Birch Ridge Inn covered in spring snow. 

The ski resort closed for the winter season last weekend. Most businesses in town have shut down during the winter-summer hiatus. The inn is still open for lodging, as Mary and I live here...but our restaurant is closed for a few weeks. And now this!!!!

We did not get any measurable snow at Killington in the last 6 weeks, when it would have made a real difference to the ski season...I have switched my personal focus from skiing to golf...I have changed the inn's website,birchridge.com, from focusing on Winter to Summer...(I did that yesterday)... so last night down from the sky falls 6 to 12 inches of snow all around the town of Killington.

It's actually quite funny. And having called New England my home for most of my life, it is actually quite an ordinary event. Spring snow is often called "poor mans fertilizer" because of the nitrogen it brings down to the ground. So I guess the bright side in all of this is that when it melts over the weekend (temperatures are predicted to be in the 70's), the golf courses will really look nice...

"You can't fool Mother Nature" but we can "Think Spring".

A tight lie off the eighth green at Green Mountain National Golf Course. 

If you are reading this, it's a good thing... because it's been a rough week.

As I reported Thursday, my internet hosting service provider, Network Solutions, has had a terrible week. And by association, so have I.

After reloading the blog site on Thursday, the site was hacked again at 6:40AM on Friday morning. Dutifully, google was putting out warnings that the site was compromised. While I can take issue the wording of messages that google was putting out, as it implied that killingtonblog.com was at fault, I accept that they were providing a service which hopefully prevented people from having their computer systems compromised. For good, or bad, google painted thousands of websites as guilty of internet malfeasance....when their only guilt was by associating with a particular company, with a good record of reliability, which provides internet hosting services. The technical journals have picked up on Network Solutions problems, and the problems web sites are having with malware reports by google. If you are interested in a few more details just follow the links. Computerworld had a good synopsis of the Network Solutions problems and Sucuri Security Labs has a blog post on how many sites were detected by google with the problem.

For now, I hope that the current problem Network Solutions is facing is behind them. I would like to get on to some more productive work, or play, whatever the case may be.

Speaking about hacking, I thought I would share the tight lie I found myself in on Wednesday during a round of golf at Green Mountain National. To set up the shot, I drove my ball about 230 into the fairway. The wind was in my face. The pin was on the left back corner of the green. I had about 120 yards to the green, around 130 to the pin. I initially grabbed an 8 iron. As I approached the ball, the wind was howling...so I decided to take a 7 iron and hit a knock down shot to play the ball into the wind. 2 years ago, before my shoulder injury..piece of cake.. But todays picture shows the result. The knock down shot got a little too high, causing the ball to sail in the wind. It hit the back corner of the green and bounced 5 or so yards into the junk behind the greens left corner. Probably just a little too aggressive a shot for my second time out this year... but so it goes. No pain..no gain...

With a wedge in hand, my inner hacker made a nice shot from this lie to within 10 feet of the cup. Of course I missed the putt...but hey it's still only April. We are supposed to be skiing in Vermont this time of year, not playing golf. It could have been a lot worse..I escaped with a bogey 5...not happy at missing par...but it was a nice sunny day and the world was good.

Speaking of skiing, the Killington Resort announced that they will be suspending operations for the 2009/2010 season tomorrow (Sunday April 25). They had hoped to make it one more week until May 2nd, but based upon their review of ski conditions, and this coming weeks weather forecast (damp and dreary for a few days), they have decided to pull the plug. Given that we had no real measurable snow since late February, which is really unusual, the resort has done great work keeping open as long as they did. The resort will be back in action shortly when their golf course opens in May. In the mean time, we will try t get a few more rounds in at Green Mountain to get back into golfing shape.

Spring has definitely sprung...Keep it in the fairway and don't forget your sunscreen.

Killingtonblog.com back on the web 

Killingtonblog.com is back online.

To host the blog, I use Network Solutions as my Internet Hosting Service Provider. Network Solutions experienced a major service disruption over the last several days which saw many sites they host, including Killingtonblog.com, attacked at the server and overwritten with malicious code.

The first indication that there was something wrong occurred when Google gave out messages that "Killingtonblog.com may harm your computer" when people searched for it (or had their browsers set to display a security warning if visiting web sites which could cause damage to your computer).

Evidently someone, or organization, hacked into Network Solutions servers and injected nefarious software on an undetermined number of websites. News reports on the web are reporting anywhere from 50 to "Thousands" of web sites hosted by Network Solutions were hacked. From about 6:00 PM on last night until ~2:30PM this afternoon, all access to Killingtonblog.com was turned off by Network Solutions while they worked the problem with their servers.

A big thanks to multiple people who sent me emails about this problem. I found out about the problem in mid morning on Wednesday. Unfortunately, at that point, I could not do anything about it as I was on the eight hole at Green Mountain National Golf Course(which was supposed to be todays blog post). But it did set my work agenda for last night and this morning.

The good news is the web site is now back online after Network Solutions purged the malicious code. The bad news is that I now need to deal with Google to get the warning message removed. So it goes.....

Think Spring!

