The "Sugarbush Thread"

slatham said:

I am obviously not paying attention to the official communication.....but I too (in my gut based on previous years) assumed ME would open this weekend. I do not recall it ever opening for the first time on Christmas weekend? I have no skin in the game this weekend, but its a shame all that snow is not being skied this weekend.

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I think a lot has to do with when Christmas falls. This year it is Monday so the weekend right before it is still the weekend before Christmas. Last year it fell on a Sunday so the weekend "before" Christmas was earlier.

And I completely agree with hawk that there's no way they should list any of the trails that are ready at Ellen in the report. They aren't open so they dont count until the mountain actually opens. At that point we'll see a significant jump in trail count and acreage just like we always do.

Back to skiing itself. I was surprised how crowded it was this morning. I guess more people than I expected took off. Although the crowds disappeared fast. Seemed like a lot of people only took a few runs and left. The main lot was pretty empty at a little after 1 when I called it quits. Skiing was very nice today. Ripcord to lower paradise early was beautiful. I hit domino pretty early too and that was great as well.

I'm still amazed how many people were poaching closed trails though. Lower snowball was completely tracked up. When I came down snowball I thought it was open by how much it looked like it had been skied. Then I saw the rope still across it as I got closer. Quite a few people were on lower birdland too even though it was closed. Ski patrol at sugarbush is very aggressive with trail opening so I really don't understand why people still choose to duck ropes.


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people duck ropes to ski powder. why is this such a hard concept. and 9 out of 10 times in the east, it's fine to do. fortune favors the bold.

If I was there today I would have been one of those people. In general all of my local friends ski early on power days midweek and then go to work late and work late. That is the usual MOP.

I'll let others poach lower birdland but lower snowball absolutely

tumbler said:

I'll let others poach lower birdland but lower snowball absolutely

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agreed, unless im using someone else's skis.

fwiw-last december sugarbush killed it with the snow, this year, not so much. Stowe/jay have gotten so much more snow. Ullr is saving it up for us for the holidays.

Mad River hitting their scheduled opening, a week before Mt Ellen. So much wasted terrain.

tumbler said:

Mad River hitting their scheduled opening, a week before Mt Ellen. So much wasted terrain.

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Mt Ellen is under utilized all season by the vast majority of Sugarbush skiers so what does another week matter before it opens.

If I were to tally my ski days at SB it would be Mt Ellen 70% and Lincoln Peak 30%. Love the quiet vibe and terrain at North!

WinS said:

The cam was down briefly but fixed and up.

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Except that the webcams are still not streaming correctly via the website.

exterminator woods may be the best skiing at sugarbush.

WWF-VT said:

Mt Ellen is under utilized all season by the vast majority of Sugarbush skiers so what does another week matter before it opens.

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I'm content with it staying that way for the most part. It is great to ski Ellen on Saturdays mid winter when Lincoln is packed. It has terrific terrain, minimal crowds, and snow that doesn't get tracked out as quickly as Lincoln. Why more people don't ski there is beyond me, but I'm glad they don't.


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WWF-VT said:

Mt Ellen is under utilized all season by the vast majority of Sugarbush skiers so what does another week matter before it opens.

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+1 completely agree.

Orca said:

Except that the webcams are still not streaming correctly via the website.

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I too still cant see any cams.About a week now.

Wish the cams were more engaging with a focus on the mountain and trails as opposed to the bottoms of lifts. Don’t bother to look anynmore. Too bad, the mountain is so beautiful. Ex, why can’t the Castlerock Cam provide a view like my avatar?

They are like that so you can see the lift line. Very functional to see if cr line loops around and you don't want to head over there. Works very well the way they are.

Will try to answer several things. We do include a trail like Inverness when it is being used. It has an “R” next to it when reserved for racing as it is now.

We have being announcing since Spring the date of ME’s opening which has been the weekend before Christmas. Friday 12/22 is the date.
We will start to indicate is the snowreporting verbiage what we expect to have opened. We have moved all the production to the terrain park and then Cliffs and Cruiser which are the only trails other that Northway and Brambles to finish.

The Gatehouse and Village lifts will run this weekend and expect to have all trails but Village, Out to Lunch, Sleeper and Sleeper Road open. All groomed by Saturday other than Upper Hot Shot and Waterfall. They will have some nice whales to ski in with grooming maybe Saturday night.

We will be snowmaking on Lower Snowball and Racer’s edge over the weekend. All towers over there so skiing under them should be fun. We might also be about to get on Sleeper and then it is up to North Lynx so we have that by Christmas. We also need to do Birdland and then we will have covered every trail with snowmaking.

Now a word about skinning. We support it but only if people are going to follow the rules. We are not allowing it now for everyone’s safety. We have equipment on the hill and there could be a serious injury. Having people skin up a trail while we have a winch cat working it really STUPID. It that cable were to snap you can imagine what would happen. It is also very unfair to our operators who do not want to see anyone injured. Hawk is correct about closed trails. Patrol is aggressive and only going to drop a rope if they feel it is safe. We will pull passes if patrol sees poachers. Please don’t let a few spoil this for the many.

SIKSKIER said:

I too still cant see any cams.About a week now.

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They are working. Try refreshing your browser

Sugarbush is the only place that tries to hype skiing on snowmaking whales.

WinS said:

Now a word about skinning. We support it but only if people are going to follow the rules. We are not allowing it now for everyone’s safety. We have equipment on the hill and there could be a serious injury. Having people skin up a trail while we have a winch cat working it really STUPID. It that cable were to snap you can imagine what would happen. It is also very unfair to our operators who do not want to see anyone injured. Hawk is correct about closed trails. Patrol is aggressive and only going to drop a rope if they feel it is safe. We will pull passes if patrol sees poachers. Please don’t let a few spoil this for the many.

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Glad you brought that up, Win. It's become a problem industry-wide, and we as an industry need to do everything we can to educate uphillers about why certain areas or times are off-limits. It's for skiers' safety, ultimately. And as you rightly point out, it really is unfair and discourteous to operators, on a number of levels. I've personally had my winch cable skied over when it was tensioned and buried (at Sugarbush, no less!). One of the scariest and unnerving things an operator can experience. I've also had skinners show up right behind me while doing dozing projects, and I've had skiers riding almost on my tiller comb. Yes, uphilling is awesome. Night-time turns are great, and earning your turns is rewarding. And most ski resorts are embracing it. But please show some deference toward the people who work so hard to provide the skiing experience, and follow whatever few rules the resort chooses to make.

WinS said:

They are working. Try refreshing your browser

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I might not be so sure about that one. Reminds me of: Who you gonna believe, me or your lying eyes?