The "Sugarbush Thread"

1dog said:

Exactly right! Apologize, I’m still using phonics. Or is that Pppfonics?

SB report is amazing- I hope this post doesn’t wreck it. Bus social distancing helps a lot.
As fo CR- that leaves only 637 ‘ of soft turn verts.

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Nor sure if you're referencing the Brian Regan Hooked on Phonics skit, but it's good.

Today was spectacular. A bit windy, but really great snow. A few inches fell Friday night which made for amazing turns all over the mountain. Spent the day at Lincoln Peak. One weird note...my first ride on Heaven's Gate (9:15ish) was weird. It felt very herky jerky every time it ran past the lift poles. Never felt that before. I moved on to other areas, but when I came back around 12:30 it was fine. FWIW, this was the most crowded I've seen it this season. And I still never felt like it was a long wait (castlerock was long but noting out of the ordinary).

What a great run SB has been having! Deservedly so after a frustrating start.

mikec142 said:

Today was spectacular. A bit windy, but really great snow. A few inches fell Friday night which made for amazing turns all over the mountain. Spent the day at Lincoln Peak. One weird note...my first ride on Heaven's Gate (9:15ish) was weird. It felt very herky jerky every time it ran past the lift poles. Never felt that before. I moved on to other areas, but when I came back around 12:30 it was fine. FWIW, this was the most crowded I've seen it this season. And I still never felt like it was a long wait (castlerock was long but noting out of the ordinary).

What a great run SB has been having! Deservedly so after a frustrating start.

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I was at ME and it was fantastic all over the mountain. Wind wasn't too bad at ME. Although I must say I was amazed how thin/narrow it still is around some of the waterbars on the Lower FIS runout.

I'll concur on most crowded I've seen it this season so far. By late morning every lift at ME had a 5-10 minute line (GMX, NRX, Summit, and even Inverness). Cars were parked most of the way down the access road at ME when I left. I knew it was going to be busy today when on my way to ME this morning I had to wait about 2 minutes on the SB access road turning left onto German Flats until there was a break in the cars driving up to LP. I've never seen that many cars coming up the access road that early in the morning with the possible exception of a major powder day.

cdskier said:

I was at ME and it was fantastic all over the mountain. Wind wasn't too bad at ME. Although I must say I was amazed how thin/narrow it still is around some of the waterbars on the Lower FIS runout.

I'll concur on most crowded I've seen it this season so far. By late morning every lift at ME had a 5-10 minute line (GMX, NRX, Summit, and even Inverness). Cars were parked most of the way down the access road at ME when I left. I knew it was going to be busy today when on my way to ME this morning I had to wait about 2 minutes on the SB access road turning left onto German Flats until there was a break in the cars driving up to LP. I've never seen that many cars coming up the access road that early in the morning with the possible exception of a major powder day.

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What ski area is me?

Cobbold said:

What ski area is me?

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Sugarbush North (Mt Ellen)

Today was great, but crowded. Surprisingly Ellen had really long lines at GMX and North Ridge. North Ridge was running very slow too which didn’t help. The snow was amazing though and the patches of sun were nice. I really didn’t find the wind too bothersome either.

mikec142 said:

One weird note...my first ride on Heaven's Gate (9:15ish) was weird. It felt very herky jerky every time it ran past the lift poles. Never felt that before. I moved on to other areas, but when I came back around 12:30 it was fine.

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This happened to me a few weeks ago as well. Do you recall the chair number? We were on chair #67 I believe and when I went back up later in the day I noticed ops had tied some orange ribbon off the back of chair when we passed it. Guessing it had something to do with the grip being weird going thru the rollers on the towers but who knows?

CastlerockMRV said:

This happened to me a few weeks ago as well. Do you recall the chair number? We were on chair #67 I believe and when I went back up later in the day I noticed ops had tied some orange ribbon off the back of chair when we passed it. Guessing it had something to do with the grip being weird going thru the rollers on the towers but who knows?

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I didn't catch the chair number. But that's an interesting thought. I only felt it when the chair ran past the lift pole.

Sometimes the cable can be a bit bumpy where the splice was done and you feel the bumps when you go over the wheels

Sunday was another great day. I got there a bit earlier than normal (wanted to get on the road and home earlier than normal) and had a couple runs up Bravo and HG before everything else opened. I always find that Super Bowl Sunday tends to be a solid ski day. The mountain clears out early because people either never showed, or they leave early to get home. From 8-9am, SB and HG were maybe a 2-3 minute wait if that. I only did one run on CR and was on line there before it even opened. I was maybe the 15-20th chair. VH was basically ski on while I was there.

