Mary on Bittersweet with Snowdon, Rams Head, and Pico Peaks in the background on a beautiful sunny day. 

it is very hard to find a complaint about today. 100 percent sunshine set in a deep blue sky; Crisp temperatures appropriate for skiing in mid February in Vermont; 3 to 4 inches of light fluff from overnight snow fall, albeit on top of a very firm surface; medium crowds allowing one to ski directly to most lifts, yet socialize with fellow skiers while riding uphill on a chair or in the gondola boxes. Just a beautiful day.

Mary and I snuck out of the inn for a 90 minute tour of the mountain. As we do many times, we parked in the Vale parking lot and skied directly to the Rams Head lift. A quick run down Caper took us to the K1 Gondola. On top of Killington Peak, the scenes were stunning. Hundreds of miles of visibility in all directions graced by snow covered trees and groomed ski trails.

In rapid succession we did Blue Heaven to Great Eastern to Bear Trap and Bear Claw. Then off to Cruise Control, Bittersweet, Superstar and Skyelark. Then we were done. Not because we wanted to go back to the inn. We wanted to ski all afternoon; but being a holiday week at Killington with a full inn.. let's just say that there was work to be done.

As we were skiing mainline routes, everything we were on was groomed fairly flat. The base is very solid, bordering on ice in some places. But the base was also covered with a nice layer of fluff that was being pushed around but not being scraped off by the holiday week crowds. Overall, our morning on the hill was a nice break away from working. And with more snow predicted tomorrow, it's only going to get better.

Let it snow!

A snowy ride up the Superstar chair. 

The Presidents holiday week vacation period is in full swing at Killington. And mother nature, although she threw a tantrum a few days ago, has been helping to put guests in the proper mood.

Seasonably cold temperatures with light snow has overspread the area the last couple of days. Snow accumulations through early morning today were negligible; primarily a light dusting of white covering the base. But snow fall has picked up this afternoon with an inch or so covering walkways around the inn.

Skier traffic at the mountain is reported to be lighter than usual for a holiday week. Our inn guests are reporting that the mountain has done a very good job on trail grooming. The hard pack left over from the last warm/freeze cycle has been broken up nicely resulting in generally soft surfaces. Some slick spots still exist in high traffic areas. Certainly the added fluff we are receiving this afternoon should help to keep things nice on the mountain for tomorrow.

Let it snow!

Killington Peak on a messy Monday. 

Last night the Killington area experienced an early evening ice storm followed by several hours of r@*n. The rain did not do significant damage to snow surfaces, as it was relatively brief. Snow depths at the inn's snow stake were reduced from 26 inches to 23 inches during the overnight hours.

Temperatures today are in the mid 40's with occasional light drizzle. Secondary roads and parking lots, which were covered with a layer of snow over ice from last weeks storms, are now solidly ice covered. Use appropriate caution if you are traveling to the area.

On the mountain, spring like ski conditions are being reported. Areas with high snow depths are very soft. High traffic areas are slick from having their snow cover saturated by last nights weather event. Ski traffic on the mountain today is light, as today is a fairly big transition day. (At Birch Ridge for instance, 80% of our rooms checked out this morning, and they are scheduled to be full again this evening.) Temperatures are predicted to fall overnight. This should allow the Killington grooming team to go out on to the mountain to work ski surfaces to get the mountain back in shape for Presidents week visitors.

Let it snow!

Killington Peak in all it's winter glory for Presidents Weekend Skiers and Riders. 

The last holiday weekend of the winter season has begun at Killington in glorious fashion. In addition to an inch of light fluff that blanketed the area over night, skiers and riders were greeted this morning with full sunshine, mild temperatures (low 20's) and very light winds.

Overall, the resort has a sense of being busy but not over crowded. Hotels in the area, the Birch Ridge Inn included, are all full for the weekend. Restaurants along the Killington road are all doing a nice lunch business. I spoke with several ski shop owners who have run out of rental equipment, one of only a couple of times this season.

Lift lines at the mountain, from what I could observe, were negligible. I did notice that at noon time that none of the base lodge parking lots were full, unlike in past years, but by the same token parking spaces were at a premium. You could get one, but you needed to look.

The only downer for the weekend was the headline in todays Rutland Herald concerning the demise of the current round of village planning. "SP Land shelves ski village plans" was proclaimed on the right column above the fold. Follow the link if you would like to read the full story.

It will be a busy week overall at Killington. I will get a report of slope conditions this evening from our guests which I will pass along tomorrow.

Let it snow!

Skier exiting Bear Mountain on Skye Peak Quad. Bear Chair at Outer Limits down due to wind. 

Unfortunately, I have not been able to get out on the mountain this week. This morning, even though I had a business meeting I needed to attend at 11:00 AM, I was bound and determined to take a few runs. Dutifully I arrived at the K1 Base Lodge just before 9:00AM to suit up for some skiing. Once again the wind was howling, but the temperature was at least a balmy 28 degrees so it was relatively warm.

The K1 Gondola was not operating, so the group I was with headed to the Superstar Quad and Bear Mountain. Bear Claw, Bear Trap, and Wild Fire were all in nice shape. Outer Limits was groomed basically from edge to edge. While a little "chunky" from the hard pack being ground up, it was a solid do over. The only problem, however, was the 40 MPH wind at the top of the Bear Chair on Outer Limits. Every time you got to the top, you were literally blasted with ice pellets kicked up by the group getting off the chair immediately ahead of you. It was not pleasant.

Mother nature, and Killington management concern for skier saftey being what they are, the problem was immediately corrected after our 2nd loop down Outer Limits....the Bear Quad was closed. That was not too bad, as I was not looking forward to another ice facial at the top of the chair. Needless to say, a mad dash to the Skye Peak quad ensued. So it goes!

From the top of Skye Peak, I took a run down Skye Burst to Cruise Control. Surfaces were ok with some of the same chunkiness seen on Outer Limits. Another night of grooming will make the trails pretty nice. The Needles Eye Quad was running, so a hop up that, a run down Bittersweet, and I was done for the morning. 5 runs, fighting the wind, in about 70 minutes, then off to my meeting. Not to bad, but I left wanting to do some more; which is how I guess it is supposed to be.

Let it snow!

Ice covered trees behind the Birch Ridge Inn 

Take one damp day with a combination of snow, sleet, and freezing r@*n, add in a temperature drop from 34 degrees to 12 overnight....well it looks pretty but everything is rock hard.

Friends who were out on the mountain today reported that the resort was able to get groomers over most of the main line trails before the resort opened this morning. Surfaces were reported as being very firm. I would guess that snow base depths on the mountain will support some significant tilling the next couple of days to soften the trails up for President's Weekend visitors. Currently at the inn we have 25 inches at the snow stake. The mountain has significantly more.

Let it snow!

All you need is love
Merisa and and Aaron created Birch Ridge's entry in the Harpoon Ale Snow Sculpture Contest 

Another day of strange weather at Killington.. Snow, r@*n, freezing r@*n.. you name it we got it. But we did end up with a net positive snow accumulation, so I guess it's not all that bad. So it goes.

For the last several days, Merisa, our head server in the restaurant, has been carving a snow sculpture with her boyfriend Aaron on the front hill of the inn. The sculpture is for the Harpoon Ale Snow Sculpture contest, running at Killington this week. The theme Merisa took is a living room scene with a Love Seat and a Fireplace. The back of the Love Seat is a giant heart, just in time for Valentines day.

If you are at Killington this weekend, check out all of the sculptures up and down the Killington Road.

Let it snow!