True friends on a powder day at Killington. 

If you like feet of fresh powder, with continuous snow fall all day, cold temperatures, and a little wind...today was your day at Killington.

The snow storm that is dumping on the Northeast is doing it at Killington. Since starting early this morning, snow has been falling at about an inch an hour at the inn. At 3:00 PM, 19 inches of snow have been recorded at the snow stake, up 10 inches from yesterdays reading. And snow is expected through out the night at Killington with additional accumulations predicted by the National Weather Service.

Additional accumulations are evident on the mountain, as you go higher in elevation. While I jokingly took pictures of my 2 best friends on a day like today, all of the other pictures I took were not usable. They all basically showed white out conditions on the mountain in blowing and drifting snow. And putting a totally white picture on the blog, while it may send a message, is not very interesting.

Suffice to say, however, the snow was superb. While Killington always gets chopped up on powder days, during the couple of hours I sampled the slopes, there were plenty of freshies to be found. This storm, and the unforecasted storm of earlier in the week, will solidify conditions on the mountain. I would expect that with the exception of trails being prepped for the Dew Tour, that Killington will be 100% open over the weekend. And the woods should have the goods!

.....Let it snow!

Hot Air Balloon over Killington. 

Yesterday's surprise storm and continued aggressive snow making are really making a difference in the ski conditions at Killington. The firm surface created by the New Years Warm-Up is being replaced with soft packed powder surfaces all around the resort. High traffic areas still are firm, but many today were under the snow gun getting resurfaced for the MLK weekend.

Snow making operations were visible today in the Stash, on Skye Burst, on Lower Wildfire, Upper and Lower Dream Maker, Sky Lark, Bitter Sweet, High Road, and Double Dipper. While the mountain is continuing to build snow on Lower Skye Burst to support the Dew Tour, they clearly are taking advantage of the cold temperatures to resurface additional terrain all around the resort.

In addition to snow making, the resort saw some excitement in mid-morning as a hot air balloon traversed the mountain complex. Multiple lifts were shut down as a precaution, as the balloon was perilously close to several lift towers while it floated across the resort. Operations at both the Superstar Quad and the K1 Gondola were temporarily halted for safety reasons for about 15 minutes this morning because of the balloon. (I was stuck at Superstar. Coincidentally, Mary was stuck at the K1 Gondola.) After passing through the resort, the balloon gained altitude and was last seen floating towards Okemo in Ludlow...so it goes.

While our friends in Boston and New York brace for the latest snow storm, we at Killington are also watching the skies with eager anticipation. Snow is forecasted for the next couple of days at Killington, putting a nice frosting on the resort for MLK weekend visitors.....Let it snow!

The woods behind the Birch Ridge Inn covered in snow. 

An "Unforecasted" snow storm covered the Killington region with 5 inches of snow early Monday morning. Unfortunately, I was not prepared to take advantage of an unplanned powder day, having a full morning of meetings scheduled days ago which I could not cancel....so it goes.

I plan to get out several days this week to give a full report on conditions leading into MLK weekend. I am sure today was "Glorious".

......Let it snow!

"The Bagel", Mary, and Jane on the slopes on Friday. "Ruts" and "Chuckles" are behind. 

Guests to Killington this Saturday woke up to a nice accumulation of soft powder covering the area from the clipper system cruising through the area. At the inn, a little more than 3 inches of snow accumulated overnight, leaving the inn covered in a blanket of white.

Ski conditions at Killington improved everyday this week. A constant light snow fall, combined with continuous snow making operations at the resort, are responsible. Cold temperatures and Lake Effect precipitation promise more of the same for the coming week.

....Let it snow!

Super Pipe at Bear Mountain under construction for Winter Dew Tour 

Talk of the potential for some snow over the weekend only heighten the enthusiasm of skiers and riders today at Killington. Crisp temperatures and bright sunshine ruled most of the day for those partaking to the temptations of the mountain.

We did our warm up this morning on North Ridge, followed by a run back to the K1 Gondola down East Falls. Rime, Reason, and East Falls were all nicely groomed and coated with an inch or 2 of light fluff from an early morning snow squall.

From there, we traversed over to Bear Mountain for a quick 3 and out. Lower Skyeburst and Dream Maker are closed to support snow making operations for the upcoming Dew Tour visit. Snow making has not started on Outer Limits. Devils Fiddle is a proverbial rock garden. As a result, all skier traffic at Bear Mountain was funneled down Lower Wildfire, creating a veritable obstacle course of skiers and riders of all shapes, sizes and abilities. Ice skates on Lower Wildfire were not mandatory, but I thought I saw someone attempting a Triple Lutz while I was skiing down the trail.

