K1 Gondola station in the falling snow. 

Here is a question to ponder... as we get older... does a loop down Bunny Buster with a pull up on the Poma count as one run or two?

I got to the K1 base lodge this morning around 8:50. A good collection of the local Killington crew were already there, assembling their bits and pieces to go out and assault the hill. It was a good mix of people today. Some had already been out several times. For some, it was their first day. But with a light snow falling, there was a sense of anticipation about being able to get out doors onto the mountain to begin skiing.

Weather conditions this morning were less than ideal. A light, moist, snow was falling...Temperatures were in the high 20's.. the cloud deck was just above the K1 base lodge at no more than 3000 feet. At least it was not cold and it was snowing!

We took the K1 to the peak and did some laps in the North Ridge area. Snow surface conditions were good. By our 4th lap, the center of Rime was getting a little slick, but on skiers right near the woods, and skiers left under the lift, conditions were great. There were some nice, soft, little bumps on the right and left, just spaced every so often that you needed to pay attention, but no so often that you would work up a sweat.

We then did the previously mentioned loops off of the Poma lift on Bunny Buster. Bunny Buster itself was closed for race training, but Mouse Run to Great Northern was in good shape. Worth doing over on early season legs.

The comical part of the day occurred on the Poma lift. The lifty was a nice foreign gentleman, probably new to the job. He had a problem on his timing releasing the lift grips which attach to the lift cable. On both loops through the lift, when I got on the lift the launching was like a fighter plane off a carrier flight deck. Instead of timing the lift release with my entrance to the lift, the lifty waited for me to ski out, grab the lift pole, and come to a complete stop before engaging the lift gip. Both times the lift engaged I went airborne, getting about 3 feet into the air with about a 10-12 foot flight before landing. It was actually quiet amusing. I stuck the landing both times. (And the second time I was ready for it!) One young lady snow boarder, who was obviously many pounds lighter than I, was in front of me the second time through. She was launched about 25 feet in the air, carrying quite a way up slope before landing. She was not expecting it and landed in a heap. But she quickly regained her composure, slid back down to the starting gate, and got launched for a second time. Of course she knew what was coming so she was able to hit the landing and hold on the the lift at the same time.

We then took a run over the the Superstar chair for a run down Skye Lark and Bitter Sweet. Snow surfaces were ok if not a little choppy, but visibility was still pretty sketchy. We only did one run here. This week is Pro-Jam week at Killington. Ski Instructors from all over the North East are at Killington for on snow training. By the time we go to Skye Lark, the trails were starting to get crowded with the visiting instructors. It seemed like a good time to go.

Killington is continuing to blow snow. We saw guns going on Powerline at North Ridge and Bitter Sweet off Skye Peak. Even with the poor visibility, it was a pretty good day to be out on the slopes.

Home page of Killingtonlodging.com 

If anyone was questioning when the ski season would really kick off in the east, this weekend should give them the answer. Ski traffic in Killington this weekend has been strong. The mountain is blowing snow on intermediate and expert terrain all over the place. (Today snow making operations were visible on Middle Superstar, Upper Bittersweet, Skye Lark, and Cascades.) Ski shops, restaurants, and hotels are reporting a good uptick in business. And the guests in the area appear to be genuinely happy to be out on the mountains again. A very good weekend overall.

In addition to being an innkeeper, some of you may know that I also do a lot of internet marketing activities, much of it related to promoting the Killington area and our inn. One of my projects over the last several weeks has been a complete overhaul of a website we use to do joint marketing with several other lodging properties in the area called Killingtonlodging.com. For the techie's out there, in addition to regular html, the site uses multiple scripting languages including both php and javascript combined with web 2.0 capabilities implemented in AJAX (asynchronous Javascript and XML). The site was cut over last night from it's test site. I have carried over a lot of nice features I developed for other websites including photo galleries I developed for the blog - killingtonblog.com - and google mapping functions, and weather functions I developed for another website I created this summer - Killingtonlinks.com. If you have a few minutes, take a look at both sites. They should be able to help you if you are planning a Killington vacation.

Trees on Skye Peak embraced by snow. 

Give the people what they want and they will respond, to paraphrase P.T. Barnum.

A nice coating of snow on the mountains has brought the people out to enjoy the early winter at Killington. With 24 trails opened, and more scheduled as snow making permits, Killington is boasting the most open ski terrain on the East Coast this weekend, and the activity around town supports that claim.

Overnight, we continued to have a light dusting of accumulating snow. While the snow stake has actually receded a little due to settling, the area is blanketed in a nice white coat. Guests in the area are all telling us that they are very happy between the mix of skiing, shopping, and other pre-holiday activities happening in the area. In addition to skiing and riding at Killington, guests are attending the Vermont Holiday Festival at the Killington Grand Hotel, and Wassail Weekend in neighboring Woodstock Vermont.

Mary - First day out of the 2006/2007 season 

Lot's to talk about today....We are skiing! We got Snow! We are Ready!

