Snow making operations in full swing on Superstar

Snow making operations in full swing on Superstar

We made it through the entire month of January with the ground being continuously covered with snow. Other than a brief warm up on New Years, we barely had a hint of a January thaw, resulting in great ski conditions all month....and what a month it has been!

Today on the mountain, the sun made a spectacular appearance with barely a cloud in the sky. Of course, the penalty for bright sunshine this time of year is usually cold temperatures. While not bitterly cold, when we started the day skiing (at the crack of 9) the temperatures were in the single digits. But with little breeze and bright sunshine, it was quite a nice day to be on the mountain.

Today we did an excursion on a broad number of trails, ranging from the North Ridge area, to Highline, to Outer Limits and everything in between. Cold temperatures tightened up the surfaces on most trails, leaving groomed packed powder as the order of the day. Depending upon when the trail was groomed, there was anywhere from a dusting to a couple of inches of light fluff to be found on most trails.

Some trails were beautiful, fast cruisers. Highline, Bitter Sweet and Cruise control come to mind. Some trails were a little crunchy with some golf ball sized relics of grooming left on the trails to play with. Outer Limits, Lower Wildfire, and Upper Sky Lark all featured little chunks that required a turn or three. Others were just a mid winter lark. Dream Maker with the new terrain features was just sweet.

Snow making operations are ongoing at various places around the mountain. The most visible is on Superstar. The snow banks are starting to approach the tops of some of the lift stanchions. With tripod mounted guns and tower guns all going at the same time, the resort is being really serious to cover Superstar in a lot of snow while the weather cooperates.

You will find a picture galleries of some shots of todays excursion around the mountain, before my camera battery froze, on the Birch Ridge Inn's Facebook page. The todays gallery is located under Ski day at Killington, January 31, 2011..

Meanwhile, we are all holding our breath watching the weather forecast. The first storm predicted for the area is supposed to move in tomorrow. It should be a light, fluffy, powder storm given the cold temperatures. On Wednesday, forecasters are calling for Killington to hit the jackpot. Of course, this is New England. Forecasts tend on the capricious side, so all bets are off till we measure the snow stake on Thursday morning.

In the meantime... let it snow!