• Welcome to AlpineZone, the largest online community of skiers and snowboarders in the Northeast!

    You may have to REGISTER before you can post. Registering is FREE, gets rid of the majority of advertisements, and lets you participate in giveaways and other AlpineZone events!

Sugarloaf - 11/30/14

skiMEbike

New member
Joined
Jul 29, 2014
Messages
346
Points
0
Location
Maine
Date(s) Skied: 11/30/14

Resort or Ski Area: Sugarloaf/USA

Conditions: Temps Mid 30's with 20mph winds. Cloudy skies. Groomed man-made with some Thanksgiving leftovers, and surprisingly edge-able snow.

Trip Report: The ride to the mountain was probably the most "exciting" part of the day. It was white knuckle driving with freezing rain/drizzle for most of the ride. I drove past numerous cars off the road, and had a near miss on the highway with the car in front of me pinballing off the guard rails...At that point, I seriously considered mailing it in & aborting the trip, but instead (like many others on this board) I took a break, let the heart rate get back to normal, and continued on.

I was expecting the worst conditions coming off a day with high temps only in the low twenties, no sun, and possible freezing rain forecasted...However it was surprisingly much better than I was anticipating. The temps reached mid 30's at top of Skyline however the winds & lack of sun made it feel more like mid winter. Winds were not much of a factor after 1/4 of the way down. The middle of the trails turned scratchy fairly quickly, however the sides of the trails were easy to get an edge, and there were nice soft bumps on the edges of both Hayburner & Kings. Gondi & Tote road were the other options down from the top. I love that Sugarloaf has committed to getting some serious vertical for early season skiing....Gondi is typically not in play until mid to late December. As usual, Gondi had the typical drop in with hardly any edge-able snow on the first 3 or 4 turns, but then it was pure bliss especially skier's right with deep snow pack & spots where you could even weave in & out of the new glade on the upper third of the trail. I lapped Gondi for most of the day mixing in some runs on the other trails, but found myself wanting the vertical rush that only Gondi can offer up. This was my third time out for the season & my second day on my new gear (Blizzard Brahma's)...Still learning how to ride the Bull, and there were a few runs where I felt like the Bull was riding me. I love most everything about the ski, but still getting used to the slight lack of quickness that I had in my old skis....Being someone that loves the bumps & likes to turn, I sometimes felt myself late in transitioning from turn to turn...however not concerned the bull will be tamed, and really LOVE every other aspect of this ski.

TOD: Gondi Line (of course).

Here are a few pics...The obligatory stop at Bullwinkles (still snowed in & not open yet for the season)
IMG_0694.jpg

Looking up Gondi.
IMG_0698.jpg

Looking down Gondi.
IMG_0696.jpg
 

thetrailboss

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Jun 4, 2004
Messages
32,336
Points
113
Location
NEK by Birth
Nice report and pics. Must be one of their best early seasons in recent history.


Sent from my iPhone using AlpineZone
 

freeski

New member
Joined
Nov 9, 2014
Messages
312
Points
0
Location
Concord, NH
Nice pictures. Does anyone know what the pitch is on the top of Gondiline right after the Spillway Xcut? Last time I was there they had opened the T-bar (very windy) and I went over to ski it. Spillway was glare ice and I stood at the top of Gondiline for a good 5 minutes looking down. It wasn't ice, but looked like I couldn't get an edge (I bailed). I know it's not the steepest on the mountain, but looking down it that day I thought if I fall I'm going down past the gondola house and then some. :grin:
The next day I skied it from the bottom of that steep pitch coming off the T-bar and it was great. I skied over the gondola house and checked it out. Glad I did as they tore it down the next year.
 

Puck it

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 26, 2006
Messages
9,681
Points
48
Location
Franconia, NH
Nice pictures. Does anyone know what the pitch is on the top of Gondiline right after the Spillway Xcut? Last time I was there they had opened the T-bar (very windy) and I went over to ski it. Spillway was glare ice and I stood at the top of Gondiline for a good 5 minutes looking down. It wasn't ice, but looked like I couldn't get an edge (I bailed). I know it's not the steepest on the mountain, but looking down it that day I thought if I fall I'm going down past the gondola house and then some. :grin:
The next day I skied it from the bottom of that steep pitch coming off the T-bar and it was great. I skied over the gondola house and checked it out. Glad I did as they tore it down the next year.
35 ish looks it from this map.

overview800.jpg
 

freeski

New member
Joined
Nov 9, 2014
Messages
312
Points
0
Location
Concord, NH
Thanks, I think it was 40 that day, but I've looked at this map and played around with the one were you can pick two spots on the mountain and get the slope. I just remember looking down and saying: how did they groom this even with a winch cat? I think the ice, the fact no one else was around and my fear made it look steeper than it was. Slopes can change after grooming, but yea most likely around 35.
 

jude1

New member
Joined
Dec 2, 2012
Messages
14
Points
0
I hope it looks this good on February 6-8 for the annual ski trip!
 

skiMEbike

New member
Joined
Jul 29, 2014
Messages
346
Points
0
Location
Maine
So jealous. When we move to Maine... Next year we hope.

IMO...Boyne pass is the best deal around with SRiver & SLoaf offering up the best from early season turns to late spring steeps. The most difficult part can be deciding where to ski which for me means do I turn left or right when leaving my street. However, it's a fairly simple decision tree:
Do I want to ski all Groomed terrain?
Has there been a severe lack of recent snow or are conditions deteriorating?
Will there be extremely high winds forecasted?

If Yes to any of the above then head to SRiver, all other times head to the Loaf.:cool:
 
Top