Letter sent to Lifetime Pass Holders of Killington 

Several days ago, Tuesday to be exact, I made a small reference to a letter sent by Allen Wilson, the president of Killington when the resort was owned by the American Skiing Company, to people who were entitled, because of past investments in the ski resort, to lifetime seasons passes to Killington. I have been very hesitant to comment on this issue, as I have been waiting to see what statements would be forthcoming from the new owners of the resort. I also do not have a personal stake in the details of the story, as neither Mary or I held any of the investment instruments which came with a Lifetime Pass to Killington. If you parse my comments, however, while I do not have a stake in claiming a lifetime pass, I do have a stake in the future of Killington, as an investor in the community through our business, as a citizen of Killington with responsibility to vote on Zoning and Town Plan issues presented at Town Meeting, and as a property owner with Act 250 status as an abutter of property owned by the resort.

I have a number of serious concerns about what has transpired in the last several days. If public statements are to be taken at face value, it will be up to the lawyers to sort out the sordid details...one of the unfortunate hallmarks of living in the United States of America in the early 21st century...so it goes. For my friends with lifetime passes, who have been very loyal to Killington.... they will be fine. All I can really hope for is that they don't get screwed by the process.

That being said, my concerns are much broader based.

For the last 10 years, Killington has been a wonderful town to live in, but it has been a difficult town to do business in. I will not rant, as I choose to live and invest in the community, but suffice to say with the changing tax climate in the state of Vermont, and the poor financial health of the the Killington Resort's prior owner, the American Skiing Company, that life has thrown small businesses in the Killington region a number of challenges. Because of, or perhaps in spite of, these challenges, when it was announced earlier this year that the American Skiing Company was going to sell the Killington Resort the sense of relief boarding on jubilation was palpable in the community.

And here we are, less than 1 week after the sale of the Killington Resort transpired, and instead of the new owners of the resort getting kudos with a flood of well wishes from the public, we see the resort mired in controversy. One of the tragedies of the American Ski Company was that they were horribly ineffective in communicating the great things about Killington. I am left with this horrible "oops they did it again" feeling...so it goes.

In less than 1 week, what I am sure looked like a legally proper letter to very loyal Killington supporters, has turned into a flame war on the internet, headline news in local news papers, feature stories on Vermont television stations, comments by state legislators and local politicians, and what looks like a referral to the Vermont Attorney General's office. This noon time, WBZ TV in Boston, 200 miles away from Killington, had picked up the story via the AP Newswire with newscasters joking about it. Is any publicity really good publicity??? Ugh..

Sometimes you can be right... but be very wrong at the same time.

A couple of days ago, I had the opportunity to spend a couple of hours with Steve Selbo, president of SP Land, who will be responsible for the real estate development at the Killington Resort. I have known Steve for 3 years. This was our first chance to speak since the sale of the resort. Steve was really excited about the future prospects for the Killington Resort. I have not yet had the opportunity to meet Chris Nyberg, the new President of the Killington Resort appointed by Powdr Corporation. But I am also very sure that Chris is equally excited about the work ahead to reposition Killington to it's rightful place of prominence in the world of destination resorts.

Knowing that top flight people are now in charge of the resort, knowing that the skiing community in the Northeast is excited about the demise of ASC and the sale of Killington, knowing that residents and business owners in Killington are excited about contemplated changes to the resort...knowing all this and the first major news story from Killington since the sale is a negative one hitting some of the most loyal of Killington's supporters. You have got to be kidding!

Sometimes you can be right... but be very wrong at the same time.

I hated writing this blog entry today. I love being upbeat and positive about Killington. But sometimes you have to talk about the bad before it can turn to good....so it goes.

Background information on this blog posting can be found by clicking on the following links:
1. Letter from Allen Wilson
2. ASC/SP Land Purchase and Sale Agreement on SEC website (note the relevant sections appears to be 8.23 on page 54
3. Ongoing chat room discussion on Killingtonzone.com
4. Rutland Herald story on the issue
5. WCAX TV story on the issue
6. WBZ TV Boston story on the issue.