Took some runs this weekend that I really enjoyed as I either normally don't get to do them cuz of conditions or for some other reason. Started Sunday with GS turns on a groomed upper birdland. I often find it icy, but yesterday it was skiing well. Saturday, I did a late afternoon run on Murphy's (ungroomed on skiers right was really good) down to lower birdland (which I don't believe I've ever skied). LB was oddly challenging with the double fall line. Sunday I had a great run on Domino (the skier's right headwall is a sheet of ice, better to jump in on skier's left). Took a run down the Wild Turkey/Big Birch Glades. They weren't really tracked with the exception of a luge track. I know this is blasphemy, but I get a bit concerned when there are few tracks in the woods as I don't know what's underneath. Castlerock Run was great (especially the lower part that fewer people seem to ski). Paradise was a ton of fun, but pretty thin up top. On Sunday, I took the bailout back to Ripcord to preserve my legs. Did Morningstar (I find it to be a hidden gem) from the top. I usually slide in from Birch about a quarter of the way down.

Couple of runs that I've done many, many times that I've come to the conclusion that I don't love. First was Stein's. I guess it should be obvious when there aren't many skiers on it. The snow is hard chalk that's tough to edge, but there's a lot of loose snow on top of that when you get about a third of the way down. I'm also a bit down on Ripcord. More often than not it's just icy I like those smaller, low angle bumps on the lower part.

SB is set up very nicely for the holiday weekend. Hopefully some of these small snow events coming up over perform. This coming weekend looks to be really cold. Hope it warms up a bit.

tumbler said:

Sometimes the cable can be a bit bumpy where the splice was done and you feel the bumps when you go over the wheels

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Yeah...I'm not sure what it was. But it was odd enough that I elected to move to a different area for a while. It was significant enough that when I raised the bar near the top, I held on t the back of the chair as we went past the last pole.

I think that I've mentioned this before. I've never skied the Slidebrook area. Although I've been skiing at Sugarbush regularly for about 10 years, maybe a bit more, there are a couple of reasons I've never done it. Earlier on, my wife was skiing with my kids and me and she's more on the low intermediate side of things so I didn't want to bring her in there and I didn't want to leave her to ski alone. These days she really doesn't ski much and my kids have gotten much, much better (better than me) so I'd love to jump into Slidebrook. But I've always hesitated because I don't know my way around in there. Also, due to kids schedules, I'm at SB alone a lot and thus didn't want to go in alone. I've always meant to get an intstructor/guide, but an injury (and pandemic) cut the season short last year. I've been trying to think of a way to do it this season, but I just don't see it. I'm very hesitant to go it alone. I'm also hesitant to get on the Mad Bus (covid precautions) to get back to the base. Further, my wife would be happy to pick us up in the car, but I don't know how I feel about having a guide in the car with us (or how he or she feels about that prospect, covid wise) and as I mentioned, I'm hesitant to go it alone. I really don't see a lot of good options for this season.

To be clear, I'm very very comfortable skiing in glades like Semi-Tough, Eden, Deeper Sleeper. I can do steeper, tighter glades, I just take more time to do it and I'm linking fewer turns.

In previous seasons, I've struck up conversations on the lift with various other singles line skiers and been introduced to some pretty cool terrain. Jumped into the woods on skier's right of Middle Earth down near the waterbar area. The entrance is tiny and would have never ever found that on my own. Just yet to get into SB.

ME was ridiculous today. You didn’t have to look hard to find it. Freshies everywhere between the trails & lots of sunshine.

Mike, I am sure you are capable to ski Slidebrook. Unfortunately this year with only 16 seats on the large bus, makes it very hard to go down there. I have heard people waiting 2 to 3 buses on the weekends. Midweek might be better. If you don't like the bus for covid reasons then skinning out is a great option. I am sure you find someone to take you if you don't feel comfortable.

mikec142 said:

Took a run down the Wild Turkey/Big Birch Glades. They weren't really tracked with the exception of a luge track. I know this is blasphemy, but I get a bit concerned when there are few tracks in the woods as I don't know what's underneath.

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So much that I agree with in your post...but this stood out to me. Nice to see I'm not the only one that has that thought go through his head in the woods...

the logistics of getting back to the base are more of an issue than the skiing itself. slide brook is not gnarly and all roads kinda just lead to the runout.

If you can arrange a pick up, I wouldn't be too nervous about doing Slidebrook alone. The cut glades are very distinct and if you stick too them and don't go hunting for powder it's pretty hard to get lost. Honestly, if you ski trees alone on the resort there's not much to worry about. Slidebrook is low angle compared to most of the on-map trees at SB.

It takes me about 30 minutes from when I get off the chair at the top of North Lynx until I hit German Flats. My fiancee doesn't ski trees, so this season I've been calling her just before I drop in and she'll do a lap or 2 and then come get me before heading home for lunch or for the day. I tell her which door I'm skiing and if she shows up and I'm still not there she'll know something is up. Mountain Uber!

I haven’t had a problem getting the bus from slidebrook. Maybe I’ve just been lucky. Although, now that I think about it, ive only done on a Saturday once.

yea, i just personally wouldnt really want to get on a bus full of people this year, and i reckon there is probably quite the wait on a typical saturday. i will be at sugarbush from feb 28-march 9 and will probably do some mid week slide brook skiing.

If your not comfortable skiing trees alone..don't.
I've never thought its a good idea..