The "Sugarbush Thread"

[ss20]

I think they are purposely blocking web cams. I can’t think of any other reason for them not to be working.

other than the fact that its literally one of the last priorities mountain ops/IT has this season....

 

[El Bishop]

Please make snow on Steins if Mtn Ops is paying attention or Win can influence!

 

[Boxtop Willie]

Interesting day today. Still limited terrain but Grinder/Ripcord skied well. Spring Fling a little scratchy. Minimal lift lines, never more than 2-3minutes. Gate House was practially ski on for most of the day. Trail of the day was Sleeper/sleeper chute. They've been blowing snow on it for days (and through today), ropes dropped yesterday. Not groomed, huge whales, incredible terrain for a blue. Lapped all afternoon. Other than iced up googles an great experience.

 

[mikec142]

Spent three past three days at SB. Couple of observations:

1. First and foremost, I would say mask wearing was at least 98% and the folks who weren’t wearing properly were asked to mask up by staffers very quickly.

2. Lift lines were small and very well managed. Never waited more than a few minutes.

3. Skied every open trail at LP. Didn’t get over to ME. To me, Organgrinder was the trail of the trip. We did ski Sleeper this AM and while a lot of fun with all the whales and drops, I don’t love skiing under the guns. Came out of sleeper looking like the abominable snow man. Also, really loved railing GS turns on Snowball on the way down to Spring Fling.

4. Curious why Steins isn’t getting any snowmaking. Isn’t that one of the early trails that gets filled in? Maybe I’m wrong.

5. I’ve skied all over VT. I would say the quality of the average skier at SB is higher than most anywhere else in VT with maybe the exception of MRG. It was an absolute pleasure just watching from the lift.

6. Saw a guest argue with with a parking lot attendant who asked him to park closer to the car next to him so they could get more cars into the main lot. I just don’t get people. We have a million problems and you want to rip into a parking lot attendant. Kudos to the PA for just letting it slide off his back.

7. I’ve skied some ridiculously cold days at SB. Days where the temps didn’t come close to positive numbers. But Tuesday with the wind whipping the snow uphill on Spring Fling was downright chilly.

8. Impressed with what was there snow wise after the soaking they got over Christmas.

Thanks for a great couple of days.

 

[cdskier]

4. Curious why Steins isn’t getting any snowmaking. Isn’t that one of the early trails that gets filled in? Maybe I’m wrong.

It has varied a bit over the years. Some years it is earlier in the plan, others it is later. Based on temps/weather/etc so far, I'm not at all surprised it hasn't been touched yet. It really isn't a priority and doesn't help much in spreading people out. Getting a couple options off GH plus a couple options for Intermediates/families on the Super Bravo side is more important (especially since both OG and Ripcord have been hit already with the guns on the upper mountain). I really can't say there's anything they've blown snow on so far on the lower mountain that they should have skipped in favor of Steins instead...

 

[djd66]

other than the fact that its literally one of the last priorities mountain ops/IT has this season....

Listen, I get the priority thing. However, It’s not like they need to add an air compressor to get the cams to work - They already do work If you have not updated the app. The web cam page is probably one of the top visited pages on their website, there is no other logical explanation for them not working ( 2 months into the season) other than they don’t want them to work by choice.

 

[Slidebrook87]

I skied Sugarbush on Sunday and Monday and Killington on Tuesday and Wednesday. Both skied well considering the recent weather. At Sugarbush the lines were minimal and the terrain at both sides was generally good, but I would’ve liked to see a bit more open at Ellen, but then again, they’ve had limited opportunities to make snow. Mask compliance was okay, but I did see less compliance than at Killington. Even though it was icy, Ripcord was pretty fun, especially on the edges. Jester was great as well. At Killington it was great to see just how much terrain they had open and how much resurfacing work they were doing. They were not focusing on new trails, but they were blowing snow on many of the existing trails. Everything was pretty icy, but really nothing more than any other eastern ski day. As Mike said, Tuesday was really chilly, much more so than I was expecting, but it was the first real bluebird day of the season which was great to see. Overall both mountains were fun to ski at, but they really need a dump of snow, and both Killington and Sugarbush have a lot of snowmaking to do before MLK weekend. Superstar doesn’t have any snow on it yet, which is almost unheard of since they usually have it open for the race in November.

 

[Smellytele]

Superstar doesn’t have any snow on it yet, which is almost unheard of since they usually have it open for the race in November.

usually? Maybe in your life time but the race has only been the last few years.

 

[slatham]

Doubt they hit Steins until they can get North Lynx open. They need to spread people out.

 

[mikec142]

Doubt they hit Steins until they can get North Lynx open. They need to spread people out.

That works for me. One of my guilty pleasures is the getting warmed up by taking a ride up Gate House and North Lynx, then doing a Birch to Sleeper run and taking it over to Bravo.

I've been skiing SB for years, but don't really follow the ins and outs of the mountain operations. So Steins just stood out to me, but it's also very possible that I just don't remember previous years operation patterns that well.

 

[mikec142]

It has varied a bit over the years. Some years it is earlier in the plan, others it is later. Based on temps/weather/etc so far, I'm not at all surprised it hasn't been touched yet. It really isn't a priority and doesn't help much in spreading people out. Getting a couple options off GH plus a couple options for Intermediates/families on the Super Bravo side is more important (especially since both OG and Ripcord have been hit already with the guns on the upper mountain). I really can't say there's anything they've blown snow on so far on the lower mountain that they should have skipped in favor of Steins instead...

Makes sense to me. Totally agree with the idea that I wouldn't swap out any of the existing terrain for Steins. As I said just a second ago up thread, I rarely pay attention to the operations patterns. But for some reason Steins stood out to me on this trip.

