Skiers and riders on Superstar Friday 12/28 

The last couple of days at Killington have seen every kind of weather imaginable, other than a tropical heat wave. We have had sun (right now as I write this), snow, sleet, ice, freezing r@*n...you name it, it has fallen from the sky. The good news is that on balance, snow surface conditions are holding up as the mix has had little impact on total accumulations on the ground. We started the holiday week with 12 inches of snow on the ground at the inn. Today we sit at 13 and 1/2 inches.

Let it snow!

Heavy snow falling at the Birch Ridge Inn at Killington 

Large numbers of guests arrived in Killington last evening for their winter holiday break. This morning, many of them ventured out on the mountain to enjoy the best skiing and riding conditions Killington has seen during a Christmas week in several years.

Experienced Killington visitors are reporting light to moderate crowds. With nearly 100% of available terrain open, skiers and riders are able to spread out all across the 7 mountains at Killington and Pico. New visitors to Killington are reporting heavier crowds, as they are tending to cluster in the Snowshed, Rams Head and K1 gondola areas.

Heavy snow began falling at Killington just before Noon. Skiers and Riders were reporting firm surfaces early this morning which got progressively softer as the new snow mixed into the groomed surface. Many of our guests left the mountain around 2 PM as the visibility in blowing and drifting snow turned poor. Heavy snow is currently falling at the inn. About 3 inches of new accumulation is expected overnight.

Let it snow!

"Christmas Floral Arrangement", a gift from friends 

Christmas comes but once a year,
bringing children hope, and adults good cheer.
Whether a brand new toy or a lump of coal;
Christmas was meant to save our souls;
by the birth of a baby so tender and pure;
with a star in the sky so all would be sure.

Now the day for unwrapping gifts is done;
there's ski hills to play on in the bright winter sun;
with holiday vacationers from now to the New Year!

Let it snow!

"Christmas Creatures" 

Where ever you may be today, Mary and I, and our staff at the Birch Ridge Inn in Killington, wish you a very Merry Christmas.

Let it snow!

Killington Peak on Christmas Eve 

The nasty storm which came through the area yesterday with high winds and r@*n showers of varying intensity is clearing the area today. Temperatures overnight dropped from the mid 40's to the upper 20's. The drop appeared to be slow enough that much of the accumulated water in the snow pack had an opportunity to drain. Snowbanks around the inn, while "crisp" on the outside, are still too soft to stand on without sinking to your knees.

On the mountain, we were told by the Killington resort that their groomers were dispatched early this morning to prepare the mountain to greet holiday visitors. Light snow is currently falling across the area. (Negligible accumulations are expected.) Snow making operations are currently visible on the upper sections of the mountain including Rime and Skye Lark. With nice weather forecasted for Killington for the next several days, Holiday visitors should find the resort in great shape for their holiday ski trips.

Let it snow!

Pushing knee deep snow off the roof at the Birch Ridge Inn at Killington 

I look at the snow stake at the inn almost every day. It is an interesting marker of the amount of natural snow on the ground around the inn. For the last week, we have had well over a foot on the ground. Now a foot seems like a small number, until you have to go out and work in it as I did yesterday afternoon.

With the forecast calling for r@*n showers today, I thought it would be wise to remove some of the snow from some of the inn's roofs. I have all of the tools including a 24 foot snow rake for the steep sections, and a wide pusher shovel for the flat sections. I did not think anything of it, after all, there was only 18 inches of snow on the ground. As you can see from the picture, that 18 inches translated into knee deep snow on the flat roof. In the back of the inn, I was wading around in waist deep snow drifts in places. There is a lot of snow on the ground in Killington. Even with some showers today, Killington is going to have a very white Christmas.

Let it snow!

Killington Peak as viewed from Killink 

The holiday season is always a busy one at Killington. With that in mind, I wanted to try to get out on the mountain for a little while today, to get a final peek before the Christmas rush. One catch... I only had 1 hour. One hour on Killington does not sound like much, but with a little local knowledge, you can literally ski for miles and miles.

I started from the Vail parking lot and skied over to the Rams Head lift. From Rams Head, I cruised down Caper to the Snowdon Quad. The Snowdon Quad is not a speed demon (hence the pejorative designation Slowdon Quad), but it can get you where you want to go. From their, I took Killink to the North Ridge Triple, stopping to take some pictures of the peak. Although the scene was some what dark and gloomy, as there was a high overcast, Killington Peak looked impressive in it's snow capped grandeur.

Here is where an hour at Killington becomes interesting. The next move was a traverse across Great Northern to Great Eastern to get over to Bear Trap at Bear Mountain. A solid 10 minutes of continuous skiing. Bear Trap was very interesting. Snow guns were just pummeling the trail. Visibility was about zero. Snow piles were becoming knee to waist deep in places. The mountain will need to do some serious grooming of this to support the holiday crowds.

Usually on a one hour jaunt around Killington I would take the Outer Limits quad, however, that was not operating today. So up I went on the Skye Peak Quad. This placed me a the top of Skye Lark. From Skye Lark, I traversed over to Superstar for the last run of my hour, crossing in front of the K1 Base Lodge on my way back to the car. Total elapsed time 1 hour, on 4 lifts with a combined elevation of 4299 feet and a length of 17,140 feet.

Ski conditions on the mountain are without a doubt the best they have been for Christmas in many years. Next week it looks like basically 100% of the resort will be open for skiing and riding, a huge difference from the last couple of years. Great snowmaking weather, a new owner willing to make lots of snow, and a few good early season snow storms have the mountain in great shape for holiday visitors. I just might have to sneak out for an hour or 2 again before the new year.

Let it snow!