Snow guns operating on Middle Superstar 

With all of the weather we had the last couple of days, our expectations were not set very high this morning when we headed out to the slopes. Overnight, temperatures dipped into the low teens with a fairly strong wind. Around the inn, things were frozen fairly tightly this morning. I needed to chop away more than a little ice to get the back hatch of the Subaru open before heading out to the hill.

When we arrived at the mountain, we were greeted with the site of snow guns operating all over the place. 4 lifts were operating this morning including the K1 gondola,aka "the box", the Snowdon Quad and Poma, and the Superstar Quad. The North Ridge Triple was scheduled to run, but when we skied down it's lift line there were maintenance crew working on the top of one of the lift towers. God love them..it looked like one cold job. So it goes.

We did a couple of loops off the box. Great Northern had snow guns going in strategic locations. Lower Rime saw snow making last night. The new snow was fairly deep.

Mary traversing Great Northern (Click to enlarge.)

Totally unexpected given the weather we had yesterday. East Fall and High Line were in great shape. Perfect for nice sweeping turns. Cascades was monster icey bumps. Many of the people on it were not pretty to be polite.

Before calling it a day we did several runs of the Superstar Quad. Upper Skyelark was in nice shape. Lower Bittersweet and Lower Skyelark were a little funky. Plenty of snow cover. Them mountain may have even blown snow snow on them overnight. But the base had a granular feel. Probably still a little damp.

Superstar was really interesting. The guns were going from the headwall all the way to the High Road cut toff for Skyelark. Totally sweet. I just took a line about 15 feet away from the guns. Beautiful fresh snow. Really nice. Of course, I was also like the abominable snow man when I joined up with Mary on Skye Lark (Lower Superstar was not open.)

All in all a morning on the hill.

Let it snow!

Mary putting lights on the Christmas Tree. 

Downright strange weather day at Killington.

When eating dinner last night, Mary and I had every intention of getting up in the morning and heading to the mountain to go skiing. With the Thanksgiving holiday past, it is important to begin to develop a rhythm about going up on the hill to ski several days a week. But by the time I hit the sack at 2 AM (I am the night owl), the beautiful snow covering that was around the inn was starting to make it's return trip to the Atlantic Ocean via the Roaring Brook, and the Ottaquechee and Connecticut rivers. Suffice to say that it was r@*ning very hard.

During the day we saw every kind of weather possible at Killington. We had r@*n, wind, sun, sleet, snow, ice... you name it we had it. As I write this about 10 PM, the wind outside my office is howling, the temperature has fallen well below freezing, and everything that was wet during the day outside is now frozen solid.

Overnight we are expecting some snow flurries. Killington is also supposed to be turning on their snow making system again. We can hope. The plan is to get up in the morning and head to the slopes to go skiing. Deja vu all over again.

Let it snow!

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!