Heavy snow falling at Killington and the Birch Ridge Inn 

It's doing it again!

Just so we remember February, Killington is getting blanketed once again with heavy snow today.

With a couple of fresh inches on the ground, and total accumulations predicted to be 10 inches, the snow base on the Killington Resort is continuing to build. And we still have almost another month left officially of winter.

Once again the inn is draped in new snow. It is a wonderful thing!

New snow covers the Birch Ridge Inn

And it is supposed to snow all day and well into tonight at Killington.

Let it snow!

Needles Eye today at Killington... soft and chewy down the middle with sweet bumps on the side! 

I know I have been running open loop when I unload pictures on my ski camera and the first picture in the memory card dates back 11 days to February 15th. But oh... what an 11 days it has been!

Back on February 15th, while the Valentines Day Roses were still fresh, we had 14 inches of snow on the ground outside the inn. Today the stake stands at just under 21 inches, with 5 to 8 more inches predicted by the National Weather Service for tonight and tomorrow. That 7 inches of new snow over the last week at the inn represents probably twice as much (due to altitude multiplication) on the mountain. And it is all now down on the trails as a carpet of creamy goodness waiting to be carved, or draping the sides of the trails in broad necklaces of soft bumps beaming like jewels in the nascent spring sunshine.

We have had the good fortune of being able to ski at the resort the last couple of days. Yesterday we were skiing in the clouds. One run down Superstar featured less than 2 feet of visibility with bumps that seemed 6 feet high. It was like running into a wall with the lights out (and we call this fun!). Today, for the most part, we had good visibility with traces of sunshine guiding our paths though beautiful small soft bumps dotting the trails at Killington. Both days lived up to the adage that a day of skiing is better than a day working (at least for a couple of hours before we returned to the inn to do our work).

The next few days, if the weather service is to be believed, are supposed to bring more sweet creamy snow to the mountains of Killington. Just perfect to set up some great skiing and riding as the days grow longer in March.

We hope you get a chance to get up to Killington and enjoy the great snow!

Let it snow!

4 1/2 inches of new snow fell on Killington last night 

It barely showed up on the weather radar. You won't hear much about it on the Weather Channel. If you listen to NECN (New England Cable News) there was a brief mention of it.

It, of course, is a snow storm that would have cleared grocery shelves of all milk and bread in both Boston and New York... but 4 1/2 inches of fresh powder at Killington.... Did they even plow today?

In all jest, and seriousness, a clipper system combined with lake effect snow has been blanketing the Green Mountains with light powder for the last 24 hours. On and off snow has been falling at Killington. Road crews and private plowing services are out clearing roads and parking lots so Presidents Week visitors can comfortably move around the area. Those who are vacationing in Killington mid-week, have gotten a great score...fresh powder to play in on their skiing/riding trip to Killington.

The inn and the surrounding area are all draped in a beautiful white mantle. Light to moderate winds are blowing and drifting the snow in places, but it is all good!

Fresh snow drapes the Covered Carriageway at the Birch Ridge Inn.

The conditions that have brought fresh powder to Killington are supposed to be with us at least through Thursday. Local weather forecasts have called for 3 to 6 inches total from the "storm"... Since we already have 4 1/2, it will be interesting to see the final total.

Let it snow!

Upper Ovation looking towards Snowdon, Rams Head, and Pico Peaks 

First Valentines Day, then Presidents Weekend, now Presidents Week...it has been a glorious run at Killington!

Friday was the last day I had a chance to make some turns; skiing with the Bagel and Ruts on our usual Friday journey around the mountain. From what I remember of it in the blur of a holiday week at Killington, it was pretty good. I stayed out from 9 till just after Noon, which is a worthy attempt at conquering the mountain when you "work for a living". Since then it has been full out at the inn, which is great.

Guests are reporting good conditions on the mountain. The very cold temperatures over the weekend, combined with winds hitting 20MPH continued to firm up the base. However, over the last couple of days temperatures have moderated just a bit, softening up ski surfaces in the process. Todays temps have just cracked 30 degrees, which, when combined with very little wind, should make for a nice ski day on the mountain.

Light snow is forecasted in the area through Thursday night. Not much mind you...in the 3 to 6 territory, but it will help refresh surfaces. Everything contributes to the cause, not the least of which is the massive amount of snow making the resort has been doing every chance they get.

With luck, I will get out for a few runs in the next few days..

Let it snow!

Mary on the upper headwall of Superstar on Wednesday 

Was it the chocolate truffles, the dozen red roses, the great card, or was it the boot heaters and a nice morning of skiing...

With Valentines Day and Presidents weekend on us, we have been busy getting the inn ready for a full complement of guests for lodging and dining. But we did get a chance to get out on the slopes together yesterday in a pre-celebration of Valentines Day.

The resort is in great shape going into Presidents week. We skied multiple trails on Bear Mountain, Skye Peak, Killington Peak, and Snowdon Peak on our 3 hour jaunt around the resort. All were covered edge to edge in a beautiful machine groomed granular snow, which is a really comfortable alternative to ski on when you don't have a bunch of champagne powder under foot.

