Snowman ornament on the Birch Ridge Inn Christmas Tree 

Brr. It's -15 degrees farenheight outside... or so it was earlier today according to Siri on my Iphone. And yes, Siri actually goes Brr when it is cold outside.

The faustian bargain our society has made in the name of progress is an iteresting animal. But that is perhaps a subject for another day when the carthasis level is a little lower.

Today we took down the inn's Christmas tree. Unlike when 6 grown men were required to hoist it skyward, after presiding over the Great Room for 5 weeks, it only took Mary and I to take it down and haul it out behind our garden shed. It was still fairly heavy, and it also was pretty steadfast in holding on to it's pine needles; just the attributes one would expect from a tree that was freshly cut prior to the holidays descending upon us all.

With the departure of the tree, the snow men are about to make an appearance around the inn. It will take a few days, as we are still trying to develop a new working pattern after life threw down a curve ball after the holidays, but the snow men will make thier annual appearance decorating the inn for a celebration of winter all around us.

We have been able to venture out on the slopes a couple of days this week. We have been dutifully impressed with Killington's recovery from the wet weather that preceded the holidays. We have an expression..."It's not ice if there are no fish under it". And that is technically true... Just like the structure greeting guests to the inn is not a covered bridge, as it does not traverse a body of water. Techincally it is a snow shed. But it looks like a bridge. What we found on the slopes was a mix of conditions, all starting with your basic eastern hardpack. After that you could find some machine groomed granular, some golf balls, a few death cookies, and of course some freshly made powder from Killington's huge snow making system. Even though they were varied, conditions overall were quite good. And with light snow now falling virtually continiously due to the very cold temperatures (Mother Nature is wringing out all residual moisture in the atmosphere over the top of Killington), it looks like conditions for skiing and riding can only get better.

And that is a good message for life... it can only get better!

Where ever you may be, keep warm, think thoughts of skiing/riding, and let it snow!

Let it Snow! 

Readers of Killingtonblog over the almost 10 years of it's existence can descern patterns in my writing to reflect where we are in life at any given time during the course of the year.

When the little moments in life take a left turn, my go to phrase is from Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughter House Five": "So it Goes".

Of course, Vonnegut is also incorrectly attributed across the internet for the phrase I use to close the blog in the summer; "Don't forget your sunscreen". It is actually a paraphrase from a 1997 Chicago Tribune column from Mary Schmich "Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young." Of course it is so Vonnegonian that the legend still persists rampantly on the web to this day.

Speaking of the young, let's not forget the great Brittish science fiction series "Doctor Who". In Season 12, the Fourth Doctor played by Tom Baker tells his then female companion Sarah Jane: "There's no point in being grown-up if you can't be childish sometimes." Words that all of us of a certain age should remember and act upon regularly as we careen through life.

Another one of the phases I use on occasion is from the great Douglas Adam's Trilogy (of 4 books) the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" : "Don't Panic". When you live at a resort that is in many regards dominated by the weather, this is a good phrase to keep in mind.

Which leads me to the phrase that I usually close the blog with for the winter season, so appropriate for today. As cold weather descends upon Killington as we head into the new year, the only phrase that matters is a simple one from a song written by Lyricist Sammy Cahn and composer Jule Styne in 1945...

Let it snow!

Santa looking over the Great Room from the Birch Ridge Inn Christmas Tree. 

Mary and I ask that you accept our humble wish that you and your family have a joyful holiday season.

While over the course of the year, life will have its ups and downs, the holiday season is a time to appreciate all the good that one has. There will be time to take an inventory of the changes one should make with the arrival of the New Year. But over the holidays, all we ask is that you reflect on the good in your life, and that you share the good with those who love you and are close to you.

The r@!n of the last 36 hours has departed Killington. It has been replaced by gusty winds, falling temperatures, and a hint of snow in the air.

While the r@!n caused a reduction in the snow pack, the natural snow on the ground around the Birch Ridge Inn is still measuring 9 inches at the snow stake. At the resort, at higher elevations, and on trails which saw a tremendous volume of snow making activites over the last several weeks, the base depth of the snow should be significantly higher. It should be a nice week to come to Killington and enjoy some holiday skiing and riding.

The Great Room at the Birch Ridge Inn will be open. We will be serving a nice selection of local beers, wines from around the world and fine spirits. Stop bye and enjoy a beverage under the inn's 14 foot Christmas Tree or in front of the fireplace in the Great Room Lounge.

