Killington Peak in the sun from the Snowshed Quad on Wednesday January 15, 2014

Killington Peak in the sun from the Snowshed Quad on Wednesday January 15, 2014

After several days of nice weather with mild mid 30's temperatures, more seasonable conditions returned to Killington overnight. As an added bonus, the colder temperatures brought a couple inches of snow, turning the countryside a beautiful white once again.

Yesterday in the sun I ventured out for several runs prior to a luncheon I was invited to on the mountain. With all of the snow that the resort had made with the sub-zero temperatures the area experienced several weeks ago, the snow base on the trails held up reasonably well during the recent warm ups. While ice is clearly present in many areas, grooming and snow making operations have continued to improve conditions day by day. Last nights resort wide snow, and a forecast that calls for snow showers across the Green Mountains for the next 5 days, will only work to continue to improve conditions.

Yesterdays skiing was fairly casual, as I was on the mountain to visit the Ledgewood Yurt for lunch. Conditions on Snowshed were soft with a loose groomed granualar condition from top to bottom. Skye Lark and Bittersweet were firm with visible ice in spots. Plenty of snow was available for carving turns (and setting edges). As long as you are comfortable with flat and fast, both Bittersweet and Skye Lark were good fun.

I experienced more of the same on Cruise Control and Upper Skye Burst. Lower Skye Burst was almost corning up, although temperatures were too cold to allow the grains to fuse together like they would in the spring. The effect was more of a deep beach sand versus spring porridge.

The Birch Ridge Inn, covered in snow this morning, January 16, 2014.

After quickly traversing the mountain, I headed to the Ledgewood Yurt for lunch. In a statement of confidence, the resort asked a group of us to get together for a meeting at the Yurt with the one condition that everyone needed to ski in to it. The Yurt is located off of the Northbrook Trail. Northbrook is fairly obscure to people more accustomed to skiing double black diamonds, being the second hook right just below the Snowshed Quad off of Snowshed, but it was still fairly easy to find.

The Yurt itself is in a beautiful location to allow accessibility to skiers and riders of all abilities. The resort is planning to operate it for lunch on Saturday and Sunday with full table service. The Yurt seats about 34 people. The menu features a nice selection of soups, salads, entrees and desserts, all moderately priced. (Note... upscale resort fare... no hamburgers and french fries!!) In addition there is a small but nice wine list with wines available both by the glass and bottle. (Skiing back home after a couple of glasses of wine is something I have not done in years.... and interesting way to end the ski day.) If you do visit the Yurt for lunch, and you have a lunch with a couple of courses and a glass of wine (which if you go you should do it right) expect to pay $30-$35... although if you just get a bowl of soup and a non-alcoholic beverage you can easily have a nice lunch for under $10.

Heading into the coming Martin Luther King Weekend, as colder temperatures in the mid 20's settle across the area, expect the resort to resume aggressive snow making. Combined with snow showers expected for the next several day, ski surfaces should soften up considerably. While it will take a major snow storm to re-open off-piste terrain, there will still be more terrain open at Killington over the weekend than one could reasonably ski in several days.

Let it snow!