Rogues on display. From left...Ray, Mary, Howie, Mike, Chad, and Dale on Skylark at Killington. 

Finally, a day on the slopes of Killington this week...

Mary and I took the opportunity to head out to the mountain this morning to "exercise" the ski legs. Overall conditions were very good with cool temperatures and plenty of snow.

The resort was operating lifts today on K Peak, Superstar, and Snowdon. Snow making operations were ongoing the length of Rams Head (which the resort plans to open this coming weekend) and Upper Bittersweet down to High Road. Rumors were circulating around the mountain that snow making was about to commence in the Needles Eye area, but from various viewing spots around the mountain, we could not visually confirm that. Snowmaking guns were set up, with hoses connected, the length of Superstar as well. It would not be a surprise to see snow making begin on Superstar in the next day or so, if not sooner.

Surface conditions were somewhat variable, but overall very good. Upper trails on Killington Peak in the North Ridge Area were well snow covered. 2 to 3 inches of light fluff greeted us on Rime, Reason and Upper East Fall. East Fall proper was still on the slick side, especially at the squeeze point midway down the trail, but the golf balls and death cookies of last week were gone. We did not choose to ski over to Chute today. And we also did not do Highline, as it was closed for the ski bum races, better known locally as "World Cup Wednesday"

We traversed across the top of the resort from Killington Peak thru Blue Heaven and High Traverse to Skylark and Bittersweet. Skylark had really nice snow on the upper and middle portions of the trail. Lower Skylark looked like it had a few "spots". We did not ski it, nor for that matter did we observe anyone on it during our time out this morning. Lower Bittersweet was in decent shape for the run back to the Superstar quad. Some ball bearings in spots, but very skiable.

Temperatures through the morning appeared to be going down. We started the day at about 20 degrees. When we got back we were looking at 16.

Temperatures overnight are forecasted to fall into the single digits, if not lower. It should be a good night for Killingtons snow makers..... let it snow!

Avatar of our chef, Frizzie, skiing the trees in front of the Birch Ridge Inn 

It is currently snowing lightly as I write this at 11:00 PM on Tuesday night.

I have not had an opportunity to get out on the slopes, or do any writing, these last few of days. Other than some minor car trouble requiring multiple trips to Rutland, we have been spending the majority of our time preparing the inn for the arrival of holiday guests over the next few weeks. And that is a good thing. With some luck I'll get on the slopes for a few hours the next couple of mornings.

Until I get a chance to report on the slopes, I will leave you with todays picture of an avatar of our chef, skiing through the trees in front of the inn. One of our restaurant servers, Sharon, is very industrious. She is always crafting items. For example, she has made some interesting candle sticks out of birch logs which we are using as a centerpiece on the credenza in the restaurant over the holidays.

She also had pictures taken of myself, Mary, and Frizzi in the fall. She used the pictures, together with some scrap lumber, old clothes, and pieces of fur, to create avatars of us to promote the inn. Frizzie, pictured above, is an avid back country adventurer, in addition to being a great chef. His avatar has him launching on skis off a cliff at the front of the inn. With a little bit of lighting, it looks like someone is skiing out of the woods at the inn at night.

Sharon used the pictures of myself and Mary to create two Christmas Carolers. They are placed near our sign on Butler Road. But thats a picture, and a story, for another day.

In them mean time...good night ......and let it snow!

Lower Bunny Buster from the Snowdon Triple 

Winter is here....finally!

It was a balmy 4 degrees at 8:55 this morning when I parked the car in the K1 lot. Wind was cruising at a comfortable 10-15. Snow guns were kicking up snow everywhere you looked. And some real white stuff was falling from the sky. If you ignore the fact that there was no sun to be found, it was a perfect day.

The resort was running the K1 Gondola, the Snowdon Triple and the North Ridge Triple this morning. The Superstar quad was spinning in preparation for the weekend. The Canyon quad was being cleaned off. It looked like some work was being done this morning on the Snowdon Quad, but it was hard to tell.

In general, all of the terrain on the Killington Peak side of the resort through Snowdon was accessible. With the exception of an oops, everything was covered with 2-3 inches of nice fluff over a packed powder surface. Where skier traffic was more pronounced, nice soft little piles of snow were developing. Just the right thing to get early season legs working.

The oops of the day was the true East Falls. It is hard to tell exactly what happened, but a combination of the grooming and the wind left it chuncky and devoid of surface snow. It was in marked contrast to Rime, Reason, and Upper East Falls, which were beautifully soft with powder puffs everywhere.

The other interesting trail was Highline. Highline was filled with medium sized soft bumps down the headwall, and ankle deep powder on lower skiers right all the way to the junction with Spillway. The medium bumps will be delightful if they are there in 6 weeks, as my legs will be more receptive to their charms. But this is still pretty early in the season, and my legs let me know about it on Highline.

The run of the day was Chute down to Lower Bunny Buster. It is not often that this would be the run of the day, but Chute was covered in really nice ankle deep fluff the whole way down from the top of Snowdon. Even with the cold and the slow chairs, it was worth a do over.

The resort is poised for a major terrain expansion over the weekend. Look for Snowshed and Superstar to be open this weekend, along with all of the terrain on Killington Peak and Snowdon. And with constant snow flurries predicted, surfaces should continue to stay nicely soft for some great early season skiing and riding.

......let it snow!

Snow fall measurements at the Birch Ridge Inn Snow Stake over the last 24 hours. 

-- 9:00 PM Update --Snow at the inn has ceased for now. Minimal accumulation occured late this afternoon. As of now, the snow stake stands at 10 1/4 inches. Total accumulation at the inn for the storm was just under 7 inches at the inn.. --- Remember, the snow stake at the inn is at 1850 feet, about 800 feet lower in altitude than the K1 Base Lodge, and 2400 feet lower than the top of Killington Peak. Snow totals will vary with altitude. ---

-- 2:00 PM Post --The first major snow storm of the 2009/2010 ski season hit Killington this morning. Starting in the early morning hours, the area has been experiencing very heavy snow, high winds, and cold temperatures.

