The "Sugarbush Thread"

[mikec142]

So I'm 68, have a knee that needs replacing and have never hiked up to top of Castlerock. Been riding the chair since before they took half the chairs off the line whic is before they replaced the lift so I've skied everything up there and I'm sure I can get down. My question is, would I be ok with the hike up the ridge? If it's just a packed trail I'd be fine with that. But if there's scrambling or tricky bits I dunno... Hopefully it will be open when we get up there.

No surprise, I'm going to have a contrarian view. Could you do the hike? Sure. It's just a matter of how long it takes you. Would you want to do the hike is the question? If the lift is spinning, the answer IMHO is always no. If the lift isn't spinning, I'm in the camp of I'll find plenty of other fun lift served stuff to ski.

The hike isn't flat. There are portions that you pole, ski, skate, and hike up. I find it tiring and it cuts my day short.

I'll also add that my skis are pretty heavy.

 

[Lotso]

' Bobsled' - perfect descriptor for some of that near end.

Last year there was a tree across one section that if you didn't take the left to detour around it you were sure to break a tib/fib...

 

[cdskier]

pretty straight-forward Crank. 20-25 mins depending on # of people going over - but now that the lift is open- well-ppacked unless new snow and couple places you could actually 'ski' for a few hundred yards.

one or two nice vistas on your right - Church and one other area opens up. You'll see plenty of tracks too. Top of Paradise Woods access in 1st 100-200 yards.


Cant' be more than 1/4-/13 of a mile.

I'm sure it is more than a 1/4 mile along that ridge. I know I measured it once on my gps tracking app, but I can't recall exactly how much it was.

 

[Lotso]

I'm sure it is more than a 1/4 mile along that ridge. I know I measured it once on my gps tracking app, but I can't recall exactly how much it was.

Google Maps measuring widget says 2000'

 

[cdskier]

Google Maps measuring widget says 2000'

And that is likely a bit under since it twists and turns and goes up and down a bit...

 

[KustyTheKlown]

Pretty fun skiing today!

First steps into ripcord and paradise are a real doozy

The CR runout was not bad. The top of ripcord was.

CR chair fucked me twice. Could have should have hiked. At 9 open they didn’t open and I wasted time, and around 10 they closed the chair while I was in queue. Around 11 I got up and enjoyed castlerock run > cotillion very much

Lews, grotto, and Eden skied pretty ok considering the date on the calendar

Sugarbush day trip! Wowee.

 

[1dog]

Pretty fun skiing today!

First steps into ripcord and paradise are a real doozy

The CR runout was not bad. The top of ripcord was.

CR chair fucked me twice. Could have should have hiked. At 9 open they didn’t open and I wasted time, and around 10 they closed the chair while I was in queue. Around 11 I got up and enjoyed castlerock run > cotillion very much

Lews, grotto, and Eden skied pretty ok considering the date on the calendar

Sugarbush day trip! Wowee.

Wow- even Eden and Grotto? Low ele too. Was in Jay woods a week or so ago and mid-winter, but it sounds like you are like me ' hey, its white in there, see no snow snakes, and skis? Replaceable. '


Top of Rip - They blow heavy and hard on OG , why not top of RC- its far more traveled than OG. Even if you're going to OG you can avoid icewall by shooting thru the woods at top of RC.

 

[Blurski]

Google Maps measuring widget says 2000'

Just checked my strava 0.6 miles from where you leave Paradise to the CR chair.

 

[doublediamond]

When CR is hike to, does patrol do a hike sweep?

 

[teleo]

I think so. But don't quote me.

 

[Rob Katz]

Under 20 for me but I'm an outlier age wise. Last time I did it I remember it being quite enjoyable, actually.

 

[KustyTheKlown]

Wow- even Eden and Grotto? Low ele too. Was in Jay woods a week or so ago and mid-winter, but it sounds like you are like me ' hey, its white in there, see no snow snakes, and skis? Replaceable. '


Top of Rip - They blow heavy and hard on OG , why not top of RC- its far more traveled than OG. Even if you're going to OG you can avoid icewall by shooting thru the woods at top of RC.

top of eden was great. those first turns before it gets very wide. the bottom you needed to stick to the luge track pretty much. grotto had a lot of snow in it, not many people had poked around, but there were absolutely sharks to be watchful for. paradise woods was similar - lots of snow but lots of danger too. it was not flow skiing by any means. lews was surprisingly good both from the main entrance and from the top of domino.

i assume snow doesnt stick to that face of ripcord/top of heavens gate due to wind? it was brutal. i should have walked it. not worth the dings.

i am bummed to not be skiing today. i cannot wait for my fiance to get a car. we are meant to go to the dealership next saturday to finalize her situation. shes still asleep, ive been up since 6, i already shoveled our property (2-3" overnight here). i need to drive her to the train to the city at some point today. i keep going to the catskills and taconic ski area websites hoping a magical $50 12-4 ticket materializes out of the ether. i dont want to burn a catamount indy day for a 3 hour session this afternoon.

first world problems.


edit - ooo catamount has a 1-4 pm ticket. wake up lady. time to go to poughkeepsie station. also $30 4 hour weekday flex tickets. good for hooky playing.