Powerscourt, Wicklow Ireland 

Note from Bill: Mary and I were fortunate to be able to visit Ireland on vacation earlier in the month of May. This posting is the 2nd of a 4 part series on our adventure.

On our third day in Ireland, we left Dublin bright and early to begin our adventure through the countryside. When Mary and I travel, we try to keep our required daily driving times down to no more than 3 hours, leaving the rest of the day for sightseeing along the way. By the end of the evening, our target was the beautiful Foxmount Country House in Waterford. But between us and Waterford lay the Wicklow Mountains and the many lush gardens of southeast Ireland.

Pepper Pot Tower at Powerscourt Click to enlarge

About 1 hour southeast of Dublin you will find the Powerscourt Estate, know for it's opulent gardens. The house and gardens were commissioned in the 1730's by the first Viscount of Powerscourt to resemble the Chateau de Versailles in Paris.

The grounds of Powerscourt are beautifully laid out. Beautiful walking paths wind through the estate passing through traditional Irish gardens, Formal English Gardens, and Playful Japanese Gardens, all interspersed with castle edifices, old ruins, ponds, streams and fountains. As many people know, Mary is really into her gardening. Powerscourt was definitely a good first day stop in the irish countryside.

Japanese Gardens at Powerscourt Click to enlarge

The Foxmount House in Waterford is a beautiful 17th century country house set in the middle of a working dairy farm. The innkeepers, David and Margaret Kent were delightful to talk with. They gave us a lot of insight into being innkeepers in Ireland (they have been at it for 30 years), and also a lot of information about Waterford and the surrounding countryside. For our evening meal, they directed us to the Cottage Bistro in the seaport village of Cheekpoint in Waterford. Mary and I both had traditional irish seafood dishes oven baked in cream and served with lots of irish potatoes. It was a nice end to day 3 in Ireland.

Foxmount Country House In Waterford Click to enlarge

On day 4, we were on a mission. Our final destination was the Rivermount House, a little bed and breakfast in the irish seaport town of Kinsale. But between us and our next destination lay tours of the Waterford Crystal Factory and the Jameson Experience.

We arrived at the Waterford Crystal Factory not knowing exactly what to expect. We have been to many factories before in our pre-innkeeper, corporate America days, so we sort of had an idea what to expect. But what we saw was interesting, especially if you are familiar with American OSHA regulations. The tour of the crystal factory starts quietly enough on a bus, similar to what you would find in some airports. You are driven around the factory, where the guide explains the functions happening in the various buildings. At the end of the ride, you are let off the bus in the middle of the 40 acre factory site, where you are brought to the building where the crystal process begins.

Mary in the Waterford Crystal gift shop Click to enlarge

We were lead into this hallway besides large glass furnaces, where all of the raw components were heated to form molten glass. We thought, this was interesting, we were less than 20 feet from a furnace of molten glass. People were ladling glass into molds. Other people were walking under the molds while people were ladling the glass. Glass blowers were shaping glass. It seemed pretty wild. And we were right in the middle of it. But there was more to come.

The crystal makers at Waterford are true craftsmen, in the old school tradition. They are not paid by the hour, but by the piece they successfully make. Simple rules in the Waterford Factory apply..No Seconds.. and if it breaks, no pay check. So it was even more curious that when we left the furnace room, we were lead right onto the factory floor where craftsmen were physically cutting crystal into the various distinctive Waterford designs. Curious because we were shoulder to shoulder with the craftspeople as they worked. No eye protection, no ear protection, glass saws cutting crystal inches from everyones faces. It was truly amazing to see how it was all being done. And also a little weird because an American factory would have been shut down if it worked like that...so it goes!

From the Waterford Crystal Factory, we headed to Midleton Ireland and the Irish Whiskey Factory for Jameson's.

Mary hoisting a glass at the Jameson Experience Click to enlarge

The old distillery, as it is called, stands on the banks of the Dungourney River. It is steeped in tradition, with the tour taking you down the path from the distillers cottage, through the grain store houses, drying kilns, and huge copper kettles used to make Jamesons. After completing the tour, you spend some time in the tasting room sampling the delightful brown nectar produced by Jameson. While not as heavily produced as the Guinness Tour we took in Dublin, the Jameson Experience was quite instructive on the history and the process of making this world renowned liquor and well worth the stop.

