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If you end up at Killington for a week... If you get bored of Killington, I'd recommend spending a day or two at Pico to switch things up, since your pass/ticket would be valid for both mountains. Pico's glades can be a lot of fun after a big storm, especially when the crowds all go to Killington. What about Whiteface? I haven't been there in a couple of years, but I heard they expanded their terrain. Also if there are any in the group that want to take a day off from skiing and riding, I think Lake Placid is a cool town to explore. Can't speak for Maine, never been there... And Stowe is also a nice resort. As always it can be hit or miss with the weather... but the weeks before and after the bigger holidays tend to be a little less crowded... Then again, you might want to steer clear of the international holidays as well.

We got a little over a foot here in Killington... And now it's really windy. They plan on opening up more base lodges, lifts, and terrain for the weekend (including Pico) which should help disperse some of the crowds! As far as events, Budweiser is also doing a big promotion in Killington this weekend, bringing in a team of their Clydesdale horses and sleigh. Unfortunately, I won't be skiing or riding anytime soon, because I won't getting my hands on my employee pass until Tuesday. Then I gotta work on getting the Bear Mountain lodge ready to open for the season. Bring on the snnooowwww!!

On behalf of a lot of PASR's coming up to Vermont in the near future, I'll make a post... Finally got out snowboarding for the first time in a couple weeks... (Been trapped behind the grills in Snowshed flipping burgers all season during the day 7-5...ugh). Killington recieved about 7inches of heavy wet snow last night. Didn't get out until about 1ish. It's been crowded due to presidents day week and the British Invasion. Something like 16,000 people parked at Snowshed along with a lot of bus groups. It seemed pretty warm out and the sun was shining for a while. Being relatively new to snowboarding, I rode up the Snowshed quad... rode down one of the greens to the right of the lifts, ducked under the bridge and went over to Ramshead. Must have waited all of five minutes in the lift lines. From there I did my first blue trail on the board down Swirl! The snow was amazing, nice and soft! Got to the bottom and rode the Ramshead quad again. From there I stayed to the far left to get over to the gondola at K1. First time taking the board all the way to the peak too. Got to the peak, and it was precipitating... kinda looked like dip-n-dots, visiability was rather poor. Haven't really gotten over to the other side of the mountain this season because I don't really care for what they did, closing off certain trails, cutting new trails, and a hassle to get back over at the end of the day when you're running out of time. But I more or less had that side of the mountain to myself which was nice. Everyone was between Snowshed K1 and Ramshead taking lessons. I wanted to take Great Eastern all the way to the bottom but I ended up on Bear Trax, formerly known as the Falls Brook trail. Got to the bottom of Bear Mountain and hopped on the Skyepeak Quad... the snow stopped but the wind picked up. The snow was either mogaled or scraped off to ice by the last hour or so. I guess the only way to catch Great Eastern now is at the top of the new Skyeship Quad rather than up at the peak. I was afraid I wasn't going to make it down to Needle's Eye in time to get over to Snowshed (that is the only way since they eliminated Snowshed Crossover), so I nixed that idea and ended up going down Skyelark which was crowded and mogaled. From there I took high road which wraps around down to Snowshed. Took the big wide open sloped and ended the day as it was already after four. There's really no beginner trails to get back over to Snowshed/Ramshead/K1 now since they eliminated SS Crossover... It was a lousy connector trail but without it, it's created major inconviences for beginner skiers and riders and confusing if you knew your way around the resort in the past. Anyhoo, we're expecting another 3-7 inches tonight and then another couple inches friday/saturday. Update... The cars and roads are white and the temps have dropped again! Enjoy the pictures!!

If the Grand Resort Hotel does not work out, check with (if you have not already done so)... The Summit Lodge - http://www.summitlodgevermont.com/ Birch Ridge Inn - http://www.birchridge.com/ Greenbrier Inn - http://www.greenbriervt.com/ However, they are not ski in / ski out There is also a Comfort Inn towards the bottom of the access road...

