Carrying ladder after inspecting the roof 

Spring has descended in earnest upon Killington. With temperatures the last 2 days cracking the mid 50's, the snow has all but evaporated from around the inn, leaving soft, muddy, goo where ever you walk that is not covered in asphalt or concrete. Needless to say, the Snow Stake is now reset to zero. While another snow storm this time of year is not out of the question, having it stay around for any significant times at lower altitudes is problematic.

Today has been a solid work day around the inn. The chef is continuing the annual tear down the kitchen. Mary has started to get the bug to work in the gardens. She started to clear off some of the winter debris from some of them. I was on roof inspection and repair today. We have a rather large flat roof over part of the inn that always needs some maintenance to repair split seams, etc. So, with the warmth of today being pleasant but not unbearable, it seemed like a good day to be on the roof.

Skiing and Riding is continuing at Killington this weekend. The resort has scheduled, as conditions permit, the Superstar and Canyon Quads for the weekend, in addition to the K1 Gondola and the North Ridge Triple. Lifts will be running from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM to take advantage of day light savings time.

This weekend features the perennial spring favorite "Pond Skimming" at the base of Superstar with live reggae music kicking of at 2:00 PM on Saturday. And, of course, the Umbrella Bars at the base of Superstar will be open serving you favorite spring skiing libations.

Golf season is fast approaching. I hope you have your clubs out...

First golf swing of the 2013 season 

A 3:05 yesterday afternoon, at the behest of Mary, I took my first golf swing of the 2013 season in front of the Great Room at the inn. Golf season is approaching at Killington. Mary, as one would expect, was concerned that my left knee would give me trouble in it's knee brace during my golf swing. She wanted me to try it out. Never one to miss an opportunity to hit a few golf balls, I was only too happy to oblige. The start of golf season in Killington is imminent. Getting the body "swing ready" is "important".

Saturday night was the last day that the restaurant at the inn was open to the public for dinner service this season. (It will re-open on Friday June 21st for the 2013-2014 season.) To wind the season down, we had a "clean the fridge" staff party last night at the inn. Around 4PM yesterday, after hitting a few balls in the back of the inn, Mary and I moved into the Great Room to set it up for the party. We snapped on the TV to catch up on the Boston Marathon results. In Vermont, I may be a flat lander, but in Boston, I am a Bostonian, having been born in the Brighton neighborhood at St E's. Patriots Day and the Marathon are a tradition that a Bostonian takes with them through life. I wish we did not turn that TV on at 4:00. Make it go away.....

Instead of watching a baseball game on TV last night at the staff party (the group has some dyed in the wool Yankee's fanatics to balance out our beloved Red Sox) we decided that ski movies would fill the void in the wall occupied by the TV. Pandora was playing tunes across the internet. The beer tap was flowing just right. The wine accumulated in Bin X went down too easy. Make it go away.....

Around 8:00 last night, my son Jay called. To my horror, I found out he was too close. He was working doing rehab construction in a building on Newbury Street, one block from the finish line of the Marathon. He had finished up and was walking down Boylston Street. He had passed through the finish line area several minutes before and was near the Public Library, heading towards the Boston Common to pick up the MBTA when chaos struck. UGH.. Make it go away.....

In his first successful science fiction novel, Childhood's End, published in 1953 (the year I was born), Arthur C. Clark spoke of benevolent overlords taking position around the earth in alien spaceships. He spoke of a world that was on the verge of annihilating itself in the cold war global nuclear competition between the United States and the Soviet Union. In their innocence, the people of earth in the 1950's needed alien overlords to prevent them from destroying everything.

And so we watch ski movies instead of the TV news. We watch ski movies instead of watching the horror in Boston played out over and over. Instead of seeing the missiles of North Korea constantly rolling down the street in some far off surreal parade. Instead of hearing about IED's in Afganistan, or the latest rants from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran.

In Vermont, we are somewhat insulated from the world around us; but we can't escape it. At best, we can only trick ourselves into making it go away, if only briefly.

