The Birch Ridge Inn; waning fall colors backed up with a skim coat of snow! Thursday. October 18, 2018.

The season is flipping. Overnight the area was hit with the first snow storm of the upcoming winter. Starting with heavy sleet, the precipitation changed to heavy wet snow, blanketing the inn with a couple of inches. Plummeting temperatures through the night froze the snow solid this morning, forcing anyone attempting to drive to search our their ice scrapers to clean windshields. Ah... the joys of winter.

The Killington Ski Resort announced yesterday, with the snow storm imminent, that they would be open for skiing and riding for passholders only on Friday October 19th (tomorrow). Snow making operations are in full swing on the mountain today, as temperatures are struggling to get much above the freezing mark at lower elevations. Lifts for pass holders start turning Friday at 10:00 Am. Skiing and riding for the general public begins on Saturday.

Where ever you may be, enjoy the change of seasons. Wear sun screen if you must. But we are thinking snow for the mountains of Killington.

The Birch Ridge Inn; bathed in fall colors. Thursday. October 4, 2018.

The Killington Resort from Superstar thru Snowdon, Thursday, October 4, 2018.

Fall Foliage colors are starting to pop in and around Killington. A colorful weekend is on tap in the Green Mountains.

And wherever you may be, get out and enjoy the change of seasons.

Dark clouds hide construction taking place at Killington Resort 

The race is on between the Killington Resort and Mother Nature.

Dark foreboding clouds veiled all of the construction activity taking place at the resort today. From ski tunnels to new lifts to lift storage buildings, the resort is crawling with teams of workers moving about with equipment ranging from simple shovels to heavy equipment and helicopters.

The scene in the K1 parking lot in the picture below illustrates some of the scope of the activities.

The new support barn for the K1 Lift is clearly visible in the background on the left of the picture. In the foreground left, you will see lift components for the new Snowden Six Pack.

Construction trailers and the Snowden Six Pack base components span the middle of the frame with various large pieces of conduit. To the right of the frame, the Helicopter to be deployed to install the lift towers at Snowden and South Ridge sits grounded by the cloud cover. To the far right, workers are moving iron components around. Unseen are the large dump trucks hauling dirt and stone everywhere.

It is truly a full blown ballet that is taking place on the mountain to coordinate all of the activites.
The K1 parking lot has turned into a massive construction staging area.

Major projects being worked and (hopefully) completed before the onset of winter include :

-Refurbishing the K1 Gondola including a new haul line, and new cabins.
-Construction of a barn at K1 to protect the cabins from the weather when the lift is not operating
-Removal and redeployment of the Snowden quad
-Re-installation of the Snowden quad to the other side of the resort on South Ridge.
-Construction of a new 6-pack bubble chair on Snowden with new towers and support buildings
-Construction of multiple ski tunnels around the resort to eliminate high traffic crossover points between Expert Terrain and Beginner Terrain
-Installation of 44,000 feet of new snow making pipe with includes a combination of replacements and new installations
-New RFID system to replace lift ticket scanning at each lift
-Regrading and trail improvements at Snowden to support the new Six Pack
-Dirt moving everywhere

The race with Mother Nature towards winter is on.

Wherever you may be, get out and enjoy the end of summer and the early fall season...Snow will be here soon enough!

The change to fall colors has finally started. 

It is finally starting.

We have been watching the trees around Killington to determine when the fall leaf peeping season might begin. Usually by this calendar date fall colors in the mountains are starting to emerge through the summer greenery of the mountains. But with climate change taking place (and while I hate the political paint brush people put on that term, it is really happening folks), the seasonal boundary between summer and fall is definitely moving.

But it looks like things are finally starting to change.

The colder, darker, weather of the early part of last week set up a trigger condition to tell the trees in the area to begin shedding there summer finery. Last week there was a six day stretch where sunlight was muted by copious high cloud cover and full blown overcast. Evening temperatures were down into the 40's with upper elevations nearing the high 30's. While this impact was not instantaneous, driving around town today clearly revealed that the change has in fact started to take place.

It is still way too early to make any predictions on the progress that the trees will make as they shed the chlorophyl in their leaves. Over the last several days we have seen mostly sunny conditions with warm and humid nights. This may slow down the process, or it may not, depending upon what happens over the next couple of days. Suffice to say the ouija board will stay in the closet for another week or so before we make any predictions. it is all part of the fun of the fall season.

Wherever you may be, hopefully you are staying dry, and can enjoy the changing seasons.

Beautiful day at the Birch Ridge Inn at Killington 

With an absolutely beautiful weather weekend on tap for the Green Mountains of Vermont, we welcome all of our guests who are visiting the area to participate in the Vermont Beast Race, the Vermont Ultra, and the Vermont Sprint as part of Spartan Weekend.

Each year thousands of people descend upon Killington to test their physical and mental endurance on a challenging obstacle course spread out over the 6 peaks of the Killington Resort. From the start at the Snow Shed Base Lodge, many participants will face a vertical climb from 2000 feet to Killingtons 4241 peak while crossing many obstacles ranging from barbed wire, to ponds, to fire pits along the way. Everyone is challenged, many complete the course, but all usually leave with the satisfaction that they have stood up to "the beast".

At the inn this weekend, we have our normal dinner service starting Friday and Saturday nights at 6:00 PM. We have added several pasta dishes to our menu for those who want to "carb up" on Friday, or replenish their energy stores on Saturday. In addition to the restaurant, we will also be serving dinner in the bar in the Great Room. Reservations are recommended this weekend for the restaurant due to the large number of people in the area (very similar to a winter weekend.) For reservations, please call the inn at 800.435.8566 or 802.422.4293. Dinner at the bar is of course first come-first served.

On a somber note, while many will be experiencing the outdoors this weekend in Killington from a positive point of view, our thoughts are with the people in the mid-Atlantic and southern states as they battle with the problems created by hurricane Florence. Vermont went through that special kind of liquid hell with hurricane Irene. We hope people are staying safe and that the recovery from the storm proceeds quickly and humanely in the coming weeks.

Wherever you may be, stay safe and hold your loved ones tight.

New slippers to ward off the coming cold nights 

Over 20 years we have met some very nice people who have gone from guests to friends. 2 very special people are Grace and Sal from Auburn.

Every year Grace knits us new slippers to keep our feet warm as the seasons change. Unfortunately the drive to Vermont for them has become harder over the years. But even though they could not visit with us this September, the slippers arrived right on que to coincide with the arrival of cold weather on Saturday night. Two very special people who are dear to us.... Thank you Grace and Sal!

Wherever you may be, keep warm as the seasons change in Vermont.

The Killington Resort from Superstar thru Snowdon, Monday September 3, 2018.

We hope you are enjoying a beautiful Labor Day.

And wherever you may be, where it is still summer in the northern hemisphere, don't forget your sun screen.