The "Sugarbush Thread"

mikec142 said:

So basically the majority of the top of the mountain has been closed with HG, NL, NRX, and Summit on hold today. I'm guessing that there will be a ton of untracked stuff just waiting. If you were first chair tomorrow, where would you head first? What would your plan of attack be?

Castlerock has been running so even though there have been free refills, it might not be as pristine as the other places.

Click to expand...

mikec142 said:

I guess I'll respond to this as I am the original poster. Couple of reasons why I'd be happy to hire a guide and/or hesitant to venture into Slidebrook on my own without enough knowledge.

1. The obvious issue is I could get lost. It's like 2000 acres or something. I have zero point zero desire to find myself in a position where I have to take my skis off and hike out.

2. Considering I've only read about doors 1,2, and 3, I'd be pretty psyched just to learn what type of terrain they lead to.

3. I could get hurt and would like to have someone with me who would know what to do.

4. Maybe learning about the three doors would give me the confidence to try some more off the beaten path stuff.

5. I consider myself a good skier. Certainly good enough to get down 99.9% of the inbounds stuff at Sugarbush. However, I wouldn't exactly call myself an outdoorsman. I'm not skinning or touring. Frankly I think the hike from Heaven's Gate to Castlerock kinda sucks. So the idea of blindly going off piste with no idea of what I'm facing sounds like a bad idea to me.


I'm sure I could come up with a dozen more reasons.

Side note, around 35+ years ago (pre cell phone), I was skiing with a friend at Stowe. We had flown up to BTV from NJ and were staying with my Uncle. He drove us to the mountain each morning and would hang out in the lodge while we skied all day. Towards the end of the day, we were heading down the mountain and my buddy saw a couple of sets of tracks leading off the trail into the woods. We decided we would follow them as assumed it would be a fun adventure. This was before resorts maintained their gladed areas. After a while, we realized that we were lost and no where near the trail we had left. The snow was deep and we were forced to take off our skis and post hole every step forward. It was also getting darker at that point. Eventually after an hour or so of wandering around, we ended up a mile or two down the access road in someone's backyard. We knocked on the door and the guy kindly put our gear in the back of his pickup and drove us back up to the lodge where we tapped my uncle on the shoulder from behind at around 5:30pm. I'm sure he was out of his mind with worry. We laughed about it afterwards, but when it was happening, it wasn't that funny, especially as 15 year old kids.

Click to expand...

cdskier said:

Paradise would probably be my choice at LP...I timed it right last year after a storm when HG was running sporadically due to some issues. I caught HG in one of the very small windows it was running and the run I had down Paradise was one of my top runs of all time.

At ME, Black Diamond would probably be one of my choices.

BTW, MRG's snow report now says 20"+ so far. We're already well beyond most earlier forecasts with no signs of stopping any time soon. The snow on top of my truck in my condo parking lot looks pretty deep too, although I haven't actually been outside today beyond going on my deck.

Click to expand...

djd66 said:

If HG is closed because of wind and CR is open - it might be the day to hike backwards to HG.

Click to expand...

KustyTheKlown said:

When i was out west I saw an article that a norovirus causing the shits was sweeping thru the nyc area

Click to expand...

cdskier said:

Patrol took care of it a little while ago! (This looks like the patroller I rode HG with on one of my rides this past Sunday morning)

View attachment 57477

Click to expand...

WinS said:

There is a nice surprise for tomorrow. Mum’s the word.

Click to expand...

WinS said:

There is a nice surprise for tomorrow. Mum’s the word.

Click to expand...

mikec142 said:

I guess I'll respond to this as I am the original poster. Couple of reasons why I'd be happy to hire a guide and/or hesitant to venture into Slidebrook on my own without enough knowledge.

1. The obvious issue is I could get lost. It's like 2000 acres or something. I have zero point zero desire to find myself in a position where I have to take my skis off and hike out.

2. Considering I've only read about doors 1,2, and 3, I'd be pretty psyched just to learn what type of terrain they lead to.

3. I could get hurt and would like to have someone with me who would know what to do.

4. Maybe learning about the three doors would give me the confidence to try some more off the beaten path stuff.

5. I consider myself a good skier. Certainly good enough to get down 99.9% of the inbounds stuff at Sugarbush. However, I wouldn't exactly call myself an outdoorsman. I'm not skinning or touring. Frankly I think the hike from Heaven's Gate to Castlerock kinda sucks. So the idea of blindly going off piste with no idea of what I'm facing sounds like a bad idea to me.


I'm sure I could come up with a dozen more reasons.

Side note, around 35+ years ago (pre cell phone), I was skiing with a friend at Stowe. We had flown up to BTV from NJ and were staying with my Uncle. He drove us to the mountain each morning and would hang out in the lodge while we skied all day. Towards the end of the day, we were heading down the mountain and my buddy saw a couple of sets of tracks leading off the trail into the woods. We decided we would follow them as assumed it would be a fun adventure. This was before resorts maintained their gladed areas. After a while, we realized that we were lost and no where near the trail we had left. The snow was deep and we were forced to take off our skis and post hole every step forward. It was also getting darker at that point. Eventually after an hour or so of wandering around, we ended up a mile or two down the access road in someone's backyard. We knocked on the door and the guy kindly put our gear in the back of his pickup and drove us back up to the lodge where we tapped my uncle on the shoulder from behind at around 5:30pm. I'm sure he was out of his mind with worry. We laughed about it afterwards, but when it was happening, it wasn't that funny, especially as 15 year old kids.

Click to expand...

Hawk said:

The thing you always neglect to understand is that the forum consists of all kinds of skier. They are all not all "top" sliders like yourself so maybe things might be a little tougher for them. In genreal those of us that really like to ski in the woods don't go sending the general public into anywhere. People tend to get hurt. Just a thought.

Click to expand...

WinS said:

There is a nice surprise for tomorrow. Mum’s the word.

Click to expand...

WinS said:

There is a nice surprise for tomorrow. Mum’s the word.

Click to expand...

WWF-VT said:

Castlerock Run and Middle Earth groomed

Click to expand...