Growing up in the Boston area, I have great faith that humanity will prevail. That the good wrought by the many will far out weigh the bad perpetrated by the few. ....it is not time for the Overlords!

Golf season is fast approaching. I hope you have your clubs out...

A sure sign of spring at Killington. 

Double Dipper from the Canyon Quad at Killington on a beautiful sunny spring day.

Freezing R@!n;
Driving Sleet;
Oh for the sunny days of spring.

Failing sump pump;
Bailing wet feet;
Oh for the sunny days of spring.

Ice crust outdoors;
Shuffle and penguin walk;
Oh for the sunny days of spring.

Ice Melt... Goodro;
Plumbing parts...Home Depot;
Oh for the sunny days of spring.

Ski, golf, outdoor fun;
My plan for the next day we see the spring sun!

The Birch Ridge Inn in Killington, covered in sleet and freezing r@!n on a nasty spring day.

In the immortal words of Christie McVie and Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac:
"Don't stop thinking about tomorrow.... Don't stop. it'll soon be here!"

Have your sun screen ready for when spring returns!

100% sunshine brightens day on Killington 

After yesterdays retreat to winter, today was a refreshing breath of spring across the Killington Resort. Even though temperatures early this morning were still in the mid 20's, the lack of wind and 100% bright sunshine allowed us to venture out on the mountain with significantly fewer layers under our shells. And as the morning progressed, temperatures appropriately rose with the sun, given south facing slopes the ability to soften and corn up, just the way they should in the spring.

All of the usual runs were in great shape. With a huge amount of snow on the resort, cold temperatures, and light skier traffic, the ski season at Killington still has a long way to go. At the start, it was just one high speed cruiser after another doing laps off the Skye Burst quad.

As we moved across the resort, I started to sneak in a few easy bumps while Mary stayed on the groomers. Old Superstar had some potential. At 10:30 AM it was still surprisingly firm. I dove right into it, and had a pretty good line going till just before the cutoff to Superstar. I was going so fast, I think I got airborne on the last 4 bumps before making a hard braking maneuver to head to Superstar. The brace on my left leg let me know it was there, but so it goes...thats why I wear it!

Upper Royal Flush was a little softer than Old Superstar. The upper flush still has loads of snow all across it. Skier traffic has developed nice little bumps for your enjoyment. By 11 they were softening up ever so slightly. I am sure they will be great later in the day.

FIS across the top from the K1 Gondola had 5 of 6 monster bumps on it. They were quick work as we headed down to the North Ridge triple. West Glade, er Ridge Run, also had a nice bump set on it. As is usually the case, the bumps on the upper section were bigger with sharp troughs. The middle and lower sections, being not as steep, had nice regular features.

Without question, the run of the day was Highline at noon time. It was a total do-over. The morning sun had baked the surface into a delightful texture somewhere between creme brulee and vanilla soft service ice cream. Surprisingly little skier traffic had been on it by noon, allow us to do wide sweeping turns down Highline's face. This is what spring skiing should be (if there were a BBQ and a cold beer strategically placed just beneath the trail).

As I write this, I noticed that my nose is a little red, my cheeks have a glow, and there are the early vestiges of a goggle line forming on my face. Now where did that tube of sun screen go again???

Let it snow! (at least on the mountain for a few more weeks)... and don't forget your sun screen!

It's still winter on Killington Peak! 

After our journey across the resort this morning, I needed to rush home and check the calendar on my computer. While we were on the mountain, it seemed like we were sucked into some strange time anomaly, like the residents of K-Val in the neo-cult classic ski-movie "Hot Tub Time Machine". (Notice the name of the ski resort in that movie...coincidence???) Even though the calendar was supposed to read April, it seemed more like early January at K-Town this morning. With a high pressure system from Canada settling into place, temperatures in the teens (yes...teens!) and a wind gusting to 30, the calendar could have easily read January 3rd versus April 3rd. But, when I got home, the computer confirmed it. The government wonks at NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology), the maintainers of the "Official Time" for the United States, did in fact confirm that today is April 3rd, 2013.

