jimmywilson69
Well-known member
Why not both! Agree on all accounts to OG. I've had maybe 2 or 3 good runs down that slope but it is nice to take it T2B
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The "Sugarbush Thread"
- Thread starter thetrailboss
- Start date
Why not both! Agree on all accounts to OG. I've had maybe 2 or 3 good runs down that slope but it is nice to take it T2B
kingslug
Well-known member
I find jester to be just boring...if no one is on it you can do a high speed run though..which is a little fun.
Zand
Well-known member
99% of the time that I say "I'm going to ski Organgrinder" it results in me bailing down Spillsville because the snow sucks so bad on Organgrinder. It's a good run in theory but just seems to be scraped clean almost every time I go down it and Spillsville usually has some of the best snow on the mountain.
Personally I like Jester a lot. It is a fun cruiser. And OG is good as well when conditions are right (I've had plenty of good experiences on it, but also some not so good ones). That climb is not a big deal. What is it like 30 seconds? If you can't handle that, you have bigger issues. There was nothing mentioned in the USFS filing/approval about changing the top alignment at all, so will be interesting to see if that's true.
OG was tons of fun when it was soft spring bumps Xmas week and we were in survival mode when it froze up that Sunday.
I always enjoy a cruise down Jester except when. it gets really crowded.
Every time up I wonder why didn't the put the lift 50' over so you can unload at the top of that bump they make you climb?
I always enjoy a cruise down Jester except when. it gets really crowded.
Every time up I wonder why didn't the put the lift 50' over so you can unload at the top of that bump they make you climb?
ColdRain&Snow
Active member
Took og the other day, hit the eject button at downspout, not the best day for that one. Jester skied pretty well so I lapped it a bit.
Update: I asked a ski patroller in the hut at the top of Mt Ellen why today and he said because it was thin and windblown. I told him it had received snowmaking and actually had good coverage. Certainly better than Exterminator which was currently open. He said “maybe we will take a look at opening it next in that case.”
Smellytele
Well-known member
As others have said og is rarely in fun shape.
I like jester. A traditional New England run. Twisting and turning is much better than straight down the mountain.
I like jester. A traditional New England run. Twisting and turning is much better than straight down the mountain.
shipyardcreek
New member
Y'all seemed to have missed the key point of this post, which is the early closing date of HG. I was told the last day HG will run is April 7. The closing date has something to do with brown nose bats.
Didn't miss it...but not at all surprised by the lift closing early to allow for completion in time for next season. Valley House closed early too the year it was replaced.
Hawk
Well-known member
They are installing a new lift. I have no issues with that. By the way that happens all the time at other areas. Sunday river closed both Jordan and Barker early when they replaced them. I didn't hear that the top was going to go higher to make it easier to go up that little pitch and by the way, what is the big deal to go up 30 feet to get to organgrinder. I did hear the bottom was going to be slightly higher to make a bigger area for the line.
Hawk
Well-known member
So why are there not tons of people posting about how good it was today?
It’s actually a benefit in disguise to get the blood flowing in the legs after falling asleep on HG.
It was fun enough. Pretty hilariously crowded at Mt Ellen, first on the lift lines and then eventually just on the trails and apparently the lodge although I didn’t experience the worst of that first hand. The lack of open terrain (i.e. most main mtn expert runs and trees) with the amount of lift capacity once NRX finally opened really showed in terms of trail crowding. I’m usually at Ellen on Sundays and I don’t recall a single Sunday last winter with crowds like that. Parking was down the access road, and it wasn’t a racer crowd either so unfortunately most people were there to actually ski and not stand in place on Inverness. I guess this is the problem with a stupidly well advertised snowstorm and a lot of IKON passes out there.
Bravo / Exterminator were fun but got skied down to nothing in a hurry. I didn’t touch any natty trails beyond those.
A couple of random points:
1. If they are replacing HG, it would be silly not to redo it so the short uphill climb can be eliminated. Sure, it's short. But it's still annoying and it makes no sense to keep it if the lift is being replaced.
2. Not so hot take...Upper OG is rarely in good condition and is borderline dangerous at times.
3. I never really thought about the entirety of OG being a continuous 2300'+ vertical. It's wild to me that I never thought of it that way. I guess because most of the time I was making a left onto Downspout to get back to HG. It may change my outlook a bit.
4. For those that complain about crowds at SB and blame Ikon...that may be so, but I've never seen REAL crowds at SB. Nothing at all like southern VT slopes.
5. Can't wait to get back up there next weekend.
1. If they are replacing HG, it would be silly not to redo it so the short uphill climb can be eliminated. Sure, it's short. But it's still annoying and it makes no sense to keep it if the lift is being replaced.
2. Not so hot take...Upper OG is rarely in good condition and is borderline dangerous at times.
3. I never really thought about the entirety of OG being a continuous 2300'+ vertical. It's wild to me that I never thought of it that way. I guess because most of the time I was making a left onto Downspout to get back to HG. It may change my outlook a bit.
4. For those that complain about crowds at SB and blame Ikon...that may be so, but I've never seen REAL crowds at SB. Nothing at all like southern VT slopes.
5. Can't wait to get back up there next weekend.
It depends...would moving it uphill make it more exposed and more prone to wind holds? If so, that's a reason to not move it. Would moving it uphill more change the alignment to the point where a lot more trees would need to be cut? If so, that's again another reason not to change it. Keep in mind that the lift goes in a straight line from bottom to top. So moving the top further looker's left has a much bigger impact on tree clearing compared to just using the existing line and only cutting to meet current state clearance requirements.
The description in the USFS documents very specifically states there is no change to the alignment other than a slight deviation at the base to make more room for loading. There's no mention of any top alignment change. The USFS document does say they can't cut trees over 4" between June 1 and July 31 to minimize impact on the northern long-eared bat. So the previous reference to a bat was accurate. Although they also can't cut trees above 2500' between June 1 and August 31 due to Bicknell's Thrush... So the bat thing is almost irrelevant due to the overlap with Bicknell's Thrush.
I'm sure they could revise the USFS filing, but I'm not sure I personally see the value in changing the top alignment.
Tin Woodsman
Well-known member
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Note that they need not move the terminal up the hill to affect the desired outcome of making it easier to get up and over to OG/Jester. Could use grading and a different unload ramp configuration.
My best run of the day was first down Lower Organgrinder as most on Bravo went left over to Snowball Spring Fling Murphy’s at 7:30am. I only did one run up top on Upper Organgrinder. It was a bit windswept at the top but better skii’s er right as you got past Spillsville entrance. With a long line forming already I skied mid-mountain rest of the day. The groomser should be great this morning, but I will miss this week. Tuesday-Wednesday ???? Another “base-building” opportunity ? Weekend another ???
No mention of any re-grading in the USFS filing either...
VTSkiBike
Member
Mt. Ellen was amazing yesterday. I got there right at 8:00 and skied until about 3:30. Lift lines weren't bad at all the it just kept getting better as the day went on. Once NRX and Summit lifts were running, it was ski right onto the lift almost everything in bounds was in play. The storm overperformed and dumped over a foot of light, fluffy snow.
Wednesday's forecast looks like this fresh snow will be no longer so get it while you can.
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