The "Sugarbush Thread"

[Cheetah440]

I skied elevator shaft, door # 2 and other places and there is no access issues. Skiied all the way out and hit nothing. I actually saw snow mobil tracks on the upper road to the lift and all the water bars are mostly filled in. So I call BS. Just saying. ;-)

Same. BTW, the basin was a blast yesterday. We actually hit door #1 and had many pockets of thigh deep.

 

[Newpylong]

Could it be that there is actually too much snow? Unless you have a mountain sled, you're not going anywhere in 2 feet on no base. Even then, it is a chore and would need to packed down good to get a toboggan in/out.

 

[WinS]

Heard from an insider today that Slide Brook isn't running because of access issues for emergency people.

I don’t really feel like weighing in on most of these lift conversations other than to say with a bit of prior knowledge, I think the current Sugarbush team is well aware of all the issues and working to make things better in the future. Communication can always be better but a lot of people just do not read what has been put out. The Northridge part was for the terminal chain system in the bull wheel. I think this may have been one of the few if not the only Poma lift that has this system. It has always been a problem and a poor design in hindsight. A lot of capital has been spent on this lift over the years including a new drive, new motor, new communication lines and new wiring of all towers. Everyone including the Sugarbush team is eagerly awaiting a new high speed quad. I know many are second guessing why HG first. I am not privy to the thinking but one consideration is that 80% of skier visits are at Lincoln Peak (ok, some will say if Northridge was more reliable that percent might go down. I doubt it in the short-term). As far as Slide Brook not running it is a staffing issue with the J-1s departing. While the J-1s are great they can only work a maximum of 90 days on their visa. This has been a problem every year. I was pleased to see more local lifties this year and hopefully more next winter. I was gone for the week so missed an awesome weekend, but today was terrific even though the mountain had been skied in. If you like groomers, today was superb especially at the upper elevations first thing. I could have lapped Ripcord all day, and I am really looking forward some fun spring skiing into May.

 

[LuckyStrike]

I would have paid to take slide brook out of Ellen yesterday.

 

[djd66]

Win, thanks for the insight. If there was a shortage on help, couldn't they have just taken the lifties that should have been working on NRX and have them run Slidebrook?

 

[pinnoke]

Skied yesterday from 8 until 1 or so. Legs were beat and didn’t feel like waiting in line anymore. Paradise was awesome. Best conditions I’ve seen on there in a long time. Skiing today and likely tomorrow. TBD on the rest of the week. Here’s a couple pictures from yesterday and today. First two are paradise from yesterday. Last is castle rock run from today

My photos are quite similar; nicely captured! I also took a run on Paradise Sunday, and two on Castlerock (Middle Earth and CR/Cotillion) today. It's rare when you take charge of where to turn rather than letting the terrain call the shots!

 

[abc]

It's rare when you take charge of where to turn rather than letting the terrain call the shots!

I thought having to turn where the terrain dictates was part of the charm of those runs?

 

[erdb1]

I'm sure Stowe has never had a single lift issue even with their new lifts, right?

I don't know about Stowe, but I've never seen a resort with this many problems. I doubt Stowe is anywhere close to being this terrible, because I would have heard about it. We're not talking about a single issue here, we're talking about constant problems getting worse every year since Altera took over.

Sugarbush already has plans to replace NRX. What more do you want?

I want lifts that work. Plans are great, but they need to be executed. We still don't know if NRX will be replaced anytime soon. If there was a date, they would have announced it.

From an age perspective, it isn't something any mountain would already have budgeted or planned to replace prior to this point.

Not true. Every other resort I've skied managed to run their lifts much more reliably. You do that by budgeting for replacement and maintenance. ME is a huge outlier in this regard.

I'm not sure what is so difficult for you to understand. They said the issue with Inverness is something that cannot be easily fixed mid-season.

It's not difficult to understand at all. It's a big corporation that decided to cut costs on lift maintenance at ME. Very simple really.

The only time Inverness being down is an issue is if GMX goes down. It is a slow, redundant lift that serves a minimum amount of terrain. All the terrain off Inverness can be accessed from GMX. Yet somehow this is the end of the world for you?

