Looking towards Skyeship Midstation on Needles Eye at bottom of Panic Button. 

If you like 3 to 6 inches of fluff on the trail in front of you, poor visibility, driving snow, and pretty strong winds....this morning was your little piece of heaven.

Except for visibility issues, today was a very good ski day at Killington. Yesterdays hard pack was replaced with a near uniform coating of fluffy powder. And to top it all off, heavy snow continued all morning on the mountain, to the point that lightly travelled runs offered continuous freshies.

When we left the base lodge just before 9:00 the K1 did not appear to be operating, so we headed to Superstar. The first run down Superstar was definitely seeing eye skiing. Visibility was probably less than 10 feet in blowing and drifting snow. The surface was nice soft powder, but because of the visibility, the run seemed like it involved an inordinate amount of turns. Visibility improved and declined all morning as the clouds and snow squalls moved across the mountains.

In rapid succession we did a couple of loops on Superstar, Skyelark, Bittersweet, and a run across to Panic Button and Needles Eye. The all were in excellent shape. Skyelark was probably the best, as the gentle slope held the newly fallen snow consistently. It was set up perfectly for medium speed powder cruising.

After 8 or 9 loops on the Superstar chair, we headed over to the K1 Gondola. Excellent coverage on the Glades (AKA North Ridge), East Fall, Bunny Buster, High Line and Chute.

After yesterdays mess, I needed to take a run down Cascades, so around Noon I traversed from the Snowdon Quad to the North Ridge Triple to see if Cascade had recovered. Middle Cascade was soft and sweet. Lower Cascade was still interesting. The middle of the trail was scraped off pretty well. Several snow boarders were having a very difficult time of it when I was going down lower Cascade. I took skiers left, hugging the edge of the trail. Given the prevailing winds and the heavy snow fall, there seemed like there was a good 6 inches to a foot of new snow all the way down the left side. Really nice, as long as you kept your turns tight and did not stray out to the middle of the trail.

For my final run, I took the box and traversed down Blue Heaven to Great Eastern to Launch Pad to Superstar. Heavy snow was still falling on top of the mountain. It seemed like several feet had blown into Blue Heaven, but by this time my legs were getting quite heavy so I am probably overstating the snow depth. The final run down Superstar was as consistent as the first run of the day, except I could see the trail. After almost 3 1/2 hours of non-stop skiing, my legs were cooked. It was time to go home.

At the inn we received about 5 inches of new snow from this storm. Now we are getting ready for Sunday, with what ever new white stuff that pending storm will bring.

Let it snow!

Looking towards Killington Base Lodge from top of Superstar Headwall. 

It is nice to be thinking about snow at Killington in December for a change. Based upon local weather reports, it looks like a one-two punch is headed to the area tonight and over the weekend. This evenings storm looks like it may be small by Killington snow storm standards, on the order of 3 to 6 inches. Sunday...who knows. The weather service detailed discussions are talking about a classic Nor'Easter. My powder skis are ready. Are yours?

I did hit the slopes this morning. Conditions can be described as "Flat and Fast". Tuesday nights NCP followed by temperatures in the single digits overnight have basically solidified the mountain. The good news is that it all but assures a white Christmas on the mountain. The bad news is that in some areas it is literally "bullet proof".

Snow surfaces across the mountain were flat, either by grooming action, or gravity pushing down the wet snow prior to it freezing. The most popular trails had all been groomed and were very skiable, although they were also very fast. Given that most of the skiers and riders on the mountain this morning were not meek, that was not much of a problem.

The was one exception, however. The one trail that was dangerous, and I don't use that term lightly, was Cascade. Upper and Middle Cascade had nice snow surfaces; firm but very edgeable. Lower Cascade was an edge to edge skating rink. The group I was skiing with today all knows what they are doing. We all have top of the line, well maintained equipment. We all have plus or minus 10 days on the hill already this year and ski well over 50 days a year. We all thought Cascades was ugly. One thing to note, however, is that Cascade was almost perfectly flat with no bumps. Put a couple of feet of powder on it, and we will all be fighting to get into the box first to ski it before it get's chopped up. But today on Cascade, it was strictly one and done. So it goes.

