The Bagel returns 

Resplendent in a retro onesy, the Bagel returned for the spring skiing season at Killington after wintering in Florida. What a day he picked for his return!

You would be hard pressed to find a better day to ski at Killington. Temperatures were in the low 20's. Bright sunshine dominated most of the resort, with the exception of the K cloud on Killington Peak. And there was fresh powder everywhere.

We skied a mix of trails during the morning sesson. Some, like Bear Claw, had been groomed out. While they were puckering up with small bumps created by skier traffic, they were still fast cruisers in the good visibility. Others, like Wildfire, Ovation, and Superstar were fairly au natural... Big powder bumps everywhere.

It was a great day on the resort, with many more to come as a result of this weeks storm.

Where ever you may be, get out and enjoy the winter season. And remember...Let It Snow!

Do I need to say more?

With the storm exiting the area, the restaurant at the Birch Ridge Inn will re-open tonight for regular dinner service starting at 6:00 PM.

If you are planning to come to Killington, now is the time!

Where ever you may be, get out and enjoy the winter season. And remember...Let It Snow!

Snow once again coverning the Birch Ridge Inn 

5:00 PM Update Blowing and drifting snow continues. Snow accumulation over the last 3 hours was approximately 1 1/2 (Snowstake at 13 inches versus 2:00 PM report of 11 1/2 inches). Radar from weather.com indicates that Killington has been ain a dry spot in the storm for several hours which probably accounts for the decrease in accumulation. Winds in the area are picking up resulting in significant drifting. Around the inn there were several drifts over 4 feet based upon how high they were over the cowling of the snow blower (3 feet).

In the interest of safety of our staff and guests, we have decided to close the restaurant at Birch Ridge for the evening. We will resume regular dinner serice tomorrow evening, Wednesday March 15th.

Get some sleep. Tomorrow is a powder day! End 5:00 PM Update

2:00 PM Update

Snowfall is quite heavy and accelerating over Killington. Approximately 6 inches of snow has fallen over the last 4 hours. The snowstake increased to 11.5 inches at 2:00 PM from 4 inches at 10:00 AM.

While taking the 2:00 PM pictures, the heavy snow was turning granular in consistency. Not sure is some warm air is overriding the system, as I do not have a temperature reading, but the snow flakes seemed denser than what I experienced at 10:00 AM this morning. Snow is predicted to continue all evening and into the day on Wednesday. Stay tuned to killingtonblog.com for snowstake updates.

Snow accumulation on a section of flat roof at the Birch Ridge Inn, Killington

End 2:00 PM Update

Original 11:00 AM Post All week long, people around town have been very careful not to jinx it. With great respect for Mother Nature, when a huge dump is predicted for the mountain, caution is exercised when speaking in public. For their part, the resort just ignored the pending snow and continued their all out snow making assault as if nothing was going to happen. But it has!

At about 6:30 this morning, light snow started to fall across the area. By 10:30 this morning, the snow had accumulated to 4 inches at the snow stake. Snow is coming down very hard and is predicted to continue for the next 18 hours of so.

If you are planning to come to Killington, now is the time!

Where ever you may be, stay safe during the storm, and get out and enjoy the winter season. Let It Snow!

Snowmaking on Superstar with Killington Peak in the background. 

Kudo's to the Killington Resort for a fabulous ski day at the resort.

It is hard to believe that it was only 2 weeks ago when the snow stake at the inn was at 21 inches. Much has changed since then.

Today was a glorious day to ski at Killington. Bright blue sky, cool temperatures in the low teens, no wind, snow making guns laying down velvety powder everywhere. It is hard to believe that we are going into the first weekend of March.

Conditions on the mountain were mixed. Base conditions were firm as the surfaces have frozen after melting in the warm temperatures of the last 2 weeks. Some areas were beach sandy, as the base has been ground up repeatedly with the freeze thaw cycles. Some areas were sweet and carvable. Machine groomed packed powder in cold areas of the mountain has held up quite well. Other surfaces were pure velvet where snow making operations are taking place. Bumps are generally missing, as the warm weather has effectively flattened all surfaces. Natural terrain in pretty much done, but at Killington has over 70% of the mountain covered with snow making, one hardly notices. The woods are at your own risk at best. You better know where you are and have some local knowledge, or it will be a long walk out. However, even with the exceptions, today was just a beautiful day to be skiing Killington.

Lone snow gun on Lower Skyburst

We started the day as we often do at Bear Mountain. Upper Skyburst was flat and fast. The middle was knarly with chunks and death cookies. Lower Skyburst was groomed but soft with beach sand developing.

Blue sky over Wildfire

The Stash to lower Wildfire was nice. Grooming in the Stash was firm with a few artifacts from the snow cats. Wildfire did not suffer the chuncks of Sky Burst but the bottom was once again getting granular.

Mary and Ruts on the Sky Peak Quad. A full armor day.

Sky Peak Quad in bright sunshine

While it was a full on armor day, as temperatures were in the low teens in the morning, the bright sunshine and the lack of any significant wind made riding the lifts quite tolerable. Not spring with the jacket open tolerable, but there was no shivering or complaining going on either.

Needles Eye Quad

After Bear Mountain we traversed to Cruise Control and Needles Eye. Cruise was groomed corduroy with a few ice patches mid slope. Needles was flat and fast. Skiers left was more granular due to deeper snow making coverage. Skiers right was getting thin. Don't try to ski under the Skyship unless you plan on a new pair of skis in the near future.

Lower Bittersweet.

Lower Superstar.

Bittersweet was nicely covered top to bottom. While the surfaces were granular, they were very pliable for carving. Skylark from the top was nice. Lower Skylark was your basic skating rink. Our skis are well maintained so setting an edge was not a problem. But Lower Skylark would present some problems for those who are not prepared. Superstar was beautiful. On middle Superstar you had your choice of sweeping whales on skiers left, or beautiful velvet on skiers right. Lower Superstar was getting the full 21 gun salute. It was soft and creamy. Really nice.

