Fax received from Killington LTD concerning Resort Opening 

Without question, there has been no early November ski season. Yes, Killington did blow a ton of snow on the upper elevations of Killington peak. Yes, many people hiked up their to take in the sights (yours truly) or "earn their turns". But from a practical standpoint, the commercial business collectively called the "Killington Ski Resort" has been effectively stymied by weather more appropriate for early May than early November. With the Thanksgiving Holiday in sight, the communications manager for Killington, Tom Horrocks, issued the following communique this morning:

"In an effort to maintain clear communications among our staff and the community and how we collectively communicate to our guests, please use the following message until further notice:

Killington Resort will be open for the Thanksgiving Holiday. Forecasted colder temperatures will arrive late this weekend, enabling snowmaking to return.

Killington Resort is committed to opening with top to bottom skiing served by the K1 Gondola and will take advantage of every opportunity to produce snow. Killington's competitive advantage of elevation, extensive snowmaking system, superior grooming and dedicated staff will provide the best possible experience for our guests as we kick of the season very soon.

Updates will be posted on www.killington.com"

Currently at Killington, the weather is a cold, dull grey. The near term forecast shows temperatures falling throughout the week, with temperatures suitable for snowmaking by the weekend. While it is impossible to predict with absolute certainty what conditions will be like Thanksgiving week, I am certain that Killington will do everything they can to offer the best skiing product in New England for the holiday period.

Snow Cannons are silent at Killington 

Oh Lord, hear our prayer.

The majesty which is your creation in the middle of a small state named Vermont in the small town of Killington seeks your love and understanding. The glorious landscape, which you created, has transformed with the seasons from a lush green paradise filled with life to a dull grey protrusion into the heavens.

Oh Lord, hear our prayer.

Oh Lord, many of your servants have climbed the mountain, searching for signs that you have not forgotten us in our time of need. We seek the cold mountain air, to free us from the shackles placed upon us by those who seek us to serve them instead of you. We seek the white, pure snows, to raise our spirits, and cleanse our souls; to divert us, how ever briefly, from the purgatory of our existence and surround us in the mountains with your glory.

Oh Lord, hear our pray.

In our time of need we ask of you, our Lord, a humble favor. We pray to you , oh Lord, that you give us cold weather. We beseech you to look down upon your majestic mountains and grace them with a blanket of snow. For, dear Lord, we know that before the lush green glow of the mountains returns next spring, the pure white snow of winter must bath us in your glow.

Oh Lord, hear our prayer!

Clouds lifting at Killington 

It's another great day for outside work around the inn. I what I hope is not a pyrrhic gesture, the snow blower at the inn was started and moved from it's summer resting place to it's winter home. We are ready. Are you doing your snow dances?

I took a ride up to the mountain to see the results of the precipitation and warm weather we have had the last couple of days. Killington is still topped by a cloud, but it had lifted to expose most of the mountain. Needless to say, all of the natural snow that existed at the lower elevations is now running free towards the Atlantic ocean. Snow on the upper elevations is visible on snow making trails only. I labeled today's picture with trail names so you can see where snow exists on the mountain. (Double click on the picture for a larger view.) It does look like the mountain did maintain snow cover all the way down to the entrance of Highline on Great Northern. Of course it is hard to tell what surface conditions are, but it is promising that significant snow cover is still visible. Think Snow!

Mary hunting for this years Christmas Tree. 

It's about 60 degrees outside. The ski is bright blue with puffy clouds. Humans and wild life alike are confused about the season. And today was the start of the Christmas season at the inn.

No, you read that correctly. Today was the start of the Christmas season at the inn.

Christmas is a beautiful time in Vermont. We always take great care to festively decorate the inn for the holidays. But in order to do that, a lot of detail work needs to be done in the background. I always joke with my friends about Christmas Tree Monday. It is what I call the Monday after Thanksgiving, because it is the day that I go out into the woods to cut down the inn's Christmas Tree for set up in the Great Room. A collection of friends, with trucks and chain saws, go with me to get their Christmas trees at the same time. A nice lunch on Christmas Tree Monday is usually included somewhere in the process as well. But before any of that can happen, Mary and I need to go out into the countryside and find a suitable tree. Today was the day!

Each year we have owned the inn, we have gone to an acquaintance's property, which used to be a Christmas Tree farm, and select this years tree. The "used to be a Christmas Tree farm" is an important distinction, because many of the trees are now towering giants approaching 30 feet. As luck would have it, this year, a new stand of trees has matured. We selected a beautiful 15 foot number that will fit just right into the inn.

In other news around Killington, the weather is definitely not conducive for skiing or riding. I did go to the mountain today to try to assess the damage to the area where snow blowing took place last week, but the mountain is somewhat surreal. If you remember the story of King King and Skull Island. Kong's island is covered with a thick, impenetrable veil of fog, ostensibly the result of Kong's breath. The mountain today looked just like that. The lower elevations were wet and green. The mid elevations, where snow making had occurred, were covered in a thick fog, masking any ability to see the slopes. Every now and then, as the wind moved the cloud, the top of Killington would peer above the clouds. Hopefully in a day or two I can see for myself what mother nature has let loose on Killington. In the mean time, we need a snow dance or 2 to get this season started!

Where's Killington? 

It is not a very pretty day here on the mountain. A light warm r@!n is falling. Any natural snow that has been clinging to the ground around the inn has either washed away into the Roaring Brook, or vanished into an ephemeral fog casting a pall at the base of the mountain.