Everything else on the mountain that we skied was ok. And we were all thinking....today's cold temperatures and light traffic will prevent the mountain from getting bumped up. If we get 3 to 6 inches of snow tonight, with temperatures in the low teens...oh you can only dream!

Let it snow!

Dark and Gloomy on the mountain 

Last night was very interesting at Killington. The local weather stations were all saying it was supposed to be snowing...Unfortunately, that was not the case.... so it goes.

Over the course of the evening we saw sleet, freezing r@*n and just pure NCP (non crystalized precipitation). Ice was crashing off the roofs of the inn all night. Just a wonderful thing at a ski resort.

This morning, when I got up, the good news was that the damage to snow surfaces did not seem too bad. I did not ski today, as Mary is in Boston for a pre-holiday visit with family, so I can not comment on ski conditions. But after I was done preparing breakfast, (we had 2 nice couples stay at the inn last night - apple crepes with warm Vermont maple syrup for breakfast) I did take a drive up to the mountain for a peek. We had only lost about 1 inch of snow pack at the inn, so I did not expect bad things on the mountain. Other than being grey and gloomy, the mountain looked like it came through the storm pretty well. Possibly even a little snow fell on the peak. With luck, tomorrow I will get out on the hill, so I can give a first hand report.

Christmas caroling under the tree.

Monday evening, Mary and I had the pleasure of attending a Christmas party hosted by Dick and Noel Gluck. You may remember Dick and Noel as the local couple who organize "Team Killington" to participate in the Vermont - New Hampshire "Race for the Cure" in support of the Susan G. Komen foundation.

Dick and Noel do parties right. Great people, great food, great beverages, and great music. Local legend, Dr. Lyons, lead the group in song on the piano, accompanied by "Mr. Rzasa" on guitar. Caroling started with a traditional version of "Silent Night" sung in German, followed by a collection of festive tunes through out the evening. Mary and I really enjoyed the evening. A nice way to kick off the holiday season in Killington.

Let it snow!

Howie at the junction of Cruise Control
and Panic Button, fresh from a battle
with a snow snake. 

I am actually not sure what to say today. Ski conditions at Killington were so good, it is an embarrassment of riches. When you add in the fact that it is still early December and other than locals, virtually nobody else was on the mountain this morning....well you get the picture.

Snow fell continuously overnight. It did not amount to a whole lot, but every run had a couple of inches of fresh powder from 9:00 till Noon (yes Virginia, I wrote the word Powder..it seems like Santa is dropping a little gift on Killington every night in preparation for Christmas). Even at 11:00 AM on, when each run was supposed to be the last, every trail seemed better than the previous one. But work does call, after all there is an inn to run. So around noon I did head home.

We started as we usually do with a trip on the Box for a few warm up runs on North Ridge. Rime and Upper East Fall were beautifully soft with nice snow cover edge to edge. East Fall proper, and Cascade were next on the agenda. East Fall was perfect. We were pretty much all able to do broad sweeping GS turns on East Fall as it was groomed flat with a soft fluff covering. Upper and middle Cascade were also in great shape. I thought lower Cascade had a slight granular feeling....but you need to put it in perspective.... we were skiing on fluff so anything else just doesn't cut it.

Sufficiently warmed up, we then proceeded to do multiple laps on Superstar. At this point, after 3 or 4 runs down Superstar, it was probably the run of the day, but there was more to come. Bitter Sweet and Skyelark were very nice. We did an expedition over to Panic Button at the entryway to Needles Eye. Again, beautiful snow, but our run was terminated at the Snow Shed Crossover as the Skye Ship at Needles Eye is not yet running for the season.

