Shaping Aerials Jump on Outer Limits begins 

Other than the grey cloud cover from the clipper systems moving through the area, today was a really nice ski day at Killington.

Like yesterday, surfaces were soft packed powder around the whole mountain. We started our day with a couple of warm up runs down Highline off the K1 gondola. We followed those runs with a run down Cascade. Highline was great, but Cascade was probably the best it has been all season.

After Cascade, we headed to Bear Mountain. Bear Trap, Bear Claw, Wild Fire, and Skye Burst were all nice. While we were a Bear Mountain, we did not take Outer Limits. Work has begun on the Aerials Jump that will be used in various competitions in March on Outer Limits. The huge snow whales that had been blown on OL earlier in February were being groomed into a large pile where the aerials jump was positioned last year. About mid-way down Outer Limits, skiers were being diverted towards Devils Fiddle.

I needed to depart the mountain early today to man the inn as Mary has headed to Boston, so I can not comment on the Needles Eye area. On my way out I did a run down Superstar. Like the rest of the mountain, it was beautiful. Skiers left on Lower Superstar had the bumps groomed out of it. The compound fall line and the soft groomed surface were a great end to my short day on the mountain. Let it snow!

Small pack of Skiers
on lower Super Star 

Other than the brief excursion out on the mountain last Friday, today was my first day on the hill for any length of time in 10 days. Between the guests at the inn over the Presidents Holiday Week, and the hub bub in town over the sale of Killington to SP Land, I more than kept myself busy. But one of the reasons we moved to Killington was to be out on the mountain skiing, and quite frankly, I missed it. So this morning, I dutifully set my alarm, got up and got dressed for skiing, and, in the eyes of my friends, arrived fashionably late for a few turns on the hill.

Overnight, the Killington area received a coating of snow which put a nice patina on the groomed surfaces of the mountain. Combined with new snow, and mild temperatures in the mid 20's, the surface conditions on mountain this morning were beautifully soft.

The steep terrain at Killington including Outer Limits and Superstar were groomed flat. Snow surfaces on Outer Limits were down right powdery. It was not the fine Champagne Powder you see in Warren Miller Flicks. Instead, it clumped together in spots, like a fine talcum powder, ready to spread itself out as soon as you skied through it.

Unlike other Mondays this winter, there were a fair amount of people out skiing and riding. But it appeared that most of the people were traveling in groups. You would be skiing down a trail alone. Then as you were riding up a lift, you would see 20 to 30 people all skiing together down the previously empty trail. I am not one for skiing in herds, so it was actually a little comical to watch, with people weaving this way and that. Of course, you did not want to be in the middle of one of these groups... But they were easy to avoid.

With another inch of 2 of snow anticipated tonight, it looks like tomorrow should be a good ski day as well. Let it snow!

Update to prior stories on sale of Killington to SP Land

The American Skiing Company posted a "Preliminary 14C" filing on through the SEC's Edgar system late Friday. The filing provides more detail information on the sale of Killington and Pico to SP Land, and the sale of Mount Snow and Attitash to Peak Resorts. It is an interesting read in that it provides some historical perspective on the sale, and outlines ASC's executive compensation regarding the transaction. In related news published today, ASC announced that Leslie B. Otten has resigned from the companies board of directors effectively immediately. Is the sale of Sunday River in Maine by ASC far off???

Airing out the Super Pipe
at Bear Mountain 

Beautiful bluebird skies, mild temperatures, light crowds, plenty of snow. Visitors to Killington today were greeted to great skiing and riding conditions as we close out the Presidents Holiday Week.

When I visited Bear Mountain early in the afternoon, a small group of skiers and riders were clustered on the Superpipe just having some fun. For today's picture, I happened to have captured a boarder at takeoff - just about to launch off the rim of the SuperPipe. Of course, if you have never been in the pipe, the picture does not do the rider justice. The wall of the pipe is around 20 feet tall. It's a long way down and yet it looks so easy! Let it snow!

Killington Peak.
The snow says it all! 

OK... I must be getting old.

For the last several years, the Killington resort has run a viral marketing campaign in an attempt to attract people to the resort. As most of the advertising dollars for Killington had been siphoned away by the parent company, ASC, in an attempt to stay solvent, the Killington Resort was left pursuing a low cost approach involving email news letters (aka "The Drift) and email snow reports. One can argue the effectivity of the campaign, visitors to Killington have steadily declined during the period, but every now and then something sneaks into the report that stops you in your tracks. Todays report caught my eye...which actually is what it is supposed to do.

Buried inside todays snow report you will find the comment.."Make sure you check out the Mountain Dew Vertical Challenge today and if you're looking to get steezy yourself check out Bear Mountain terrain parks on Bear Trap, Dream Maker - which features 20 progressive hits, rails and boxes - and the 430-foot long Superpipe!" Seems pretty marketing oriented... a list of features, an event, a call to action... wait a minute... "steezy".. what is that?

A quick google search provides the answer "a SNOWBOARDER term that combines the word "Style" with "Ease" to create the act of doing a trick with style and ease to make it done with super steez. A rider with steez would be referred to as "steezy" whether it be because of his/her sick tricks, gangster aparrel, or watevs". ??? Huh???Gangster snowboarding ??? at Killington???? This is how we bring people to Killington ???

