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The "Sugarbush Thread"

cdskier

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Great conditions at Mt. Ellen this morning! Elbow was excellent. Not too crowded until we left at 10:30. It was chilly out and a bit gusty early.

I thought in general the natural trails were better at LP yesterday than ME today, however Lower FIS at ME was quite nice today. Lookin Good woods were nice too.

It was gusty in a couple spots, but overall I didn't think it was too chilly. Skied 8 until just after noon. Never waited more than a couple minutes in line. I thought it was funny that the Summit lift had a longer line than NRX several times when I passed by it. I think that speaks to there being a decent amount of people that are not regulars at the mountain. When I left ME, cars were parked maybe 1/4 of the way down the access road. I've certainly seen much worse. When I got back to LP, they were directing people to turn by where they wanted to build the new employee housing to park. I saw a shuttle coming up from the Sharc, so could have been parking over there.

On another subject, had dinner at Joy last night. Good food, but would like to see them add a few more items to the menu. Nice well thought out wine list too all reasonably priced. I appreciate that they take reservations too. They did a nice job making that space seem pretty cozy too.
 

mikec142

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Started at Mount Ellen today. Although I've skied SB regularly for at least 15 years, I'm much, much more familiar with Lincoln Peak. Got to the lot (parked in row 4) at 8:15 and was on GMX by 8:30. As I was going up GMX a second time I noticed a line at NRX. They opened NRX a few minutes early. Did all the groomers which were in pretty good shape but got skied off in places in th afternoon. Glad I did Cliffs first thing as it got pretty slick quickly. Lines at ME were short to non-existent.

My issue with ME is partly that I just don't know it as well and thus was hesitant to head down Exterminator and Lower FIS cuz I didn't want to commit to something that might be long and shitty. I wish I did both. I'd like to explore ME more when there's fresh snow.

Took Slidebrook over to LP around 11am. Sugarbush is a much more complete resort when SB is running. Did a run on Birch and Morning Star which were both very good. Murpny's (which I used to find a constant icy mess) has been a reliable trail lately. Lower Domino continues to thrill me as I can link numerous turns

LP was obviously much more crowded than ME. Had lunch in Gate House which was nuts. FWIW, I initially stopped at Valley House but left. It's such a weird spot to me. The line to order (all I wanted was a drink) was huge and it's so dark and dreary in there. Skied another few runs at LP before going back to ME (via SB).

I thought conditions were better on Saturday, but today was a fun one as well.

PS. For all of you who prefer the shuttle over Slidebrook. You're nuts. :p
 
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thetrailboss

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I'd be 'delighted' too after a profitable sale, just before Covid scam. . . timing is everything, how could they have known - and of course, I'm certain SV expected that as I'm sure that was part of the sales conversation.

Better might simply be economies of scale having a larger pot of cash to spend- just spending on DV instead. I'm grateful a lot hasn't changed and most of the big changes I am hoping are in future- improved Allyns and Walts, replace a couple of lifts, steadily improve snowmaking.

With probably one of the highest rates in the country with regards to electricity, thats gotta hit hard.

I do think no matter how much Alterra says they let each operate their own way, they hold purse strings- the amount cash is coming into certain resorts they operate, determines distribution of it. That's how they delineate who gets what. Kinda like Mars- far exceeds Hershey, but because its private, no one knows, no one's business.
Exactly on all points. I hate to see it, but if this season continues to suck out west, then Alterra is really going to clamp down on spending.
 

thetrailboss

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Yea, that was an infomercial. Waste of time reading it. Meanwhile, fireworks replaced by burning a few thrown out xmass trees. More alterra austerity.

Burning Christmas trees is a promoted 'event'? Wow...
I seriously thought this was a joke, but no.

From street entertainers to live music to a tree burning party to our very first laser show, it’s going to be action packed.
Don't tell the State of Vermont or the environmentalists. I bet that Sugarbush did not get a permit for that event! :ROFLMAO:
 

cdskier

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The dedicated gate for the Reserve folks at Super Bravo has yet to see someone go through while I have been there this season.

I saw a few on Saturday. The one time the person managing the line seemed to ignore the 2 people standing there for a couple minutes lol. I almost made it in the singles line faster than they did in the reserve line.
 

mikec142

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Well, I guess that whole Reserve Pass thing did not really work out.....and Alterra needs to make some more money because the season is so bad out west at their resorts.
Skied Saturday, Sunday, Monday as a single. So the Reserve Pass line is right next to the singles line at Bravo. I didn't see one person go through the reserve gate.
 

mikec142

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I was on Bravo this AM at 8:30am and done by 10:30ish in the hopes of beating traffic home. Got in 14k of vertical very quickly. No lines at all at Bravo, GH, or HG. As I was leaving there were short lines forming at Bravo. Run of the day for me was Spring Fling. It was empty and edgeable so I worked on carving turns.

Side note, I'm an early adopter of Carv and as of last year have the upgraded version 2. As someone who skis solo most of the time, I think Carv is absolutely awesome. Gives feedback and tips.
 

cdskier

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I was on Bravo this AM at 8:30am and done by 10:30ish in the hopes of beating traffic home. Got in 14k of vertical very quickly. No lines at all at Bravo, GH, or HG. As I was leaving there were short lines forming at Bravo. Run of the day for me was Spring Fling. It was empty and edgeable so I worked on carving turns.

Did you beat traffic? I skied until around 11:30 (18k vert by that point) and by the time I had lunch and packed up to leave it was just after 1. Traffic on the Thruway between 19 and 16 was terrible. It took almost an extra hour to get back to NJ.

Agreed the mountain was empty early today, although a decent number of people seemed to be coming in as I was leaving which surprised me.
 
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