Halloween 2006.
What are you going to be??? 

Although the ski season is still a few days away, today is the official start of the party season at Killington. Tonight, the Wobbly Barn starts the ski season party going with their 42nd annual Halloween Party. Joey Leone's Chop Shop is the featured band. Costumes are required (it's a Halloween party...get it!). What are you going to be?

Wind whipped snow on Killington 

Early this morning, the Killington resort turned on it's snow making system for the traditional early season test. I ran into Dave Rathbun, Killington's VP of Brand Management, while we were both getting a sandwich at the Killington Market (that's how things really happen in a small town), and he told me that the system was tested earlier today. 14 new low energy guns were tested on an upper trail named 'Reason". So the traditional "blow the mice out" test is now done...check!

Dave went on to tell me that Killington is watching the weather closely, and as soon as the situation is favorable, the mountain will be lit up with snow guns to push to get the season opened. The next couple of days do not look good as temps in the high 50's are due on Tuesday. However, that is all due to change. Late Wenesday/early Thursday, according to Dave, Killington is expecting temperatures in the teens at the peak. The only question about opening day is when can they blow enough snow to get skiing and riding from top to bottom? It will be a day by day thing, as the run up begins to the opening of the 2006/2007 ski season at Killington.

Driving Snowstorm at Killington Peak 

Whoa! Today was one of those days... just plain nasty.

The back side of the torrential rain storm which drowned the area on Saturday has produced a wind driven snow storm all day at Killington. Many trees are down in the area. We lost power this afternoon for more than 3 hours after a large pine tree snapped and fell across the Killington Road at the "Little Buckhorn", taking out the power lines as it fell.

The snow that is falling around the inn has been the heavy and wet variety. Because it is so high in moisture content, it is not accumulating much. It is basically compacting itself as it falls. What snow is falling is being whipped around by very high winds. I do not have a wind speed indicator, but the local weather people on TV are saying that winds in Vermont have been gusting over 70 MPH, and from what I have seen and heard outside, I believe it.

Because we have received measurable snow, I have started the "Snow Stake" pictures for the winter season. Today's picture was taken around 2:00 this afternoon. If your browser is compatible with "AJAX" technology (Asynchronous Javascript and XML), you will also see the beginning of a running Snow Stake photo gallery, so we will be able to get a view of how the winter is progressing.

Temperatures in the area the next couple of days are headed towards the mid 50's, so I doubt the wet snow will survive for long. However, the forecast calls for much lower temperatures towards the end of the week. Word around town is that Killington will turn on their snowmaking system on Wednesday if conditions are favorable. Skiing next weekend anyone?...It's way to early to tell, but as they say, hope springs eternal.

Killington Peak, 10 AM, October 27, 2006. 

No, that is not a picture from last winter posted with todays entry. Todays photo was taken at the entrance to the Rams Head parking lot at approximately 10:00 AM this morning. The temperature at the base lodge was 28 degrees, the sun was bright; not a cloud in the sky.

Although Killington Peak looks like mid winter conditions, it's just a little early season frosting to taunt us with the potential of the ski season to come. Yesterdays snow squalls have left the peaks of Killington and Pico covered in several inches of snow. Probably not quite enough to take many turns on, but very tempting to look at on a late fall day.

Unfortunately, the weather forecast for tomorrow is calling for a wind driven rain storm with temperatures in the 50's. The weather channel is calling for over 2 inches of rain, with larger amounts possible in some areas. The peak probably should be colder than 50, but it is unlikely that the system would be snow at the top, based upon current reports. Sunday, on the back side of the storm, could be different.

Where ever you may be this weekend, it is time to fire up your favorite snow dance, of make a sacrificial offering to Ullr, the Norse god of snow, to help Killington get some snow to get the ski season going.

Killington Peak, shrouded in snow
squalls at the 3000 foot level. 

It's cold outside.

