George Washington
First President of the United States
 

The way our society is organized, we sometimes lose sight of how past history shapes current events. This week is a classic example.

When I was growing up outside of Boston, we never celebrated Presidents Week (or the more pejorative slang "Dead Presidents" Week). We celebrated the birthdays of George Washington (born on February 22, 1732) and Abraham Lincoln (born on February 12, 1809). The impact of both of these men on 21st century American culture is incalculable; it goes far beyond a few days of ski vacations in February. Just something to keep in perspective on the day George Washington was born.

Back to skiing and riding...Active grooming is continuing around the mountain to grind up the hard surfaces experienced over the weekend. Snow blowing operations are taking place on many of the high traffic crossover trails.

Being a holiday week, there are a lot of "characters" out on the slopes. I am not sure what story these 4 gentleman have to tell, but they were seen all over the mountain this noon time. I caught a picture of them taking the Snowdon Quad around 12:30 PM. I wonder what George Washington and Abraham Lincoln would have to say about celebrating their birthdays in this fashion?

Top of Superstar Lower Headwall
February 20, 2006, 1:30 PM 

I have finally gotten over the shock of not winning the big prize in the Powerball drawing over the weekend. So it's back to work this week at Killington.

Thus far, we have a really nice mix of guests at the inn enjoying skiing and riding at the resort. The weather looks like is will cooperate with some snow flurries every day. The restaurant looks like it will be busy each night. Now, all we need is a little more snow (down south?) to convince people to leave the golf clubs in winter storage and come skiing in Killington in March!

Mary at the woodpile
February 20, 2006, 2:30 PM 

Holiday weekends are usually busy at Killington, and this President's Day weekend is no exception. The area, and the resort, have seen good (not record) crowds this weekend. Temperatures this weekend have been crisp, but not brutal, and there has been plenty of sunshine to keep spirits up. The only down side is that the mountain did firm up substantially as a result of the thaw-freeze cycle we experienced at the end of last week. Good friends who have skied every day reported that conditions continuously improved each day, starting from icy hard on Saturday.

Of course, we have not been able to get out this weekend, as the inn has been busy. But we are still getting outside for our exercise, as today's picture of Mary stacking wood attest too. (Chivalry is not dead. I had the task of taking the picture...)

Snow Making Operations at Snowdon
February 18, 2006, 12:30 PM 

Winter returned to Killington last night with temperatures plunging into the single digits.

With the return of winter, the resort has restarted snow making operations. Snow guns were clearly visible operating on many of the interconnect and high traffic trails to repair surfaces loosened up by the prior two days of unseasonably warm temperatures. Most of the trails that were visibly bumped up over the last week were groomed flat last night to prepare for Presidents week visitors. With cold temperatures and light snow in the forecast for the next couple of days, snow surfaces should improve rapidly for a good week of skiing and riding.

It has been a wild weather day at Killington thus far. Early this morning, temperatures were in the high 40's to low 50's. Sporadic, heavy r@#$n showers took place several times during the morning. Around 11:00 AM, it all changed.

A squall line went thru the area with very strong wind gusts. Precipitation changed to heavy snow. I ran into multiple people at the Killington Market at approximately noon time who reported that the mountain had suspended operations due to high winds and zero visibility. We have been experiencing random power hits. Friends in North Sherburne are reporting that power went out around the time the squall line passed thru the area.

At 1:00 PM, while I am writing this, the clouds are breaking up and blue sky is visible from my office. However, the wind is howling. Probably in the 20 to 30 MPH range, as the flags are standing straight, with gusts much higher. The temperature has dropped bellow freezing.

There actually is a silver lining to all of this, however. The weather service had originally predicted heavy r@#$n all day before changing to snow and cold. This did not happen. While we did have a few heavy showers, we did not have a continuous r@#n, so ski surfaces should have faired quite well. It is too early to tell if we will get much snow out of this system. We will just have to ride it out.

All Bumped Up!
Lower Skye Lark
February 16, 2006, 11:30 AM 

Another warm day in Killington. Temperatures are approaching the low 50's with beautiful sunshine and some puffy white clouds at noon time.

Ski conditions are very spring like. On many of the trails that the resort pounded with snow making over the last 2 weeks, the effects of gravity, temperature and skier traffic are being manifested as large bumps and whales. In their current state, the bumps are soft and friendly.

The weather forecast calls for warm temperatures to break tomorrow with a cold front being lead by some nasty weather during the day. Cold temperatures will be returning for the Presidents Holiday Weekend, at which point the resort will probably be grooming our the bumps to make the mountain friendly for Presidents Week vacationers.

Todays picture is of Lower Skye Lark, taken from the Killington Road (to get a full view of the trail). Many skiers and riders were seen out enjoying the soft bumps on it today.

Devils Fiddle
at Bear Mountain,
February 15, 2006, 12:30 PM 

Snowmaking operations at Killington have suspended today due to unseasonably warm temperatures. The temperature at the inn at noon time was 51 degrees with bright sunshine and strong wind gusts.

Devils Fiddle was opened for skiing and riding this morning, the result of several days of continuous top to bottom snow making. The picture I took today was from a vantage point in the Top Ridge development at Bear Mountain. While taking the picture, I observed a large number of skiers and riders enjoying the newly opened "Fiddle".