Now that's some Black Friday shopping you can raise a glass too! 

The turkey left overs are all properly stored. (Mary is making hot turkey sandwiches for lunch!) The turkey bones are in the pot bubbling away to create a stock. And I had sticky buns for breakfast. Must be Black Friday.

At the inn, we do our part to keep the economy moving. In a delightful quirk of fate, one of the wine shows I attended early in the month had their deliveries scheduled for today. Black Friday presents began arriving early this morning, waiting to be inventoried, binned in the cellar and posted on the wine list. I know what I am doing this afternoon. Now for a little more turkey!

If you are in Killington this weekend, and looking for a bite to eat other than turkey, the restaurant and Great Room at the inn are open for dinner service tonight and tomorrow night starting at 6:00 PM. Enjoy your Thanksgiving Weekend!

Let it snow!!!

May you have a Happy Thanksgiving 

It seems like every year is a little more chaotic than the last. If you studied physics, this is called "entropy", where the universe tends to expand from order to disorder. I prefer a simpler explanation. I call it "Life"!

Even though 2011 may be a strange year, Mary and I have a lot to be thankful for. Here is the short list:

1. We have each other. Through up and down, that has been a constant for many years.
2. We have our parents. Many of our friends of our generation are not as lucky. We appreciate the gift.
3. We have very supportive families. They thought we were a little nuts when we struck out on our own and moved to Vermont 14 years ago, and maybe they were a little right, but they have hung in there with us.
4. We have great employees who "get it"! Without them, we would not be in business in Killington.
5. We have a large cadre of friends. They are there for us when we are joyful, when we need help, when we have ideas that need 'sanity checking", when we just want to talk, when we want to raise a toast or three.
6. We have a large "family" of guests who have stayed with us in Killington and/or dined with us in our restaurant. Many have become good friends along the way. Others have told their friends about us and helped grow our business. For this we are grateful.
7. We live in a strong community that cares. Like any family, there are arguments among factions from time to time, but when it really counts, like when Hurricane Irene struck, everybody pulled together and just knew what to do.

As we enter the holiday season at the end of 2011 we have much to be thankful for. We hope you do as well.

Let it snow!!!

Mary sculpting snow off of her car at Birch Ridge 

Oh boy! What a day...

After yesterdays expedition out on the slopes, it was obvious that my aged boots were just a little too comfortable. Who knew we were going to get almost a foot of snow overnight!

Snow started falling last night plus or minus 8:00 PM. The forecast was calling for a strange mix. Oops... the weather channel was wrong again... Instead, when I go up this morning, I was staring down at 11 inches of snow at the inn's snow stake, and an early morning appointment with my friend Ray at Surefoot for a new pair of ski boots....so it goes

Surefoot does a great job with ski boots. I was down at the shop about 2 hours getting fitted and having custom orthotics made. The system Surefoot has at Killington includes a numerical control machine connected to a computerized foot measuring system which automatically machines the orthotics to the shape of your feet. It is all really interesting in a geeky sort of way. Combined with custom foam injected boot liners, the new boots are both comfortable and have a high performance fit.

New Ski Boots being injected with foam at Surefoot. Click to enlarge..

Back at the inn, the snow blower was fired up for the second time this year, although this time was much more serious than in late October. 11 inches of heavy snow results in around 2 and a half hours of snow blowing to clean up all of the walkways and driveways. Quite frankly...Its a Wonderful Thing!. Coming into the Thanksgiving Weekend, fresh snow on the ground is a present from Mother Nature, who was rather mean to us earlier in the year. There will be plenty of non-holiday pow storms where the "Gone Skiing" sign will be hung on the front door... Especially now that I have my new boots!

If you are traveling tonight, stay safe. And have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Let it snow!!!

There you have it... Evidence! Courtesy of Peter Smith of the Forerunner Ski Shop. 

When I woke up this morning, I was determined that today would be the day we finally got out on the slopes of Killington for a few turns. All work and no play make Bill and Mary dull people. We needed to have some fun and I was not going to let anything get in the way.

For those of you who do not live at a ski resort, the first day a local attempts to go skiing is usually hilarious. Visitors to the area usually have the added advantage of being able to quietly pack all of their clothes for the trip to Killington. Locals are left scratching their head wondering where the stuff went from last year as the car engine is running in the parking lot. Such was the scene this morning.