Where ever you may be this holiday season, may the spirit of Christmas bring joy and comfort to your heart.

Let it snow!

Chef Frizzie preparing his famous dinner rolls. 

Yesterday was probably the hardest day of my life. Even harder than the day my father died this May, if that is possible. My father, and those who love him, knew he was approaching his end of days. Although he died quite suddenly, it was an inevitability. But nothing had prepared Mary or I for what we learned yesterday afternoon.

At about 4:00 PM, a Vermont State Trooper arrived at the front door of the Birch Ridge Inn. He had been asked to come to the inn by the wife of our chef. Earlier that afternoon, when she returned from work, she had found her husband, our dear friend, and dedicated employee, dead at home.

Chef Stephen Byrne joined the Birch Ridge Inn family in mid November 9 years ago. Virtually every day, whether he was scheduled to work or not, Chef Frizzie came to the inn. He quickly became an integral part of our lives. Most people know Chef Frizzie for his skills in the kitchen. We know Chef Frizzie as a great chef. But we also know him as a father who was so proud of his children, a devoted husband, a lumberjack, a finish carpenter, a hunter, a crazy skier, a solitary hiker with his dog in the woods, a snow plow driver, the ultimate staff taxi/rescuer, and most of all, a great friend.

The last time we saw Frizz was around 2 when he stepped out of the inn for his afternoon break.

I was planning to write today about the Christmas holidays...about the great menu Chef Frizzie was preparing to share with our guests. I wanted to tell you that even though it was raining outside, and rain is a horrible thing at a ski resort during Christmas week, that it would be ok because the sun is forecasted to come out on Christmas Day. I wanted to write about the happiness of the holidays and the anticipation of the New Year.

But I can't.

Stephen Byrne... Frizzie, may you rest in peace.

Looking north up the spine of the Green Mountains. Clouds moving in on Snowden, Rams Head, and Pico Peaks. 

We needed to take one last lap of the Killington Resort before the holidays. While we may try to squeeze a day on the snow in before the new year, the probability is low given the number of guests we are expecting at the inn.

Just like Friday, the resort was making snow in many places to prepare the mountains for the holidays. The cold weather that has settled across the area has been just ideal for the resort to make veritable mountains of snow. With a little luck, the resorts obvious strategy to "weather proof" skiing and riding at Killington during the holiday period will pay off. We will know fairly soon.

Today we hit most major mountain groups at the resort, including runs down Skye Burst, Cruise Control, Bitter Sweet, Skye Lark and Superstar off of Skye Peak; Great Northern, Rime, Reason, East Fall (Upper and Lower), and Ridge Run off Killington Peak; and Bunny Buster, Mouse Trap, Chute, and Great Bear on Snowdon.

Surfaces through out the resort were groomed packed powder. Bases were firm, but were basically ice free. A surface fog a couple of inches thick played tricks with visibility on Skye Burst and Superstar on Skye Peak. In both instances, the groomers had left fairly smooth surfaces going down the hill. But voids in the snow cover left depressions on the back sides of some small bumps. As they were hidden by the ground fog, when they were hit at speed the ground would literally drop away from your skiis. It is not quite like deliberately taking air, but there was a definite momentary feeling of weightlessness as you went airborne for what seemed like no apparent reason.

The resort was stockpiling huge whales of snow on Wild Fire at Bear and on Double Dipper/Cascasde at K-Peak. When and if they move the piles would be anyones guess, but they appear ready for what ever weather comes the resorts way.

My last run of the day was from the Snowdon Quad down Chute. I noticed from the chair that Great Bear was nicely bumped, so I dropped in off Chute to give the legs a final pre-Christmas work out. The bumps were fairly soft, and regular, allowing for a nice line at a quick yet comfortable pace. My pace was so quick, that I beat Mary back to the K-1 base lodge, even though she was skiing straight out. Now I usually ski faster than Mary, so that is not really unusual. What was unusual, was that I took the bump route down Great Bear. It just shows how nice the bumps were over there, and how good a line I could find and hold as I skied my way down. Every bump run should be so enjoyable!