On Bear Mountain, Upper Bear Claw and Upper Wildfire were in nice shape. We did not hit the Stash; not wanting to run the gauntlet of Lower Wildfire for a third time. Upper Skyeburst to the old Snowshed Crossover (yes... you read that right, the Snowshed Crossover is open on Skyeburst) was a nice run over to Cruise Control.

Cruise Control could use a little more snow on it. Skiers right is very thin. Needles Eye was closed for race training. Vertigo was also closed, but there was aggressive snow making taking place on it which was quite visible from the Skyeship. I would expect that Vertigo may become available for the weekend.

I finished my morning with a couple of runs down Sky Lark, Bitter Sweet and Superstar. All were flat and fast with a light fluff coating. Normal traffic areas were showing some wear, but all three skied quite nicely for finishing runs for the morning.

The weather forecast looks like it will continue to be cold over the weekend, allowing the resort to continue their snow making operations. Snow from Mother Nature is also in the forecast, but weatherman shopping is advised, as the forecast runs the gamut for accumulations. In any event, it is snow that we will be receiving, and that is all good.

....Let it snow!

Killington-Pico Rotary Ice Out Hut
(photo supplied by Killington/Pico Rotary Club) 

With the holidays fading quickly into long term memory, it's good to remember that life goes on at Killington all year round. One of the interesting items which has crossed my desk is the announcement by the Killington-Pico Rotary Club of their Ice-Out contest.

The Killington-Pico Rotary Club each year engages in several fundraising projects, such as a golf tournament, pancake breakfast, ski chairs, football raffle tickets, Christmas tree sale, etc. The proceeds from such events help to support various local, national and international charities.

This winter, one of the Rotary Club's fundraising efforts is an Ice-Out Contest on the Grist Mill Pond. The object of the contest is for the ticket purchaser to guess the month, day, hour, minute and second that the ice will "go out" on the pond. The moment of Ice-Out is determined when a 72-pound concrete block drops through the ice. A timing device will determine the exact moment of Ice-Out. The Killington-Pico Rotary Club Ice-Out Hut will be visible for all to monitor the ice-out process on the Grist Mill pond.

This "Ice-Out" contest is a 50/50 event meaning that half of the proceeds (up to $20,000, as limited by Vermont State Law) will be awarded to the winning "Ice-Out" entry. The other half will go toward the Rotary club's projects and charities. Ice-Out tickets are $1.00 per entry and can be printed from your computer at www.KillingtonPicoRotary.org.

In terms of skiing and riding at Killington today, Chef Frizzie was out this morning. He reported that conditions were similar to what we encountered on Tuesday, with the addition of several inches of new fluff on top of the machine groomed granular surface. Temperatures seemed a bit cooler at the peak, as the wind was blowing and drifting the newly fallen snow. (But being a ski resort in winter, new snow is a wonderful thing.)

The forecast calls for snow showers all week, which should continue to do nice things for Killington base depths. Overnight at the inn we received just over an inch of new snow, with more expected each day this week.

....Let it snow!

Snow making operations at Bear Mountain 

It's great to be back out on the mountain again!

Between a brief illness and the holidays, it has been 2 long weeks without a chance to ski Killington. That's too long!

Today we started out at the crack of 10 from the car in the Vale parking lot. A quick trip down to the Rams Head lift saw us traversing over Caper to the Snowdon Quad. A run down Bunny Buster, with a trip down Mouse Trap in the middle, brought us down to the K1 Gondola to boost us over the mountain. On the Rams Head, Snowdon side of the mountain, conditions were loose machine groomed granular. Ice Flows from the recent thaw/freeze were visible on skiers right down both Header (on Rams Head) and Chute (on Snowdon). Natural terrain, like Great Bear, was closed with ropes due to thin cover. Any trail with snow making was generally in good shape, although being college week there were more than a few inexperienced skiers and snow boarders careening down Snowdon.

From our boost on the K1 Gondola, we traversed over Blue Heaven to Bear Trax to Bear Claw. Skiers right on Upper Bear Claw was a little thin, but if you paid attention, it was not a problem. Lower down on Bear Mountain, snow guns were pounding Skyeburst. Preparations are clearly underway to make sure that Bear Mountain is weather proof for the Dew Tour, scheduled for the weekend of January 22/23 in Killington.

We took runs down Bear Claw, Wild Fire, Skyeburst, and through the Stash. All of the trails that had snow making were nice soft powder. Trails where snow making was not ongoing were mixed machine groomed granular.

We finished the morning with runs down Great Eastern to Cruise Control, to get a view of the Vista Deck. It was snowing too hard to stop and enjoy a beverage, but it looks like a great spot for future reference.

The great news about todays conditions is that it has been snowing hard at Killington most of the day. By dinner time tonight, it looks like 2 to 3 inches of light snow has fallen around the inn, judging by the amount I shoveled from the front walk. Snow is in the forecast for the rest of the week, so ski condition should dramatically improve heading into the coming weekend.

....Let it snow!