None of this is true. Inverness and Brambles and the surrounding glades are some of the best trails on the mountain. Yes, you can access them from GMX, but it takes twice as long. This lift also greatly reduces wait time at GMX on busy weekends like the one we just had. Yes, it's a fixed grip lift, but does the job ...when it's running.

And as for Summit..it actually did reopen at the end of the day today after the temporary closure. They just never bothered to update the text in the report (I've been on record here as saying they've been terrible at updating the report this year...so I'm not one bit surprised by that).

Yes, it did reopen, although it had a half-an-hour to hour long shut down around noon on Saturday for some reason. Sunday, the line was so bad there due to not having NRX that even though it was running, I didn't bother riding it till 3:30.

 

[STREETSKIER]

Lots of people stayed to ski on Monday
Sno started to transition in sun
Good bye winter snow

I don't know about Stowe, but I've never seen a resort with this many problems. I doubt Stowe is anywhere close to being this terrible, because I would have heard about it. We're not talking about a single issue here, we're talking about constant problems getting worse every year since Altera took over.


I want lifts that work. Plans are great, but they need to be executed. We still don't know if NRX will be replaced anytime soon. If there was a date, they would have announced it.


Not true. Every other resort I've skied managed to run their lifts much more reliably. You do that by budgeting for replacement and maintenance. ME is a huge outlier in this regard.


It's not difficult to understand at all. It's a big corporation that decided to cut costs on lift maintenance at ME. Very simple really.


None of this is true. Inverness and Brambles and the surrounding glades are some of the best trails on the mountain. Yes, you can access them from GMX, but it takes twice as long. This lift also greatly reduces wait time at GMX on busy weekends like the one we just had. Yes, it's a fixed grip lift, but does the job ...when it's running.

Yes, it did reopen, although it had a half-an-hour to hour long shut down around noon on Saturday for some reason. Sunday, the line was so bad there due to not having NRX that even though it was running, I didn't bother riding it till 3:30.

 

[WinS]

Win, thanks for the insight. If there was a shortage on help, couldn't they have just taken the lifties that should have been working on NRX and have them run Slidebrook?

I think they went to Castlerock

 

[cdskier]

I don't know about Stowe, but I've never seen a resort with this many problems. I doubt Stowe is anywhere close to being this terrible, because I would have heard about it. We're not talking about a single issue here, we're talking about constant problems getting worse every year since Altera took over.

I'll disagree. As a long time passholder, I don't see issues being worse every year at Sugarbush since Alterra took over.

I want lifts that work. Plans are great, but they need to be executed. We still don't know if NRX will be replaced anytime soon. If there was a date, they would have announced it.

You don't understand how this works either from how long it takes a plan for a lift replacement or from how budgeting works in corporations (specifically with regards to new acquisitions combined with the delays caused by covid). You can't just wake up one day and decide to have a new lift and get it tomorrow even if you have the budget for it.

Not true. Every other resort I've skied managed to run their lifts much more reliably. You do that by budgeting for replacement and maintenance. ME is a huge outlier in this regard.

Feel free to go to other resorts then. I've certainly experienced issues at other resorts. Even just reading some of the other threads on this forum you'll see plenty of lift complaints at other resorts. I'm perfectly happy to stick with Sugarbush and have not had my ski days negatively impacted by lift issues.

It's not difficult to understand at all. It's a big corporation that decided to cut costs on lift maintenance at ME. Very simple really.

Zero factual basis for this claim. Stop making baseless claims that they cust costs on maintenance.

None of this is true. Inverness and Brambles and the surrounding glades are some of the best trails on the mountain. Yes, you can access them from GMX, but it takes twice as long. This lift also greatly reduces wait time at GMX on busy weekends like the one we just had. Yes, it's a fixed grip lift, but does the job ...when it's running.

It doesn't save the amount of time you think it does. GMX gets you to the top about 4 minutes faster than Inverness does. You should be able to make it from the top of GMX to Inverness in that amount of time. In terms of crowds it helps on a handful of days a season (although not as much as you think as from personal experience even on crowded days in the past you don't tend to get that many people lapping the Inverness chair vs using other lifts).

Yes, it did reopen, although it had a half-an-hour to hour long shut down around noon on Saturday for some reason. Sunday, the line was so bad there due to not having NRX that even though it was running, I didn't bother riding it till 3:30.

