Boys day out... 

Well...maybe it was more like a ski hour and a half instead of a whole day... but it was interesting all the same.

There was an element of foreboding driving to the resort this morning. Clouds were hanging low over the resort. The weatherman on the radio was talking about a wet storm front passing through the area this afternoon. The parking lots at the resort were virtually empty; the product of the timed escape of visitors to the area for MLK weekend, escaping back to the real world away from the mountains.

But the gang, and then some, was in the base lodge, in their "assigned spots" ready to face what ever Mother Nature, the Resort, and last night grooming team had to offer.

With the low clouds hanging over the resort, we headed towards the Superstar Quad, figuring visibility would make skiing improbable off the K1 Gondola. (We later learned from others we encountered on the slopes that we probably made the right choice in the early morning, as Killington Peak was totally socked in.) Skye Peak had its share of low lying clouds. The traverse across the peak from the K1 to Skylark focused us all on paying attention fairly quickly. Skiing was basically by feel alone. But so it goes.

It was not a long morning on the slopes. We did Superstar, Sky Lark, Bittersweet, Cruise Control, Bitter Road and Sky Cruise. Upper surfaces were frozen corduroy, the product of the clouds laying down moisture into the snow surface. Lower surfaces were generally soft. Coverage was good, with the possible exception of a ledge outcropping here and there that had been uncovered by grooming crews the last couple of days. When the cloud deck was above the trail, every trail we skied was a groomed cruiser. When the cloud was on the deck, the grooming did not matter. Little dips and swhales became troughs and bumps when you could not see them.

After an hour and a half of skiing the same terrain over and over, Howie called "Johnny Boys" and the ski day came to an end. Over a Belgian Waffle and a cup of tea, we all traded stories of ski greatness, preparing ourselves to head out on the slopes for another day in the very near future.

Let it snow!!!

Killington Resort Today 

In classic MLK weekend fashion, below zero temperatures descended upon the Killington Region overnight. I say MLK fashion because for some reason MLK weekend seems like it is a binary... temps are either below zero for a January Freeze, or above 40 for a January Thaw... this year it is the freeze.

Let it snow!!!

Birch Ridge Inn blanketed in new snow 

Has the curse of Irene been broken?

Since early Thursday, 9 inches of new snow have blanked the Killington area. Light, fluffy, bright white, beautiful snow!

Conditions today are seasonably cold with a bright blue sky to contrast with the freshly fallen snow. High winds overnight raised havoc with travelers coming to Killington for the MLK weekend. Blowing and drifting snow covered most roads. When we woke this morning, the Carriageway at the inn was filled with 2-3 inches of snow, the handiwork of 50 MPH wind gusts which descended upon the area as the snow storm pulled away.

We are not complaining by any stretch of the imagination. A couple of hours behind the snow blower this morning, had the inn was back in shape to receive guests later in the day, and this evening for dinner service.

On the mountain, work is continuing to take place to get ready for next weekends Dew our. The resort is taking advantage of cold temperatures today to make snow in many places around the resort. Snow guns in operation are visible in both the Needles Eye area and on Highline. Individual guns in high traffic areas are also dotting the resort as they compliment the work of Mother Nature. It is great to finally see all the snow around the area.

Let it snow!!!

The Umbrella Bars at K1 light up the fog at Killington 

"And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not trobled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet..." Matthew 24: 6-8

Today was a day filled with contrasts at Killington. From the weather at the resort, to the resort personnel, to the lifts, to the conditions of the trails, if you were a glass half empty person you had a terrible day...if you are a glass half full person, today had moments that were "glorious".

The weather today has sort of set the stage. In the space of the morning we had calm, 40 MPH winds... we had clear skies, we had fog, we had freezing R@!n, we had ice pellets, we had fluffy light snow, we had driving hard nasty wet snow....and as I look out my office window as I write this blog we have sunshine!