Raising a glass of Guinness in Dublin, Ireland, at the Guinness Storehouse 

Note from Bill: Mary and I were fortunate to be able to visit Ireland on vacation earlier in the month of May. This posting will be the first of a 4 part series on our adventure.

In early April, as the ski season was winding down, Mary and I decided that for our May vacation that we would visit Ireland. We planned our Ireland trip totally on the internet, taking advantage of the many web sites that exist on the subject. We relied heavily on Tripadvisor.com to provide recommendations for lodging, and we were not dissapointed.

Our trip started in Dublin after an overnight flight from Boston on AerLingus. Comically, the plane arrived in Dublin at 5:30 AM. If you do the math, you will realize that this equates to 12:30 AM in Killington. Still about 2 hours before my normal time to go to bed at night in the winter.

O'Connell Monument Click to enlarge

We picked up a Hertz rental car at the Dublin airport. We declined the additional insurance, which would cost us later, as we thought that we had coverage through other means. By around 6:30 AM, we were clear of the Dublin airport taking in our first adventure down the Irish roads leading into the city.

Dublin is a very old city with low buildings and narrow, twisting streets. Based upon previous experiences staying in other cities, we selected an inn that was made from a converted brownstone, the Waterloo House, in a tony part of the city about a 5 minute walk from St Stephens Green. St Stephens Green is the Dublin equivalent of Central Park or the Boston Commons, although it is much smaller in size.

Half Penny Bridge Click to enlarge

We arrived at the inn at around 7:15 AM, knowing full well that a room would not be available due to the early hour. Never matter, we parked the rental car, a Toyota Yaris, in the parking lot of the Waterloo House and headed out for a walk about Dublin.

We started our walk at St. Stephen's Green. From there, we headed down towards the River Liffey and O'Connell Street past the monument of irish patriot Daniel O'Connell. This section of town was quite busy with a combination of commercial activity and students heading towards class at Trinity College.

We walked about a quarter of a mile up river from O'Connell Street to the Half Penny bridge. (Pedestrians used to be charged a half penny toll to use the bridge to cross the Liffey.) The bridge connects the city, linking to the Temple Bar area, know for it's restaurants and various pubs. We continued to wander around the city for a few more hours, before heading back towards a pub just up the street from the Waterloo House. That evening, we had dinner at a nice restaurant/wine bar beside St Stephen's Green named Peploe's.

Dublin Castle Click to enlarge

After starting with a nice breakfast at the inn on the second day, we resumed our walk around Dublin, this time with a purpose. Our first stop was the Dublin Castle, which for seven centuries was the seat of British rule in Ireland. The castle has mostly historic significance at this point, although many government offices are located nearby.

After leaving the castle, our next stop was Saint Patrick's Cathedral. We paid our 5 Euro's each to tour the cathedral, gift shop at the back of the church included. (Didn't Jesus drive the merchants out of the temple... it was a little wierd.) Saint Patrick's is steeped in tradition, said to have been founded near the site where Saint Patrick baptized converts to Christianity in the 5th century AD. The interior of Saint Patrick's also contains a memorial to Jonathan Swift, of Gulliver's Travels fame, who was one of the many deans at Saint Patrick's.

Saint Patrick's Cathedral Click to enlarge

Finally, no visit to Dublin would be complete with out a trip to the Guinness Factory at St James Gate and the Guinness Storehouse. The tour of the Guinness Storehouse cost 14 euro's, but for beer lovers it is the "E ticket" (to date myself) of Dublin. Without a question, the Guinness people take the story of their beloved beer very seriously. In addition to hearing about the history and process of making Guinness, the tour also includes a sampling room, plus a trip to Guinness's "Gravity Bar" 7 stories over Dublin for a full pint to end the tour. Mary and I laughed initially at the "7 Story" tag line, but in Dublin being up 7 floors is the equivalent of being on the top of a skyscraper.