Lines really weren't as bad at Summit as you claim they were on Sunday. I had numerous runs off Summit Sunday morning.

 

[Newpylong]

Agreed - these claims have little basis in reality. NRX is a systemic issue, not maintenance, and it will be replaced. Very seldom do mountain's announce concrete dates for lift replacements multiple years in advance. You can argue that NRX should have been before HG, but it is what it is. A fixed grip is cheaper and perhaps that's how the dollars lined up.

The one complaint I would have if I was still a regular is Slidebrook. It's been one excuse after another valid or not... it is a sunk cost and it doesn't do any good just sitting there. Figure out how to run the thing more. I was a passholder that skied 6 days a week from 1995 to 1999 and that lift (yes it was just installed) ran every single day. The solution may be turning the lift into a chondola once the more immediate lift needs are addressed. That would allow it to run in nearly all conditions and would allow for people to ride open chairs when weather permits. That would provide not only tremendous value but provide for quite the marketing hype as well. The redheaded stepchild lift that sits idle that no one wants to speak about all of a sudden becomes what it was intended to be.

 

[xlr8r]

Went to Sugarbush this weekend, Saturday spent all day at Lincoln, and Sunday was planning to spend all day at Ellen. But by 10am the lines for either Summit or GMX became too long for my taste. So for the first time ever I decided to take the shuttle bus between the two mountains.

For years and years online I have read on this board, reddit, and other places online that Slidebrook Express is useless, because the shuttle bus is just as fast. Based on my experience this weekend, that is completely and utterly false. I clicked out of my bindings and got to the bus pickup area at Ellen base around 10:15, I did not click back into my bindings at Super Bravo until 11:25. Yes it took over an hour to get from one mountain to the other by taking the bus. To get back to Ellen at the end of the day it took about 40 minutes, In that case I know I just missed the bus and and had to wait a full roundtrip to board. I fully understand that things took longer than normal because of traffic on on the roads. But spending almost 2 hours to go back and forth between the two mountains is not acceptable when there is a lift that takes 10 minutes each way sitting still. Slidebrook needs to run more often, period, I never want to here about how easy the bus is ever again.

I think they went to Castlerock

Win, so are you saying that if NRX was up and running this weekend, then there would not have been enough lift operators to run Castlerock?

 

[cdskier]

Agreed - these claims have little basis in reality. NRX is a systemic issue, not maintenance, and it will be replaced. Very seldom do mountain's announce concrete dates for lift replacements multiple years in advance. You can argue that NRX should have been before HG, but it is what it is. A fixed grip is cheaper and perhaps that's how the dollars lined up.

The one complaint I would have if I was still a regular is Slidebrook. It's been one excuse after another valid or not... it is a sunk cost and it doesn't do any good just sitting there. Figure out how to run the thing more. I was a passholder that skied 6 days a week from 1995 to 1999 and that lift (yes it was just installed) ran every single day. The solution may be turning the lift into a chondola once the more immediate lift needs are addressed. That would allow it to run in nearly all conditions and would allow for people to ride open chairs when weather permits. That would provide not only tremendous value but provide for quite the marketing hype as well. The redheaded stepchild lift that sits idle that no one wants to speak about all of a sudden becomes what it was intended to be.

I may be in the minority, but I'm still indifferent about Slidebrook. I took it several weeks ago and that just reinforced my opinion that I don't care whether that lift runs or not. I feel like going between mountains (either via the lift or the bus) is just a waste of time. I'd rather pick one side and stay there for that day. Either one has enough terrain for a single day.

 

[djd66]

Win, so are you saying that if NRX was up and running this weekend, then there would not have been enough lift operators to run Castlerock?

I was thinking the same thing,… I just didn’t have the the heart to beat up on Win regarding this issue - not his fault.

I know it was the second to last weekend at Ellen, but it seems like they were running the mountain pretty thin if they don’t have the staff to run 2 major lifts on a weekend.

 

[djd66]

Personally, I very much enjoy when slidebrook is running. Switching from one mountain to the other is much quicker and easier if I don’t have to ride the bus. I would fully support some kind of Chondolla as mentioned above. It definitely would make the mountain ski much bigger and would be helpful in spreading crowds- like what was going on at Ellen on Sunday. The line at Summit was the longest I have ever seen - went almost all the way to the Patrol hut. I know this is not normal, but having options to easily go to South would have helped.

