Sugarbush: January 28, 2005

[thetrailboss]

Date(s) Skied: January 28, 2005

Resort or Ski Area: Sugarbush

Conditions: PP/PWDR/FRGR

Trip Report: I must preface my report by thanking RSN poster AHM for his invitation to come for a day to Sugarbush. We really appreciated it.

We drove north on a cold Thursday night to my homestate of Vermont for a ski day at Sugarbush and visits with some friends. The moon and the twinkling lights of Bolton Valley were nice from I-89 as we drove through the Green Mountain State.

Now to the skiing. We pulled into Mt. Ellen's lot to find the usual midweek crowd of locals and GMVS racers. The temp was a bonechilling -9F at 6am. Ms. Trailboss was a bit weary from a not-so-good night's sleep, but she became excited as I pointed to the top of the 4000' mountain. "That is where we'll be soon."

There was an ASRA event that closed Elbow and Inverness for most of the day (man it must have been cold!) but otherwise, the trail report looked good--showing almost everything open with new snow.

We clicked into our skis as Eric Clapton's "Layla" blasted from the lodge (my old skiing anthem!) and hopped onto the Green Mountain Express for a couple of runs on Cruiser (windblown white ice ) and Which Way? (nice groomed powder). The latter was quite underused. After these two runs, we stopped by the Glen House for a warm up and then headed to the Summit. The views were spectacular and Ms. Trailboss enjoyed the corduroy off of the top down Rim Run (though the cold wind stopped her dead in her tracks before Glen House ).

From here, we headed to the base to find the staff firing up the Slide Brook Express meaning that we would not have to take our skis off to head to Lincoln Peak. "We'll have her going in a half-hour or so," the operator said, and, after another warm-up in the lodge, we were the first to take the lift to Sugarbush South.

Our first run at Lincoln Peak was the popular Sleeper Run which was in great shape. We boarded the Super Bravo Express and took a run down Murphy's Glade to Lower Organgrinder. Murphy's was in decent shape, but Lower Organgrinder was pretty much more white ice and some very uneven grooming.

The cold wind required us to stop for another warm up, this time at Allyn's Lodge, before boarding the Heaven's Gate Triple for a run on Upper Organgrinder and Jester. Both were in good shape and I dare say that I had not seen Upper Organgrinder in such good shape for 11:30am or so . I wanted to take my annual run on Ripcord, but the middle section was glare ice and I saw at least three skiers and riders biff it on this section, so I passed on the trail.

We ran Jester all the way down to Upper Domino, which was nice, and then hopped onto Lower Domino which was soft natural snow. This little found gem often has some nice soft snow in it

We took a breather at the Gatehouse Lodge, which was crazy as always. Kudos for a nice job renovating the bar/pub area in the south end of the lodge. Read: If you do go to south, USE THE OTHER LODGE! It is worth the small hike up the hill!

"I like the other mountain better. Can we go back?" Ms. Trailboss asked. So I concluded the mini-tour of Lincoln Peak by taking her down Waterfall (nice on the headwall, but mini-death cookies on the lower section) and up the North Lynx Triple and down Birch Run, which was in great shape and warm in the noontime sun

The short Slidebrook ride took us back to lunch ("this is like something out of Disney...it is like a rollercoaster!") and a well deserved warm up.

After lunch we headed to the top for a photo and Trailboss' annual run down Upper FIS, which was icy and nasty in places .

On the next run we took Rim Run down to Elbow, which was in great shape.

Ms. Trailboss got quite cold and opted to go in while I took another summit run down Elbow and over to the lodge.

At the bottom, I asked Ms. Trailboss if she wanted to rip some big curves on Inverness, which appeared to be done with racing, and she took me up on the offer. The trail was in good shape and we stayed clear of the GMVS skiers on the left of the trail. Brambles was not open and looked like it had just seen some snowmaking.

"Those were my best turns. Nice trail!" said Ms. Trailboss as she chose to close the day on that note.

Despite the low temps and setting sun, I took two of my last three runs on Cliffs, which was the run of the day thanks to some ankle deep powder and soft bumps. If it snowed at Sugarbush, then all of it must have ended up on Cliffs because it was great! I ripped some giant turns on Which Way before heading in with a big smile on my cold face.

As we headed back up over App Gap into the sunset, the radio station as if on cue put on The Eagle's "Take it to the Limit," and we reflected on our great day at my old home while watching Camel's Hump turn pink from the sunset.

The Rap-Up:

Goods:

*No crowds.

*Groomed/Snowmaking terrain was in good shape.

*Friendly staff and the Slidebrook was ON!!!

The "We're going to forget" items:

*Natural snow runs, such as Lower FIS, were in bad shape Grass and shrubs were still poking through on many.

*It was COLD and the light wind made it tough to go fast.

*Ms. Trailboss noted the many run-outs and plateaus at Lincoln Peak and Mt. Ellen that I had never noticed before during my years there...they did make runs longer and more tedious at times.

[Greg]

Thanks for the report. I'll be there in 11 days. Glad to hear the Slidebrook was running on a Friday!

[ALLSKIING]

Originally Posted by Greg

Thanks for the report. I'll be there in 11 days. Glad to hear the Slidebrook was running on a Friday!

You will love it Greg its a great MT. The slidebrook chair is pretty cool also.

Originally Posted by ALLSKIING

You will love it Greg its a great MT. The slidebrook chair is pretty cool also.

I have a hard time accepting that Trailboss found it a short ride. I imagine that some day they will make it up like Busch Gardens in Tampa with moose, deer and caribou. They keep deer in the Blue Hills zoo, so it isn't beyond human capabilities. By the way has Castlerock been opened this year?