Guinness Storehouse Click to enlarge

We ended our second, and last, day in Dublin in a cheeky little bistro in the embassy section called Roly's with a nice evening meal and a bottle of wine to balance the Guinness consumed during our day's walk about. By the time we returned to the inn, jet lag was rearing up, along with the realization the tomorrow would see the first real test of the tiny rental car on the little roads of the Irish countryside.

Approach to the 9th Green on Green Mountain National Golf Course 

Yesterday afternoon, Mary and I took our first swings of the nascent 2007 summer golf season at Green Mountain National Golf Course.

We casually walked the front nine late in the afternoon. The course is in beautiful shape this early in the season. As the weather in the Killington area has been relatively dry thus far this spring, the course has started the season in great shape with little evidence of winter damage, or damage from the spring thaw.

This was the first round for a new driver I had purchased on Sunday afternoon from the Golf and Ski Warehouse in Lebanon New Hampshire. (I got a great deal on one of last years Callaway Fusion FT-3 series drivers.) I can happily report that the new club performed well, helping me card my first birdie and several pars of the year along the way.

In news from around town, there has been no additional information made public concerning the sale of the Killington Resort by ASC last week, other than what had been previously published. Word is circulating about a letter sent by Allen Wilson to owners of lifetime passes at Killington which seems to be stirring some controversy. Other than that, no other news seems to be floating around town concerning the transition away from ASC.

Many town residents, especially those with out school age children, are starting to return from their early summer vacations. Golf course activity will be picking up sharply as we enter the spring tournament season. The first charity tournament to support ALS research in honor of former Green Mountain National Head Professional Jeff Hadley, will be played on Wednesday May 30th at both the Green Mountain National and Killington Resort courses.

Bill and Mary hoisting a glass
at the Jameson Irish Whiskey Factory
in Midleton Ireland. 

Updated at 4:00 PM EDT-----American Ski Company has announced that the sale of the Killington/Pico Ski Resorts to SP Land LLC has completed. Total price for the resort quoted on ASC's posting with the Securities and Exchange Commission was $85.2M with $3M being held in indemnity escrow until June 30, 2008. Complete details of the sale are listed on the Security and Exchange Commissions Edgar website.

In related news, Powdr Corp and SP Land have entered into an agreement to have Powdr Corp manage mountain operations. According to the Rutland Herald, Powdr Corp has named Chris Nyberg as the president of the Killington and Pico Resort, replacing Allen Wilson. Nyberg formerly was a VP at Prinoth, a company that manufactures Snow Groomers. More developments and commentary to follow in the coming days ------end of 4:00 PM Update

Back to work... so it goes!

First, I would like to thank the dozens of people who have sent us email over the last 2 weeks. As some of you know by now, Mary and I went on holiday to Ireland this year. We did not bring a lap top with us, and had limited access to the internet during our visit, so I did not make any postings while we were gone. Personally, I was surprised at how many people noticed we were gone. Thank you for keeping in touch in our absence.

On our trip to Ireland, as many who have been to the inn over the last several months are aware, we called our trip this year the "Irish Whiskey Tour". It turns out Mary is allergic to hops, so she could not partake of the fine selection of Irish Beers available in all the pubs. So she had to settle for sampling the various other brown nectars available in the Emerald Isle. We are busy getting the inn ready for a group celebrating the graduation of a student from Green Mountain College this weekend, so I can't give you all of the details of our trip. Next week, I will spend a few days writing about our trip, and I will go through the hundreds of photos we took to create a photo gallery. The long and short of it is...we had a great time, Guinness is good, Jameson is good, Irish roads are interesting at best..scary at worst, and I am already missing our nights spent in the lovely Irish pubs we visited each evening.

At Killington on our return, little has changed. Most of the ski related businesses have closed their doors for the season. The ski season ended at Killington as planned. Snow is still present on Superstar. Some people are still "earning their turns" by hiking up. The sale of Killington by ASC to SP Land has not yet closed. It appears that the State of Vermont has approved the transfers of all of the leases from Killington LTD to SP Land. It also is rumored that the closing process began yesterday in some law offices in Boston. However, there is no official word yet on the completion of the sale.

