Merry Solstice

But wait, there's more.

Bolton Valley, Stowe and Jay Peak, 8 inches; Smuggler's Notch, 6 inches; Sugarbush, 4 inches; everywhere else, at least 2 inches (as of Friday morning).

Just in time for Santa to squeeze himself into ski boots and make his annual appearance on Vermont's ski slopes (he has at least one scheduled appearance at Okemo this weekend and odds are he'll pop up at other ski areas before the Big Day.) Speaking of a white Christmas, it's supposed to rain.

Ugh.

After a December to remember capped off nicely by the Thursday storm but more prodigiously by the Sunday/Monday nor'easter (check out smiles, powder and a little U2 from Mad River Glen on Sunday), it's going to get a little wet and warm hereabouts.

But it won't last, and by Christmas Day, there may even be a few flakes in the air, and all our mental images will be satisfied. It's a wonderful, wonderful life.

Seriously, what's happened here in Vermont this fall (Hey, Solstice is today... Happy winter!) has been epic — not just for powder seekers but also for the ski resort business. I was in Massachusetts yesterday and there's about as much snow there as here. All of New England is blanketed right now. That means people are thinking about skiing, which means many of them will be coming to Vermont, which means the ski areas' association, the tourism board, the hoteliers, the restaurateurs — even Gov. Jim Douglas himself — are all merry with economic cheer. And they deserve it after braving the heinous drought of last December.

So aside from Santa's visits, what can we expect from this weekend of Vermont skiing and riding? Plenty of soft snow, the opening of Mount Ellen at Sugarbush and a full moon snowshoe trip at Mad River Glen.

And just because I want to embed the very first You Tube video in Snowbloggan history, I present the following, proving that kites and skis make a potent mix.