Roof repairs being completed at Birch Ridge earlier this week. 

Mother Nature pulls on the string all the time. We all like to think we can control her. The Killington Resort continuously makes snow when Mother Nature comes up a little short. I spend hours behind my snow blower when Mother Nature throws those of us lucky enough to live at the ski resort a bone. In the end, it all hopefully balances somewhere between the "Around the World" and "Sleeper".

Today is not a bluebird day at Killington. Temperatures at the inn are running above freezing, and it's a little damp. At least it's not r@!ning at this point, although there is the occasional sprinkle of NCP (Acronym refresher - NCP non-crystalline precipitation). Today's warm up was predicted (hey - the weathermen got one right!). It will be interesting to see if the prediction for colder temperatures for the next week that was in the same weather forecast holds true. Assuming it does, then the resort, with its enormous snow making capacity, should be in good shape going into the Christmas Holiday week.

Around the inn we are continuing final preparations for Christmas. The decorations are pretty much set. The Christmas tree is just slurping up water, as freshly cut trees tend to do. The last of the Hurricane Irene damage has been fixed (I think). We had some latent roof damage that was discovered 2 weeks ago when the roof was covered with snow. Thank you to the brave roofers who went up on the icy roof to locate and repair the damage. So we are in good shape. Now if Mother Nature will just cover the roof again with snow! What's a few hours behind a snow blower between friends.....

Let it snow!!!

Dr Lyons coaxing the ivory keys for some Christmas Carols. 

You know you are blessed when people who were once complete strangers are now good friends.

Mary and I were reminded once again last night that moving to Killington many years ago was the right choice for us. We had the pleasure of attending our good friends, Dick and Noel Gluck's, annual Christmas party with a lot of mutual friends from the Killington community. With Dr. Lyons on the piano leading the group in Christmas Carols, it was a nice night with delicious food, a few tasty "adult beverages', and great company. It is always a great party to lead into the holiday season.

Let it snow!!!

Killington Peak, sans the old Killington Gondola Station/Restaurant 

There is something about Monday mornings. In a resort it means that the weekend is over and the majority of guests have departed for home. But even before we moved to Vermont full time almost 15 years ago, staying over Sunday night to ski on Monday held a special place in our psyche.

This morning it was just spectacular to be on the mountain. Of course we could use more snow, what ski resort couldn't. But this morning the sun was shining brightly, the trails were relatively empty (at least early), and the temperatures were quite favorable. In fact, the temperatures seemed to be in the goldilocks region. Cold enough to allow the resort to continue to make snow, while warm enough to ski without a neck gator and have the coat collar unsnapped.

The Killington Resort has flipped their snow making operation into high gear. Most of the action today has been concentrated on Skye Peak along Upper Superstar, Skye Lark and Bittersweet. Snow Guns and the Fan Gun were also operating at Snowdon in the Chute area and at the base of Mousetrap. Clearly the resort is taking advantage of every window of opportunity to lay down snow cover on as many trails as possible, as quickly as possible.

Conditions were similar to what we experienced on Friday with the exception that snow surfaces were a little softer and the snow guns we skied under were a little drier. Clearly the resort is still making some snow in the North Ridge area to refresh conditions, and it shows. There was a lot of nice, soft snow to make turns on this morning.

All in all, a really nice Monday morning to be on a mountain top in Vermont.....Let it snow!!!

Great Northern "Killink Bypass" under the guns 

It is not mid winter. There is limited terrain open. There are snow guns pushing out water with consistencies varying from "light fluff" to "5 alarm fire hose". There are ski teams race training everywhere. There are herbs and herbettes(is that a word?) playing hooky from work. There are lift lines. Can I say anything else bad...

Now for the good...

There is skiing on real snow! There is clean fresh air. There are beautiful blue skies with thin wispy clouds. There is that great feeling of being on top of the mountain. There is the crunch of snow under the skis. There are the tight turns under the chair lift. There are the sweeping turns on Upper Great Northern (or West Glade if you have skied at Killington for years). There is the feel of new ski boots. There is camaraderie in the base lodge. There are new people to meet on the chair lifts and in the gondola. There are lots of happy people all over the resort with smiling faces. There was a late breakfast at Johnny Boys with good friends.

In otherwords.. it was just a great morning to take a few runs skiing at Killington.

Now for the conditions...The resort today was basically skiing from the K1 Gondola, the North Ridge Triple, the Snowdon Triple and the Snowdon Poma. Upper terrain on the mountain was in great shape, with nice mid winter quality snow in most spots. Thinness will easily develop down the middle of each trail as skier traffic wears the surface, but skiers right and left on all the trails I skied on where nice soft snow with plenty of coverage to make some nice carving turns.

From the peak we were for all practical purposes limited to skiing Rime and Great Northern to the North Ridge Triple. Ski race training was taking place on Upper East Falls. Snow guns were going on sections of Great Northern, especially at the high traffic merge spot at Killink.

