Birch Ridge Snow Stake, January 22, 2006, 2:30 PM 

Even though our chefs cook for us all the time, I don't often get a chance to dine in our restaurant. Last night was a little different. My son and his girlfriend, with his girlfriend's parents, came to visit for the weekend. We had not seen each other over Christmas. So it was a celebration of sorts to have everyone at the inn.

We started with a few cocktails at happy hour, sitting for dinner around 6:15 PM. I would usually prefer to dine a little later when I do a formal dinner, but the restaurant book was pretty busy last night. I wanted to make sure that we had enough time to enjoy our meal, yet be able to get another party down on the table later in the evening. I had never met my son's girlfriends parents, so we had a number of pleasantries and polite moments to get through, before everyone could relax. Of course, a cosmo for mom, and 3 nice bottles of wine from the cellar helped everyone become friends in quick fashion. By 12:30 AM, we were all over at the Wobbly Barn. My favorite Wobbly bartender, Bobby, had a pint of Guinness waiting for me, and the rest took care of itself. 4 Guinaye (or is it Guinness's') later, with a little dancing thrown in for exercise, and we walk back the the inn at 2:00 AM. I had not seen my son in a while so we stayed up talking, getting to bed around 4:45 AM, with another ski day shot before it got started.

It turned out to be a great weekend. I got a chance to see my son and his girlfriend again. The girlfriends parents were really nice and fun to be around. (You guys can come back anytime!) I had an excuse, like I need one, to crack open some nice bottles of wines for personal consumption. And don't forget the Guinness....

It turned much colder last night. Today's temperatures at the inn are in the low 20's with a raw damp feeling to the air. As you can see from the snow stake picture, we got a little dusting of snow on the ground. More is due in tomorrow, so we can go outside and play.

Killington Panorama, January 21, 2006, 12:30 PM 

Oh boy. It continued to be warm overnight with light showers. Any remaining snow at the snow stake at the inn has melted into the mud. But the mountain is still hanging on.

I spoke with several trusted sources who went skiing this morning. Conditions were very similar to yesterday with soft hero snow all over the mountain. However, some areas are starting to see exposed ledge poke thru the snow. All things considered, Killington has survived the January thaw.

The rain showers of today are supposed to end as snow showers this evening. Colder temperatures are returning which will allow Killington to start blowing snow again. And the forecast for next week features some snow from mother nature as well. A snow dance of two will help the situation...if you please!

Highline set for Race Training, January 20, 2006, 10:00 AM 

Wow. Skiing at Killington today was surprisingly good....Now before you think I have lost my mind to water torture with the weather we have had up here the last week, let me place a few caveats around my remarks...
1. I am not on the Killington payroll.
2. Good skiing should not be confused with the skiing one experiences in 3 feet of champagne powder.
3. Good is relative. I was expecting very poor. I was surprised.

Mary and I skied all over the mountain this morning including the Canyons, Bear, Needles, Skye Peak, Superstar. Conditions everywhere, except Superstar...I will get to that later... could be characterized as a very solid base with a thin top layer that was soft and spring-like. The base on all of the trails is very firm, which is a good thing. It has been so warm, however, that the firm base is not presenting itself as ice. It is more like carveable styrofoam. The surface layer, which has been worked by grooming machines, was a soft layer of snow. Most surfaces were not wet or sticky, but the top layer definitely was moist. We did not run into any rock or ledge outcroppings in our skiing this morning, but there were more than a few "dark" spots, where from past experience we know ledge exists, which we avoided.

Superstar, on the other hand, was totally different. The upper headwall was firm approaching frozen, which is typical for this time of year as it does not get much sun. Middle Superstar was mounds and mounds of soft snow. The resort had blown a huge amount of snow into Middle Superstar over the last few weeks, and most if it is still there forming mounds with an ice cream texture. Lower Superstar was developing the usual mounds interspersed with "skid plates" of frozen base. Basically, all of the mountain, except Superstar, was set up for cruising. If my ankle were not on the fritz, I would have really enjoyed the soft bumps of Superstar.

It is impossible to deny that the mountain would benefit greatly from a large snow storm. The snow stake at the inn is down to a paltry 3/4's of an inch. That being said, the Operations crew on the mountain has done a fantastic job maintaining conditions that most visitors to the area will enjoy. I don't know how many more days they can work without some help from mother nature, but from what I saw today, unless something happens which requires the building of an Ark, the mountain looks like it is coming thru this January thaw in pretty good shape.