First the details...Last night Killington experienced a reasonable snow storm, dropping about 3 inches of snow around the inn. The mountain probably received more, but with all of the snow guns going it was hard to separate real versus man made. We had been talking yesterday about going skiing today, but there was still the possibility that we would take a pass. For those of you who remember your physics, one of Newton's laws of motion states that a body at rest stays at rest unless acted upon by an outside force. Well 3 inches of light fluffy snow outside the inn was just enough of a force to cause us to gather up all of our equipment and head to the mountain.

We arrived fashionably late for us, getting to the hill around 9:30. The parking lots were packed. People from all over responded to last nights storm and decided today was the day. After taking a boost from the K1 gondola, we did laps up on Rime. The snow was a collection of really nice, soft little bumps. The kind of set up that March legs would relish, but December, first time out, legs got a work out. It was very cool up on the mountain, probably high single digits, with a combination of the Killington Cloud and snow guns causing the sun to play hide and seek.

Top of Skyelark Guns going at entrance to Bittersweet

After fooling around at the North Ridge area (formerly the Glades), while Mary went in to take off her boots, I took off to try Skye Lark and Bittersweet. I took the Superstar quad up. Superstar looks like they could get it open with about 24 hours of snow making, but I am sure there are other priorities. The resort was blowing snow on the Superstar Headwall near the lift terminal. When I got off of the lift, a severe case of vertigo set in. The Wind was whipping up slope, causing a large portion of the snow output from the snow guns on the headwall to fall just to the left of the lift terminal. I doubt I could see my ski's, it was sooooo thick. I saw several people push off to the right towards the Skye Peak gondola station. I kept telling myself to go left, and eventually I found my way to the top of Skye Lark. But it was a pretty hairy couple of minutes.

Skye Lark had guns going from just below the top all the way to the bottom. The snow being produced was fairly light and dry, so there were no problems with it sticking to equipment, but the new high efficiency guns put out so much snow that again there was no visibility. I skied down to Lower Bittersweet. There were still a few guns running there, but most had been turned off.

"Toyland" The Birch Ridge Inn Christmas Tree at the Vermont Holiday Festival

Bittersweet had not been groomed, so there were huge snow whales where ever the snow guns dropped their snow. My December legs were warmed up enough by this point that I enjoyed skiing up and down the whales. I would bet, however, that Killington will have lower Bittersweet groomed out tomorrow to help manage skier traffic. Even though the mountain was busy, because of the snow guns, there were only a few people in the Superstar area.

All in all, it was a very nice first day out skiing for the season. Now if work does not get in the way.......

One final note, last night we went to the Killington Grand to take in the Vermont Holiday Festival. Over 100 trees are beautifully decorated and on display for the general public. If you are in Killington this weekend, you should go to the Grand and vote for your favorite tree.

VT Holiday Festival ablaze in Christmas Lights 

It is a little warmer today at Killington. Temperatures at the inn are in the high 30's. The couple of inches of snow around the inn are melting, even though there is still a light snow flurry coming down from the sky. Snowmaking at the mountain has slowed down for the day with the warmer temperatures. But it is sure to resume this evening when temps get below freezing. The weather service is predicting temps below freezing for the next week, with light snow in the forecast for tonight. We can hope.

Mary and I have been threatening each other with going out on the mountain to ski. With preparation for the holidays, we have not been able to get out yet. Our ski's have been in the shop being tuned for the last 3 weeks (Our fault. we neglected to pick them up..) But, assuming the weather is nice tomorrow, it looks like Friday may be the day.

Just a tease...
The top of the Christmas Tree
at the Birch Ridge Inn 

The Third Annual Vermont Holiday Festival is set to kick off in Killington this weekend. Over 100 Christmas trees, decorated by local businesses and residents, will be on display at the Killington Grand Hotel. The trees may be viewed at the Killington Grand from Thursday December 7 through Saturday December 9th. Trees may be viewed Thursday and Friday evenings from 5 to 9 PM, and Saturday from 12 Noon until 9 PM. In addition to the trees, the festival also features a Santa's workshop for the kids, and Sleigh Rides. Historically, this has been a great family event. Mary was up at the Grand this morning decorating our tree for the festival. Based upon the number of trees being decorated, it should be a nice event to put you in the holiday spirit at Killington this weekend.

Blowing snow covering Killington! 

Hopefully there is a trend going!

For the second day in a row, light snow has been falling at Killington. Slowly but surely the ground in the region is taking on a white coat as the snow accumulates. We have not had much, about an inch or 2, but it has lifted the spirits of residents and visitors to the area greatly.

On the mountain, the resort is continuing to blow snow down the Great Northern route to the K1 base lodge. However, that is not all. On a very positive note, they have also begun snowmaking operations on Snowshed, and in the Bittersweet/Skylark area. By the weekend, they are promising to have both open, and to be running the Superstar Quad. The ski season looks like it has finally arrived!