Lower Bunny Buster from the Snowdon Triple 

Winter is here....finally!

It was a balmy 4 degrees at 8:55 this morning when I parked the car in the K1 lot. Wind was cruising at a comfortable 10-15. Snow guns were kicking up snow everywhere you looked. And some real white stuff was falling from the sky. If you ignore the fact that there was no sun to be found, it was a perfect day.

The resort was running the K1 Gondola, the Snowdon Triple and the North Ridge Triple this morning. The Superstar quad was spinning in preparation for the weekend. The Canyon quad was being cleaned off. It looked like some work was being done this morning on the Snowdon Quad, but it was hard to tell.

In general, all of the terrain on the Killington Peak side of the resort through Snowdon was accessible. With the exception of an oops, everything was covered with 2-3 inches of nice fluff over a packed powder surface. Where skier traffic was more pronounced, nice soft little piles of snow were developing. Just the right thing to get early season legs working.

The oops of the day was the true East Falls. It is hard to tell exactly what happened, but a combination of the grooming and the wind left it chuncky and devoid of surface snow. It was in marked contrast to Rime, Reason, and Upper East Falls, which were beautifully soft with powder puffs everywhere.

The other interesting trail was Highline. Highline was filled with medium sized soft bumps down the headwall, and ankle deep powder on lower skiers right all the way to the junction with Spillway. The medium bumps will be delightful if they are there in 6 weeks, as my legs will be more receptive to their charms. But this is still pretty early in the season, and my legs let me know about it on Highline.

The run of the day was Chute down to Lower Bunny Buster. It is not often that this would be the run of the day, but Chute was covered in really nice ankle deep fluff the whole way down from the top of Snowdon. Even with the cold and the slow chairs, it was worth a do over.

The resort is poised for a major terrain expansion over the weekend. Look for Snowshed and Superstar to be open this weekend, along with all of the terrain on Killington Peak and Snowdon. And with constant snow flurries predicted, surfaces should continue to stay nicely soft for some great early season skiing and riding.

......let it snow!

Snow fall measurements at the Birch Ridge Inn Snow Stake over the last 24 hours. 

-- 9:00 PM Update --Snow at the inn has ceased for now. Minimal accumulation occured late this afternoon. As of now, the snow stake stands at 10 1/4 inches. Total accumulation at the inn for the storm was just under 7 inches at the inn.. --- Remember, the snow stake at the inn is at 1850 feet, about 800 feet lower in altitude than the K1 Base Lodge, and 2400 feet lower than the top of Killington Peak. Snow totals will vary with altitude. ---

-- 2:00 PM Post --The first major snow storm of the 2009/2010 ski season hit Killington this morning. Starting in the early morning hours, the area has been experiencing very heavy snow, high winds, and cold temperatures.

Overnight, a little more than 2 inches of snow fall was recorded at the snow stake by 8:30 AM. By mid day, over 6 inches of new snow was recorded at the snow stake, roughly accumulating at 1 inch an hour.

I did head to the mountain this morning with the intention of getting a few runs. Due to high winds, the K1 Gondola and the North Ridge Triple were not running. Only the Snowdon Quad was operational. Wind was traveling straight up the lift line. On my ride to the top, the lift stopped 3 times as very heavy wind gusts rocked the chairs back and forth.

White out conditions were present at the top of Snowdon at 10:00 AM. Snow surfaces were wind blown packed powder. Temperatures were probably in the high teens, low 20's. Visibility was near zero in blowing and drifting snow.

I tracked down Mouse Run to Great Northern, Chute, and Lower Bunny Buster. Conditions were pretty nasty, with multiple stops required to find the trails, and clear goggles. In addition, my camera lens froze after shooting the video below at the top of Snowdon. With no camera, white out conditions, end extreme cold, my day on the hill turned into an uncharacteristic 1 and done!

So you get an idea of conditions on the mountain, I shot a short video at the top of Bunny Buster and Mouse Run, looking down Killink towards Killington Peak. Killink is visible between the trees, but Killington Peak is totally invisible in the snow. The wind was howling like a jet engine.

