Mt. Snow Sunbrook Lifts

[reefer]

Mt. Snow went to a new lift schedule this week in the Sunbrook area. Bear Trap double will spin on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The Sunbrook Quad will spin on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Both lifts will spin on weekends. In effect the rest of the year!
Does this make any sense? Am I missing something here?
To me this means you can't ski Bear Trap on Tuesdays and Thursdays. And on MWF there is no way to get from Sunbrook to Carinthia without going back up that slow sunbrook lift and starting over from the top. I'm not a big fan of either area but there have been those days where you lap Beartrap (20) times in a couple hours because of the soft bumps that can occur on a sunny day and it is the best place to be, especially with the tunes. Guess you gotta watch what day you are going and where you plan on skiing.
I don't like it. I hope you Mt. Snow reps chime in and please explain this move?
I can see the CLITS showing up on a Tuesday with Epic bumps on Beartrap and no lift! That would go over big.......

 

[Riverskier]

Wow, an hour has passed and none of the Mt. Snow faithful have jumped in to defend their decision!

 

[4aprice]

Wow. Having just been there I would not like that at all if I was a regular. Bear Trap wasn't in great shape last weekend but I could see how it can be a great bump trail and I would have lapped it more had the conditions and the weather been nicer.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

 

[marcski]

As someone that skied mount snow consistently for many many years, I'll be the first to say that this decision SUCKS. What's up with that decision. GEEZ. how many fanguns are they upto? 250? I think 248 with the bear trap double running daily is a better deal.

 

[mlctvt]

I think more people will like it than not. Including my wife and friends and me too. Alternating days is a good idea.

Not running the slowest lift in the east mid-week means you really can't ski the entire Sunbrook pod. Big Dipper, Little Dipper, Thanks Walt etc. Yes you could ski them once get to the bottom and then take bear trap to get out but to do the run again means you have to go all the way back to the Grand Summit Lift to get to the summit then climb uphill to get to the Dippers at the top of Sunbrook. I've done that and it's nice on a powder day to be the only one on the Dippers but it's a big pain to climb uphill from the norhtface or summit to get to the start of the Dippers.

I've seen very few people doing laps on Beartrap when I'm there midweek.

It'll be interesting to see Dr Jeffs opinion.

 

[drjeff]

This is a can't please everyone all the time type of thing. Mount Snow mid week non-holiday won't run both the Sunbrook and Beartrap lifts, it's a volume (or lack there of) and $$ thing and by running one, you can access relatively easily all the terrain there.

Mid week there tends to be a bunch more cruisers there than bumpers, and when it's open, the trails off the top of Sunbrook (Big + Little Dipper and Moonwalk) are some of the best intermediate cruisers on the mountain, and they tend to hold snow very nice, and when the Sunbrook quad isn't running it takes a bit of hiking to get to the top of them - hence management got complaints from guests about not running Sunbrook mid week.

Beartrap, no doubt a fun bump run, however there are other fun bump runs that are easily lift served on the Northface and very often parts of the main face too, plus, if you really want to, you can get to the top of Beartrap on the days when just Sunbrook is running with a little bit of a hike by taking the middle section of the "old" Long John which you can access by staying to the right on Long John just below where the top of the Sundance lift feeds into Long John, sure there's some hiking involved, but no more than the folks that want to cruise the Dippers on the days when just the Beartrap lift is running have to do.

It's a balance thing, and atleast yesterday when I was there and the entire right side of Moonwalk was holding great powder all the way down, my wife and I were wishing that it was Sunbrook that was spinning M-W-F and not Beartrap.

 

[ta&idaho]

I don't ski Mt Snow midweek frequently enough to matter all that much, but it seems like Bear Trap represents a rarer form of terrain at that mountain than the main Sunbrook lift. I enjoy the mellow cruisers, but Mt Snow has that in abundance on the main face, and the off-the-beaten-path allure of Sunbrook is diminished without weekend crowds. When I've been there, especially in peak spring slushy bump season, it seems like there is more traffic (or at least more goofy grins) on Bear Trap than on Sunbrook. In my opinion, Bear Trap is a key part of Mt Snow's something-for-everything appeal. I vote to spin it every day!

 

[reefer]

Thanks Doc. That is the perfect answer and what I had figured. Still don' like it so I'm one of the not-pleased. As good an Intermediate area that is, and I did the "hike" -( please.....) up to Big Dipper Saturday, the only trail that requires "such hiking". Great time on the trail, that way-out-there feel, and I love the decent into the base area. Good place to do a little show-boating......BUT, I would never get back on that lift to do it again. And you can't seriously tell me you expect someone to lap Beartrap using the Sunbrook Chair, or even to ski it once and have to take the quad.
You do have me on popular demand during the week however. I'm sure way more people ski the Sunbrook area as a whole than Beartrap. I almost think it would be a better "business" decision then to just run the Sunbrook Quad and leave Bear Trap for the weekend. It may never affect me especially Tuesdays and Thursdays, haven't skied it yet this year, but I can remember a couple days having a blast lapping Beartrap for two straight hours in the sun while the North Face was bulletproof!
And we have to hitch up one of these days. I think we’d have a couple fun runs.....and brews for that matter.

 

[Euler]

I think it's a crazy decision. As has been said, there're LOTS more mellow cruisers available than fun bump runs at Mt. Snow, so to take one of the most fun of the table a couple days a week seems misguided.