Snow Guns blasting at Killington, January 19, 2006, 10:45 AM 

Last night at Killigton was surreal. Yesterdays precipitation turned to light snow in the evening. Winds accelerated. While we do not have an anemometer at the inn, local weather reports were claiming that gusts in the area approached 70 MPH. Suffice to say that the inn shook with the wind... so much so that Mary woke up several times during the night due to the noise.

This morning everything is coated with a very light snow. The wind is whipping it up into little snow devils... mini tornado's of snow. It is a marked change from the spring like conditions we had yesterday.

Up on the mountain, snow guns are blasting again. The Killington Resort is doing everything they can to create a sustainable ski season up on the mountain, even in the face of the nasty weather we have had in the last week. But it looks like we are all in for a break. The current forecast has a storm on track for Saturday. The forecast now looks like we will be on the cold side of the event and get all snow.

Inn and community responsibilities are keeping me off the slopes today. I will be out on the hill Friday and Saturday, to get a first had view of conditions.

When I got up this morning and asked Mary if anything good had happened, she replied that none of our employees had gotten into an accident coming into work this morning. For the biggest ski resort on the east, that sort of says it all about what is going on today.

I am usually a positive person. But it is very hard to speak well today. Last night when I went to bed, we were experiencing sleet and freezing r@#n. When I got up this morning, one of the local TV stations was reporting that wind gusts at Killington Peak had clocked 57 MPH. The NCP is driving sideways outside right now. We are expecting thunderstorms this afternoon. Flash flood watches are posted for the local county. But, it is supposed to get cold again tonight and end as snow! It is just one of those days....

Killington Peak - Mary and Bill
"In the box!"
January 17, 2006 

Mary and I went skiing together for the first time since before Thanksgiving. Of course, Mary has been out a bunch each week, but I had been at the inn nursing a bum ankle. But it seems much better now...

I would rate overall conditions today as "OK". If you lived and worked at Killington, or were here visiting, you should have been on the mountain for some time today. We arrived around 9:00 AM to beautiful sunny skies with a temperature of 14 degrees and minimal wind. Conditions from the K1 at Killington Peak were firm, but we did not run into any ice problems. We made a "speed run" from the start to get to Highline, but but the time we got there a rope was across the trail. Bunny Buster and Mouse Trap were well groomed and gave us a pleasant run out back to the K1.

We then traversed across to Bear Mountain. Pipe Dream across South Ridge was glacial and roped off. But Great Easter was in very good shape. Bear Trap was "Interesting". The terrain park was set up and well maintained, but surfaces to skiers right were very sketchy with windblown ice and exposed rock ledge. Looks like the mountain took care of the park and forgot about skiers not wanting to do the terrain features. But not to complain, because Upper Wildfire was very well groomed. It was set up for crusin, and we did a couple of laps through it before heading over the Needles Eye.

While I thought Wildfire was the run of the day, Mary favored Panic Button-Needles Eye. Both had fresh blown snow that was groomed flat and fast. We did a couple of very fast laps (that's why we wear helmets) before heading over the Skyelark and calling it a day.

All told, while it definitely not a powder day, plenty of decent skiing and riding was available. I took a lot of pictures, but quite frankly, they were of trails that were empty, and as a result not visually interesting. Of course, Mary and I enjoyed the empty trails...Where were you??

Killington Peak - Manmade Blizzard, January 16, 2006 2:30 PM 

Cold, blustery, sunny, brilliant sky, fresh snow, man-made blizzard, packed powder, blue ice... Pick your adjective, and today at Killington probably fits with it.

We were very fortunate this weekend to have a full inn, even after the storms that started the weekend off. Many of our guests this weekend have stayed with us before, so they were very comfortable with being at Killington. They helped the first time guests, by telling them about things to do, and seeing them out and about town. Guests over the weekend had skied in every conceivable combination of weather. Friday - Sunny and 50, Saturday - Torrential NCP, Sunday - Icy Cold with strong winds, Monday - Brilliant Sunshine. Ah.. winter in New England.

But in addition to skiing, we had shopping trips to Manchester (very serious credit card damage by the way), art gallery hopping in Woodstock, moonlit dog sled rides at Mountain Top, the Budweiser Clydesdales, and a weekend of playoff football. Quite literally something for everyone.

The mountain is in the process of major resurfacing operations. When I visited the mountain in early afternoon, it looked like every snow gun Killington owns is blowing snow somewhere. It should make for a decent week on the hill.