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The "Sugarbush Thread"

STREETSKIER

Active member
Joined
Feb 16, 2009
Messages
306
Points
28
Location
warren, vt
I’d buy you a beer but how come it took so long for the slo called slug effect? Nevermind

I’ll keep a eye out for shred monkey did you get that hth? maybe we can do some runs
 

NYSnowflake

Member
Joined
Nov 3, 2021
Messages
65
Points
8
Location
Albany, NY
I am looking for suggestions on showing my sister from SE Michigan a good time at Sugarbush March 4-7. She is a first year adult skier at a small 300’ vert hill in SE Michigan. She has had a few lessons and can ski basic parallel on blues and greens at pine knob in MI. She skis 1-2 times a week. She’s going to have a lesson or two with my husband who is an instructor (but doesn’t know the whole mtn that well yet because he teaches beginners). I’m just looking for suggestions on the best green to easy blue terrain progression for her. I hope we might be able to get her up to jester before the end of the trip. Easy Rider, >Pushover, > ?? Sleeper has bumps which she probably has never seen before but maybe could do on day 2 with instruction. Jester is pretty long but I think approachable if you take it pitch by pitch. Snowball and Spring Fling are usually pretty darn icy which I think can suck for a beginner. Same with Murphys. Birch Run might be nice for her. What about Mt Ellen? Other suggestions to make sure she enjoys herself?
 

Hawk

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 22, 2016
Messages
2,430
Points
113
Location
Mad River Valley / MA
Ya, the snow is not going to be a big deal and there will be icy roads to deal with. People should not come up if they are expecting snow.
 

Newpylong

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Joined
Dec 20, 2005
Messages
4,938
Points
113
Location
Upper Valley, NH
Looks like good "technical" skiing to me. ;)
They need to rethink the notion of trading that acreage for hypothetical future coverage somewhere else and reconnect the snowmaking on that trail, for exactly seasons like this. It was put in for a reason...

ASC would fill it in to start and let natural (if we got any take it over) to bump up and it worked well. If there was lack of natural they would just groom it. We actually trained GS on it numerous times.
 

djd66

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 6, 2015
Messages
836
Points
63
They need to rethink the notion of trading that acreage for hypothetical future coverage somewhere else and reconnect the snowmaking on that trail, for exactly seasons like this. It was put in for a reason...

ASC would fill it in to start and let natural (if we got any take it over) to bump up and it worked well. If there was lack of natural they would just groom it. We actually trained GS on it numerous times.
I think they should fix the water issue before they expand the snow making (not that I'm opposed to that) They basically ran out of water this year and can't blow anywhere.
 

machski

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 5, 2014
Messages
3,702
Points
113
Location
Northwood, NH (Sunday River, ME)
I think they should fix the water issue before they expand the snow making (not that I'm opposed to that) They basically ran out of water this year and can't blow anywhere.
Well, water in the MRV has ALWAYS been an issue. And unlike the solutions Killington (Woodward Reservoir tie in) and Mount Snow (West Lake) employed at considerable costs, there isn't a tie in solution like that around SB. So, to fix the water issue, SB basically has to dump huge $$ to create long term water storage. Not cheap and I doubt ACT250 friendly to boot. Could LBO have done their reservoir and improvements better back in the day? Absolutely, but unfortunately it wasn't how LBO operated back then (Even SR has suffered from substandard piping feeding and on hill in their system).

SB would be fantastic if they ever were able to access water at the rate they wanted/needed all season. The question is at what cost to get to that point and is it even feasible in tws of ROI?
 

cdskier

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Joined
Mar 26, 2015
Messages
6,412
Points
113
Location
NJ
I think they should fix the water issue before they expand the snow making (not that I'm opposed to that) They basically ran out of water this year and can't blow anywhere.
Except that the water issues at LP have nothing to do with ME as they come from different sources. ME still has water and didn't have any issues with running out of water this year per the last blog post on this subject.
 

ducky

Active member
Joined
Nov 18, 2017
Messages
301
Points
28
Location
Waitsfield, VT
I am looking for suggestions on showing my sister from SE Michigan a good time at Sugarbush March 4-7. She is a first year adult skier at a small 300’ vert hill in SE Michigan. She has had a few lessons and can ski basic parallel on blues and greens at pine knob in MI. She skis 1-2 times a week. She’s going to have a lesson or two with my husband who is an instructor (but doesn’t know the whole mtn that well yet because he teaches beginners). I’m just looking for suggestions on the best green to easy blue terrain progression for her. I hope we might be able to get her up to jester before the end of the trip. Easy Rider, >Pushover, > ?? Sleeper has bumps which she probably has never seen before but maybe could do on day 2 with instruction. Jester is pretty long but I think approachable if you take it pitch by pitch. Snowball and Spring Fling are usually pretty darn icy which I think can suck for a beginner. Same with Murphys. Birch Run might be nice for her. What about Mt Ellen? Other suggestions to make sure she enjoys herself?
Get her on Gatehouse (Pushover) to start out, nothing steeper, and let her progress gradually. As an instructor myself I know there is nothing worse than pushing too fast, too steep. Build confidence and let her lead the progression.
 

Hawk

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Joined
Nov 22, 2016
Messages
2,430
Points
113
Location
Mad River Valley / MA
What you are forgetting is we are now owned by a very large corporation now that has money. The snowmaking is on their agenda, coming soon and permits will not be an issue.
 

ss20

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 13, 2013
Messages
3,919
Points
113
Location
A minute from the Alta exit off the I-15!
Except that the water issues at LP have nothing to do with ME as they come from different sources. ME still has water and didn't have any issues with running out of water this year per the last blog post on this subject.

I was always under the impression ME had plenty of water. Maybe a connection pipe between LP/ME is a possible solution? Killington just did that to connect Pico to Killington's system so they don't have to rely on the pond at Pico as much.
 

jimmywilson69

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Joined
Oct 18, 2010
Messages
3,179
Points
113
Location
Dillsburg, PA
For LP in simple terms they need to build a reservoir closer to the resort and then use the lower reservoir to refill the upper reservoir during higher flows, correct?
 

machski

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Joined
Sep 5, 2014
Messages
3,702
Points
113
Location
Northwood, NH (Sunday River, ME)
I was always under the impression ME had plenty of water. Maybe a connection pipe between LP/ME is a possible solution? Killington just did that to connect Pico to Killington's system so they don't have to rely on the pond at Pico as much.
Yes, but that was a hugely contested issue because Pico is in a separate drainage from Killington proper. Moving water from one drainage area to another was a large hurdle that took multiple years to clear. My guess is Killington leveraged the potential interconnect and this the tie in of snowmaking when that happens to get the water link to Pico now. Sugarbush does not have that same caveat waiting in the wings due to Slidebrook being never developed lands.
 
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