The Contessa, holding court in the K1 Gondola 

For the last 5 of 6 weeks, the trails of Killington have been busy with vacationers. College kids from Jersey, Families from Canada, English boarding schools...you name it they have all been to Killington. But for some reason.. not today. I am not sure if they have gone home, or just taking a break from the skiing and riding, but overall there were very few people out on the mountain this morning other than locals and some day trip skiers. And the Skiing was Great!

A little cloud cover and a little breeze kept temperatures this morning in the high 20's. I put an extra layer on in the base lodge after waking through the K1 parking lot, but I did not need a neck gaitor to keep me warm. Today I was just free skiing, as the guys I normally ski with had off mountain appointments to complete. As a result, I was pretty much skiing top to bottom on the mountain, non stop, no waiting.

Aerials ramp under construction at Bear Mountain Click image to enlarge

I started out on the Killington side taking runs down Highline, East Falls, and Cascades. All were in great shape, although the run out from East Falls and Cascades to the K1 gondola was choppy in places.

Bear Mountain this morning was also very nice. With the exception of some thin spots on lower Wildfire, all of the trails at Bear sported soft packed powder great for carving edge to edge sweeping turns, which because of lack of crowds, you could do with reckless abandon. There is a huge amount of activity going on at Bear to complete construction of the features for the Sprint Freestyle Championship to be held this weekend at Bear. i did not take Outer Limits because it was basically roped off in the middle, diverting people to the bottom of Devils Fiddle. Snow cats were moving snow around to build the Aerials jumps. Technicians were busy measuring the bumps course to begin the process of setting the bumps on the different lines for the competitors. Machines were also working the Super-Pipe.

Soft bumps on lower Superstar, skiers left. Click image to enlarge

I took a few runs in the Needles Eye area, and the Superstar area. Again, great carving snow. In addition to the soft snow in the middle of the trail, on these trails you also found nice soft bumps lines down at least one side. I did do some of the bumps down Lower Needles. Not many, mind you, but just enough to get the blood flowing in the legs after a morning of high speed cruising. And tomorrow is also predicted to be a sunny day! Let it Snow!

Pico Peak draped in sunshine! 

Today was "Wacky Winter Games" day presented by the Killington Chamber of Commerce. It was a great excuse to ski Pico Mountain, not that anyone needs an excuse!

Today was just one of those beautiful late winter days to ski. 100 percent sunshine in the morning. Very soft packed powder conditions from the storms over the weekend. And a different mountain to explore to break up the routine.

Killington Peak from Pico Click image to enlarge

Mary and I get over to Pico 5 or 6 times a year. I usually ski it with the boys on powder days; Mary tends to go there when the girls decide to take a break from Killington. So, it is actually pretty rare when we both go over to Pico for a day of pure recreational skiing.

Today was just a beautiful day. The morning started with almost not a cloud in the sky. A quick trip up the Golden Express quad to the Summit Express Quad and a whole new world opened up. On a sunny day, the views from the top of Pico are stunning. Killington Peak was all lit up to the west, itself bathed in the glow of bright sun. To the north east, there was a spectacular view of Chittenden Reservoir, frozen in time with the Green Mountains as a backdrop. We just did loops off the top, mostly on KA and Forty Niner. Snow conditions were fantastic. And on most trails there was a nice soft bump line to play in down at least one side.

Chittenden Reservoir from Pico Click image to enlarge

Of course with the snow, and the views, and the sunshine, we almost wanted to forget why we were a Pico. But we did the right thing, skied a few more loops, then reported to the slalom course. We each took our runs down without event. Mary was a little excited at the beginning. She missed triggering the timing system so we had to call her back to start over. But with that exception, we all completed the course in respectable fashion. Of course, it is not a serious race. Half way down the course, you needed to stop and throw at snow ball at a target (all of us missed) so who knows how bad our times really are!