I have a couple classes with some of the department managers and from what they said... The Skyship Gondola (upper and lower) will be running 7 days a week throughout the entire season (if the conditions are ski-able)... But the base lodge will have limited services... I'm not sure about Pico's days/hours... Have you ever been to Okemo? They don't have a gondola, but they have some great green/blue cruiser trails. Stowe's also nice. Haven't been to Smugg's...

Here are some pictures from Killington... taken on 10/22 & 10/23. All natural snow!!

I just thought I'd pass on the word, if you didn't already hear... From Transworld Snowboarding: Monday, September 29th, 2008 | 1,106 views | Burton Snowboards Brings The Stash to Killington Resort in Vermont Burlington, VT (September 29, 2008)

HaHa... Killiington's been through three stages... 1. First to open Last to close 2. Opening with top to bottom coverage 3. Focus on the experience and overall quality If you think about it... The key to the hospitality/resort industry is to exceed guests expectations/satisfaction. The majority of your early season skiers & rides are Intermediate - Advanced Expert. Beginners, new skiers/riders, and bus trips typically don't go to the resorts until the holidays and while winter is in its prime. So what is the point of opening beginner terrian first, which most resorts do? Killington's idea is to focus on the peak and work their way down... Get more advanced terrian open in the beginning to make the Intermediate-Advanced Expert skiers/riders happy. And weather permitting start blowing more snow to get the beginner and more intermediate trails open just in time for the holiday rush. btw... Dude is sooo not a beer fan

Green Mountain College in Poultney has a partnership with Killington.. And it's a really unique program. Hey Parkbuilder... It looks like I'll be seeing you next year! Can the Lodge handle 3 PASR's... haha I'm going for Hospitality and Skidude is also going for Resort.

Now you're probably not being 100% serious but I'll expound on the topic anyways... The hospitality/resort industry alone is complex. You'd be surprised at what goes on within the business that the average guest/tourist is totally unaware of. (I work at an amusement resort during the summer). I'm not saying that opening and/or running a brand new ski resort can't be done, it would just be a real challenge. I can only imagine... I'll be studying all of this come late August when I leave for college!!! The environment is a major concern... Even established ski resorts face issues with the environmentalists when it comes to expanding.. Killington... The connecting trails from Killington to Pico and vise-versa... They've been wanting to do that for years but they kept running into issues over land. And now with the new company, it will be interesting to see what plans they have in store within the next few years and how they are going to go about putting them to action. Whiteface... A conversation in the gondola by a Whiteface local was saying how they have wanted to expand, but all it took was a singe species of bird to hinder the project.

Hey, I just got in from my last Thursday night ski trip to Sno Mtn.. Conditions were amazing tonight, (despite the cold) especially Northface!! Groomed/Packed Powder.. And the place was pretty much a ghoast town!! Gotta love that!!

As long as there's school tomorrow (Thursday), I should be up there from 4-10..

Did anyone see Sno on TV?? I happened to catch the last five minutes or so of it, which was about Sno's lift tickets being in the form of wristbands.

A white Christmas and New Years would be awesome.. Isn't there a big storm or something coming in from the West?? Below freezing temps along with some precipitation is all we need to have or make snow!! Ugh.. Around here, it's supposed to be in the mid to high 50's tomorrow.. (Not cool)

Hmm.. I'm not getting my hopes up.. But if Sno Mountain is all go for this season.. Well, I don't really know the guy, But if he ever were to show up for opening day.. With intentions to actually take on Skiing or Boarding as if the whole thing was a joke to make the Boarders / Skiers, & Everyone else mad.. I'd definitely make the trip up there.. Just so I could fly by and spray him with snow or something of the sort!! I'm a bit concerned & curious.. How, This is going to affect my school's Ski Club. Timing is critical for Sno Mountain, Each day, We're getting one day closer to the season, Time wasted, When they could have already started making improvements. If it keeps getting push back (July? to Aug. to mid/late Sept.).. Not Good.. It makes me kinda nervous!!