Conrad
Member
Date(s) Skied: February 10, 2013
Resort or Ski Area: Sugarloaf
Conditions: Powder with ice underneath.
Trip Report: I know a lot of people probably have Sugarloaf reports coming out so I don't expect too many people to see this, but it was an interesting day so I think it is worthy of a report. I got to the mountain at about 9 am with some friends and family (the kind that are hard core skiers, not just everyone) and noted the crowds coming in. The shuttles were packed full, and we stood up and held on as we were whisked up to the base lodge. But no complaints, as that meant we were the first to get out of the shuttle and on our way.
*if you don't care about the early lift lines, skip this paragraph*
We braved a 15-20 minute line on the SuperQuad and resolved to not do that again. Getting to the top of the SuperQuad, we heard that King Pine had just came off wind hold so we decided to go over there hoping to get a couple runs over there before the crowds discovered it. Skiing down to Skyline, the line was overflowing from the queue area so we decided to head over to Whiffletree hoping that would be significantly faster than Skyline even though it would cost us a good run. Unfortunately we were wrong and had to wait 10-15 minutes to get on Whiffletree. Getting over to King Pine, what do you know, we had a solid 15 minute wait. At that point, we decided that the t-bar might be the best bet, although we decided to do a run or two at King Pine. After a run in Brackett Basin, we were happy to discover that the King Pine line had gotten down to a more tolerable 10 minutes. Clearly a lot of powder hounds out, though.
After doing a few runs on King Pine, we went over to Skyline where the line had shortened to about a 10 minute wait. Looking at the board, we were disappointed that the t-bar had been taken offline with the ten minute wait on Skyline, as it is good for some quick laps on Winters Way. However, when we got most of the way up on Skyline, we could see that the t-bar was not running because of mechanical problems (later confirmed do to the amount of attention it was getting from people on ladders, etc.). I am not certain, but I believe there could have been a derailment on one of the towers next to the trail that crosses over the t-bar. Again, I am not certain. The tower this might have happened on was a depression tower, so the rope would have been forced upwards which is what I think I saw, although I'm not sure. It wouldn't surprise me at all since the t-bar crossing is poorly marked and many people ski across it without even realizing it is there. All it might take for a derailment would be for one person to collide with someone on the lift which is what I suspect happened. But the good news is that it appeared that the lift was fixed by the end of the day.
After lunch, the crowds disappeared and all the lifts except the SuperQuad were ski on. But the morning crowds were incredible. Do I dare suggest it was close to a record day?
As Nick reported, the conditions were powdery with ice underneath. Several times I fell down because of ice on otherwise easy trails *cough Narrow Guage cough.* The glades were okay, but I went over so many stumps. It will definitely take another storm for them to become really good.
While a lot of this report is devoted to criticism, is was one of the best days of the year so far for me. I am so glad for everyone and all the ski areas that we got this storm and that there is plenty of snow now, otherwise it might have been a tough February vacation week for them.
Unfortunately I did not meet any AlpineZoner's although I did see a good amount of fellow UMF students.
I didn't get many pictures because I was skiing with people, but here's a photo.
Resort or Ski Area: Sugarloaf
Conditions: Powder with ice underneath.
Trip Report: I know a lot of people probably have Sugarloaf reports coming out so I don't expect too many people to see this, but it was an interesting day so I think it is worthy of a report. I got to the mountain at about 9 am with some friends and family (the kind that are hard core skiers, not just everyone) and noted the crowds coming in. The shuttles were packed full, and we stood up and held on as we were whisked up to the base lodge. But no complaints, as that meant we were the first to get out of the shuttle and on our way.
*if you don't care about the early lift lines, skip this paragraph*
We braved a 15-20 minute line on the SuperQuad and resolved to not do that again. Getting to the top of the SuperQuad, we heard that King Pine had just came off wind hold so we decided to go over there hoping to get a couple runs over there before the crowds discovered it. Skiing down to Skyline, the line was overflowing from the queue area so we decided to head over to Whiffletree hoping that would be significantly faster than Skyline even though it would cost us a good run. Unfortunately we were wrong and had to wait 10-15 minutes to get on Whiffletree. Getting over to King Pine, what do you know, we had a solid 15 minute wait. At that point, we decided that the t-bar might be the best bet, although we decided to do a run or two at King Pine. After a run in Brackett Basin, we were happy to discover that the King Pine line had gotten down to a more tolerable 10 minutes. Clearly a lot of powder hounds out, though.
After doing a few runs on King Pine, we went over to Skyline where the line had shortened to about a 10 minute wait. Looking at the board, we were disappointed that the t-bar had been taken offline with the ten minute wait on Skyline, as it is good for some quick laps on Winters Way. However, when we got most of the way up on Skyline, we could see that the t-bar was not running because of mechanical problems (later confirmed do to the amount of attention it was getting from people on ladders, etc.). I am not certain, but I believe there could have been a derailment on one of the towers next to the trail that crosses over the t-bar. Again, I am not certain. The tower this might have happened on was a depression tower, so the rope would have been forced upwards which is what I think I saw, although I'm not sure. It wouldn't surprise me at all since the t-bar crossing is poorly marked and many people ski across it without even realizing it is there. All it might take for a derailment would be for one person to collide with someone on the lift which is what I suspect happened. But the good news is that it appeared that the lift was fixed by the end of the day.
After lunch, the crowds disappeared and all the lifts except the SuperQuad were ski on. But the morning crowds were incredible. Do I dare suggest it was close to a record day?
As Nick reported, the conditions were powdery with ice underneath. Several times I fell down because of ice on otherwise easy trails *cough Narrow Guage cough.* The glades were okay, but I went over so many stumps. It will definitely take another storm for them to become really good.
While a lot of this report is devoted to criticism, is was one of the best days of the year so far for me. I am so glad for everyone and all the ski areas that we got this storm and that there is plenty of snow now, otherwise it might have been a tough February vacation week for them.
Unfortunately I did not meet any AlpineZoner's although I did see a good amount of fellow UMF students.
I didn't get many pictures because I was skiing with people, but here's a photo.
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