Day after Christmas fog at Killington 

Twas the day after Christmas
and all through the inn,
all the guests, they were leaving,
so more could check in.

The housekeepers were jumpin
all over the place;
to make sure the inn
put on a pretty face

it r@%n'd all last night,it should have been snow.
So the Christmas guests felt they were ready to go.

They'd skied for three days; some of them four.
They left with the promise of coming back for more.

Yet low thru the fog, or is it snow haze
new guests are coming, spirits will raise.

"It will snow tonight", the weatherman said;
while the new guests are sleeping, in their freshly made beds.

Go Moguls and Lookout, raise a beer or two!
From Pickle, to Wobbly, there's dancing to do.
Start with dinner and a beverage at the Birch Ridge for you!

Tis Christmas week in Killington....
New Years is coming....
Oh what a zoo!

Santa visits Killington 

Mary and I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. The last few days we have had the good fortune of being very busy preparing for the holidays. For those of you not familiar with a ski resort at Christmas...suffice to say it is the busiest time of the year. Last night we had our traditional Christmas eve dinner in the restaurant. Of course, we are doing it again all afternoon and this evening with a festive dinner this Christmas day. Our chef, Stephen, has been roasting goose for the holidays. If you close your eyes, the inn smells like Nana's house from years gone bye. Merry Christmas, where ever you may be.

Killington ready for the Holidays 

It is basically up to UPS, USPS, Fedex, DHL,insert your favorite package delivery service here!

I did not have a chance to make a post in a timely fashion yesterday as Mary and I took one last shopping trip; this time to Lebanon New Hampshire. The night before, I had spent about 6 hours online with Amazon, LL Bean, and others, getting my holiday picks in under the shipping wire. I just have a few more trinkets to pick up for Mary's Christmas Stocking, then I am all done...

Our inn guests are reporting spectacular conditions on the mountain. Every night this week we have had an inch or 2 of very light fluffy snow which has greeted them in the morning. Overall the snow has not added up to much. It is so light it is either compressing down to nothing when the sun hits it, or blowing into the woods on a light breeze. (note...blowing into woods for later). Never matter, the mountain looks primed to have a really good holiday season. And light snow continues to dominate the local weather forecast.

At the inn, everyone is getting ready to greet holiday guests. The kitchen staff is working full tilt preparing for next week. We have great menus planned for Christmas Eve/Christmas day and New Years Eve, not to mention the fact that our restaurant menu will change several times during the week as well. Stop bye the inn for a beverage under our Christmas tree if you are at Killington. It should be a great Christmas season.

Snow Stake Night Picture, December 20, 2005, 11:00 PM 

I was not going to write much today, as I spent most of my time on mundane tasks getting ready for Christmas week. Then it started to snow.

At about 8:00 PM this evening, light, feathery powder descended from the heavens. After all of the inn guests retired from the bar this evening, I went outside with a flashlight and took a night shot of the snow stake just to see if I could get a clear picture. The shot is a little grainy, but with image enhancement, it looks like a good 3 inches of powder has fallen over the last 3 hours. Local weather forecasts are reporting continued snow showers all night, with additional snow expected Wednesday afternoon. For those of you who can make it to the mountain on Wednesday, ( and I am still out of commission with a bum ankle) have a great day in the pow!

Gifts on display at the Boutique at Killington on Route 4 

This time of year, when you live in Killington, you are faced with the question.. Do I go to amazon.com, or try to shop local? When we first moved to Vermont full time 9 years ago, the answer was pretty easy. I am clearly in the 'Early Adopter" portion of the online shopping public. But is recent years, several interesting shops have opened in the Killington area where I have been able to score a gift or three for people on my Christmas list. As today was the Monday before Christmas, today was a day to visit one of those special shops.

Late this afternoon, I went down to Route 4 and stopped in at a shop named The Boutique at Killington The shop is owned and operated by June Buttner, a very nice woman who moved to Killington years ago with her family. Every time I visit with June, I always find something I like, and today was no exception. If you are in the Killington area and looking for a gift, I can very easily recommend that you visit June at the Boutique, on Route 4 about 1/4 of a mile west of the junction of Route 4 and the Killington road.

Besides Christmas shopping today, Killington is pretty quiet this week. We are being blessed by a continuous light snow. It is not amounting to much, but it gives the resort a festive feeling when you are out shopping. Inn guests are reporting that conditions on the mountain are very good. One of the couples in the inn is here their fourth year in a row. They have seen all kinds of conditions the week before Christmas in the past, so I trust their observations about conditions. They have extended their stay 3 more days.

Killington cloud hangs over Killington Peak, December 18, 2005 

My partner, Mary, made a rare Sunday morning appearance on the slopes today. It was her first foray over to Bear Mountain for the season. She reports that the snow coverage on most of the mountain including Bear Claw and Wild Fire was great. Snow guns were firing away on Upper Wild Fire. The only problem trail was the training trail leading to the top of the half pipe, which was getting skied off with heavy traffic.

On my picture journey late this afternoon, the Killington cloud was in full swing, precipitating on the top of the mountain. The picture for today is a shot over the Showshed base lodge towards Kpeak, and is a good example of the infamous "K-Cloud".

While I was on the mountain, snow making operations had resumed on Ramshead. It looked like guns were set up on most trails, which make sense with the coming holiday week.

Half Pipe at Bear Mountain on Lower Dream Maker, December 17, 2005 

The Killington Ski Resort opened the Bear Mountain area to skiers and riders today. While "Outer Limits" and "Devils Fiddle" were not yet opened, from what I could see all of the other trails at Bear were in good shape and being enjoyed by light pre-holiday crowds.

As my ankle is still on the fritz, I have resorted to knowledge of the back roads in Killington to get good shots of the mountain. The picture for today is of the half pipe on Bear Mountain on lower "Dream Maker". To give you a sense of scale, this picture was taken from over a mile away as the crow flies. You can really appreciate how big Killington has made the half pipe, when you realize that the structure dwarfs the people inside of it. The picture was taken in the "Top Ridge" development, looking directly at "Dream Maker".

The other interesting thing about today was the weather. When I left the inn to take pictures, it was sunny and bright. Less than 1 mile away at the K1 base lodge, it was snowing heavily, making it basically impossible to take any pictures of Killington peak. Over at Bear Mountain, there was some light snow falling, which by adjusting the image contrast, I was able to filter out of the photo chosen for today.