Mouse Trap getting the full treatment.

Snow guns were also delivering the goods on Snowdon. Great Northern and Mouse Trap were getting the treatment during the day. North Ridge saw snowmaking earlier in the week, and maybe last night. There will be plenty of intermediate and beginner terrain available for the weekend.

Rime and Reason

East Fall

Upper Rime

Rime and Reason skied very well. East Fall was soft with some granular developing. Double Dipper was getting narrow, especially at the merge point with Down Draft. Down Draft was closed. Cascades also seemed closed as no one was skiing it, but we did not venture over to it to find out. Cascade is scheduled for snow making later this evening according to the Mountain Operations report.

All in all it was just a beautiful day to ski. Saturday also looks good, although it will be colder with some wind. But the mountain is in very good shape if you want to partake.

Where ever you may be, get out and enjoy the winter season. And remember...Let It Snow!

Snowshed under the gun at Killington 

After a couple of wild weather days, cold winter air has returned to Killington. And the resort has answered in kind.

Early this morning, the Killington resort refired their snow making system.

Killington's condition report highlights the following: "With Wednesday's warm weather in the rear view mirror, Killington snowmakers are excited for a weekend of frosty temperatures. In order to take maximum advantage of the cold forecast, Mountain Ops is bringing in several additional compressors and ramping up snowmaking capacity to a level never before seen in March. By mid-morning, we should have as many as 35 guns running on the lowest section of Great Eastern, and more guns on Superstar, Skyelark, Snowshed, Highline, and Lower Chute. Weekend forecast: 100% chance of a Beast Blizzard in Killington."

The resort is clearly making a play for the spring season. I can not think of a time over the last 20 years where the resort has added extra compressors so late in the snow making season. It says one thing.... the resort team is serious in their battle to provide great spring skiing and riding to visitors to Killington. Killington is not giving up on winter yet... neither should you. Plan your spring visit to Killington with that in mind.

Where ever you may be, get out and enjoy the winter season. And remember...Let It Snow!

Snow making ongoing on Killington Peak on Rime and Reason 

I expect to see the King of Spring make an appearance on the slopes of Killington any day now.

Over the last couple of days, an unusual stretch of warm weather has given ground back to winter. Seizing the opportunity, the Killington Resort fired up it's snow making system to once again add to their stockpiles of snow. While the warm weather of the last few weeks has cut into the overall base depths on trails around the mountain, skiing and riding conditions are holding up quite well given the resorts attention to snow making during cold stretches and their grooming fleet.

Yesterday snow making was taking place across the mountain. High traffic areas where some trails cross were getting the full treatment. And while some expert terrain was also under the snow guns, in homage to the many skiers and riders who visit Killington during the spring, the resort was seriously blowing snow off of Killington Peak through Snowden in the North Ridge Area and all along Great Northern. By building up base on those trails, the resort will be able to offer beginner and intermediate terrain well into the spring skiing and riding season.

On our skiing adventure around the mountain, we visited most of the peaks. Rams Head was well covered, with Swirl and Easy Street skiing edge to edge. Yodler back to Snowdon had some thin spots showing, but they did not require a high level of attention to avoid. Snowdon down Chute and Bunny Buster were skiing well. Great Bear and North Star had some thin areas where the ski patrol was putting out bamboo warning stakes.

Off of Killington Peak, the Canyon was in good shape. Rime and Reason were seeing some snow making love. East Falls was machine groomed granular with good coverage and edge control. Cascades and Double Dipper looked in good shape. Down Draft on the other hand did not look enjoyable.

Bear Mountain was becoming beach sandy at the bottom of Sky Burst and Wild Fire. Cruise Control and Needles Eye were will convered but becoming thin. A snow storm for these trails is definitely needed. Bittersweet, Sky Lark, and Superstar all were skiing well. They will be in service for quite a long time as base depths are fairly robust.

Overall, skiing was very good. We have another 2 day warm up in store for Wednesday and Thursday followed by winter weather returning for the weekend. March is usually the snowiest month of the year in Killington. Keep your fingers crossed.

Where ever you may be, get out and enjoy the winter season. And remember...Let It Snow!

Mary with Killington Peak in the background 

You don't get many days like this every year.

Today was just a beautiful day to be out on the slopes of Killington. Skies with intermingled between high cirrus clouds, bright blue sky, and brilliant sunshine. Temperatures were in the mid 40's. Ski surfaces were soft and silky. It was just a nice day to be on the mountain.

We took a quick jaunt around the mountain this morning before heading back to the inn to do our Presidents Week tasks. Parking in the Vale lot, our first run was down Caper from the Rams Head Lift. A (oxymoron) quick trip up the Snowdon Quad found us on Bunny Buster. We crossed in front of the K1 Base lodge heading to Supperstar next.

Off of Superstar, we circled around Skye Peak for a run down Skye Burst to Dream Maker to Cruise Control. Conditions at Bear at 11:30 AM were very soft. Cruise Control, Needles Eye, and Bittersweet were slightly firmer, as they do not face directly south into the sun.

After a couple of laps on the Superstar Quad, we cut back across K1 for a leisurely ride up the Snowdon Tripple. (It was just too nice a day to be stuck riding in the gondola.) A couple of loops throught the canyons as the Canyon Quad was running and we were done for our morning excercise.

Enjoying the mountains on a late winter day is just a beautiful way to get some exercise, some fresh air, and to leave the world in our rear view mirror for a few hours. I highly recommend it.

Where ever you may be, get out and enjoy the winter season. And remember...Let It Snow!