Mary in the fairway on the 4th hole at Green Mountain National Golf Course. 

Happy Patriots' Day!

For those of you who are a little rusty on your American History, today is the 235th anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord; the first military engagements of the revolutionary war fought between the 13 American colonies and the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Being brought up in Arlington Massachusetts, this day always had special significance growing up as a child. Communities all around Boston are filled with historical places, and Arlington had its' share. Being astride the route taken by Paul Revere on his famous ride from Boston to Concord, there are numerous spots along Massachusetts Avenue in Arlington identified with historical markers. When I think back to when I was 12, I remember riding a bicycle along the famous route. (of course, now my parents would probably be thrown in jail for allowing us to do that, but it was a different time and childhood was a time for exploration.)

Patriots' day is also a good marker for the start of spring. The Boston Marathon and opening day at Fenway Park (now moved forward several chilly weeks to meet TV advertising needs) used to collide headlong into one another, generating huge, boisterous crowds in Kenmore Square. After a long winters nap, the senses were awakened by the buzz of the crowd, and the smell of all the sausages being grilled with huge mounds of onions and peppers by street vendors all around the Back Bay of Boston.

This year, spring has arrived right on schedule. Around Killington, the crocus are blooming. It is still too chilly for anything else, but with the snow gone from everywhere but a few ski trails, it won't be long before the ground heats up and other spring flowers announce their presence to the world.

We successfully completed our first round of golf for the season at Green Mountain National Golf Course. I am not sure, but this year is probably the earliest we have ever played a round of golf in Killington. (Many times in the past we have made the trek to Rutland or down south for an early spring round.) I was hitting the ball better than I expected. My left shoulder seemed very stable after last years surgery. I was a little rusty around the greens after my 18 month layoff from golf, but that will come back with time and some work on the course. It was just nice to be out in the sunshine chasing a little white ball through the Vermont countryside.

Think Spring!

Skiing or Golf???? or both! 

With the announcement that the Green Mountain National Golf Course is open for the season, visitors and residents at Killington have the best of both worlds available to them from a recreation standpoint.

There are only a few times during the year where both golf and skiing are available at Killington at the same time. Usually, it occurs in the fall, while the golf courses are still open and the resort has started to make snow in the winter. In the spring, usually the golf courses in Killington are still in the process of shedding their winter coats while skiing is still the sport of choice.

While the resort stockpiled snow to support spring skiing and riding, this year, of course, Mother Nature did not provide us with any significant spring snow. As a result, the Green Mountain National Golf Course in Killington has been able to get their workers on the course to get it ready for play. Currently, the front nine is open. All 18 holes will be ready for the weekend, unless Mother Nature decides its time to throw a monkey wrench into the process.

I plan on getting my clubs out and taking a few hacks at the ball later this week. Where I was on the injured reserve list last golf season undergoing rotator cuff repair, my expectations are not too high... But, at least personally, its time to get back into the game.

Think Spring!

Spring cleaning has begun. 

Not a pretty sight...But with temps touching the 80's, and a body that still thinks it should be winter outside, shorts are the order of the day.

Unseasonably warm weather once again has descended upon the Killington Region. And just to keep things special, the weather has also brought thunder storms and some very intermittent by heavy down pours.

The Killington Ski Resort is continuing to stay open through this warm spell. The fruits of their labors to make a huge amount of snow during January and February are paying them dividends now and allowing them to continue operating. And with weather later this week returning to more "normal" for this time of year, with temps anticipated to go below freezing and "snow flurries" in the weekend forecast, skiing and riding at Killington should go for a few more weeks at least.

In another sign of the seasons changing, if you have decided to put away the boards for the season, the Green Mountain National Golf Course has announced that they will be opening for the season on Saturday April 17th. Having sat out last golf season with a shoulder injury, I am sure that this summer will be an adventure for me on the links chasing the little white ball. So it goes.....

Think Spring!

Superstar - Spring Skiing Icon in the Northeast. 

There are quite a few people in offices around the Northeast this morning sitting at work nursing goggle tans. While Easter Weekend at Killington is never "busy" from a traditional sense, there were still thousands of people who enjoyed spring skiing on the mountain Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

We are now entering a season of change at Killington. Just like in the early winter, as they resort tries to make an orderly expansion of skiable terrain, the inverse takes place in the spring. Today, for instance, the resort has 4 primary lifts operating (Superstar, K1 Gondola, Snowdon Quad, Snowshed Quad. Of course, the 4 lifts access tens of miles of terrain for skiing and riding, but it does take a little bit more planning and local knowledge to get around the resort this time of year.

At the inn, we have also started to contract our business with the change in season. This weekend was the last weekend of the winter season for our restaurant. We will re-open it once again in a couple of months for the summer season at Killington, but for now the staff is off enjoying spring in the mountains of New England. (Many left to hike and camp at Tuckerman's Ravine on Mount Washington for a few days.)

The inn will be open through April to serve lodging guests. Stop bye for a beverage in the bar in the Great Room if you find yourself in Killington challenging the bumps on Superstar.

Think Spring!