeping edge to edge turns. East Falls had nice soft creamy powder. Little check turns on East Falls launched plumes of snow skyward. If the Canyon Chair was running, we might never have left this area, but it wasn't so we made the trek over to Bear Mountain.

At Bear, Upper Wildfire had soft, regular bumps. Bear Trap and Bear Claw sported groomed surfaces with a couple of inches of fluff dressing the top. Cruise Control has a nice small powder bump line developing down skiers left. Everywhere you went, as long as you could stay out of the Monday morning crowds, you found nice skiing on soft surfaces.

According to the local weather forecasters, conditions this week should stay pretty consistent. Through out the week, snow squalls are in the forecast. Just right to keep everything white. Let it snow!

Cover to the Town of Killington, Vermont
2006 Annual Report 

With all of the talk of the mountain of Killington, it is easy for people who do not reside in the area to forget that Killington is also a town in Vermont. Each spring, on the first Tuesday in March, town residents come together at the elementary school to decide how the town will be run for the next year through the "Town Meeting".

What many people call town meeting, is actually 2 meetings scheduled on the same day, this year being Tuesday March 6th. At 9:00 AM the Sherburne School District holds their annual meeting to discuss funding education for the children of Killington. Town Meeting, where all other items of town governance are discussed, begins just after the school meeting at 10:00 AM.

Town meeting this year has a couple of interesting twists. The first is an open Selectmen's seat. The second is a proposal to raise taxes to fund economic development in Killington.

On the Selectmen's seat, for the first time in a while, a Selectmen's seat will become available with the departure of current selectman Walt "Butch" Findeisen. Two candidates have currently announced for the position; Jim Blackman and Chris Karr. Others may declare their intentions at the town meeting, such being the free wheeling nature of the deliberations. Of the 2 declared candidates, Jim has lived in town for a number of years and has been active on the Recreation Commission. Chris has been active in the business community, and is currently president of the Killington Chamber of Commerce, a post that I held for 2 years starting in 2002. Both are nice men, with strong opinions.

In Jim Blackman's case, I have played golf with him on any number of occasions over the years. But other than social settings, I have not had the opportunity to interact much with Jim on community issues, as we have different interests. Jim and his wife have been focused on raising their children and the various community activities associated with being active parents. Mary and I on the other had, have been busy building a business in Killington, having gone through (in my case) the activities of raising children prior to moving to Killington. As a result, our circles don't overlap very much in the community, other than social settings.

My interactions with Chris Karr are a different story. While president of the Killington Chamber, I invited Chris to become a board member and take an active role in the organization, which he did. From my association with the Killington Chamber, I have seen Chris make a transformation over the last 5 years from a local business person primarily focused on their individual business, to a community leader attempting to help move the town of Killington forward in a positive direction. For this reason, I find myself supporting Chris Karr in his bid to become a member of the board of selectmen at Killington.

The other item which will garner much discussion at the town meeting is a proposal to add $0.03 to the tax rate for the next 2 years to fund economic development activities in Killington. Economic development in Killington, whose only "industry" is tourism, in this case means establishing and finding a mechanism to bring more events and activities to the town. The debate on this is sure to be lively, as the town is fairly well split between business who would like to see more activity, and 2 groups of local residents. One group of residents like things the way they are, with business declining. They would prefer a quieter town. The other group of residents, many of whom retired to the area, like the idea of more having activities in town, but want somebody else to pay for them.

My view on this issue is pretty simple.....Killington needs to get it's economic engine restarted. This is not the town I knew and loved when I was visitor. It is not even the same town that Mary and I moved to permanently and started a new business in 10 years ago. So much of what made Killington a vibrant place to visit, has been lost for a number of reasons over the last 10 years.

The sale of the resort to SP Land and the introduction of Powdr Corp should help the resort recover. While plans are not public, implicit in their investment to purchase the resort is a desire to capitalize on their investment. The only way that they can do that in the near and long term is to stimulate growth in visitors to the area; which means spending money on capital improvements to the resort and marketing.

However, the townspeople of Killington would be foolish to look at the changes in ownership in the resort as a new "Sugar Daddy" coming to town. While the transfer of the resort is a very positive piece of economic news for the region, pretending that everything is all better now could be a tragic mistake.

Instead, I believe the sale of the resort should be looked at as a galvanizing event... a new beginning of sorts. It will add energy and vitality to the resort that should be channelled to raise the whole community.

But the only way to effectively do that is to have the community as a whole participate in the revitalization. And that will take time, and effort, and money. And the money needs to come from somewhere. And the only fair community approach to raising money is through taxes. And the only community vehicle in place to raise taxes across the community is the towns property tax. So even though I do not like the idea of raising taxes, unless I hear something different at Town Meeting, I find myself supporting this initiative.

Town meeting day is always interesting. If you are a local resident, make sure you attend, raise any issues you may have, and vote. If you are a non resident, and are interested in civics, it is always a great display of democracy in action. I just hope it's not a powder day. Let it snow!