• Welcome to AlpineZone, the largest online community of skiers and snowboarders in the Northeast!

    You may have to REGISTER before you can post. Registering is FREE, gets rid of the majority of advertisements, and lets you participate in giveaways and other AlpineZone events!

Easiest snowfields run at Sugarloaf?

bdfreetuna

New member
Joined
Jan 12, 2012
Messages
4,300
Points
0
Location
keep the faith
Easiest way down is backside... the ridge that connects the top to where Brackett Basin entrance starts. I guess they call it High Rigger. Easy up top, gets a little steep in the middle then it wraps you around to the front. This will be the most trafficked route.

Alternately you could do White Nitro or Bubblecuffer top sections, they are steep but shorter, but High Rigger is the easiest full snowfield run.
 

Zand

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 30, 2003
Messages
4,109
Points
113
Location
Spencer, MA
White Nitro is usually groomed right from the summit. If the summit is fogged in don't try it, you won't be able to see 5 feet.
 

Zand

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 30, 2003
Messages
4,109
Points
113
Location
Spencer, MA
Is it fogged more often than not?

Take the lift up...if it's clear check it out. If not take one of the greens or blues that actually have trees lining them so you can tell up from down. Wouldn't say it's necessarily foggy more or less than any other ski area but with no trees in view you can't tell the difference between sky, ground, and trails edge.
 

ceo

Active member
Joined
Apr 1, 2009
Messages
389
Points
28
Some years ago I started down from the top in dense fog, having not been to SL in several years, and said "wow, Narrow Gauge Extension is a hell of a lot steeper than I remember". Then I fetched up on Spillway Crosscut and said "Oh, that's because this is actually Upper Gondola Line." So yeah, really easy to lose your way up there when it's foggy.
 

skiMEbike

New member
Joined
Jul 29, 2014
Messages
346
Points
0
Location
Maine
First you probably need to define "Snowfields"...Traditionally it just used to mean the "Backside" (which included the High Rigger trail), but now they have labeled them as "Front side snowfields" and "Backside snowfields". Going by the trail map labels...Ignore anything on the "Backside Snowfields" (Hells Gate, Adrenaline Rush, Ball & Chain), because they are hardly ever officially open, difficult to find, and usually barely any snow to make it "fun". As for the easiest trails to start with....I'd say Gondola Ext, and White Nitro Ext are the easiest as they are typically groomed with snow making(however those can be scrapped off quickly with any sort of traffic, so hit them early if you plan to ski/ride them). All the other trails/Extensions are au natural, and not uncommon to hit some wind scoured boiler plate patches especially on the front side (depending on conditions). High Rigger is the trail I consider to be the "backside", and starts off gradual then has a very steep pitch which feels/looks like you are falling off the edge of the earth. If you can handle steep stuff it is manageable. IMO, the hardest part of skiing the snowfields is the Hard Tack trail....everything funnels into that trail which has this rock garden that is narrow, always has exposed rocks, and can get bottlenecked with people who shouldn't be there.


Right now they only have a few of those trails open...Just got back from a few days up there...My recommendation would be Powder Keg.
 

Smellytele

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 30, 2006
Messages
9,917
Points
113
Location
Right where I want to be
I was confused when people started mentioning front side trails as snowfields which I always thought of the snowfields as of the “back” (side) of the mtn.


Sent from my iPhone using AlpineZone
 

skiMEbike

New member
Joined
Jul 29, 2014
Messages
346
Points
0
Location
Maine
It's been years, but I always liked this one. Steep bumps, but seems to hold snow well.

Yep....Usually one of the better bump runs on the front face....All that snow making that blows off White Nitro collects right in Powder Keg.

I was confused when people started mentioning front side trails as snowfields which I always thought of the snowfields as of the “back” (side) of the mtn.