 

[cdskier]

Fun first day out for me. I told myself I wasn't going to ski any natural terrain my first day...but on my 4th run as I'm skiing past Lower Domino I couldn't resist. That snow was so nice and silky smooth. Not mentioned on the snow report, but they're making snow on Lower Snowball and Racer's Edge currently. Those were the only 2 trails I saw with any active snow-making.

PS...love the season pass pocket in the sleeve on my new jacket. Every ski jacket should have that feature.

 

[1dog]

Fun first day out for me. I told myself I wasn't going to ski any natural terrain my first day...but on my 4th run as I'm skiing past Lower Domino I couldn't resist. That snow was so nice and silky smooth. Not mentioned on the snow report, but they're making snow on Lower Snowball and Racer's Edge currently. Those were the only 2 trails I saw with any active snow-making.

PS...love the season pass pocket in the sleeve on my new jacket. Every ski jacket should have that feature.

best invention since sliced bread. ( mine has a chamois cloth attached- great but rather it be in top pocket so pass isn't affected. 1st -first world problems as you wisely state.

 

[Lotso]

Big fun today. Love those sneaker storms that leave several inches of fluff to play in.

Now just some messiness Thursday night into Friday and then we get back to the goodness. Will be great opening at ME- they continue to hammer with snowmaking. Should have the usual 3 main routes down t2b including FIS.

 

[Getskied]

Fun first day out for me. I told myself I wasn't going to ski any natural terrain my first day...but on my 4th run as I'm skiing past Lower Domino I couldn't resist. That snow was so nice and silky smooth. Not mentioned on the snow report, but they're making snow on Lower Snowball and Racer's Edge currently. Those were the only 2 trails I saw with any active snow-making.

PS...love the season pass pocket in the sleeve on my new jacket. Every ski jacket should have that feature.

Yeah, and looked like Sleeper was wired and will be online soon if the snow report jumped the gun. Had my entire family enjoying the moguls and nats today which was great. Parking lots were jammed it seemed but lines were generally nonexistent.

 

[cdskier]

Yeah, and looked like Sleeper was wired and will be online soon if the snow report jumped the gun. Had my entire family enjoying the moguls and nats today which was great. Parking lots were jammed it seemed but lines were generally nonexistent.

I saw all the guns setup on Sleeper. I'm guessing the "turning on Spring Fling this afternoon" in the text report meant to say Sleeper. And Sleeper has the snow-making icons on the report, so that would make much more sense than adding depth to Spring Fling at this point.

 

[Hawk]

Fun first day out for me. I told myself I wasn't going to ski any natural terrain my first day...but on my 4th run as I'm skiing past Lower Domino I couldn't resist. That snow was so nice and silky smooth. Not mentioned on the snow report, but they're making snow on Lower Snowball and Racer's Edge currently. Those were the only 2 trails I saw with any active snow-making.

PS...love the season pass pocket in the sleeve on my new jacket. Every ski jacket should have that feature.

I’ve been wearing Arc’teryx for 15 or so years so I have gotten used to the pass pockets. It does make it easier. I miss it with my spring jacket. I just use a lanyard around my neck.

 

[cdskier]

I’ve been wearing Arc’teryx for 15 or so years so I have gotten used to the pass pockets. It does make it easier. I miss it with my spring jacket. I just use a lanyard around my neck.

I went with a new Mountain Hardwear jacket. So far I'm happy with it...

 

[cdskier]

I saw all the guns setup on Sleeper. I'm guessing the "turning on Spring Fling this afternoon" in the text report meant to say Sleeper. And Sleeper has the snow-making icons on the report, so that would make much more sense than adding depth to Spring Fling at this point.

Hmm...at least based on the webcams seems like they really did turn back on Spring Fling. I thought it had sufficient depth for now when I skied it yesterday so interesting decision. Maybe they simply had extra capacity they wanted to use and with the way the system is designed that was the only place they could really effectively use it given those lines are already charged from Lower Snowball/Racers being online?