Some weather looks like it will be moving into Killington on late Tuesday. As is usually the case this time of year, you can shop your forecast until you find one you like. While the concensus is for a wind driven r@!n storm along the Atlantic coast hitting the major east coast cities, in the mountains it looks like it will at least start out as snow before the cold air over hanging the region gets pushed out by warmer air from the south. By early afternoon on Christmas day most forecasters are predicting that the storm will be exiting the region, leaving nice weather with comfortble temperatures in place for most of next week.

Weather is as weather does. We will have a good time over Christmas no matter what Mother Nature decides to throw at us.

Speaking of Christmas, on both Christmas Eve and Christmas night the restaurant at Birch Ridge will be serving a special Christmas holiday menu. You can find the menu online at killingtonblog.com/christmas_menu.php. If you would like reservations, you can give us a call at the inn at 802.422.4293.

Where ever you may be, have a very Merry Christmas.

Let it snow!

Snow guns crushing lower Skye Burst 

It was nice to go skiing today, instead of being behind a 500lb snow blower for 3 hours. Don't get me wrong. We love snow. But we also love to get out and play in it as well.

Skiing and riding today at the Killington Resort were full on min-winter conditions. While there were peeks of blue sky on occaision, for the most part todays activities took place in temperatures that were in the low 20's under light cloud hanging at about 4100 feet.

Our ski journey today took us to Bear Mountain, Skye Peak, Killington Peak and Snowdon.

At Bear Mountain, aggressive snow making was taking place on Wildfire and Skye Burst. Surfaces were loose machine made fresh powder. My new skiis handled fairly well in the stuff, once I stopped making aggressive, tail bashing, turns. it is clear that the resort was going all out to make sure that conditions at Bear Mountain will be excellent during the holidays. Given all of the snow that has fallen in the area in the last 10 days, it would have been easy for the resort to pass on making new snow. To their credit, they have gone in the opposite direction, taking advantage of the colder tempertures to make a very high quality product.

From Bear Mountain we took our normal loop over to the Needles Eye area. We did not ski Needles, as it has basically stayed all bumpded and knarly from last weekend. We did do Cruise Control several times. it was set up nicely as a high speed groomer. We also went down Vertigo. The steep headwall of Vertigo was fairly flat. The surface was hard, but not ice. Making deliberate turns down the Vertigo headwall was easily achievable.

Also on Skye Peak, Bitter Sweet, Sky Lark and Superstar were all skiing nice. Middle Superstar was a little choppy from grooming machines working the hardpack, but the Upper and Lower headwalls were in nice condition.

Over on Killington Peak, the Canyon area is also seeing heavy snow making. Every available snow gun position was in use on Double Dipper to make snow on that trail. it was an impressive display of the power of the resorts snow making system, even though it made for a cold and noisy ride on the Canyon Quad.

With cold weather in place for at least the next couple of days, expect the resort to continue to make snow in many areas. It shoudl be a very good holiday period of skiing and riding at Killington.

Let it snow!

Superstar and Skye Peak in bright sunshine above the clouds 

Delightful...

The Killington Resort skiis so nice when the majority of trails are open. It is hard to believe it is Mid December.

We have to be caareful about boasting, because Mother Nature can give us the goods, but she can also take them away. But today, at least, Mother Nature was being very kind to all of the skiers and riders who were visiting Killington.

Ski conditions were predominately slightly bumped au natural packed powder. The resort was making snow on some trails to base build for the upcoming holidays; but for the most part they were soaking up the glow of the sunshine on last weeks copious snow fall.

In general, the mountain was skiing great with the exception of minor visibility problems caused by a thermal inversion. The mountain peaks down to the 3000 foot level were for the most part in bright sunshine accented by a stunning blue ski and a late fall crescent moon. Below 3000 feet, there was a 200 foot thick cloud bank which limited visibility. Below the cloud bank, the sunlight was greatly muted, but other than a little darkness visibility had returned.

The terrain at Killington was basically what you made of it. Rams Heas was groomed flat for easy cruising. Snowdon down Chute and Mouse Trap was firm to allow one to practive their mid winter self control. Superstar was an idylic groomed cruiser, while Upper Ovation and Sky Hawke on either side were a bumpers paradise. Bitter Sweet and Sky Lark had some texture. Some thinking was required to negotiate sections. Needles Eye was bumps as far as the eye could see. No matter what kind of terrain you wanted today, it was all there and it was all good.

Now...if Mother Nature will just let it stay that way.....

Let it snow!