 

[Newpylong]

I think it definitely is a can't please everyone scenario and honestly I can't blame them. Prior to this, they only ran the Beartrap lift midweek, never Sunbrook. I always wondered why it wasn't the opposite.

I love bumps, but common guys, is Beartrap really worth it? There are much better bumps on the North Face and natural runs on the front.

Different strokes for different folks I guess.

What would be interesting to see on a topomap is if the top of Beartrap would be accessible from the rest of the mountain somehow?

 

[deadheadskier]

are their not other lifts on the mountain that could be shut down midweek?

 

[marcski]

it would only make sense to me if they lowered the ticket prices accordingly on the "off" days....But if they are going to charge $69 for a midweek pass.....bogus.

(FYI, I don't really ski either lift when I skied there...I'd make a few laps on beartrap...but otherwise, I'm mostly on the NF with a few front face woods runs thrown in.)

 

[jaywbigred]

This won't effect me, but I can't blame them. They keep their stats on skier traffic, and they know the cost of running each lift. Beartrap is a great run when its in the sun and the front is cold, but I'll only be around on weekends to make use.

 

[drjeff]

are their not other lifts on the mountain that could be shut down midweek?

They've always shut down about 1/2 of their lifts mid week/non holiday and go with a set of lifts that can give up access to all terrain, it's just with the whole Sunbrook/Beartrap lift terrain access issue is that some hiking is required to access some terrain.

The other key factor to remember demographic wise, especially now that Carinthia has gone all park, is that if you walk through the base lodge mid week, you're seeing a much greater percentage of folks who typically spend a great deal of their day cruising rather than bumping.

The other factor about Beartrap, especially right now under its current conditions, is that until they either give it another good 36-48 hour run of snowmaking or we get a good 12-18" in a storm that doesn't have a big, prolonged wind event associated with it, its a bullet proof base with erratically spaced powder puffs on it. There are MUCH better bumps runs on both the main and North faces than Beartrap currently.

 

[drjeff]

it would only make sense to me if they lowered the ticket prices accordingly on the "off" days....But if they are going to charge $69 for a midweek pass.....bogus.

(FYI, I don't really ski either lift when I skied there...I'd make a few laps on beartrap...but otherwise, I'm mostly on the NF with a few front face woods runs thrown in.)

Why is that??? Argueably to the cruiser, the lack of easy access to the cruisers off the top of Sunbrook is as much of an inconvience the now 3, and formerly 5 days a week that Sunbrook didn't run as the lack of easy access to Beartrap will be 2 days a week.

 

[ta&idaho]

The other key factor to remember demographic wise, especially now that Carinthia has gone all park, is that if you walk through the base lodge mid week, you're seeing a much greater percentage of folks who typically spend a great deal of their day cruising rather than bumping.

You're probably right on all fronts, but I do think Mt Snow has carved out a bit of niche as a something-for-everyone mountain, and the one thing that the mountain has in shortest supply is terrain with any kind of pitch. Although the people who enjoy lifts like Bear Trap may be in the minority, there's a chance that some of those people may exercise disproprortionate influence over other customers' decision to ski at Mt Snow. For example, I'm frequently in charge of organizing large group trips (work, friends, etc.), and I'll always make sure to pick a location that will keep me interested, even if most of the group may ski nothing but gentle cruisers.

Mt Snow has slowly developed respect -- and even somewhat of a cult following, as this site illustrates -- among more serious skiers and riders. In my humble, poorly informed, and self-interested opinion, Mt Snow should keep these types of skiers and riders in mind as it makes operational decisions.

 

[marcski]

Why is that??? Argueably to the cruiser, the lack of easy access to the cruisers off the top of Sunbrook is as much of an inconvience the now 3, and formerly 5 days a week that Sunbrook didn't run as the lack of easy access to Beartrap will be 2 days a week.

Because they charge top dollar. They should put out a full product when charging that much money. If they have reduced midweek pricing.....than that could be a consideration. But, I think its a rip off to do that.

 

[drjeff]

Because they charge top dollar. They should put out a full product when charging that much money. If they have reduced midweek pricing.....than that could be a consideration. But, I think its a rip off to do that.

That rate is their midweek reduced rate of the weekend/holiday rate of $75. And it's not like Beartrap is the only bump run at Mount Snow, so there are mutliple other longer bump runs options that are easily available on Tuesdays and Thursdays when Sunbrook is spinning

 

[arik]

I can understand the decision as it is too costly to run all the lifts midweek when not full. It seems a bit odd to have it on a set schedule, though I guess the information may help some people decide which days to go.
I don't know if I agree that there are better bump runs, the south facing slope of Beartrap as well as the short length are really sweet.

 

[marcski]

That rate is their midweek reduced rate of the weekend/holiday rate of $75. And it's not like Beartrap is the only bump run at Mount Snow, so there are mutliple other longer bump runs options that are easily available on Tuesdays and Thursdays when Sunbrook is spinning

Oh, I agree, I never really skied that many runs if at all at Beartrap. My buddies used to ski it more than myself. Like I said earlier, my preference is the NF and some woods on the front. However, its still bogus to shut a lift and limit access to terrain, or at least make you ski around and take other lifts when you could just lap it, yet still charge $69 for a lift ticket, at least IMHO.