We started the day on the K1 Gondola. The bucket ride to Killington Peak was a little bumpy as the car was being buffeted by wind gusts. Cascades under the K1 was not especially inviting. It looked like some mad creation from Dr. Freeze. The Canyon Quad was running, but there was nary a soul in sight. When we emerged from the cabin at the peak it was easy to understand. 13 degrees with a 30 MPH wind is not April skiing, no matter what the calendar says, nor how sunny it is. So off we headed towards Bear Mountain.

Conditions across the top of the resort were groomed firm corduroy. Very low energy skiing, as long as you kept your ski tips aligned with your desired trajectory. We found ourselves at the top of Bear Claw in no time. Good thing our skis were recently tuned.

Everything at Bear was groomed flat and fast. With the exception of the bumps course being constructed on Outer Limits for this weekends Bear Mountain Mogul Challenge, some bumps on Upper Wildfire, and the terrain features in the Stash and on Dream Maker, Bear Mountain was a straight high speed cruiser.

With the bright, early morning, sunshine, I did pack light for todays ski excursion. By my 4th lift up the Skye Peak Quad, I was reaching for my neck gator that I keep in my ski-shell. I never thought I would need that today, but this is Killington and you always need to keep prepared.

As we moved back to the north side of the resort, we journeyed down Needles Eye, Cruise Control, Bitter Sweet, High Road, and Sky Lark. With mid-winter conditions prevailing, we decided to do one run and done on each trail. We had to get enough runs in to get the muscles in our legs firing, but, at the same time, we are ready for a little spring skiing versus the cold shiver of this morning.

Even though it is cold today at Killington, there is a huge upside to all of this. Cold conditions have basically stopped any surface melting in it's tracks. A slow warm up through the rest of the week will just about guarantee great ski conditions for visitors to Killington this weekend. And, it also means that the season will have loads of staying power to reach right into May.

Let it snow! (at least on the mountain for a few more weeks)

Killington Peak - covered in snow, crowned in sunshine. 

In what I hope will be the first of many spring skiing days this season, the mountains, the snow, and the sun all combined for a great morning on the slopes.

High, puffy, clouds dominated a beautiful blue sky as we skied all around the Killington Resort this morning. Temperatures were in the mid to upper 30's, all but guaranteeing that snow surfaces touched by the copious sunshine would delightfully soften up. With the exception of the lower Superstar headwall this morning, every trail we skied on delivered loads of soft snow just perfect for sweeping carving turns.

We visited every mountain area around the resort this morning. Each mountain delivered the goods. Smooth groomers were turning soft and creamy. Bump runs were tons of fun, with very little hard pack in the bump troughs on most trails. I enjoyed the bumps on Needles Eye under the Skyship, Old Superstar, Royal Flush, and Great Bear, just to name a few trails which got my attention today. And trails that were not groomed overnight, like Cascade, while not "bumped up" had nice little bumps all over the place calling out for a turn of two. Just a beautiful morning to be in Killington.

Let it snow!

Watercolorist Peter Huntoon will be at the Birch Ridge Inn on Thursday March 28th 

On Thursday March 28, the Birch Ridge Inn, in conjunction with the Killington Arts Guild, will be host a "Meet the Artist" night with renowned Rutland watercolorist Peter Huntoon.

The "Meet the Artist" night will feature a water color demonstration by Mr Huntoon. The event begins at 6:00 PM in the Great Room of the Birch Ridge Inn and is scheduled to run through 8:00 PM.

Light hors d'oeuvres will be served during the demonstration. If you plan to attend the event and would like dinner reservations at the inn at it's conclusion, please call the Birch Ridge Inn at 802-422-4293. If you would like additional information about the demonstration, you may call Sally Curtis from the Killington Arts Guild at 802-422-3852.

Let it snow!