Kudo's to the Killington management team for reading the tea leaves we call a weather forecast in New England. Last weekend, they took some abuse for not blowing snow all the way from the top of the mountain down to the K1 base lodge. At the time they said that we would be getting very unfavorable weather mid week... and yes I would classify today unfavorable weather if you were trying to open a ski resort. If you look closely at todays picture, you will not see snow on any of the lower elevation trails. You will also notice a cloud bank at approximately the 3000 foot level. Much of this cloud bank is "man-made", the result of piles of snow made last week on the upper reaches of the mountain sublimating into fog.

But there is some good news on the horizon. The same people who said that todays unfavorable weather would happen now say that the weather over the next week or so should turn quite favorable for snow making again (once we get past the next 36 hours or so). If that happens, sometime between the 13th and the 18th, Killington should be able to get open for the season. I hope they are right. I want to go skiing!

Vote Today! 

Today is an interesting day in United States of America... Election day. All around the world, people are looking to the election in the United States to give them insight into the American psyche.

Of course, here at home, we have been bombarded with campaign pronouncements and never ending punditry. But all the hoopla boils down to a simple concept... If you want a say in how the government of the United States is run, you need to go to the polls and vote!

I have heard all kinds of excuses...."My vote doesn't count"; "It doesn't matter"; "Every time I try to vote, I am voting against somebody, not for somebody"; "They are all crooks anyway". My answer to that is very simple.... "Bull"! Whether you like the candidates, or hate the candidates, even if you need to hold your proverbial nose in the voting booth, it is your civic responsibility to vote!

So where ever you may be today, exercise your constitutional right and vote for the candidate of your choice!

Bill and Mary hiking Killington 

Oh! We are going to be sore tomorrow!

It was a beautiful, sunny day here in Killington. Temperatures at the K1 Base lodge just before noon time were approaching 50. Mary and I felt we needed a little exercise. We love being out on the mountain...so we decided to hike up Killington.

We started our hike from the Bay 1 parking lot around 11:30 AM. We proceeded to hike up Great Northern. When we got to Lower Chute, we decided to hike straight up, versus looping out towards Ram's Head. Lower Chute was snow covered, and very slippery. It is also surprisingly steep when you are hiking up. When we reached Lower Bunny Buster at the bottom of Mouse Trap, we decided to get back on Great Northern again, bypassing Middle Chute and Mouse Trap.

We ran into the first signs of serious snow making as we approached the junction of Great Northern and Conclusion. Huge whales of snow were blown on Great Northern from Highline to Klink. We ran into one skier who had hiked up earlier in the morning. He had really earned his turns.

By the time we reached the junction of Klink, Pipeline and Great Northern, the trail was like a staircase. So many people had hiked up Pipeline over the last several days that the climb from Klink was quite easy. Footprints in the snow had frozen over night to form a comfortable set of stairs to aid the climb. We both remarked that who ever made the first climb on this part of the trail surely paid a heavy price to break through the snow. But it sure made our effort a little easier.

We continued our hike up Great Northern to Birch Run, formerly West Glade. The snow whales blown on the trail were over our heads in many places. It was almost like climbing over sand dunes at the beach, only a little cooler.

We crossed between Powerline, Rime, Reason, East Fall, and the Canyons. A huge amount of snow had been laid down in this area by Killington's snow guns. In several places, as we were cresting the whales, we were concerned that we might find a snow mobile coming up the other side, as they were so tall you could not see over them until you were nearly to the top.

Being never satisfied to see the same terrain twice, instead of going back down Snowdon, we decided to hike across the front of Killington and head over towards Superstar. We took Great Eastern to Launch Pad. We were not sure how much snow on these trails was natural, or the result of wind blowing snow from the snow guns, but by the time we got to the top of Ovation the snow started to thin a little bit. The top of Ovation, Superstar, and Sky Lark had snow ranging from a thin crust to boot top deep, depending on how the wind had blown it around.

To descend the mountain, we climbed down Sky Lark to High Road. At Bittersweet, we took a little diversion to Skye Bits, as it was an easier walk than the top of Low Road. Skye Bits branched back under the lower headwall of Bittersweet, allowing us to merge with Low Road to make the final walk down via Yodler and Highlander. We were back to the car at 2:30.

Now, the 64 dollar question... Should Killington Open?

Killington snow makers have laid down a very solid base on the upper mountain at Snowdon from about the 3000 foot level (maybe 3200 feet... I didn't have a GPS with me). While some natural snow has accumulated on the mountain, it is very clear that none of the trails at the lower elevations are skiable by any number of people. Killington/Mother Nature still has a lot more work to do below 3000 feet to connect the top of the mountain to the K1 base lodge. Temperatures during our climb were down right balmy. During the entire climb, I was dressed in a light jacket, with no gloves, and only a baseball hat on my head. (Of course, I had a shell, wool cap, and gloves in my knapsack in case I needed them) It was just plain warm. It wasn't until we got near the peak that we noticed the temperature coming down a bit. But even then, I did not need to put on any extra layers. From what I could tell, Killington did make the right decision to hold off for a while before opening.

When will Killington open? It is very hard to tell. Temperatures are forecasted at Killington to be unfavorable for continued snow making for the rest of this week. And Killington probably needs 3 to 4 more days to make snow to open, unless there is some help from Mother Nature. Based upon what we saw today, if I were a betting man, I would guess that opening day would occur some time between November 13th and November 18th. But given the unpredictable nature of New England weather in November, anything is possible.