BackLoafRiver
New member
Resort Skied: Sugarloaf
Date skied: 1/22/12
Conditions: PP, Powder, MG, Rocks.
Report: I figured some Sugarloaf stoke is far overdue. The bad news is, the camera died as I pulled into the lot.
The good news is, Sugarloaf is skiing amazing right now! Despite temp readings of - 21 in Farmington, the weather was gorgeous and it warmed up nicely throughout the day.
I can usually gauge the busy-ness of a weekend by the traffic leading up the Sugarloaf access road. At 7:30, it was end to end cars. Turns out, my formula was wrong for once. Lifts were essentially ski on all day. (the exception being the skyline quad from 9:30 - 10:30) That worked out well since King Pine was out of control good until 10:30 (ish)
The readers digest version of my King Pine Experience Sunday:
Widowmaker > Choker> Haulback > Ramdown
In fairness, Ripsaw was open but I didn't dare. It looked sketchy at best and I didn't feel like completely ruining my skis....more on that later.
Also, I think Bracket Basin was open on Sunday. The rope wasn't up and I did see a group of 5 or 6 guys heading in. I am fairly certain it isn't ready but good for them. You could see tracks heading out of Can't Dog so people are clearing playing around in there.
By about 10:15 or so, Haulback and Widow maker were busy with lesson groups and the like so I headed elsewhere. The hour or so worth of laps were great and the snow was getting scratchy.
Around 10:30ish, I headed up Timberline to scout out what was going on. I was psyched to see Binder Extension, Cinder Hoe, and Narrow Gauge Extension open.
Binder was awesome. There was one large rock protruding probably 15 turns in but it was easily avoidable. The center section that runs around the lift was firm for about 20 minutes until it saw traffic. The last section that dumps you out onto Pinch was awesome!!!
Cinder Hoe, however, had a huge patch of rocks that were well hidden by some snow. Once you got around them, it was powder bumps galore and they were fabulous. I lapped it quite a while since no one else was. They finally roped it back off around 12:30 when the rocks became visible.
From Upper Tote, they had a chute that got you over to Gauge Extension. The chute had an "Expert" sign up which I thought applied to the chute itself. It turns out, after you make it through the 20 foot section, you are dumped onto...wait for it...:uzi: MORE ROCKS. Lots of them. IMO - it wasn't quite ready. If you could negotiate the small rock field, skiers right had some good snow on it.
To sum up the summit experience from most enjoyable:
Cinder Hoe (before getting roped off) > Upper Tote (to upper Double Bitter) > Timberline > Binder > Upper Gauge.
The rest of the afternoon was spent on the superquad and skyline. I don't know if twas crowd management or what but the stuff around the front was in such fantastic shape late in the day. Comp hill was unconscious good. Soft snow everywhere, especially skiers right. Hayburner was its normal self, semi - skied off in the center to left. Gauge was great. Really, there isn't much more to be said. (except that Spillway was skiing better than Sluice by mid-afternoon)
By 1:30, the place was a ghost town. By 2:30, my legs were on fire and it was time to call it a day. Easily the best day of the season.
On the side, I was chatting with a nice guy on the lift after talking about my Gauge experience when he said, "I learned years ago never to check your bases".
He was right.
Once I finished up, I was checking out my skis and found a decent core shot on one of them. :angry: Having never dealt with it, I am not sure quite how to proceed. I am sure it is something that can be fixed at the shop but I need to figure out who is reputable and local.
Date skied: 1/22/12
Conditions: PP, Powder, MG, Rocks.
Report: I figured some Sugarloaf stoke is far overdue. The bad news is, the camera died as I pulled into the lot.
The good news is, Sugarloaf is skiing amazing right now! Despite temp readings of - 21 in Farmington, the weather was gorgeous and it warmed up nicely throughout the day.
I can usually gauge the busy-ness of a weekend by the traffic leading up the Sugarloaf access road. At 7:30, it was end to end cars. Turns out, my formula was wrong for once. Lifts were essentially ski on all day. (the exception being the skyline quad from 9:30 - 10:30) That worked out well since King Pine was out of control good until 10:30 (ish)
The readers digest version of my King Pine Experience Sunday:
Widowmaker > Choker> Haulback > Ramdown
In fairness, Ripsaw was open but I didn't dare. It looked sketchy at best and I didn't feel like completely ruining my skis....more on that later.
Also, I think Bracket Basin was open on Sunday. The rope wasn't up and I did see a group of 5 or 6 guys heading in. I am fairly certain it isn't ready but good for them. You could see tracks heading out of Can't Dog so people are clearing playing around in there.
By about 10:15 or so, Haulback and Widow maker were busy with lesson groups and the like so I headed elsewhere. The hour or so worth of laps were great and the snow was getting scratchy.
Around 10:30ish, I headed up Timberline to scout out what was going on. I was psyched to see Binder Extension, Cinder Hoe, and Narrow Gauge Extension open.
Binder was awesome. There was one large rock protruding probably 15 turns in but it was easily avoidable. The center section that runs around the lift was firm for about 20 minutes until it saw traffic. The last section that dumps you out onto Pinch was awesome!!!
Cinder Hoe, however, had a huge patch of rocks that were well hidden by some snow. Once you got around them, it was powder bumps galore and they were fabulous. I lapped it quite a while since no one else was. They finally roped it back off around 12:30 when the rocks became visible.
From Upper Tote, they had a chute that got you over to Gauge Extension. The chute had an "Expert" sign up which I thought applied to the chute itself. It turns out, after you make it through the 20 foot section, you are dumped onto...wait for it...:uzi: MORE ROCKS. Lots of them. IMO - it wasn't quite ready. If you could negotiate the small rock field, skiers right had some good snow on it.
To sum up the summit experience from most enjoyable:
Cinder Hoe (before getting roped off) > Upper Tote (to upper Double Bitter) > Timberline > Binder > Upper Gauge.
The rest of the afternoon was spent on the superquad and skyline. I don't know if twas crowd management or what but the stuff around the front was in such fantastic shape late in the day. Comp hill was unconscious good. Soft snow everywhere, especially skiers right. Hayburner was its normal self, semi - skied off in the center to left. Gauge was great. Really, there isn't much more to be said. (except that Spillway was skiing better than Sluice by mid-afternoon)
By 1:30, the place was a ghost town. By 2:30, my legs were on fire and it was time to call it a day. Easily the best day of the season.
On the side, I was chatting with a nice guy on the lift after talking about my Gauge experience when he said, "I learned years ago never to check your bases".
He was right.
Once I finished up, I was checking out my skis and found a decent core shot on one of them. :angry: Having never dealt with it, I am not sure quite how to proceed. I am sure it is something that can be fixed at the shop but I need to figure out who is reputable and local.