Earlier this afternoon, I returned to Killington from the Boston area. I had been in Massachusetts playing in a charity golf tournament to support the Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund. The Ouimet group provides college scholarships to people who work at golf courses in Massachusetts. It is named after Massachusetts golfing legend, Francis Ouimet, who won the US Open as an amateur at "The Country Club" in Brookline MA in the early 1900's. I used to caddie at Belmont Country Club, near my childhood home in Arlington MA when I was a teenager. I was fortunate enough to have received a Ouimet Scholarship to attend Northeastern University growing up. For the last few years, about 50 former Belmont caddies get together and play at Belmont, making a donation to the Ouimet Scholarship in the process. My brother from New Jersey and my other brother who lives in Massachusetts, and I teamed up to challenge the course. Needless to say, the course won (it always does). Surprisingly, as we discovered while talking on the course, it was probably the first time in 20 years that my brothers and I have been able to play a round of golf together as a threesome. We definitely need to do better at that in the future, as we are not getting any younger.

While the temperatures were in the Mid 50's in the Boston area, it was very different when I returned to Killington. When I got home, I drove up to the Killington Base Lodge. The temperature was a brisk 34 degrees with light snow in the air. Some pretty nasty snow squalls were plainly visible on the upper reaches of the mountains, probably around the 3000 foot level. While I saw no evidence yet that Killington had begun snow making, it was very obvious that the top of the mountain was taking on some new snow. How much is hard to tell, but everything helps to start the process of chilling the ground and building up an early season base.

The next few days looks like more of the same...dull gray, cold winds, and snow showers in the air. Twig season in Vermont... just beautiful!

Killington Peak, covered in snow
and clouds with a sliver of
blue sky above. 

The first area wide snow storm blanketed the Killington region last night. On the mountain, snow is covering all of the slopes from the peak to the base of Snow Shed. With temperatures in the mid 30's at the base lodges, and the warm rain soaked ground from the storms of the last week, it is unlikely that the snow will remain for several days. However, the scenery is in stark contrast to the dull gray "Twig Season" we have experienced this last week.

At the inn, snow started falling around 6:30 PM last night. Snow accumulated on car hoods and roofs, but there was no snow cover on the ground around the inn. As temperatures have been in the low 50's this last week, the ground still is too warm for snow to accumulate at the altitude of the inn (1870').

This week, all eyes in the area will be looking towards the mountain to see if the snow cover remains on the peak, and also to see when the resort turns on the snow making system. Temperatures in the evening this week are predicted to be below freezing. No matter what happens, as last nights snow reminded us, ski season is just around the corner.

Twig Season on Killington Peak 

"Twig Season" has arrived at Killington. Over the last several days, the temperatures have started to noticeably drop, the sky has started to turn a dull grey with clouds, and a cold wind has started to blow down the mountain. The leaves on trees in the immediate area are all down, except for a few poplars which are always the last to go. Snow, at least flurries, has been mentioned in the weather forecast for the last few days, although nothing of consequence has fallen from the sky as yet. Basically, "Twig Season" is here!

Just for a quick refresh on the seasons in Vermont. Of course there is Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. But Vermont, being a special place, has 2 additional seasons. In the spring, when the snow melts but before the trees and other native plants wake from their winter sleep to suck up ground water, we have the proverbial "Mud Season". Anyone who has driven down a dirt road in the spring in Vermont can instantly recognize this astronomical phenomenon.

On the reverse, when the vibrant fall foliage decides to depart in the fall, but before the first snow fall blankets the area, the mountain country of Vermont descends into "Twig Season". In very simple terms, "Twig Season" is the dull, grey, cold, potentially foreboding period between the beautiful, colorful, sunny days of fall, and the pure, refreshing, white covered landscape created by the first snow storm of the winter season. Twig season usually lasts for 2 to 3 weeks. If you are a glass half empty type, it can be very depressing as it indicates a cold, long, hard winter is coming. On the other hand, if you enjoy being outside in the mountains in the winter, it is a season of optimism, where every snow storm to come dumps feet of champagne powder, where the crackle of a roaring fireplace provides good enough reason to hoist a glass of cheer. Winters coming, I can't wait to go skiing!

I will be taking a couple of days off from blogging this week as we switch from Fall Foliage to Winter. Today's fall foliage picture of the inn is this season's last, as most of the trees are now "twigs". Later in the week, we will be resuming coverage of Killington as it prepares for winter. And we will be bringing back regular pictures of the "Snow Stake" to chronicle the progress of winter in the Killington Region. Until then, hit the ball straight if you are still on the golf course, and tune your ski's and boards to get ready for winter...because it will be here sooner than you think!