After a quick breakfast, I braved the attic of the inn to find "our stuff". Although the inn seems large, life storage for the innkeepers is at a premium. The attic has a full collection of plastic storage boxes with clothes for all seasons (and Christmas decorations and Halloween Decorations, and Easter decorations and.....you get the idea). After rummaging around for a bit while Mary was making breakfast for inn guests, I found a box of general winter clothing, and a box with nicely washed ski clothes(thank you Mary!). Everything seemed to be there, so I hauled it our of the attic. Mary was now done with breakfast, so we got dressed to go. Oops... as we are packing up our kit, no helmet liner for my ski helmet. To be more accurate, it is really a very thin hat that sits between my head and my helmet, but it really does make a difference on cool days, which by definition this one was as it was our first day on the mountain.

Not a tragedy, we live in the land of the best ski shops on the planet, so on our way off to the mountain we stopped at the Forerunner Ski Shop. Donna was behind the desk. She quickly got me a new helmet liner, and we were off.

When we arrived at the mountain, I maneuvered the car to the Bay 1 lot about 2 cars down from the K1 Gondola. A little boot magic in the car(God...they are still comfortable after all these years) and we took the short walk to the K1 for the lift to the peak.

On the way up the mountain was ablaze in snow guns. Great Northern was lit up as was all of Snowdon. The resort is clearly putting a marker down to make a major expansion of terrain for the Thanksgiving weekend, weather be damned. If we get what is predicted for the area tomorrow, all of the work the resort is doing to make snow will be a stroke of genius. We will know in 24 hours.

We arrived at the peak at the proverbial "Crack O'Noon", probably one of our latest ski day arrival times ever. But that's ok... we were here to have some fun, air out the ski legs, and enjoy the mountain.

The conditions on the mountain were an interesting mix of textures. By this time, the middle of Rime and Reason was pretty sparse with a firm ski base covered with loose granular. The sides had plenty of character with small, unorganized soft bumps made from the loose granular that at 9:00 AM was probably in the middle of the trail, but by Noontime had all be moved by skier traffic.

Snow guns were going on Upper Great Northern, yielding some creamy goodness. The sides had some interesting "sitzmarks" carved in troughs along the edges of the snow. Not difficult to avoid (in fact many boarders were using them as launching pads). But if you were not paying attention they could have caught you by surprise.

Lower Ridge Run back to the triple was pretty good. I always feel like one of those metal balls in a pinball machine on Lower Ridge Run, as the trails compound fall line can push one from side to side quite quickly as you traverse down the trail.

The top to bottom run on Great Northern was very nice. Snow making was continuing down the length of Great Northern yielding some nice snow along the way. Snow guns were also operating on several of the upper trails of Snowdon, and also all the way to the bottom of the Snowdon Quad, but as this was something that the resort started last night, there was not enough snow accumulation yet on this terrain to allow the resort to "drop the ropes".

All in all, once we got our "stuff" together, it was a nice couple of hours on the mountain. A good light work out for the legs to start toning them up for what we hope will be a long ski season to come.

Let it snow!!!

Bill wrapping the flag pole in front of the Birch Ridge Inn with lights for the winter. 

As at the Resort, around the Birch Ridge Inn we have been working straight out to get the inn fully prepared for the winter season. We are just about done!

Yesterday I finished putting all of the outside lights in place for the winter. It is an annual ritual. We have a lighting company, "Christmas Decor", who put the lights on the restaurant and Great Room buildings. (They have all the right ladders and a team to do the work...they make it look so simple!) Mary and I take responsibility for the rest. Some years it is freezing cold and you wish you did the work in shorts in August. Other years, like this one, it has been quite pleasant to work outside making the job actually enjoyable in a John Cleese/Monty Python "and now for something completely different" sort of way.

Today Mary makes her annual foray into the farms of West Rutland looking for the inn's Christmas Tree. The Monday after Thanksgiving (is it really next Monday?) is Christmas Tree Monday at the inn. The team is already assembled to go out and get the inn's Christmas tree. Pick up trucks are identified, chain saws are sharpened. But it would be all for naught if we cannot find the perfect tree. Hence, Mary is out in the woods today. She likes to go out ahead of time before the team for reconnaissance; to scope out the landscape so to speak; to find just the right tree...

Rumor has it that tomorrow is a ski day for us. The Resort continues to make snow ahead of the Thanksgiving Holiday. Today they have started to make snow on Skye Peak at the top of Superstar. Snow making operations are also continuing in the North Ridge area all the way down to the K1 Base Lodge. Chef Frizzie was out for a couple of hours this morning. In his usual brief and to the point fashion, he said "It was kinda fun skiing through the guns"! I know myself that I am ready to get back on skis and out on the mountain. It's time!

Let it snow!!!