There are a lot of curious things going on in the marketing of various activities across the country, including the snow sports industry. There is even a standard term, "Gangster Marketing", which describes what the Killington Snow Report is trying to accomplish. But do "Pop Culture Gangsters" read the Killington Snow Report and then decide to come to Killington for the day??? Or do their mother and fathers? Think about that one.

"It's all about the snow...." Let it snow!

East Falls
It did not look that crowded
when I skied it 90 seconds earlier! 

Unfortunately, we did not get 6 inches of fluff from the precipitation last night, so Mary did not wake me up for the first morning chair. But when my alarm went off at 9:00 AM (I did go to bed at 3:30 AM the night before) and I saw a brilliant blue sky, I needed to escape the inn for a trip to the mountain. By 10:00 AM, I was putting my boots on beside the Snowdon Quad and I was ready to go.

It was just a quick one hour journey around the mountain this morning. For those of you interested in a quick loop, I took the Snowdon Quad to ski East Falls. From there, I took the Canyon Quad for a run down Launch Pad to Middle Superstar to Low Road to the Needles Eye Chair. From the Needles Eye Chair, I looped down Needles Eye back to the Needles chair, for a run down Bitter Sweet to the Superstar Chair. Off the back of Superstar, I wandered around to get over the the South Ridge Triple. From South Ridge, I crossed back for a run down Cascades, back to the car in the parking lot. 6 chair lifts, plus or minus 15 miles of skiing, on mostly blue and black trails. A nice little work out with a little sight seeing thrown in.

Conditions on the mountain today were pretty good, considering all of the snow and holiday skiers we have had the last week. Crowds were very light for a Friday. I literally skied on to every lift without stopping. Of course, I stayed away for the K1 base area, and the Skye Ship mid station to avoid crowds.

The weather looks like it will be perfect for skiing and riding all weekend. Light snow is forecasted for tonight and tomorrow to keep the surfaces fresh with intermittent sunshine to brighten things up. Let it snow!

Storm Clouds over Killington Peak.
White stuff in the forecast! 

It's winter time in Killington. I should be out skiing!

The good news for Mary and I this Presidents Holiday week is that the inn has been pretty busy. The bad news is that we have not had an opportunity to get up on the hill for a few runs down the mountain. And I miss it.

Oh sure....We have been getting outside for walks around the block, or to move snow around the inn with various contraptions. But it is not the same. There is a certain exhilaration that occurs when you are cruising down the mountain that is not satisfied by just being outside in the cold mountain air. Anyone who has more than casually strapped skis or a board on their legs knows what I am talking about.

Of course, I can hope that the clipper coming thru tonight would dump at least 6 inches of fluff on us. Then I could declare tomorrow a powder day and go to the hill without guilt. We can all hope! Let it snow!

In the last 24 hours, more information is starting to filter out concerning the sale of Killington by the American Skiing Company (ASC) to SP Land LLC. The Rutland Herald has several good background articles on the sale and on Killington and Pico published in todays paper. The Salt Lake City Tribune has also published an article from a Utah perspective. Around town, of course, it is basically the only thing people are talking about. Rumor and speculation still abounds, so I think a little local perspective is in order.

First --- what we know...

1. On or before April 30th, ASC intends to sell the remaining assets of Killington and Pico Ski Resorts to SP Land LLC for $83.5M plus debt transfer.
2. SP Land LLC is a privately held corporation that is an affiliate of SKI Partners which is an affiliate of E2M Partners. All are private equity companies. There will be little further public comment from any of them unless they want to make information available.
3. SP LAND LLC moved it's president, Steve Selbo, to Vermont in 2004 as part of the original acquisition of land from ASC in a previous ASC restructuring. Mr Selbo has been investing time in the community since then working with ASC in an attempt to reach agreement to proceed with developing those properties.
4. Developments discussed publicly have included a Ski Village at the base of Killington, and various condominium, hotel, and private home developments. To date, no development has taken place. At this point, Act 250 permits have not been submitted to the state of Vermont.
5. While many have questioned the $83.5M price for the Killington and Pico Resorts, one must remember the original $58.5M investment by SP Land. That brings the total value to ~$142M, not including any SP Land operating expenses since 2004, for what most people call the Killington and Pico Resorts.
6. ASC has publicly stated that they will operate Killington to high standards through the close of the purchase agreement on or before April 30, 2007.
7. While not mentioned in the ASC filing to the SEC, in public statements ASC has made it known that Powdr Corp, a privately held corporation, will be forming a partnership with SP Land to operate the Killington and Pico Ski Resorts.

What we don't know...
1. After the closing date, how will the Killington and Pico resorts be operated?
2. What are the equity splits, if any, between SP Land and Powdr Corp? In other words, how much skin is in the game for each?
3. How much will be invested in the current ski infrastructure to improve the Killington/Pico ski experience? What will be the rate of that investment?
4. How will Killington and Pico be marketed to the public in the future?
5. When will the overall plan to develop Real Estate around the resort be publicly presented?
6. When will Act 250 permits be submitted to the state of Vermont?

Of course, what we don't know, we may never really know as all of the companies that will be involved in the future of Killington and Pico are private firms. However, while the specific details may not be completely transparent, the Killington and Pico resorts are very public places. Under the new owners, it will be very easy to determine their level of investment in the community, just as in the last few months it has been very easy to understand that ASC has been un-investing in the community. Killington is long overdue for a turn around. It will be fun to live here while it is all happening.