Sugarloaf & Brackett Basin TR 3/28-29

[Whitey]

Date(s) Skied: Sat & Sun March 28-29, 2015
Ski Area: Sugarloaf ME
Conditions: Hard/fast. Temps high 20s/low 30s.

Trip Report: I know SkiMEbike already posted one, but I have a lot of pics, so. . .

Skied Sugarloaf this past weekend. The Alpine Championships were there that weekend. Great vibe at the mountain with a hardcore racing group plus the usual weekend skiers. Lines were not bad for most of the day. 10-11AM on Whifletree & Skyline were pretty packed but after that they cleared out quickly. Sugarloaf is amazing in how well it spreads people out.
Sugarloaf got a dose of the rain the week before so everything was pretty well set up hard. There were some icy spots around the mountain. Despite that almost all of the woods were in play & the groomers were skiing well. We got to ski Brackett Basin for the 1[SUP]st[/SUP] time ever (for me). My oldest had the dreaded "spring sports commitments" so it was just my youngest (12 yr old) and me. The wife enjoyed the condo mostly. . .
Sunday was definitely the best of the days. Absolute bluebird without a cloud in the ski. Never got warm enough to soften things up, but the clarity and views were spectacular. I’ll let the pictures do the talking.

I posted some videos on Youtube if you want to take a look:
Skiing Brackett Basin: http://youtu.be/gVaSvC_T7y8
Skiing Upper Boomauger-Wedge: https://youtu.be/JCoWXWjLLwE

Sugarloaf from lower (condo) chair:

Crowd at Alpine Nationals:

Gondi Line:

Wedge – looking towards Burnt Mountain:

King Pine under repair:

 

[Whitey]

Some more pics.

Also, I think my Brackett Youtube link in previous post was bad. This one should be OK - Brackett Basin: https://youtu.be/o_cs-RLUdU4

Good weather at the Beach:

Don’t know why, but this guy at the Beach killed me. Never bought a drink, just came in, sat by the fire, and smoked his pipe with his goggles on.

 

[Whitey]

Some more pics.

Also, I think my Brackett Youtube link in previous post was bad. This one should be OK - Brackett Basin: https://youtu.be/o_cs-RLUdU4

Good weather at the Beach:

Don’t know why, but this guy at the Beach killed me. Never bought a drink, just came in, sat by the fire, and smoked his pipe with his goggles on.

 

[Whitey]

Barber chair glade:

Swedish Fiddle Glade:

 

[SkiRay]

Nice - what happened to the Bracket Basin video? Are those the Nordica NRG90? What do you think of those?

 

[Whitey]

Nice - what happened to the Bracket Basin video? Are those the Nordica NRG90? What do you think of those?

Try the link in my 2nd post in this thread.

 

[skiMEbike]

Nice Pics....Sunday was classic bluebird day!!

Don’t know why, but this guy at the Beach killed me. Never bought a drink, just came in, sat by the fire, and smoked his pipe with his goggles on.

I happened to notice this guy also...My 6 year old asked "what's that thing in his mouth" (he had never seen a pipe before).

 

[Whitey]

Nice - what happened to the Bracket Basin video? Are those the Nordica NRG90? What do you think of those?

Those are NRGy90s. Just bought them the week before. Love them but I have to say that the conditions weren't ideal for them. I gave up a little performance on rock hard/icy groomed stuff to gain some in the powder/corn/broken up/bumps. So the bullet proof stuff on the non-glade runs that weekend aren't what they are best for. Still good but not what they are really designed for. When I could get into some decent looses cover &/or bumps - they were awesome. No regrets for me on the purchase (esp since they threw the bindings in for free).

I would have given my left nut for about another 10 degrees warmer and some corn on top of those bumps & glades to really test them out. . .

 

[Newpylong]

Great video. Looks pretty steep where you started it. Cover in there still looks great.

 

[Whitey]

I happened to notice this guy also...My 6 year old asked "what's that thing in his mouth" (he had never seen a pipe before).[/QUOTE]

Funny that you noticed him too. He did kind of stick out - but in a good way. Just an old guy getting some runs in and them just chilling at the bottom of the mountain. Some day when I am his age - I hope I'm that guy.

I should have done a better job posting where I was - We could have connected & done a few turns together. I was just bombing around with my youngest son and grabbing a few solo runs too. Would have been a good time to ski with some new people (new to me).

 

[skifree]

funny what we call bullet proof . heard racers calling it otherwise

 

[Whitey]

funny what we call bullet proof . heard racers calling it otherwise

I figured that for that level of racers - it was pretty much "ideal conditions". For everyone else, they could have probably done with less ice & more loose snow. Had it gone up another 5 degrees - the racers would have hated it and I would have been in heaven. . .

 

[BLESS]

that guy smoking the pipe f&cking rules. WIN.

 

[salsgang]

looks like a great trip - thanks for the Maine stoke!

 

[billski]

nice day!