Intricate ballet taking place at K1 Base Lodge 

On my visit to the K1 Base Lodge this noon time, I was struck by the intricate ballet that is taking place as the Killington resort readies for winter. Todays picture says it all in terms of how companies and people are juggling tasks in a post-Irene Vermont.

In the right of the frame you see skiers and riders coming down Lower Bunny Buster. The resort has been making snow when ever they could over the last couple of weeks. Late last week they made the connection to the K1 Base Lodge, opening up for top to bottom skiing and riding yesterday. In other words, the right side of the frame is fairly business as usual for the Killington Resort for the middle of November.

In the middle of the frame, it starts to get interesting. On the left of the K1 Base Lodge you can see plywood covering the doors leading out of the Mahogany Ridge bar. This is an indication that something is amiss. In front of the baselodge is a string of orange cones, with what looks like some new surepak on the road in front of the base lodge. You may or may not be able to put those two items together, but Hurricane Irene sure did. It turns out that the Roaring Brook runs right across that area. It took out a function room attached to Mahogany Ridge (hence the plywood covering on the doors) and ripped a chasm down the hill taking out half of the road in front of the K1 base lodge in the process (voila - new surpak!).

To the left of the frame, is Irene's lasting gift to skiers and riders at Killington, the new Umbrella Bar. Instead of replacing the function room at the K1 lodge that was destroyed with another boring appendage to the building, the Resort has decided to roll the dice and create a new space for people to enjoy. The Resort has built a pad in the old delivery parking lot beside the K1 Base Lodge facing the Superstar slope. On top of the pad sits the Umbrella Bar. It will be enclosed during the winter months. If the resort plays this new addition as many of us locals think they will, this will be the place to be in March, April and early May to enjoy watching skiers bumping down Superstar, reviving the old Killington Base Lodge deck of the 80's in the process.

In the front left of the frame, in front of the Umbrella Bar, you see a trench with all kinds of piping next to a control box of some kind. This is the construction that many of us have been watching intently. One of the secrets of Hurricane Irene is that all of the water rushing down the mountain took our quite a bit of infrastructure, in addition to buildings like the function room at K1. The Resort has been "busting their hump" working to rebuild and repair everything to get resort into operating shape for the winter season. Solid evidence of their progress has been the continued snow making activities that have taken place around Killington Peak, allowing the mountain to open for top to bottom skiing and riding on a fairly normal early season schedule.

And this is just the work that is going on in front of the K1 Base Lodge. Similar activities are taking place all across the resort and at virtually every private business in Killington. All of which is an intricate ballet that Killington is dancing to get the area in top shape for winter. And with the all important de-facto kickoff of the season taking place over the Thanksgiving Weekend (it's hard to believe that's next weekend), the pace has been quickening. It is all really impressive, especially when you consider that all the while skiers and riders have been enjoying the upper reaches of Killington Peak with traditional early season skiing and riding for weeks now. And this is only the start of the season!

Let it snow!!!

Snow guns running to Mouse Trap at Killington 

With favorable weather for snow making predicted for the next week, the Killington Resort has started the push to expand skiable terrain. Skiing and riding at Killington has been available on the upper mountain in the North Ridge area since late October, courtesy of Killington Snow Makers and the "Stairway to Heaven". But early in the ski season every year, there is a moment in time when the resort attempts to break out of the confines of the upper elevations to provide top to bottom skiing and riding. This year, that time appears to be now.

Snow making operations are clearly visible from Killington Peak down Great Northern to Upper Mouse Trap. Basically, the resort has turned on it's snow making machine from the top of the mountain to about the 3000 foot level. Just below that, on Mouse Trap, the fan gun has been started and is making snow as I write this post. How long it will be able to continue to function today is anyones guess, as temperatures are predicted to rise out of the low 30's to the low 40's throughout the day, before returning to the 20's tonight.

Snow guns are set up from Mouse Trap down Lower Bunny Buster to finish the trail to the K1 Base Lodge. When the resort will begin making snow on the last trail segment to the K1 lodge is always one of the resorts closely held secrets. That being said, the all important Thanksgiving Weekend is just around the corner. I don't think there is any doubt that the resort will be firing up the snow guns on the last leg to provide top to bottom skiing and riding from Killington Peak very soon.

At the inn, Chef Frizzie has fired up the kitchen preparing to reopen the restaurant this weekend. The stock pots on the stove are filling the inn with wonderful smells making both Mary and I hungry. The cat and mouse game to sneak one of the chef's hand made rolls as they come fresh out of the oven is only hours away.

If you find yourself in Killington, stop bye.. Let it snow!!!