After another run down Superstar, we crossed back to the K1 Gondola for a final run down Snowdon. Wrong!...Too Nice... Thank you for playing... your punishment is you must ride the Snowdon Quad and try that again! So down Chute we come for what is supposed to be our last run of the day. Again, crazy fluff everywhere. Once again the snow gods banished us to the Snowdon quad. For some reason, at the Snowdon quad, my pass was not scanning properly. But, even that was ok... for there was a cute ticket checker at the quad to entertain us. Every time thru, she made imitation beeping noises to compensate for the defective scanner. It was all in good fun.

By this time, it was getting quite late, so one more run down Chute and out on Lower Bunny Buster we went. Work is definitely getting in the way of great skiing this December. Oh well... so it goes!

Let it snow!

Mary with the Christmas tree donated
by the Birch Ridge Inn
to the Vermont Holiday Festival.
The theme of the tree is 'Just Heavenly". 

So much to do... so little time....

This coming weekend at Killington will offer a wide range of activities for visitors to the area. At the Killington Grand Hotel, the Killington Chamber of Commerce is hosting the 4th annual Vermont Holiday Festival. The centerpiece of this event is the "Festival of Trees". This year, 115 trees were decorated by local businesses and residents of Killington. The trees are on display in the Grand Ballroom of the Killington Grand Hotel all weekend. Further information can be found at vermontholidayfestival.com.

And then of course, there is the skiing and riding. The mountain today was once again in great shape. Intermediate and Advanced skiing and riding was being offered off both Killington and Skye Peaks.

Howie on Cascade. Not bad for his second day out! (Click to enlarge.)

Snow surfaces are all machine groomed packed powder with a continuous fluff falling from the sky keeping everything white. it is hard to pick a "run of the day". Superstar was very nice. Cascade had some nice small mounds (not big enough to call bumps) at the top. Highline was groomed to perfection. For an advanced skier, it was all good!.

If you make it to Killington this weekend, stop by the inn and say hello. We are serving dinner Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening from 6:00. and I am sure we will have a roaring fire going in the fireplace to keep everything nice and toasty.

Let it snow!

The ropes were down on the back of the mountain, so I had to follow the trails to see where they would lead. There are times when Killington will challenge your body. There are other times when it gets into your soul. Enjoy!

Rogues gallery at Killington Peak.
(l-r) Billy B., Ray, Mary 

Without a doubt, skiers and riders at Killington are experiencing the best early season in years. Depending upon altitude, the resort is reporting total snow fall of between 12 and 24 inches. And the new snow has made a huge difference in the look and feel of the mountain. The resort has been blowing snow on the upper elevation trails for weeks to build up the base. The storm earlier this week is great "frosting on the cake".

Where do we begin... This morning it was all good. North Ridge including Rime, Reason, East Fall and Double Dipper were all generally soft and edge-able. Great Northern, Mousetrap and Chute all had excellent coverage. Although we did not ski it, from the Snowdon Quad Great Bear looked in nice shape all draped in natural snow.

On the other side of the mountain, the Superstar Headwall and middle Superstar were great groomed cruisers. Lower Superstar had huge snowmaking and windblown bumps on it. They did not look particularly fun, so we avoided it. Aggressive snow making was taking place on middle Ovation. The resort appeared to be using the new Low Energy guns, as in addition to a lot of snow, they were also blanketing middle Superstar in a low, cold, fog like cloud. But it did not matter as middle Superstar was groomed flat. If you could link a turn, you could have cruised down it today.

Later in the day, I took a run down Blue Heaven. Blue Heaven brings you out to South Ridge. None of the South Ridge trails were open when I was there, but Blue Heaven also connects into Launch Pad which bring one back to Skye Peak, Ovation and Superstar. Tons of snow on the ridge between Kpeak and Sky Peak. Definitely mid winter conditions. Not to shabby for early December.

All in all, a very nice morning and early afternoon to ski....Let it snow!