Mary in the starting gate Click image to enlarge

After the slalom course, we all reported for the snow shoe race. The Killington Chamber of Commerce had an obstacle course set up for racing on snow shoes. The course was a loop with little games set up every 50 yards or so. You had to take a swing with a hockey stick, throw horseshoes, hit a jump shot, take a tennis swing, and swing a baseball bat at a tee ball. It was all great fun, and you would not believe how your heart gets pumping running around on snow shoes.

Bill B. on snow shoes Click image to enlarge

The chamber is throwing a little party tonight at the Sante Fe Steakhouse to award prizes. In years gone bye we have typically been the team to beat in the race for last place, although one year our perfect record was spoiled by coming in second to last. It is all in good fun, and or course, it was a great day to ski Pico. Now if we can get another 4 or 5 inches of fluff tonight! Let it Snow!

Snow Blowing around Birch Ridge Inn 

We did not get 6 inches of snow last night, so Mary let me ski mattress mountain this morning. But we did get some significant snow none the less.

Overnight, we received almost 4 inches of snow around the inn, with snow continuing to fall during the day. Guests coming back to the inn from skiing this morning are reporting great skiing with 3 to 6 inches of new powder on top of groomed soft surfaces from yesterdays snowfall.

According to local forecasts, snow should continue to fall everyday this week at Killington. While I probably have a date with a snow blower once or twice this week, I am looking forward to several nice days on the slopes to take advantage of all the new snow. Let it snow!

In K1 lodge, covered in rime,
10:15 AM March 17, 2007 

Sort of!

The alarm went off at 6:30AM. A very short night considering the last guest at the inn arrive at 2:30 AM and I hit the pillow about 3! But today was supposed to be a powder day. Over 6 inches of snow had fallen. I had to catch first chair!

I blasted out of the inn parking lot around 7:00 AM. Our plow guy, knowing "the owners" cars, had left a little deposit in front of my Subaru. That's to be expected, because our guests need to get to the mountain. The night before, I had planted the Subaru on bare pavement, expecting a snow bank to be in front of it in the morning. It performed brilliantly, getting me out of the parking lot with no hesitation.

When I got the the mountain, I got a prime parking spot, 6 cars into Bay 2, a short walk to the K1 base lodge. Boots on and out of the lodge by 7:20, the guys I was skiing with, Larry, Barry, Kenny, and his son, headed to the K1. Tragedy struck... It was sleeting out. Ice buildup on the line would cause the K1 t be delayed until 9:00. Never fear, the slowdon, er Snowdon, quad would be running as first chair for 7:30. Then things got interesting...

Our first run was down Upper Royal Flush to Highline. Wind had blown Upper Royal flush to a nice consistency varying from bare rock to waist deep. 3 quick turns down skiers right, and we all headed to the snow drift down skiers left. We got about 50 feet and the lights went out. The wind coming upslope had blown sleet on us, completely covering our goggles. After scraping them off, we entered Highline. Sweet and deep. Skiers right down the headwall was pristine. A beautiful ride except for the sleet.

With the K1 not running, we went over to Superstar and headed towards Needles Eye. This was probably the best run of the day, as again it was deep and not cut up yet. I took skiers right down Panic Button and held towards the middle of Needles Eye. Pretty much untouched, knee deep, heavy powder all the way down. A quick trip up the box, why the Skyeship was running and the K1 was not is anyone's guess, and we headed towards Bear Mountain.

Skyeburst was pretty nice. Again, the wind had blown knee to waist deep powder along skiers right. I got first dips down Skyeburst. While stopping to clean my goggles of the rime ice, Larry past me and went first down Viper Pit. Really deep snow on skiers right. After successfully going down Viper Pit, I had my fat ski's on, I was cruising down lower Bear Claw when a snow snake grabbed my left ski. I augured in with a nice full face plant. It was a nice splash of powder, with out a ski ejection. The fat ski's just float on top of the surface. What I think happen is I went over a bump, became airborne, and caught a tip on the next bump. No damage, no foul, I picked myself up and went to the bottom.

We did a few more runs at Bear and Needles and headed to the K1 lodge around 10. The ice was really coating us heavy, as todays picture from the K1 lodge will attest. I called it a day at this point. I had a heavy date with a snow blower back at the inn, and then a 2 hour nap in the afternoon. A nice day on the hill. Let it snow!

