Whales of snow on Mousetrap waiting to be groomed. 

2 more days to go.

I drove up to the mountain early this morning. A beautiful blue sky with nice, crisp, clean air bathed the mountain in a surreal glow. Huge whales of snow blown by Killington's snowmaking system were casting shadows across the mountain, waiting to be spread out on the trails. It's time.

Last night, temperatures at the inn were surprisingly below freezing. Today's forecast for the area is for warm weather followed by a prolonged cooling trend. Light snow is predicted for late tonight carrying through on Thursday and Friday. (We can only hope.) It looks like it should be a nice opening day at Killington. If you have it in your head to break out into a snow dance...now would be a good time.

2 more days and counting.... Let it snow!

Run out to K1 Base Lodge
on Lower Bunny Buster
after last's nights precipitation. 

Non-crystaline precipitation (NCP - aka r@*n) fell briefly overnight bringing an end to Killington's aggressive snowmaking efforts. With 3 days and counting till the opening of ski season at Killington, competing resorts in New England are probably grinning like cheshire cats that the snow guns of Killington have been silenced. Much has been written in the media and the blogosphere about Killington not being the first ski resort in the east to open this year, but it is a long season. Cold weather is predicted to return to the area on Wednesday evening with light snow in the forecast on Thursday. It will be an interesting run up to Friday morning when the first lifts are scheduled to turn at Killington.

Personal commentary as we head into the new ski season: As I have written in the past, as a business owner in Killington, I am by nature an optimist. With new owners of the resort, and climate change lapping at the mountain tops, there is plenty of reason for high anxiety as we near the planned start of the Killington ski season. But ponder this for a moment...Killington has an altitude advantage over competing resorts with some of the highest lift serviced skiing in the Northeast. Killington has the largest snow making system in skiing. The new owners have spent the summer, and millions of dollars, repairing it to allow it to operate effectively this winter. But owning the largest snow making system in skiing does not mean much if it is not turned on. The new owners did just that, with a vengeance, over the last 10 days. But the resort is not yet open, and 10 days of snow blowing is not a season.

It is clear from my conversations with the new Killington owners and members of the resort management team over the last couple of weeks that they are committed to elevate the quality of the skiing product at Killington, to recover the reputation that Killington is a "Skiers Mountain". The new team definitely seemed a little "gun shy" about opening this past weekend, because they wanted the season opening day to be memorable. Whether or not this was a tactical error in promoting the resort, given the high variability in the weather at Killington in November, remains to be seen. Assuming the quality of the skiing product delivered by the Killington Resort lives up to the whisper line being delivered to the locals at Killington, then many start up hiccups will fade quickly from view. Although it has gotten shorter the last couple of years, it really still is a long ski season in the mountains here in Killington.

I, myself, am looking forward to skiing later this week; to be on the mountain enjoying the reason Mary and I gave up corporate jobs down south and moved to the state of Vermont full time 10 years ago. A lot of people are lucky enough to ski or ride a few weekends each season at Killington. Many call Killington their "home mountain"; they have seasons passes and real estate in the community. A few of us are really fortunate. We live here in the majesty of the Green Mountains. Skiing transcend being a hobby or a passion, it becomes a way of life. It's time!

3 more days and counting.... Let it snow!

Run out to K1 Base Lodge on Lower Bunny Buster 

Snow making continued overnight at Killington. Temperatures at the inn (elevation 1870') dropped into the high teens. Presumably, unless there was some freak temperature inversion, the mountain was very cold last night as well.

This morning, snow making was going full blast down Chute to the Snowdon Quad. Snowmaking had ceased on lower Bunny Buster. Huge piles of snow were in evidence at the base of Bunny Buster, and near the K1 and Snowdon Triple lift areas.

All kinds of activity was going on near the K1 base. There was a large mix of delivery vehicles bringing supplies to the base lodge, and various pieces of construction equipment. Construction machines have re-graded the area where the queue forms to get on the K1 Gondola. A drilling machine was next to K1. Yesterday while walking near the Superstar Chair, new 4 by 4's had been installed to create a new maze system for Superstar. Perhaps the same thing will be set up at K1.

4 more days and counting.... Let it snow!

Killington in all it's pre-season glory 

Ski season at Killington is almost here. 5 days and counting.

While conversation around town invariably drifted towards wondering why Killington did not open this weekend, let it be said that the new owners of Killington are pounding the mountain with snow making operations to prepare for opening the ski season at Killington this coming Friday. Snow making operations are going full bore on the Killington peak side of the mountain with guns clearly pumping out snow at the Peak, on Upper Downdraft, all through the North Ridge area (formerly called the Glades), and over on Chute, Mousetrap and Bunny Buster.

