Killington Peak from the top of Snowdon 

A constant light snow fall, combined with round the clock snow making operations, has left Killington Resort in great shape for early season skiing and riding. While light conditions this morning were flat with a snow falling continuously, all of the trails we skied this morning were fairly soft and covered with several inches of freshly fallen fluff.

Today was not a crazy day on the mountain... just an early season tune up. We started in the Vail parking lot, skiing down to the Rams Head lift. Snow making was taking place all over Rams Head as the resort is clearly making a push to open more beginner terrain. From Rams Head we cruised down Caper to the Snowdon Quad. Caper had nice coverage. Fresh snow was to be found on every turn down the right side of the trail. While not a "powda day" by any stretch of the imagination, the nor-incher that has been blanketing Killington left several inches of nice snow to practice graceful turns while making the traverse to get to steeper terrain.

Boosting up the Snowdon Quad, Chute seemed nicely covered but eerily empty. We did not see a rope, but as I was trying out a knee brace for the first time on the slopes today, we decided to head to easier terrain. At the top of the quad we hung a left to make tracks down Bunny Buster to get to the K1 Gondola. Bunny Buster was well covered, however there were a few spots on Upper Bunny where the grooming machines tilled a little deep. It is early season, so this is to be expected, but it is just a reminder that one needs to pay attention out on the slopes and not get captivated by all of the beautiful snow falling down all around the mountains.

New exoskeleton for the left knee

On the K1 Gondola ride to Killington Peak the scope of the resorts snow making operations was on display. Just like at Rams Head, snow guns were pounding on Highline, clearly getting the trail covered to allow it to open soon. East Fall was well covered. From the gondola cabin, it looked quite skiable; but without the Canyon Quad spinning, the run out back to the K1 Base Lodge still needs some work. You can tell it will be soon!.

From Killington Peak we skied down into North Ridge. Rime, Reason, Upper East Fall, and Upper Double Dipper were all in great shape. We did multiple laps on the North Ridge Triple, picking up the pace and pushing the knee a little harder each time. I found that my leg muscles seemed like they were in Mid-March condition (thank you Brie at Vermont Sports Medicine!), allowing me to push off pretty hard on each turn if the mood fit. While the first few laps with the knee brace took a little getting used to, overall it seemed to be doing a good job in keeping the knee joint pain free. Of course, this is just the early season. It will be interesting to see how it reacts in mid winter when cruising through some bumps on the back side of the resort.

Overall, it was a really nice morning on the slopes. It's good to be skiing again!

Where ever you may be, keep doing your snow dances aimed at Killington. Let it snow!

The Birch Ridge 2012 Christmas Tree - Naked 

Over the river and through the woods to... wait.. that's the wrong verse.

Over the river and through the woods we did go yesterday on our hunt for the 2012 Birch Ridge Inn Christmas tree. Armed with chain saws, and a friends pick up truck, our intrepid band of Christmas Tree hunters left the inn in the early morning hours, about the crack o' 10, to drive to a retired tree farm in West Rutland to harvest this years tree. All told, including the tree for the inn, we got 4 trees for ourselves and several friends.

The Christmas tree is now standing in the inn's Great Room, getting acclimated to it's new home before decorating it for the season. It currently towers 16 feet from the floor to its top, although the tree will probably be trimmed down a little before it gets decorated. The decorating process will begin this evening and last at least through the end of the week. If you are in Killington, feel free to drop in and see it's progress.

Around town we are continuing to have light snow flurries, keeping the ground white. Keep up the good work with your snow dances.

Let it snow!

Is this the 2012 Christmas Tree? 

It's beginning to look a lot like.... Winter!

In a late Thanksgiving Weekend gift to skiers and riders alike, Mother Nature blanketed Killington last night with a couple of inches of bright, white, snow. Where skiing the last few days were on white ribbons laid down by Killington's snowmaking team through a bare forest, todays matinee featured greatly improved vistas of snow capped mountain peaks. Winter is on the way (we all hope!).

Today is the last day of regular deer hunting in Vermont. But Mary has been out hunting for different big game to bag and bring back to the inn. Tomorrow is "Christmas Tree Monday" at the inn, so in our spare time the last few days we have been out "hunting" some of our favorite tree haunts looking for the perfect Christmas tree to grace the inn this season. We have a few candidates which will undergo closer examination. But for today, it is a day of preparation before the big hunt tomorrow.

Christmas Tree Monday is a tradition Mary and I started 15 years ago when we opened the Birch Ridge Inn. Each year we trim a 12 to 16 foot Christmas Tree in our Great Room for inn guests to enjoy. While many in the retail sector call the Monday after Thanksgiving "Cyber Monday", we have always dedicated that day to finding and raising the inn's Christmas Tree to prepare for the upcoming holiday season.

All week long we will be decorating the tree in the Inn's Great Room as we get ready for the holidays.

Where ever you may be, thank you for starting your snow dances and thinking of Killington. Keep up the good work.

Let it snow!

Back on the slopes of Killington. 

We have a lot to give thanks for this season.

We have been in business now for 15 years serving guests to Killington. So far it has been a great run!

Both sets of parents, straddling 90 years on this earth, are still with us both physically and mentally. We know from conversations with many of our friends, that we are truly blessed to have our moms and dads still with us.

We have our health. Yes... we are gracefully maturing, fighting it evey step of the way. Sometimes there is a stray ache and pain in the morning. But we know some great sports medicine people in Killington to keep us in good shape. And yesterday we were able to get back out on the slopes of Killington for an afternoon of skiing for the first time this season. Life is good!