The weather, of course, translated into the resort in unpredictable fashion. Around the base lodges we had parking attendants that were just miserable trying to direct traffic. We had people shoveling and snow blowing heavy, wet, crusty snow. But then you go to bag check, and the guy taking the bags is bright and friendly... you go to the Bear Mountain Chair (more on that later) and you would think that the girl scanning the passes was at a party, she was so happy to see people coming through her line.

The lifts could not make up their mind... were they going to run, or were they going to stay home for the day. The K1 Gondola was moving before 9:00 AM, but in the wrong direction. All of the cars were being pulled off the cable and brought into the barn. In the early morning, the Sky Burst Quad and the Needles Eye Quad seemed to be suffering the same fate. They were moving, but they did not load until well after 10:00 AM. But never matter, between the Superstar Quad, the Bear Mountain Quad, and the Northbrook Quad (aka "The Chair to No Where") maneuvering around the mountain was achievable (if you overlook skiing under the tuna nets on the old Snow Shed Cross Over to get back from Bear Mountain. The nets had spots in the middle which were tied up, creating a hole to ski thru. Not sure if the holes are officially sanctioned, but they were there...And it was the only way from Bear Mountain to the rest of the resort when the Sky Burst Quad was not loading..).

The weather also created some interesting ski conditions. Visibility was always being challenged be it fog, ice, or wet. Groomed surfaces were initially quite loud, as the grooves created by the grooming machines glazed solid overnight. Un-groomed surfaces initially were a mish mash of chunky, crusty, soft bumps, slick booms. Skier traffic after the first hour or so took care of all of the surface flaws to reveal a nice, soft, generally compliant surface caused by yesterday snow mixed with the stuff coming out of the atmosphere today.

We spend the morning on the Sky Peak side of the resort. Upper Sky Burst was groomed flat and fast, with the aforementioned loud grooves. Lower Wild Fire was nice and soft, with some small bumps developing. Upper Wildfire was somewhere in the middle. It was groomed flat, but it did have some surface features which prevented mindless cruising. People were skiing Superstar. Not sure if the ropes were down or people were just poaching. It did not look fun. We won't talk about the Snow Shed Crossover....

Cruise Control was set up nicely. I did find a nice, soft, small bump line on skiers right on Lower Cruise Control in an area left untouched by last nights groomers. Out of necessity, we did several loops down High Road on the Chair to Nowhere. It was soft, but at times it was also choked with skier traffic.

Bittersweet was cum se cum sa. If you could see, you could find lines with small bumps and soft snow. On those times when skiing by braille was required, I found myself getting bounced around a lot going down Bittersweet. So it goes.

Skylark was generally very nice from top to bottom. I think because of the lift situation, not many people were using Skylark this morning. The upper part was a nice cruiser with some areas of small bumps (really turn spots) kicked up by skier traffic. Lower Skylark had good soft lines down both skiers right and left.

Superstar was not groomed and looked, shall we say...interesting. I think if it were a beautiful sunny day, we would have gone down Superstar, but as the picture of the Umbrella Bar taken from the Superstar Quad highlights, there was a lot of fog in the base area which kept visibility down.

Yesterdays storm at Killington saw 4-6 inches of snow fall over the area. The forecast for today calls for a similar amount, with the majority falling overnight. If you are planning on coming to Killington this weekend, have a safe drive. You will be rewarded with a mountain that is continuing to improve with every snowflake falling from the sky.

Let it snow!!!

Early morning snow covers the Birch Ridge Inn at Killington 

A long overdue winter snowstorm has swept over the Killington region blanketing the area in a carpet of bright white snow.

Snow started in the early morning hours. At 10AM at the inn, the snow stake showed 2 inches of new accumulation. Blowing and drifting snow was deeper in some areas (and of course wind blown bare in others).

Snow is continuing to fall in the area at a rapid rate and is expected for most of the day. In addition, another storm is due to hit the area late tomorrow, hopefully adding to the new snow totals.

Let it snow!!!