Killington ambassadors were on station in the K1 parking lot asking people to refrain from hiking on trails where snow making operations are ongoing. They had no problem with hikers staying on trails where no snow making was in progress. I hiked around the K1 base lodge and up Bittersweet to get some better views of the snow making. Suffice to say, they are clearly trying to make next weekends opening the biggest in the last couple of years with much more terrain being open than what's usually available for the first weekend of the season.

I plan on posting shots of the mountain all week in preparation for the opening. Over the weekend, my parents came to Killington to visit before the start of the holiday season. Dad came up with me as I walked up Bittersweet. He was "impressed" at how cold the mountain was (the ground was frozen pretty solid) and at the amount of snow the mountain was making. My folks live on Cape Cod so seeing somebody purposefully making that much snow was somewhat surprising.

On tap this week... pickup my season pass, find all of the ski gear, do some more exercising to get the legs stretched out (I've been bad this summer), and count down the days... 5 and counting!

Let it snow!

Twig Season at it's best 

Ah...twig season at Killington....

The leaves have all fallen off the trees leaving in their place dull grey branches reaching skyward.

Cold air has infiltrated the region from the northwest. As the cold air sweeps across the Great Lakes, the temperature difference causes large amounts of water vapor to be lifted into the atmosphere. Dull grey clouds get produced in copious quantities. When you look at the ridge lines all around Killington today, the naked tree branches are holding up the clouds in the air. One shade of grey blending into another....but this is all a precursor of things to come.

The air is starting to get colder. A few snow flurries are being teased out of the overcast. Not enough to be meaningful, but if the atmosphere gets just a few degrees colder, the moisture ladened clouds will start giving up some serious white stuff.

And on the mountain itself, it is already winter. Albeit a man made winter, but it is winter just the same. Snow guns are pumping out snow from Killington Peak down Great Northern to the K1 gondola terminal. Base building to prepare for the opening of ski season a week from now is underway with a vengeance.

At the inn, we have started to break out our winter clothes. (I am dressed in a turtle neck today, having decided a golf shirt was just not quite warm enough.) We are starting to check over our ski gear in anticipation. The snow blower will get moved from it's summer resting spot this weekend. Mary and I will be heading out into the woods to pick out a christmas tree some time next week....

Winter is coming... Bring it on! Let it snow!

Does the woolly bear predict a long winter? 

Finally, it has started to snow. In addition to the mountain experiencing light snow for the last couple of days, the overall Killington area saw some snow last night. Snow flurries are still lingering in the air today, generating a palpable sense of anticipation in the local community for the ski season to come. Snow around the inn melted quickly this morning, as the ground is not yet frozen. But it is a start.

This weekend at Birch Ridge, chef Stephen "Frizzie" Byrnes will be presenting "The Feast of the Woolly Bear". Of course, folklore has it that the smaller the stripe of the woolly bear caterpillar, the longer the winter. Seems like something to acknowledge and celebrate!

Years ago, many of the chefs of Killington got together and had a little pre-winter feast. Your basic eating, drinking, and carrying on prior to the hard work of the winter to come kind of affair. It was nicknamed, "The Feast of the Woolly Bear". Chef Frizzie has decided to re-interpreted that celebration over the weekend for dinner guests at Birch Ridge.

In addition to our regular menu, Frizzie will be preparing a special menu to pay homage to the Woolly Bear. The menu will include:
- Woodland Mushroom Soup with crispy leeks and white truffle oil
- Bird's Nest Salad of fresh greens, sweet carrots and sprouts, lightly dressed, with Vermont Chevre
- Seared Red Venison Chop, served medium rare, with sweet potato puree and a port wine glaze
- "Feast of the Woolly Bear Cake". Layers of light and dark chocolate with raspberry coulis

The price for the "Feast of the Woolly Bear" dinner is $49.00. For an additional $20.00, I will pair each course with a specially selected glass of wine from the Birch Ridge Inn wine cellar. Tax and gratuity are not included in the price.

Now bring on winter! Let it snow!

Killington Peak with the first snow of the winter. 

The first snow of the winter season fell on Killington Peak early this morning. The storm which pushed through the area last night brought a mix of precipitation. While a cold rain fell at the K1 Base Lodge and along the Killington Road, the mountain saw light snow to about the 3000 foot level.

The snow that fell is no where near the amount needed to open the resort for the season, but it is the first promising sign that mother nature has not forgotten Killington. Local weather forecasts indicate that cold temperatures will be settling over the region over the next 10 days, which should allow the mountain to mount a sustained effort to make snow on selected trails. If all goes well, the resort should be able to hit their planned opening on November 16.

Let it snow!