 

[mikec142]

I skied Sugarbush on Sunday and Monday and Killington on Tuesday and Wednesday. Both skied well considering the recent weather. At Sugarbush the lines were minimal and the terrain at both sides was generally good, but I would’ve liked to see a bit more open at Ellen, but then again, they’ve had limited opportunities to make snow. Mask compliance was okay, but I did see less compliance than at Killington. Even though it was icy, Ripcord was pretty fun, especially on the edges. Jester was great as well. At Killington it was great to see just how much terrain they had open and how much resurfacing work they were doing. They were not focusing on new trails, but they were blowing snow on many of the existing trails. Everything was pretty icy, but really nothing more than any other eastern ski day. As Mike said, Tuesday was really chilly, much more so than I was expecting, but it was the first real bluebird day of the season which was great to see. Overall both mountains were fun to ski at, but they really need a dump of snow, and both Killington and Sugarbush have a lot of snowmaking to do before MLK weekend. Superstar doesn’t have any snow on it yet, which is almost unheard of since they usually have it open for the race in November.

I'm surprised to hear that you felt mask compliance was better at K. I really didn't see much room for improvement because compliance and enforcement was already extremely high. As a side note, I skied earlier this season at Windham and I would say mask compliance was at best 30% and lift line management (to keep distance) was terrible. So in contrast, SB was a delightful experience.

I thought Ripcord was good at the top, icy in the steep middle part and really fun towards the bottom where it flattens out a bit.

I usually find Jester to be icy and crowded as it's the only way for people to get down from HG without skiing a black, but it was in very good condition.

 

[Blurski]

Makes sense to me. Totally agree with the idea that I wouldn't swap out any of the existing terrain for Steins. As I said just a second ago up thread, I rarely pay attention to the operations patterns. But for some reason Steins stood out to me on this trip.

I would prefer they keep the guns off Steins, assuming we actually get some natural snow, it skis very nice natural. There has been years in the past where they would drop back to blow and burry it for spring.

 

[WinS]

Please make snow on Steins if Mtn Ops is paying attention or Win can influence!

Many have answered this accurately already. Stein‘s is one of the last trails we historically have made snow on. Going into the Christmas Holidays the priority has always been getting as much beginner and intermediate terrain open and to spread people out. Many ski only one vacation a year, so the priority is this group rather than those of us who ski all reason and love trails like Stein‘s. Temperatures also determine what can be accomplished and when as there can be a huge difference between the lower and upper mountains. We have also tried to avoid snowmaking under a lift like Gatehouse during a Holiday week. Sleeper may be groomed tonight. It did ski great yesterday even with the guns on. I know the next move is Birch and Sunrise at LP and likely Looking Good at ME given the temp forecast. Having North Lynx also spreads the crowds out.

The trails that yet have to get snowmaking are Lower Snowball, Racer’s Edge, Birdland, Murphy’s, Steins’,Hot Shot, Birch and Sunrise at LP and Looking Good, Cliffs, Reimergasse, Sugar Run, Cruiser and Brambles at ME. Some trails in additional to the spring trails may also need more depth .

The good news for the New Year is it looks like we may actually get a few waves of ”Nor’inchers” hitting us over the next week. Even a few inches will make everything ski much better.

 

[CastlerockMRV]

Listen, I get the priority thing. However, It’s not like they need to add an air compressor to get the cams to work - They already do work If you have not updated the app. The web cam page is probably one of the top visited pages on their website, there is no other logical explanation for them not working ( 2 months into the season) other than they don’t want them to work by choice.

To be honest, I think it’s a good idea to not have lift line cams this year. Better to not have them than to have a “Sarah” send misleading screenshots to the Boston Globe of ppl not doing a good job social distancing at Heavens Gate on a Holiday Weekend. Etc.

 

[nhskier1969]

I know SB does this every year but why blow on upper FIS when there are other areas to cover. Every year they blow on that trail, skiers right is shear ice and skiers way left is good. Skiers way left near the edge of the trail and the trees aren't hit with snowmaking. I say let it ski natural like Black Diamond, BTW Black Diamond is a much better trail.

 

[cdskier]

I know SB does this every year but why blow on upper FIS when there are other areas to cover. Every year they blow on that trail, skiers right is shear ice and skiers way left is good. Skiers way left near the edge of the trail and the trees aren't hit with snowmaking. I say let it ski natural like Black Diamond, BTW Black Diamond is a much better trail.

I could be wrong, but my guess would be FIS is too wide and exposed to hold only natural snow well except for right along the edges. It needs help from at least some man-made. Black Diamond is fairly sheltered so can hold the natural snow well. There's really no comparing the trails with how completely different they are.

I have no issues with making snow on FIS and really don't think the trail would do well left all natural (or would simply be rarely open).

 

[nhskier1969]

I could be wrong, but my guess would be FIS is too wide and exposed to hold only natural snow well except for right along the edges. It needs help from at least some man-made. Black Diamond is fairly sheltered so can hold the natural snow well. There's really no comparing the trails with how completely different they are.

I have no issues with making snow on FIS and really don't think the trail would do well left all natural (or would simply be rarely open).

I don't know if it had snowmaking on it back in 1980-1981 but it looked pretty good back then.

 

[cdskier]

I don't know if it had snowmaking on it back in 1980-1981 but it looked pretty good back then.

The 1980-81 trail map says Upper FIS had snow-making at that point... Can't say whether it was used or not the year/date that photo was taken though.

Edit - The first appearance of "snowmaking" listed on a trail map for Upper FIS (or any upper mountain trails at Mt Ellen) was for the 1979-1980 season. Prior to that snow-making only existed on Inverness and a couple other beginner trails on the lower mountain.

 

[ducky]

They used to make snow on Exterminator and Bravo not too long ago; Bravo by pulling hoses from Elbow. Helps quite a bit to hit the faces.