Sunapee 2/22/05

[Zand]

Date(s) Skied: 2/22/05

Resort or Ski Area: Mount Sunapee, NH

Conditions: Packed Powder, Icy

Trip Report:

A nice day at Sunapee today. The Mountain Dew Vertical Challenge was there so you could get free mountain dew all day. The fog was a big factor and made the trails a bit scary at some points. It would be weird going fast, getting covered in a thick blanket of fog, and going over a little hill. It would take your stomach because it was so unexpected. Here's the trail report.

Williamson: Upper was nice because it was groomed and had good snow. Lower was a different story. It wasn't groomed, had horrible coverage, and was very icy and nasty. That one could use some more snow.

Wingding: Great trail for cruising. The conditions on this trail were just right for going fast and making big GS turns down. Top to bottom was nice fluffy packed with very little ice. Maybe the best trail of the day.

Cataract: How in God's name is upper a black diamond? I swear Ridge was steeper than this one. Don't get me wrong, it's a great trail, but come on, it's definitely a blue square. I guess being a diamond helped because there was no one on it. The conditions on upper were similar to those on Wingding. Lower was icyer, but still good.

NOTE on Sunbowl Quad: Only 3 to a chair now as they are breaking in a new, seemingly slower motor. Also, the lift was dripping a lot of oil today and my coat found some of it. rumor has it that a detachable is going in there in the next few years. That would greatly help.

Goosebumps: It shouldn't be a double black, but I guess it's because of the sheet ice on the trail. It's no steeper than Rocket or Gary's at Cannon, but holy cow was it icy. It should've been groomed overnight, but nope.

Flying Goose: Also very icy both in and out of the bumps. Lower was in much better shape as you could open it up and cruise to the bottom.

Lynx: Icy the whole way. I don't understand why these 3 trails were so much icyer than the rest of the mountain, but it stunk because those are the 3 best trails at Sunapee usually. Lynx is usually a fast cruiser, but today you were sliding all over the place.

Upper Hansen Chase: Black diamond? No way. I don't know what they were thinking when they rated the trails, but this is just a blue cruiser. Pretty nice today.

Chase "Ledges": Another pathetically rated trail. Where is the ledge? There's a 40 foot drop in the middle of the trail that's no steeper than any other blue on the mountain, but it's another so-called black. It's a fun trail to cruise though.

Lower Hansen Chase: You could fly down this one to the base today. Good conditions and somewhat crowded, but oh so fast. Very fun. No bumps on it yet to the left.

Skyway Ledges/Westside: I wonder why Skyway Ledges isn't black. It's steeper than most of the other blacks on the mountain, yet this is a blue. It was tough in the fog, but it was mostly packed powder as was Westside. Traffic Jams were abound at Tobbogan Chute.

Bonanza: Very crowded today, but still great conditions. The top was starting to get bumpy at the edges late, but the rest was packed all day.

Chipmunk: Like Habnsen Chase, very fast and good conditions. More traffic jams at Toboggan. Someone came flying down toboggan and almost hit me. It's supposed to be slow skiing in this area, so I was a bit pissed.

Summit Glades: Toughie. The conditions were poor and I had to butt-slide about 30 feet of when I came up to a big, exposed rock with no where to go. The snow that hadn't been broken in was very crusty.

Blast Off: The first headwall was sheet ice, but all you had to do was gun it by that 75 feet of trail and there were nice conditions. The rest was fast and had great packed snow. There were small traffic jams at the Portage intersection.

Beck Brook/Dare Ya: Beck Brook, I'm suprised it isn't a blue. The beginning is steeper than Cataract. The rest is flat as a pancake, but the first part might be a bit unnerving to a beginner. Dare Ya was tough and had conditions similar to th Glades. There were quite a few people skiing/riding it today.

Ridge: The suprise of the day. Usually it is icy and crowded with beginners, but it had to be the nicest trail today. There were way less people than usual and there was excellent cruising snow. Outer Ridge was in horrible shape like Lower Williamson.

Well, that's about it. The crowds werent too bad considering it is vacation and it is Sunapee. The express quad had 5 minute lines max and the Sun Bowl had about that. Otherwise, there were little lines. I wish it wasn't so foggy as it would have been much better, but I guess it was good enough for the weather we've been having.

[hammer]

Thanks for the trip report. Wow...what a difference a week makes.

When I was there on 2/13, it was powder everywhere and all of the trails were open. My biggest regret was that I didn't get there early enough to make fresh tracks -- I was left struggling through the crud leftovers (which I'm determined to enjoy at some point).