When I took this video, I was sheltered by the trees between Bunny Buster and Mouse Run. Just after shooting this video, I headed left down Mouse Run, directly into the wind driven stream of snow you see in the video. It was an interesting run.

......Let it snow!

Birch Ridge Inn on Facebook 

As part of the "Snow Dance Video" promotion, which Killington ran on Facebook, I thought it would only be appropriate to create a presence for the Birch Ridge Inn there. I have been running it now for about 3 weeks, trying to figure out how it all works.

The Facebook page for the Birch Ridge Inn is at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Killington-VT/Birch-Ridge-Inn/197967789624. I am not sure how the adventure will proceed..but it is fun to learn new things. Look us up on Facebook and become a fan if you like.

Around the inn today it is pretty quiet. Mary is down in Boston helping out her folks. I have been holding fort in Killington, mostly doing routine maintenance around the inn, along with some web site work for some ongoing marketing campaigns. With some luck, I will be able to get out on the mountain later in the week to check out snow conditions.

Outside it is a pretty grey day. Light snow flurries are falling off and on. No accumulation to speak of; just a little reminder that winter has finally arrived to Killington. The resort, on the other hand, is starting to crank up the volume. With the help from Mother Nature over the weekend, they are able to expand beyond limited terrain maintenance and begin their push to open more trails. Snowmaking is reported to be underway on Lower East Fall, Lower Bittersweet, and parts of Highroad. Upper Skyelark cannot be far behind, based upon the resorts announced plans. With a little bit of luck, it looks like the ski season at Killington is here to stay for the winter.

......let it snow!

Killington Snow Dance Winner Kara McQueeney under the Christmas Tree at the Birch Ridge Inn. 

A couple of weeks ago, the Birch Ridge Inn and the Killington Resort ran a "Snow Dance" promotion. The winner received a 2 night stay at the inn, 2 adult 2 day ski tickets, dinner at the Look Out, and tickets to the Bad Fish concert at the Pickle Barrel. Friday night, the winner, Kara McQueeney, checked in to the inn to spend the weekend at Killington. Early Saturday morning, before sunrise, it started snowing. Light snow/snow flurries fell all day. By late in the day, it started to accumulate and cover most surfaces. The Killington Road was even closed for a while due to snow, something that is almost unheard of in these parts. (Cars were careening out of control in a few places due to icing as the snow got packed onto the road surface by traffic.)

Go figure.....

At the inn, the Snow Stake registered a respectable 4 1/2 inches. Given that the ground is not frozen, I was quite surprised when I took the picture this morning. Even though we are due to have cold temperatures the next few days, I expect the reading to go down as the snow melts from the bottom up. But it great to see snow on the ground all around Killington again.

Maybe we should run another contest?

Kara's video can be found on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=576616219799&oid=34949209400 (log in required).

......let it snow!

Snow Making taking place on Highline at Killington 

Let it snow...let it snow...let it snow!

There has been a decided shift in the weather pattern at Killington and the resort is attempting to capitalize on it. Temperatures leading into Saturday dropped below freezing, allowing the Killington Resort to restart snow making operations with a vengeance.

Even in the middle of a relatively busy Saturday, the resort continuously made snow on all open terrain. In addition, terrain expansion has begun. Snow making was visible on all of the trails on Snowdon, and on Highline back to the K1 base lodge.

The Christmas Tree at the Birch Ridge Inn. From Left. Noel, Connie, Howie, Dick, Mary, Billy B., Charlotte, Carolyn(seated) and George. Click to enlarge.

Snow flurries have been in the air all day at Killington. Negligible accumulations were occurring until around 2PM this afternoon, at which point snow began to generally coat exposed surfaces. At 5:00 PM at the inn, snow has covered all grassy surfaces. Snow is also accumulating on aslphalt surfaces and on local roadways. The first night of snow (very late in the year) is usually interesting. Snow plows and sand truck are moving up and dawn the Killington Road (Yea!!!). it looks like winter has finally begun.