Overnight, a little more than 2 inches of snow fall was recorded at the snow stake by 8:30 AM. By mid day, over 6 inches of new snow was recorded at the snow stake, roughly accumulating at 1 inch an hour.

I did head to the mountain this morning with the intention of getting a few runs. Due to high winds, the K1 Gondola and the North Ridge Triple were not running. Only the Snowdon Quad was operational. Wind was traveling straight up the lift line. On my ride to the top, the lift stopped 3 times as very heavy wind gusts rocked the chairs back and forth.

White out conditions were present at the top of Snowdon at 10:00 AM. Snow surfaces were wind blown packed powder. Temperatures were probably in the high teens, low 20's. Visibility was near zero in blowing and drifting snow.

I tracked down Mouse Run to Great Northern, Chute, and Lower Bunny Buster. Conditions were pretty nasty, with multiple stops required to find the trails, and clear goggles. In addition, my camera lens froze after shooting the video below at the top of Snowdon. With no camera, white out conditions, end extreme cold, my day on the hill turned into an uncharacteristic 1 and done!

So you get an idea of conditions on the mountain, I shot a short video at the top of Bunny Buster and Mouse Run, looking down Killink towards Killington Peak. Killink is visible between the trees, but Killington Peak is totally invisible in the snow. The wind was howling like a jet engine.

When I took this video, I was sheltered by the trees between Bunny Buster and Mouse Run. Just after shooting this video, I headed left down Mouse Run, directly into the wind driven stream of snow you see in the video. It was an interesting run.

......Let it snow!

Birch Ridge Inn on Facebook 

As part of the "Snow Dance Video" promotion, which Killington ran on Facebook, I thought it would only be appropriate to create a presence for the Birch Ridge Inn there. I have been running it now for about 3 weeks, trying to figure out how it all works.

The Facebook page for the Birch Ridge Inn is at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Killington-VT/Birch-Ridge-Inn/197967789624. I am not sure how the adventure will proceed..but it is fun to learn new things. Look us up on Facebook and become a fan if you like.

Around the inn today it is pretty quiet. Mary is down in Boston helping out her folks. I have been holding fort in Killington, mostly doing routine maintenance around the inn, along with some web site work for some ongoing marketing campaigns. With some luck, I will be able to get out on the mountain later in the week to check out snow conditions.

Outside it is a pretty grey day. Light snow flurries are falling off and on. No accumulation to speak of; just a little reminder that winter has finally arrived to Killington. The resort, on the other hand, is starting to crank up the volume. With the help from Mother Nature over the weekend, they are able to expand beyond limited terrain maintenance and begin their push to open more trails. Snowmaking is reported to be underway on Lower East Fall, Lower Bittersweet, and parts of Highroad. Upper Skyelark cannot be far behind, based upon the resorts announced plans. With a little bit of luck, it looks like the ski season at Killington is here to stay for the winter.

......let it snow!

Killington Snow Dance Winner Kara McQueeney under the Christmas Tree at the Birch Ridge Inn. 

A couple of weeks ago, the Birch Ridge Inn and the Killington Resort ran a "Snow Dance" promotion. The winner received a 2 night stay at the inn, 2 adult 2 day ski tickets, dinner at the Look Out, and tickets to the Bad Fish concert at the Pickle Barrel. Friday night, the winner, Kara McQueeney, checked in to the inn to spend the weekend at Killington. Early Saturday morning, before sunrise, it started snowing. Light snow/snow flurries fell all day. By late in the day, it started to accumulate and cover most surfaces. The Killington Road was even closed for a while due to snow, something that is almost unheard of in these parts. (Cars were careening out of control in a few places due to icing as the snow got packed onto the road surface by traffic.)

Go figure.....

At the inn, the Snow Stake registered a respectable 4 1/2 inches. Given that the ground is not frozen, I was quite surprised when I took the picture this morning. Even though we are due to have cold temperatures the next few days, I expect the reading to go down as the snow melts from the bottom up. But it great to see snow on the ground all around Killington again.

Maybe we should run another contest?

Kara's video can be found on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=576616219799&oid=34949209400 (log in required).

......let it snow!

Snow Making taking place on Highline at Killington 

Let it snow...let it snow...let it snow!

There has been a decided shift in the weather pattern at Killington and the resort is attempting to capitalize on it. Temperatures leading into Saturday dropped below freezing, allowing the Killington Resort to restart snow making operations with a vengeance.

Even in the middle of a relatively busy Saturday, the resort continuously made snow on all open terrain. In addition, terrain expansion has begun. Snow making was visible on all of the trails on Snowdon, and on Highline back to the K1 base lodge.

The Christmas Tree at the Birch Ridge Inn. From Left. Noel, Connie, Howie, Dick, Mary, Billy B., Charlotte, Carolyn(seated) and George. Click to enlarge.

Snow flurries have been in the air all day at Killington. Negligible accumulations were occurring until around 2PM this afternoon, at which point snow began to generally coat exposed surfaces. At 5:00 PM at the inn, snow has covered all grassy surfaces. Snow is also accumulating on aslphalt surfaces and on local roadways. The first night of snow (very late in the year) is usually interesting. Snow plows and sand truck are moving up and dawn the Killington Road (Yea!!!). it looks like winter has finally begun.

Christmas Tree Update: The Christmas Tree in the Great Room of the Birch Ridge Inn was officially unveiled last night to a nice crowd. The tree will be on display through the New Year. Stop in during your next visit to Killington.

......let it snow!