Over the river and through the woods, Mary leads the way as we hunt down Christmas Trees. 

Some people call this Cyber Monday as people flock to the internet to shop but at the Birch Ridge Inn we call this "Christmas Tree Monday". 5 of us this morning left the inn about 9:00 AM in 2 trucks and headed to Danby Vermont to cut this years Christmas Tree for the inn. In the process, we also got 3 other trees for other families in Killington.

This years tree stood roughly 19 feet in the wild. After cutting it to size to fit into the inn, it now stands at approximately 14 feet. The tree has been raised in the Great Room of the inn, where it is "resting" before being decorated. Throughout the remainder of the week, Mary will be decorating the tree to have it ready for the guests to the inn this coming weekend. This year tree will be decorated in a Crystal theme.

The first cut is the deepest! (Click to enlarge.)

Hauling the tree back to the truck for the ride to Killington. From Left to Right - Howie, Peter Smith (owner of the Forerunner Ski Shop), Billy B, and yours truly. (click to enlarge.)

Raising the tree in the Great Room. (Click to enlarge.)

The Birch Ridge Inn 2007 Christmas Tree waiting to be decorated. (Click to enlarge.)

Let it snow!

Killington draped in light snow 

it may be black friday in the land of retail, but skiers and riders at Killington woke up this morning to several inches of freshly fallen snow. Snow showers are anticipated to continue through out the day with snow totals in the plus or minus 3 inch range.

Mid day crowds at Killington were moderate. At around noon time the K1 base lodge parking lot was full. Parking lot attendants were directing people to begin parking on the Killington Road leading to K1. The maze at the K1 Gondola was quite full. There were very small lines at the Snowdon Quad and Triple. The Superstar lift was also operating, providing access to Upper Skye Lark and Lower Bittersweet.

Let it snow!

Gobble, Gobble 

Gobble, Gobble.

Happy Thanksgiving from Killington!

Let it snow!

Snow grooming machine working the
snow in front of Superstar Quad. 

Yesterdays snow has given way to damp and foggy conditions today on the mountain. The air is moisture laden. When you go outside, condensation is making things wet. It's not quite a drizzle, but you can feel the moisture. The great news is that so far we have not seen any r@*n.

It was very hard to see today on the mountain due to the fog. Snow making operations have suspended until more favorable conditions develop. Grooming machines were plainly visible on the Superstar/Lower Bittersweet area preparing the terrain to open this coming weekend.

Let it snow!

Snow blankets the Birch Ridge Inn at Killington 

It is not a blizzard by a long shot, but the Killington region received it's first significant snowstorm of the winter season late last night and into this morning. 2 to 3 inches of snow have blanketed the inn which is at approximately 1870 feet. Snow totals are predicted to be larger at higher elevations.

Light snow is predicted to fall in the Killington area through mid day with minor additional accumulation. While the weather in the near term is still a little too unpredictable, now that there is general snow cover in the area, this snow storm looks like it will officially put an end to "Twig Season" at Killington. Skiers and riders can only hope!

Let it snow!

Snowmaking operations create blizzard like conditions on Cascade off Killington Peak. 

Beautiful blue skies again graced Killington Peak this morning as cold air has continued to hold over the region for another day. Snow making is continuing all around the mountain. Killington continues to make snow on expert and intermediate terrain to prepare the resort for the upcoming Thanksgiving weekend.

3 lifts were operating this morning including the K1 Gondola, the North Rige Triple, and the Snowdon Poma. Surface conditions were variable ranging from groomed corduroy to chopped up "death cookies". Great Northern from top to bottom was generally soft and in good shape. Work had been done on the Lower Bunny Buster run out to the K1 base lodge to eliminate the skid plate that had existed there on Friday and over the weekend. Skier and rider traffic was very light this morning. While I was on the hill, Lower Bunny Buster did not look like it was in any danger of getting skied off.

Lower Rime was chopped up "death cookies". The packed frozen surface created by last weeks r@*n was chopped up. Golf ball sized nuggets were created on the lower sections of Rime. There was no problem skiing through them and skier traffic will reduce them even further as the day wears on.

Snow guns were running on Cascade, Lower East Fall, and Spillway back to the K1 base lodge. Snow guns were still pounding the top of Skye Peak, Skye Lark, sections of High Road, and Lower Bitter Sweet.

All in all it was a beautiful morning to ski at Killington....Let it snow!

Snowmaking underway on Skye Peak at Killington 

Even though the sky is a beautiful shade of blue, a man-made blizzard is taking shape on many of the trails at Killington.

In addition to continuing to make snow on trails on both the Killington Peak and Snowdon sections of Killington, snow making operations look like they are going full bore on the Killington basin side of Skye Peak. The top of Super Star, Upper Sky Lark, portions of High Road, and Lower Bitter Sweet are all receiving heavy snow. Assuming the weather holds, it should make for great early season skiing and riding at Killington all week.

Let it snow!