Lower sections of the mountain, other than the last part of Lower Bunny Buster, still had snow making operations ongoing when we skied down off the peak. Snow guns at the lower elevations were very wet with considerable body sliming taking place as we passed under the guns. Surfaces near the snow guns were also very wet, as one would expect given the high water content being expelled by the guns.

Crowds at the mountain in the early hours was solid. Many ski teams were on the mountain either officially training, our out for some runs. The hooky factor also seemed pretty high with people taking the day off from work to make a few turns.

All in all, it was a pretty morning to be out on the mountain. Hopefully there are many more to come in the next few weeks.

Where ever you may be this weekend....Let it snow!!!

White creamy goodness all around Killington 

Killington Got Snow!

Alright... contain yourself. We don't want to get Mother Nature or Ullr upset by wild displays of irrational exuberance.

The warm air pattern which has held sway with local weather for the last week at Killington broke last night with a cascade of 3 to 6 inches of heavy wet snow falling around the region. Although the weather service had been predicting that the heaviest snow would fall on the eastern side of the Green Mountains, anecdotal evidence from people coming to Killington from Rutland and points west indicated that snow totals were probably slightly higher on the western facing slopes. But again, we are talking small differences.

The weather pattern in Killington the last few weeks has been fairly predictable. For the last 5 weeks we have had a period of snow, followed by a warm up. It started in late October with the warm up reaching the high 60's and low 70s. Each week since, the warm up had dropped 10 degrees into the 60's, 50's, 40's, before this week when highs reached the upper 30's on Monday. You can see that winter is approaching..Is the cold air here to stay is anyones guess, but if the pattern holds true one would guess that it will. And of course that would mean that winter is establishing itself in Killington.

This weekend at Killington you can enjoy the Killington Holiday Festival produced by the Killington Chamber of Commerce at the Killington Grand Hotel. Mary is up decorating the Birch Ridge Inn Christmas Tree at the Grand this morning as part of the "Festival of Trees". The Festival runs Friday and Saturday and is great for "children of all ages".

With some luck, we will be starting to get out on the mountain for some skiing in the next few days. It has been a couple of weeks since I got my new ski boots from Surefoot. I was beginning to think that I had jinxed the season, as snow conditions at the area have not improved since I got the boots. But,last nights snow fall has belayed my fears. It's time to get on the mountain and get into a winter schedule.

Where ever you may be....Let it snow!!!

Work progressing on decorating the Birch Ridge Inn Christmas Tree 

While you are out shopping today, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas here in Killington. To be sure we have a long way to go between now and the holidays (or a short way to go if you are counting the shopping days), but it's clear that the holidays are approaching.

We got a dusting of snow overnight. Not enough to register at the snow stake, but enough to make the ground, which has frozen these last 2 cold days, covered in white. Hey...it's not much but it sure beats looking at dead grass on the lawn!... On the mountain, the cold temperatures have allowed the resort to continue to make snow. While much work has been done of late to refresh the trails that they had previously opened to provide top to bottom early season skiing and riding, if the cold weather keeps up I would expect a break out to happen soon to expand skiable terrain. Watch for that to happen in the next week or so if the cold weather finally holds.

Around town, business are getting ready to decorate their trees for the Killington Holiday Festival taking place at the Killington Grand Hotel next weekend. The public viewing of the trees from the festival will take place at the Killington Grand Hotel on Friday December 9th from 4:30 to 9:00 PM, and on Saturday December 10th from 12 Noon to 9:00 PM. Mary has already planned the decorations for this years Birch Ridge Inn tree at the festival. The festival is always a good take to get you in the mood for the holidays, if you need a final push to get over your inner Scrooge.

At the inn, decorating of our 15 1/2 foot Christmas Tree in the Great Room is proceeding quickly. The lights are done (3000 little white lights!). The ornaments and bows are being put on as I write this. It will be completed to be "officially" displayed next weekend to coincide with the Holiday Festival. But if you want a sneak peak before then, stop bye the inn.

Enjoy your early December weekend, where ever you may be. Let it snow!!!

Snow making operations underway at Killington 

Twig season is well established and holding on at Killington. But that has not stopped the resort from attempting to enhance the gifts Mother Nature has delivered (or not) to the area.

The persistent cold weather has allowed the resort to continuously make snow the last 2 days, substantially refreshing the surfaces which were depleted by warm temperatures earlier in the week.

From the K1 Base area, snow making was visible all across Killington Peak down through Snowdon back to the K1 Base. The resort is clearly making snow at all elevations to provide top to bottom skiing and riding this weekend. Snowmaking was also taking place in and out of Rams Head along Caper and Lower Great Northern, to allow further lift serviced skiing from the Rams Head base lodge.

With cool temperatures and bright sunshine predicted for Saturday, it should be a good weekend at Killington for some early season turns.

Let it snow!!!