Killington Peak,
March 16th, 2007 11:00 AM 

It is amazing what a forecast of a major snow storm at a ski resort can do.

All eyes at Killington are looking south as a major winter storm is poised to move into the area early this evening. Weather forecasters are all trying to stake out a claim to predict snow depths, but the general consensus figure bandied about is around 20 inches or so by the time the storm moves through the area on late Saturday. Of course, this is all great news for the ski area. Many of our weekend guests headed north early this morning to beat out the storm and get ready for skiing in the snow on Saturday. Of course, the snow could not come at a better time.

Last night temperatures in the area dipped to the low teens and high single digits. Snow banks around the inn have all frozen solid. On the mountain, most of the terrain has been groomed flat to both smooth out the firm surfaces and get ready for the upcoming storm. However, on some of the trails water bars, since frozen, were clearly visible from the wet weather of the last few days. Of course, with any luck at all, everything will be nice and white and soft again tomorrow as the storm rolls through the area. It should be a great weekend to ski and ride at Killington. Let it snow!

Snow covers the forest floor
behind the Birch Ridge Inn. 

One month ago Killington experienced the Valentines day blizzard of 2007. Is St. Patrick's day the next quasi holiday to get snowed on???

Mother Nature has not been kind to north east skiing these last 2 days. Heavy r@!n and warm temperatures have soaked the mountains resulting in loss of snow pack, flood warnings in some of the river valleys, and the beginning of "Mud Season" on local country dirt roads.

Latest snowfall forecast from Accuweather.com as of Thursday March 15th

Overnight, the snow stake declined 9 additional inches, settling this morning with 9 inches of snow behind the inn. The mountain has seen similar reductions in snow cover, but initial reports indicate that the snow pack is still holding up reasonably well to the first test of spring. But it looks like things will be changing once again in the next 24 hours.

The current forecast indicates Killington will receive significant snowfall coming into the St Patrick's day weekend, just like we saw heading into Valentines day last month. My powder ski's are in the car. I am ready for an epic Saturday. Are you? Erin-go-Bragh! Let it Snow!

Howie holding court in the box
before our run down Double Dipper 

What a difference 50 degree temperatures can make.

Conditions this morning were pure spring skiing with partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the mid 50's. We did not take any where near as many runs as we did last Friday, but the legs got a really good workout.

Overnight, the resort had groomed pretty much everything. Since snow surfaces were very soft and wet, the first few runs were punctuated with evasive maneuvers around huge cat track scars carved in the soft snow. But after a little skier traffic, the trails smoothed out nicely. Great conditions for a warm day.

We spent our ski day on the Killington Peak side of the mountain, figuring that it would stay firmer than the trails with souther exposure at Bear. Starting with multiple runs down Rime to loosen up the legs, we did East Fall, Double Dipper and Downdraft in rapid succession(ok... not so rapid succession as we needed to traverse down to the K1 Gondola each time as the Canyon Quad was not running). All of the runs were in beautiful shape with a soft base of heavy wet snow. We did not encounter any firm spots on the runs down thru the Canyon area.

We finished our morning on the mountain with laps on Superstar. The upper Superstar headwall was creamy soft from the new snow the resort had blown onto it last last week. Middle Superstar had a water skiing feel to it due to melting snow. Because it was groomed, there were no bumps in middle Superstar, so wide carving turns were in order. Lower Superstar was very soft with no skid plates in sight. By the time we were in it (11 AM) it was starting to feel the effect of skier traffic with little wet piles of snow building up through the middle of the trail. After a couple of loops we decided to call it a day and head for a late breakfast.

At the inn the snow stake this morning was reading 18 inches. Over the last week, the snow pack in the back of the inn has melted/compacted about 8 inches. Overall there is plenty of cover left for several weeks of skiing if warm temperatures continue. But this is March in New England, and we should expect at least 1 or 2 more snow storms before the season is done. Let it snow!