Christmas Tree Update: The Christmas Tree in the Great Room of the Birch Ridge Inn was officially unveiled last night to a nice crowd. The tree will be on display through the New Year. Stop in during your next visit to Killington.

......let it snow!

All eyes are on the thermometer. 

Oh the weather outside is frightful...whoops...not yet...well maybe..I'm so confused...

That just about sums up the weather at Killington the last 12 hours. Overnight, a warm moist storm system rolled through the area with heavy r@!n. At mid morning, the storm has lifted, leaving in it's wake some fairly strong winds, a little drizzle, and a lot of cloud cover. Now the wait begins... When with the temperature fall enough to allow the resort to re-light their snow making system and get on with winter?

I did travel up to the mountain at mid morning. The K1 gondola was turning. There were people skiing and riding, mostly Killington Mountain School and College Ski Team types in training. The cloud cover at the top of the mountain was too thick to take any decent pictures from the base, but it did look like the run out along lower Bunny Buster to the K1 Gondola did survive the weather event.

Dangling crystal ornament on the Christmas Tree. Click to enlarge.

The temperature forecast for the next week looks like it is heading to the basement. That will be great from the standpoint of Killingtons' snowmakers. Killington has laid out an aggressive plan to expand terrain over the next 7 to 10 days. Cold weather is the key. Of course, how it will effect tomorrows surface conditions remains to be seen. I did bring our skis over to the Forerunner Ski Shop this morning to get them tuned up on the chance we hit the mountain tomorrow.

Christmas Tree Update: Most of the ornaments are now hung on the tree. Stop by the inn this weekend for it's first public viewing of the holiday season.

......let it snow!

Killington Peak in the sun. 

The Killington Resort reopened for skiing and riding this morning under a beautiful blue sky. Mother Nature, of course, also left skiers and riders with a little reminder that she is in charge...the sunshine was filtered by a haze most likely caused by humidity entering the area in advance of a weather event predicted for tonight.

The resort has stated that with todays reopening, that they will try to keep open for the duration of the ski season. From my on slope observations, they have made copious amounts of snow on the trails in the North Ridge section of the mountain. They also seemed to have taken a different tact on the lower trails leading to K1. More on that later.

Skiing and riding today were supported by the K1 Gondola and the North Ridge Triple. Full top to bottom skiing was provided with no walking required to reload the gondola. Upper trails including Rime, Reason, Upper East Fall, Upper Double Dipper, Upper Great Northern, and Ridge Run were covered in soft snow with little evidence of the firm base which must be lurking underneath. Other than an occasional Cat track, surfaces were groomed smooth with small bumps forming due to skier and rider traffic. I did hit one Cat track by surprise on Ridge Run leading back to the North Ridge Triple. My legs were in better shape than I thought as I was able to stay upright and ski through it.

Snow on Great Northern stayed relatively soft until the junction with Highline. At that point, in what is probably an effort to maintain the base and shed any non-crystaline precipitation that may be headed out way, the resort created a packed powder candy coating on the trail. The hard pack was maintained through Middle Chute and Lower Bunny Buster. Clearly the resort wants a base on these trails so they can cover them with snow quickly for the coming weekend.

Lights are up on the Christmas Tree. Click to enlarge.

In addition to the open terrain this morning, there was evidence of snow making visible on upper trails of Snowdon. A resort spokesman said last night at a Killington Chamber of Commerce mixer that the resort intends to open the top of Snowdon this weekend, with the Snowdon Quad. Of course this was wrapped in weather caveats, so we will have to wait and see.

The weather Forecast for the area does not look good overnight. After that, it appears that we are due for an extended cold stretch, which should allow the resort to rapidly expand terrain. Mother Nature may also give us some help on Saturday, if the Weather Channel is to be believed. (Usually I don't most of the time, by we need a break here..so shop your forecasts wisely!)

Christmas Tree Update: Mary is making good progress decorating the inns Christmas Tree. White lights have been strung on the tree. (This years motif is the Crystal tree.) The ornaments have been brought down from the attic. They are queued up all over the Great Room waiting to be hung on the tree. With luck it should be all done for public viewing when we open our restaurant this Friday evening.

......let it snow!