We have brothers and sisters and a son and daughter and nieces and nephews that are all healthy and safe. With hurricane's Irene and Sandy these last couple of years, there were some close calls, but as a family we are all doing well.

We have a great group of friends who help us, support us, play with us, act as confidants; without whom life would be a lot crazier than it is.

We have Killington's best group of people working for us, day in and day out, at the inn. Like both of us, they all enjoy the call of the Green Mountains of Vermont; choosing to make a life here versus somewhere else on this great earth.

We have a great group of regular guests. Over 15 years we have been fortunate to make a lot of acquaintances and turn many of them into true friendships.

Yes... we have a lot to be thankful for on this Thanksgiving.

Where ever you may be, we hope that you are enjoying your family and friends and also can give thanks for what life has brought you.

Bill Vines and Mary Furlong, Innkeepers, Birch Ridge Inn at Killington.

Let it snow!

Killington Resort making snow for Thanksgiving. Red arrows point to snow making in progress on Sunday afternoon.

The Killington Resort is making an all out push to be able to present skiers and riders with a range of options for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday weekend. The resort has been making snow continuously, as conditions permit, to refresh existing terrain and expand into new areas of the resort. Sunday saw snow making continuing on both Killington and Skye Peak, with terrain expansion underway on Caper at Rams Head and Snowshed. Since I took the picture, much more snow has been made on Snowshed. Huge whales of snow are being reported, waiting for Killington's grooming fleet to move the snow evenly across the trails.

Temperatures during the day the next few days may limit some snow making operations at lower elevations. But evening temperatures appear to indicate that the resort should be able to continue to make snow on many trails, providing a reliable top to bottom ski experience for Thanksgiving weekend guests.

Where ever you may be, aim your snow dance at the mountain. Let it snow!

Scene from the Great Room at the Birch Ridge Inn 

At the inn, we have always tried to be energy efficient. Our guests respect that; it (generally) makes economic sense; and it is (in theory) good for the environment.

Long ago we dealt with major energy users like furnaces and refrigerators. The hallways in the inn have been CFL's since we converted the property from residential to commercial. 2 years ago we changed all of the lights used to decorate outside of the property to LED's to save electricity. Last year we upgraded all of the TV's from 19 inch analog sets, to 22 inch LED Flat screens, saving 100 watts operating for each TV in the process.

One of our vexing problems, however, has been lighting in the inn's Great Room. During normal operation, the Great Room used around 4KW per hour for lighting in the evening. When you multiply that by 6 to 8 hours a day, virtually every day, it is a significant energy user in the inn.

For the last several years we have been looking at alternatives. We experiment, albeit very briefly, with dimmable compact fluorescents. To be polite... they did not work at all. The dimming range at the low end was poor. And the light, even though we are very careful to specify 2700K temperature range, was not conducive to the soft light demanded of a working bar.

Earlier this year, working with an electrical supply house in Rutland VT, I was able to get some demo LED lamps that were capable of being dimmed. LED lighting is starting to take hold in commercial environments. Most of the work has been done in retail, where the color temperature leans to 3000-3500K (which means the light is whiter). But some 2700K LED lamps have finally begun to enter the market place. The LED lamps I got were designed to replace the 75 watt bulbs we have in the various "cans" built into the great room. There are 47 in total. Including dimmer losses, the 47 bulbs generate a peak load of around 4KW. At their nominal dimmer setting, they were using around 3KW

At a comparable light setting (I used a light meter), and including dimmer losses, the new LED bulbs use about 300W; fully 90% less than the old incandescent bulbs.

A couple of items to note... If you are planning a project like this in your own home, there are several things to take into consideration. First, I was very careful to measure the power from the dimmer switches, not just relying on the current specifications of the bulbs. I needed to replace the dimmers in the Great Room to newer "LED Compatible" modules to take advantage of the dimming capability of the LED Lamps.

The second item is, of course, the expense of the LED lamps themselves. Vermont has a program called "Efficiency Vermont" which helps reduce the cost to upgrade existing buildings with newer, energy efficient, equipment. The theory behind programs such as "Efficiency Vermont" is that it is cheaper for the electric utilities to help their customers become more efficient, then to have the power company build additional power generating stations. We worked with the electrical supply house to make sure that the project would qualify for the program to help defray some of the initial acquisition expenses.

All in all it has been an interesting project to work on over the last several month, taking me back to my electrical engineering roots. And the new LED lamps look ( and work) great too!

Let it snow!

Image set from MRI of knee 

As I get ready to go skiing the ongoing knee saga continues..

The bad news... well actually... it's not that bad... I am getting older... and my knee is starting to show it's age.

The good news... although I have had ongoing problems since mid summer with pain and swelling, the MRI indicates that nothing is torn requiring surgery. The knee is inflamed in an area where there is significant thinning of the cartilage in the middle of the joint... but there is still cartilage to work with.

So... I had the second "oil Change" in as many weeks, with the doctor pumping out some clear but brilliant yellow fluid from the swollen knee; replacing it with a compound to help stabilize the cartilage. This was followed with a visit to Vermont Sports Medicine to be fitted for a knee brace.

There is another "oil change" scheduled for the week after Thanksgiving. By then the brace should be in. And, assuming the knee is calming down, we should be heading out on the slopes!

Let it snow!