Sugarloaf 3/13-3/14/18

Arrived at the mountain around 10:30 and immediately upon boarding the SuperQuad the snow began to fall. The top 1/3 or so of the mountain was covered in a thick fog with visibility just about zero. Therefore, my first run of Timberline lift up to White Nitro was a bad idea. No trees to break up the white took not to mention the wind blowing straight up the fall line. Having never been on it before I picked my way down and it wasn't too bad but would've been much better with any visibility.

Misery Whip down to King Pine had irregular bumps which were soft but tough to ski. Hit a little woods shot at the bottom which had terrible coverage and a small mandatory drop area.

Headed over to Can't Dog glade next. Ate shit right at the entrance to Brackett as I hit a big patch of ice followed by a big bump. Not sure why a traverse needs to be so bumpy but it was a sign of things to come...coverage in Can't Dog started out decent but got progressively worse as you went.

I wasn't feeling right after the fall at the top (smacked my face on the ground pretty good) so took an hour lunch to try to get back to my senses. Headed up the Whiffletree over to the Skyline Quad and decided groomers would be better for a few runs. Hit Spillway and Hayburner which had nice powder and some drifts, just very tough to see.

Hit Skidder next but still wasn't feeling the bumps. Again the visibility was a major factor. Followed that up with a sweet Dropping Glade. Low angle woods but lots of soft snow and much better visibility in the trees.

Finished the day with Narrow Gauge. Not many runs today...just wasn't feeling it after the first couple runs. Going to try to get a good night's sleep because tomorrow is going to be epic and I don't want to be slouching around all day again.

Should be better coverage by tomorrow if they get all the snow they are predicting. I wonder if the snowfields might open.

yeah man the entrance to Bracketts in some ways can be the trickiest part esp with only moderate snow levels... lots of stumps and roots!

Some days are just off days. Hope you have a much better day tomorrow! take some pics hey!

bdfreetuna said:

yeah man the entrance to Bracketts in some ways can be the trickiest part esp with only moderate snow levels... lots of stumps and roots!

Some days are just off days. Hope you have a much better day tomorrow! take some pics hey!

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That ice sheet is always there at the entrance too.

speden said:

Should be better coverage by tomorrow if they get all the snow they are predicting. I wonder if the snowfields might open.

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They need some snow fences up top . It was wind scoured right to the ground on Sunday and I couldn't see a way in from the top of Timberline . It was roped off ,I went to have a look ,but it was barren for some distance .

Wednesday report: epic. About 20" of the lightest snow imaginable with more falling through the day.

Got in the SuperQuad line at 8:15 but unfortunately only ended up on like the 40th chair. Picked Sluice for first run and turns out it was probably one of the more recently groomed trails on the hill. Still shin deep and untracked but not the epic deep stuff I was hoping for.

Spent the morning trail skiing and found lots of waist deep stuff over on trails like Choker and Flume. Wandered up to the snowfields and found some deep snow there too...kinda wish I ventured up there earlier.

Around noon I shifted to the woods. Broccoli Garden had a lot of fresh lines and was worth a couple reruns. One run I went in early skiers right. It was fun for a while...went across a flat trail that I thought was Stubb's but turns out I was below it and ended up by a stream. Took a ski off to start hiking out and sank down to my forehead in untouched snow. After a lot of digging and wrestling finally climbed my way out.

Moved across the hill to Branding Ax, Kick Back, Barber Chair, Dropline, and Ram Pasture among others. Not much untracked left but the snow was like heaven.

Finally called it a day at 2:15 when my legs couldn't keep up anymore. Hit Bullwinkle's and then went to dig my car out. Probably a top 5 day lifetime. The only negative was not really knowing the mountain, so I felt like I was chasing untracked snow all morning and not really hitting the right areas at the right time.

The Loaf is an awesome place...wish I could move it a couple hours closer. Would love to get back up there this spring but might be a little out of reach. Barely took pictures....never wanted to stop to do so but the ones on SL's Facebook are pretty accurate. The March Miracle rolls on.

Zand said:

The Loaf is an awesome place...wish I could move it a couple hours closer. .

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You said it. But let's be honest.. if it was, everybody would be there all the time. The remoteness keeps it special.

bdfreetuna said:

You said it. But let's be honest.. if it was, everybody would be there all the time. The remoteness keeps it special.

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They had a damn decent crowd yesterday...the line for the SuperQuad at opening was almost back to the village. When I was leaving I noticed there were a lot of cars in the overflow lots. People were spread out all day and no waits or crowded trails, but I couldn't believe how many people managed to make the trek.

Glad you enjoyed the Loaf...It's been a little over a week since I've been on the hill, but everything I've been hearing from my buds is that the conditions are just sublime. Skiing mid-week & having great conditions everywhere puts less importance on having local hill knowledge...Sounds like you got a good sampling in regardless. Strongly encourage a spring trip, northern location & higher elevation keep snow pack around longer than most places...not uncommon to be able to ski summit & glades late into April. It will be interesting to see how the late season plays out. The front face & back side were down to rock for the most part prior to these last few storms. Heard of a slide on the backside which took a section down to bare rock, which is preventing the Mtn from opening it up. Still plenty of time to fill it in...Should be a good April regardless.

Yeah I peeked over at the backside entrance every time I rode up Timberline but no dice on that. Was able to experience some of the front side snowfields beyond Nitro. Nice and steep in most areas but they can turn into exposed rock in a hurry.

skiMEbike said:

Glad you enjoyed the Loaf...It's been a little over a week since I've been on the hill, but everything I've been hearing from my buds is that the conditions are just sublime. Skiing mid-week & having great conditions everywhere puts less importance on having local hill knowledge...Sounds like you got a good sampling in regardless. Strongly encourage a spring trip, northern location & higher elevation keep snow pack around longer than most places...not uncommon to be able to ski summit & glades late into April. It will be interesting to see how the late season plays out. The front face & back side were down to rock for the most part prior to these last few storms. Heard of a slide on the backside which took a section down to bare rock, which is preventing the Mtn from opening it up. Still plenty of time to fill it in...Should be a good April regardless.

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Been saving my 5 MAX pass SL tix for spring skiing. Maybe I'll get to Reggaefest for the first time!