 

[cdskier]

Personally, I very much enjoy when slidebrook is running. Switching from one mountain to the other is much quicker and easier if I don’t have to ride the bus. I would fully support some kind of Chondolla as mentioned above. It definitely would make the mountain ski much bigger and would be helpful in spreading crowds- like what was going on at Ellen on Sunday. The line at Summit was the longest I have ever seen - went almost all the way to the Patrol hut. I know this is not normal, but having options to easily go to South would have helped.

I'm wondering if it would really have had any material impact on spreading crowds on a day like Sunday. Sure some people would have left ME to go to LP, but you also would have had people coming over from LP to ski ME (let's face it, most wouldn't bother to check lift lines before coming over).

 

[GladDadoftwo]

New to this forum - new to Mad River Valley. Skied Sugarbush Sunday, MRG yesterday. Both just awesome! Looking for knowledge/guide for off trail/side country experiences. NOT looking for lessons. Warmed up on Paradise both days. Or, if anyone knows any teens that are skiing and can use a ski partner, my 13 year old can ski anywhere, but needs a partner/guide for the trees. Here today and tomorrow...

 

[xlr8r]

NRX closed again today.

 

[HowieT2]

I'll disagree. As a long time passholder, I don't see issues being worse every year at Sugarbush since Alterra took over.


You don't understand how this works either from how long it takes a plan for a lift replacement or from how budgeting works in corporations (specifically with regards to new acquisitions combined with the delays caused by covid). You can't just wake up one day and decide to have a new lift and get it tomorrow even if you have the budget for it.


Feel free to go to other resorts then. I've certainly experienced issues at other resorts. Even just reading some of the other threads on this forum you'll see plenty of lift complaints at other resorts. I'm perfectly happy to stick with Sugarbush and have not had my ski days negatively impacted by lift issues.


Zero factual basis for this claim. Stop making baseless claims that they cust costs on maintenance.

It doesn't save the amount of time you think it does. GMX gets you to the top about 4 minutes faster than Inverness does. You should be able to make it from the top of GMX to Inverness in that amount of time. In terms of crowds it helps on a handful of days a season (although not as much as you think as from personal experience even on crowded days in the past you don't tend to get that many people lapping the Inverness chair vs using other lifts).

Lines really weren't as bad at Summit as you claim they were on Sunday. I had numerous runs off Summit Sunday morning.

wow this is too long for my limited attention span, but let me throw out my 2 cents.

background, I skied SB almost exclusively for over a decade around 50 days a year until the last few seasons when circumstances reduced my mrv visits and brought me to various mountains out west where my son now lives and skis a lot.

the lift situation at SB is not worse since altera took over. Not to cast shade on win and company, but there were issues before altera. Sometimes better and sometimes worse. The lift situation is not the result of lack of caring, spending money or incompetence. There was a time when heavens gate was acting up. It was addressed and it will be replaced this summer. The NRX has been a continuing problem. They've spent time money and effort multiple times to get it right but to no avail. I'm no engineer nor mechanically inclined, but it seems to me there is something (unique chain drive thingamajig design?) that is fundamentally unsound with the lift. The lift is not "old" and with all the work done to it, it "should" work reliably, but it does not. To put it into car terms, it's a lemon. This is not the result of lack of maintenance or spending.
Other than the NRX, the other lifts at SB are about as reliable as at other mountains. I've experienced lift issues at pretty much every mountain I've visited the last few years. My son reports similarly, specifically this season with the eagle wind lift at winter park which has been on the fritz the whole season. shit happens.

I skied mellon on sunday. The lift lines looked really bad. They were in fact, not so bad. didnt wait longer than 10 minutes at any lift on a day that saw record or near record number of skiers. Don't get me wrong, i wish nrx and/or sbx were running on sunday. I probably would have gotten another run or 2 in. Whatever, thankful and grateful that I was able to enjoy one of the best ski days of my life. while I understand the frustration of seeing an idle lift whilst waiting on a line, this is a first world problem.
I wish NRX was being replaced this summer if for no other reason than not to have to hear the whining about the lift situation. But that will have to wait another year. In the meantime enjoy the rest of the season. Its only 6 months until the annual snowmaking complaints start.