I did not get out on the hill today, opting instead to visit with my doctor down at Dartmouth Hitchcock in Hanover NH. The flu, or cold, that I picked up has morphed into a nasty sinus infection. I am now loaded up on antibiotics. Hopefully it will provide a cure. I want to go skiing.

Reports from multiple sources indicated that conditions on the mountain this morning, while quite cold, were very good. Our Chef, Steve, went to Pico. He was still able to find some powder stashes left over from the weekend. However, he reports that the woods were a little thin. Up on Killington, multiple people reported nice groomed packed powder conditions, with a significant wind chill. But with 100 percent sunshine, it was just a matter of skiing the right trails, out of the wind, to moderate the temperature.

Snow Stake at Birch Ridge
February 26, 2006, 12:00 Noon 

Yesterday was my birthday.

If someone had said to me that on my birthday Killington would have a major snow storm, I would get a chance to stay in bed all day, and I would lose 5 pounds, I would have said go for it! Be careful what you wish for.....

Killington did get a major snow storm yesterday. Beautiful light fluffy snow. I am sure that the reports from later today will mention beautiful power runs, etc.

And, I did get to stay in bed all day yesterday. Except when I was loosing 5 pounds visiting with the porcelain goddess. It appears that somewhere out there, I came in contact with a case of the flu. I have been in hiding the last couple of days so I don't pass it on to staff and inn guests. Mary and the team have been filling on for me at the inn. Hopefully, I will get better in the next day or two so I can go out and play in the snow.

Plowing Snow at Birch Ridge
February 24, 2006, 2:00 PM 

Today's picture may seem a little strange, but it is a cause for a minor celebration. Last night and this morning, the region has received 5 to 10 inches of snow, depending upon the altitude of the location. At the inn, the snow stake crossed the 5 inch level for the first time since January 11th. It has been one of those winters.

Needless to say, today's snow makes a lot of people very happy. We have a very busy weekend coming up to end the Presidents Week Holiday period, so, most importantly, our guests will be happy...Which is what running an inn is all about.

Oh... by the way... I forgot to mention that our plow guy, Jeff, is happy too!. The lack of snow around town has impacted his pocket book directly. Like the rest of us, he is hoping for a very snowy March.

K1 Base Lodge
from High Line
February 23, 2006, 12:00 Noon 

I did sneak out today to ski for about an hour at 11 this morning. It was snowing when I left the inn. We received a couple of inches. When I arrived at the mountain, it was coming down pretty hard with poor visibility. The K1 Base Lodge area had 3 to 4 inches of new snow. The peak was approaching 6 inches in untracked areas. It was a fairly wet snow, so it will compress down pretty quickly.

I usually ski on days when the mountain is relatively empty, so skiing in the middle of the holiday week crowds was interesting. But, using local knowledge, I was able to do 6 runs in an hour. I took the singles line on the Superstar Lift and headed over to Needles Eye. Surface conditions were variable, alternating between fresh snow and hard-pack, but Needles was quite skiable. The Needles Eye Quad was running, so I looped it a couple of times, once going down Cruise Control, the other time doing Bitter Sweet to High Road.

Boosting up the Skye Ship, again in the singles line, I took Four Way to Falls Brook to the South Ridge Triple. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the South Ridge Triple, it is a mid mountain lift which traverses from Bear Mountain to just below Killington Peak. It features a sharp left hook in the middle of the lift. I have included a picture of the mid-station wheel for your amusement. On busy days and weekends, this is a critical lift to optimize skiing and riding, as it allows one to go from Bear Mountain to the Canyons area without going through the K1 Base Lodge and associated lifts. It is a real time saver, but it can be cold if the wind is blowing (This particular area is nick named "South Fridge").

From South Ridge, I played in the Canyons. Cascade and East Fall were similar to Needles Eye. By this time, I needed to leave so I exited via High Line. High Line was in excellent shape, with nice snow cover. Since you really need to know how to get to High Line, it was not seeing any real skier traffic. I stopped in the middle of the trail to take today's main picture of the Killington Base Lodge. It was still snowing pretty heavy at the time, with the forecast for continued snow squalls straight thru the weekend.

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...)