In other news at Killington, both the Killington Resort and Green Mountain National golf courses are open. I am sure that we will get the clubs out next week after we catch up on things at the inn...Think Spring!

Birch Ridge Inn Summer Web Site 

While we have seen the last run of skiing for the year, and our last guests of the season have departed, Mary and I still have been pretty busy all week.

The kitchen project that we have all been working wrapped up on Friday. The new floor is in place. All of the walls have been scrubbed. The stainless steel has been steam cleaned. The dining room floor was stripped and re-sealed. The carpet was cleaned. All in all, a surprising amount of work for an area which will look just about the same to guests as before we started.

At the inn, Mary and her assistant, Michalyn, have been going through each room, inspecting them to put together a work schedule for the summer. They have also started to work outside cleaning up some of the gardens which are not still snow covered. Mary has pots of top soil all over the inn starting her Dahlia's. They will not get transferred to the gardens until late May or early June.

I have been a little busy as well. Our main web site, birchridge.com has been updated for the summer. All of our room rates for the 2007/2008 season are now available. Golf packages with rounds of golf at the Killington Resort Course and Green Mountain National can now be priced for the 2007 summer season using our proprietary Golf Package Calculator. Ski packages for the 2007/2008 ski season can also be estimated using our Ski Package Calculator, although ski ticket prices are only estimated as it will be a few months before the Killington Resort releases ski ticket prices for next season.

In addition to skiing and golf packages, I have also put on the web site package information for the Killington Wine Festival to be held this year from July 12 through July 15th. Over the next couple of months, I will be posting updates on the Wine Festival, as the wine distributors to the Killington region finalize the list of vintners and winery's who will be participating in the event.

In the Killington area, skiing and riding is still going on. For the first week of May, the mountain will be down to one lift (Superstar). The planned closing date of the resort is Sunday May 6th, so if you have the urge to take a few last turns, act on them soon. We are all still waiting for the sale of the resort from the American Skiing Company to SP Land/Powdr Corp to take place. There are all kinds of rumors around town about when it will happen and why it has taken so long to execute. But we have it from several good sources that the sale will take place. The complexity of the deal, with the myriad combinations of private land and leased land from the State of Vermont, appears to be taking a little longer than planned to sort out. Of course, with most of the winter visitors gone, it is all great grist for the locals to talk about as we all congregate at local watering holes. So it goes....

I am also starting to think about golf for personal enjoyment. I have not gotten the clubs out yet, but the urge to take a few swings in increasing as the days grow warmer...It will be soon... Think Spring!

On Bittersweet.
Sunday, April 22, 2007 

With all of the work Mary and I have been doing around the inn last week to clean up from the season, we had not taken the opportunity to head out on the slopes for one last hurrah. Yesterday was the day.

Sunday was just a glorious day to ski at Killington. We got to the K1 base lodge at 7:30 AM to sunny skies and temperatures in the high 40's. It has been a long time since we have both skied together on a Sunday, but we had worked hard all week so we deserved some time on the hill. In the old days, before owning the inn, we used to try to ski "10 by 10"...10 runs before 10 o'clock in the morning. That was our goal.

The Killington resort cooperated, running 7 lifts. We started out with our first 3 runs down Superstar, followed by runs down Skye Burst, and Bear Trap, Skye Cruise, Bitter Sweet, North Ridge, East Falls, ending with a Great Northern and out. 10 by 10 on soft, creamy snow. A great way to end our personal ski seasons.

Today at Killington, temperatures have hit the low 80's. Most of the snow on the grounds of the inn, other than snow banks, is now finding it way to the Connecticut River. Winter may still have a gasp or 2 left for Killington, but today definitely feels like spring is upon us. I am not quite ready to get out my golf clubs...but from the number of tournament sign up sheets we have received the last week, we know golf season at Killington will be on us soon.

It has been a truly weird and wacky winter. Although the ski season got off to a very slow start, the last 16 weeks have been amazing. I had my powder ski's out at Killington at least 8 times this year...I have been joking to Mary that I am starting to "wear them out...time for a new pair". Sunday was probably our last hurrah on the slopes for this season...unless Killington has another powder day? (I don't think so.) Think Spring!