There were some consistent trends on the mountain. The shallower terrain, like Cruise Control, have seen multiple grooming passes over the last few days, resulting in any hardpack being chewed up into fine grain crystals. Slightly steeper terrain, like Needles Eye and Middle Superstar, were very receptive to ski edges and great for side to side carving speed runs. Steep terrain, like the Superstar Headwalls, Cascade, DownDraft, East Falls, Panic Button and Lower Skylark were showing their fall lines with small undulations forming due to skier traffic. The undulations were not yet outright bumps, as temperatures on the mountain have stayed cold. But you did want to pay a little attention and pick good lines if you wanted to traverse the trails at normal speed.

Light snow is in the forecast continually the next few days. Just Mother Nature's way of giving Killington some Valentines Day Love.

Let it snow!

Needles Eye in the snow 

While our thoughts go out to those down south who are still dealing with last weekend Blizzard, Killington has barely skipped a beat.

At the inn, last week had effectively 3 Saturdays between the onslaught of people arriving at the resort on Thursday, the group of people who were here all day Friday and our normal mid-winter Saturday. From a business perspective...it is a wonderful thing.

Guests in town were decidedly skiers and riders. Where over the Christmas snow storms I needed to shuttle a half dozen guest cars up a snow covered Butler Road to reach the inn, this weekend I needed to shuttle nada. All of our guests, for the most part, were accomplished in driving in snow. I always say the "Skiers Ski!", and with states of emergency declared in New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts, the refugees escaping the storm were definitely skiers and riders. All wheel drive SUV's and Thule ski boxes were the weapons of choice to escape the storm. And they all made it to the mountain to ski through the storm on Friday.

On the mountain..the resort got the goods. 12 to 15 inches of snow blanketed the resort in medium weight powder. The storm was not champagne powder by any respect, but it also was not Sierra Cement. The consistency was somewhat in the middle. Trails exposed to the wind saw some wind packing and slab development. Trails protected from the wind featured nice, soft freshies, assuming, of course, you got to the trails before they were skied out.

I was on the mountain Friday, Saturday (in the line for first chair) and today. As mentioned last week, Friday was characterized as 3 to 5 inches of new snow on top of hard pack. Saturday was over a foot of new snow with the early morning race to get to your spot before anyone else could find it. Today was soft groomed cruisers. Of course, a foot of new snow does not eliminate all of the thin spots. Natural trails were pretty tracked out today. Trails with active snow making (most of the resort) are in great shape. The resort is even continuing to make snow, with snow guns going all day Sunday on Superstar.

Today, while we were at the resort, we experienced some more new snow and a very brief period of "Wintery Mix". Not enough to do any damage to the ski trails, but just enough to candy coat our goggles as we were heading down Superstar to get back to the car. The weather pattern the rest of the week looks like there will be several opportunities to add to the snow pack. And that is a great thing with Presidents Weekend on tap.

Now if we could get the governor of Massachusetts to declare on Wednesday morning that he will be shutting down the state on Thursday afternoon... Oh Boy!

Let it snow!

Ruts and the Bagel in his classic one-piece. 

Today was a great warm up day. With the lifts opening at the polite hour of 9:00 AM, and ski trails that were for the most part groomed flat yet covered with 3 to 5 inches of fluff; it was a great day for the mass of humanity to enjoy some time in the powdah.

It is hard to pick the run of the day. For the most part, everything that did not have a rope across it was skiing pretty nice. There were some parts that caused more energy to be expended, like in the bumps left over from snow making on the top of Skye Burst. There were also plenty of low energy groomed cruiser powder runs, where the fluff was just going everywhere with each high speed turn. Steeper terrain skied out early, leaving a firm hard packed surface between soft snow bumps. Shallow terrain held the powder better, and provided many with a satisfying rush to the ego as only skiing or riding in fresh snow can deliver.

Later this evening, forecasters are calling for around a foot of additional snow to fall on the Killington area. Tomorrow will be another powder day, which given the predicted snow depths, should provide plenty of challenges for the east coast skiers and riders in all of us.

A couple of items... First a Shout Out to Elliot. We met Elliot on the Needles Eye Quad. When we talked to him he was pure New York...until we found out he had transplanted to the Boston area in 1971 and now calls Sherborn Massachusetts home... Elliot - great to meet you... Enjoy the weekend at Killington with your wife and daughter.

Also, in jest..... It would not surprise me if in a couple of months time it is announced that the Vermont Ski Areas Association made a political contribution to Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts. Word on the street is that all of Vermont's resorts are booming with an influx of early weekend arrivers getting out of the way of the storm from the south.

In all seriousness....it is great to see and talk to so many people who are genuinely excited about going skiing. We love living at Killington and enjoying the mountains. It is nice to see so many others who want to share the experience of being in the mountains and on the snow.

Stay safe through the storm... but...Let it snow!