Snow making underway on Outer Limits 

Even though the cold front descending upon the area brought copious gray clouds, it was still a nice morning to ski at Killington. Temperatures started just below freezing, with a constant light snow falling across the resort.

We started our ski morning with a couple of runs through the North Ridge area, after boosting to Killington Peak on the K1 Gondola. With much more terrain open on the mountain, Rime, Reason and Upper East Fall have all had time to "rest". The light snow falling at the peak, combined with multiple grooming cycles, have left surfaces in North Ridge reasonably soft. The skid plate found in some of the other high traffic spots around the mountain has been replaced with a loose granular. Generally a couple of inches deep in most places, it had a nice consistency to practice turns at speed, without worrying about highly variable conditions down the trail.

From North Ridge, we traversed across the top of the resort on Bear Trax. It was a little strange passing the bump in the terrain where the old South Ridge Triple terminal called home. But change is inevitable, and the skiing across to Bear was a nice mid morning cruise.

At Bear Mountain, your choice was Upper to Lower Wildfire, or Upper Sky Burst to Lower Wildfire, as the resort continues their work on Dream Maker, and Lower Sky Burst to get ready for the Dew Tour. Upper Wildfire was really nice, although I did catch some unanticipated air off of a couple of unseen bumps in the dim morning light. Lower Wildfire early was well covered. The normal places (where the fall line goes compound for instance) were hard under foot, but there was plenty of nice snow for turning. Upper Skyburst was more of the same, although by 10 AM the middle was getting down to the hard pack in places.

Cruise Control was well covered. Snow making has covered most of the loose stones that were tilled to the surface last week. The resort was diverting people by the closed Vista Deck on Great Eastern, versus upper Cruise Control. There was a machine doing some excavating on Cruise Control at the Snow Shed Cross Over which they were trying to protect.

Bitter Sweet and Sky Lark were both nice, albeit flat and fast. The upper sections of both were reasonably soft, with the lower sections showing some hard pack down the middle. As long as you stayed on either skiers right or left on the lower section, you could find plenty of nice soft snow.

Superstar presented some challenges. The upper headwall was set up for some nice carving turns. Middle Superstar needed a re-groom. Baseball to softball sized death cookies were everywhere. It was not particularly fun. Lower Superstar was the site of the most carnage of the day. Wet snow guns were piling soft sticky snow onto the trail to be chewed up by skiers and riders. It was entertaining to watch from the lift, but not so much for those riding the trail.

The resort is continuing to stockpile snow at Bear Mountain for the Dew Tour. Snow Guns were appearing at random locations across the resort, however, as they begin their efforts to refresh surfaces for the coming MLK weekend. Hopefully, Mother Nature will help. Let it snow!!!

The ring leader 

It happens every year.

The Christmas Season officially comes to an end. The decorations, which Mary spends hours on each fall to perfect, get taken down, boxed for future use, and stored away. And this is the week.

When I woke up this morning, I heard a kerfuffle going on over my head. Mary was in the attic, sorting boxes to be used to store the holiday decorations currently distributed throughout the inn. Tens of boxes and storage tubs were being queued by the attic stairs to be brought down to the inn proper. The deconstruction of the Christmas Holidays had begun.

As the boxes were being hauled down stairs, it started. One by one, snow men started to appear intermixed with the empty boxes. Driven by some unseen force (Mary was up in the dark attic handing them down to our assistant Mickalyn) they started to make their way into the inn. Sometime by themselves... sometimes in pairs.... sometimes by the box full. The snowmen have arrived to take the place of Father Christmas around the inn.

This years 15 1/2 foot Christmas tree is going to take a few days to deconstruct. While that is being done, ever so slowly, the snowmen will take over. By the Martin Luther King Birthday Weekend (can you believe it is next weekend!), Christmas 2011 will be but a memory, and the snowmen will have completed their coup to claim hegemony as the decorating decor at the inn for the next few weeks. All we need now is for Mother Nature to dump some white stuff around the mountains of Killington, and the snowmen's take over of the resort will be complete....

Let it snow!!!