Agree it is confusing now. I didn't even realize (until I looked at the trail map to answer the OP) that High Rigger was listed on the "Frontside Snowfields". Dumb. It should just be "Backside Snowfields" to replace the silly trail names of High Rigger, Pure Heat, and Jagger...Not like anyone can pinpoint the start & end of those trails. While we are at it, lets restore White Nitro back to its original trail names of Wedge Extension, and Upper Wedge.
 

bdfreetuna

New member
Joined
Jan 12, 2012
Messages
4,300
Points
0
Location
keep the faith
Ignore anything on the "Backside Snowfields" (Hells Gate, Adrenaline Rush, Ball & Chain), because they are hardly ever officially open, difficult to find, and usually barely any snow to make it "fun".

I've only seen a couple YouTube videos of the various chutes really off the back. They looked pretty sweet, but narrow and techy with commits. My main concern would be damage to my skis from what I've seen.

It would take me still quite a bit of time to really know Sugarloaf. It's a very appealing prospect. To me it's like a western resort for those who hate flying (with better tree skiing).
 

landmine3009

New member
Joined
Feb 23, 2020
Messages
2
Points
0
Location
connecticut
First you probably need to define "Snowfields"...Traditionally it just used to mean the "Backside" (which included the High Rigger trail), but now they have labeled them as "Front side snowfields" and "Backside snowfields". Going by the trail map labels...Ignore anything on the "Backside Snowfields" (Hells Gate, Adrenaline Rush, Ball & Chain), because they are hardly ever officially open, difficult to find, and usually barely any snow to make it "fun". As for the easiest trails to start with....I'd say Gondola Ext, and White Nitro Ext are the easiest as they are typically groomed with snow making(however those can be scrapped off quickly with any sort of traffic, so hit them early if you plan to ski/ride them). All the other trails/Extensions are au natural, and not uncommon to hit some wind scoured boiler plate patches especially on the front side (depending on conditions). High Rigger is the trail I consider to be the "backside", and starts off gradual then has a very steep pitch which feels/looks like you are falling off the edge of the earth. If you can handle steep stuff it is manageable. IMO, the hardest part of skiing the snowfields is the Hard Tack trail....everything funnels into that trail which has this rock garden that is narrow, always has exposed rocks, and can get bottlenecked with people who shouldn't be there.


Right now they only have a few of those trails open...Just got back from a few days up there...My recommendation would be Powder Keg.

adrenaline rush is incredible! went last year in march and everything was open, it was very hard and technical skiing but if you are good enough it is so fun to ski!
 

ceo

Active member
Joined
Apr 1, 2009
Messages
389
Points
28
Agree it is confusing now. I didn't even realize (until I looked at the trail map to answer the OP) that High Rigger was listed on the "Frontside Snowfields". Dumb. It should just be "Backside Snowfields" to replace the silly trail names of High Rigger, Pure Heat, and Jagger...Not like anyone can pinpoint the start & end of those trails. While we are at it, lets restore White Nitro back to its original trail names of Wedge Extension, and Upper Wedge.
Agreed. High Rigger is fine, but those stupid names for the frontside "trails" have pissed me off for years. They date from the 90s marketing war with Sunday River when SR was heavily promoting White Heat, which is a far less interesting trail than White Nitro. (I went down White Nitro when I was up there for a couple days last week, had forgotten how arse-puckeringly steep that thing is. That big net at the bottom is there for a reason.)
 

Bumpsis

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 25, 2004
Messages
1,088
Points
48
Location
Boston, MA
Agreed. High Rigger is fine, but those stupid names for the frontside "trails" have pissed me off for years. They date from the 90s marketing war with Sunday River when SR was heavily promoting White Heat, which is a far less interesting trail than White Nitro. (I went down White Nitro when I was up there for a couple days last week, had forgotten how arse-puckeringly steep that thing is. That big net at the bottom is there for a reason.)

I think that the big net is there to catch people who lose it due to the ice that is there most of the time rather than the actual steeps. The steeps are not all that bad but if you lose it, it's a long slide. The upper part of White Nitro is probably a real hoot in spring when things soften up.
 
Top