Sugarbush: March 13, 2008 (Powder Day)

[thetrailboss]

Date: March 13, 2008

2006 Trip Report #: 45

Resort: Sugarbush

Conditions: Powder Day #10, 3-5 inches of Powder on top of FG/MG

Weather: Bluebird skies giving way to clouds, temps in the 20’s.

Trip Report: Back again. I invited MKR to join me…she is a skier/rider who has been out west and was lucky enough to spend a year in Switzerland, where she rode Kindersteg. She has a pass at Killington, but had never been to SB.

We got to the mountain at about 8:40. We booted up and headed out. First run was down Lower Organgrinder and it was great. MKR fell a couple times, but recovered on each fall without stopping! That’s steeze. She liked the run…and the snow.



Next spin was down Murphy’s Glade, which was great as well. The lower part had some ice underneath the pow, so it was tricky. But we made it OK. We then hit Birdland, which was great as well. I skied the drifted P on the side while MKR hit the corduroy.

So we had looked at the Heaven’s Gate and saw that few skiers were up there…in fact we saw folks making first tracks down Organgrinder. So we headed down Deathspout to the triple.

We looked down at Ripcord, and I told MKR it was one of my favs. “Well it looks good. Let’s hit it.” She said. My kind of gal.



This was her first double diamond, so she approached it gingerly. I must say she handled it with grace. The conditions were good…FG base with pow on top. Lower Ripcord was great…except for the final pitch.

MKR loved it. She wanted a repeat, so we hit it again. I skied it better…my legs got more into gear…and I found a good rhythm. I found a bit more ice than before. We hit Lower Paradise. Can we say amazing?



Back up top and down Organgrinder, which did not ski as well…it was getting worn out. But still tasty. Deathspout was icy already…



We went back up and down Jester to Allyn’s for lunch. I realized that I had accidentally left her bag at the base (!) so I jumped into the Monsters and headed to the base down Snowball.

After lunch the game plan was North Lynx before heading to ‘Ellen. We skied Birch Run, which was rough up top, but better below, to a wonderfully soft Sleeper Chute. Talk about corn…

A short bus ride took us to Ellen, where we did Cruiser to North Ridge. MKR loved it…but the terrain was a bit windswept. Elbow provided some nice turns.

Up top we went…Rim Run and Panorama were nice. On the second summit run I decided to brave FIS. I entered in at the lady’s tee and hit far left…finding deep drifted snow but ice underneath. I slid on one spot, but regained position (and composure!) before cutting to the right and finding the right mix of snow and firm base. I rendezvoused with MKR and we hit Looking Good, which was nice. I did hear a laugh or two as MKR hit some drifted snow.

FIS:



Rim Run:



We took Rim Run once more to Elbow and then down to Northstar, which was nice…better cover than Cruiser because it was not as exposed. We flew back down to North Ridge and hit Exterminator. MKR liked it…I felt it was a bit slick…but the lower part was nice.



We did some laps on North Ridge before pulling the plug at about 3:15. We took the bus back and did Apres in the Castlerock Pub. Nice place…it is warming up on me…I prefer the Green Mountain Lounge better, but it certainly is clean and well run…

MKR’s review: she liked LP better because of snow conditions. Run of the day: Ripcord.

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