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The "Sugarbush Thread"

CoolMike

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Oct 30, 2013
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Making Jester a green would just make the crowding on the top of Organ grinder even worse. Some days the number of people hiking across that traverse is unreal.
 
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Has anyone laid eyes on Mt. Ellen the last couple of days? I was thinking of doing some skinning up tomorrow evening or on Sunday -- how far up would I have to walk until I could put my skis on?
 

Los

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Jan 21, 2016
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505
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NH
I am not sure of your experience is with Kids groups but I think that Sugarbush it a little different that other places. They stress more of a Free skiing itinerary and based on the group and conditions, they may spend most of the time skiing trees and advanced terrain. The kids love it. And as stated before, the turn over in the older groups for instructors is low and the Mountaineering Blazers coaches, Diggity, Rick and Waitie have been at SB for over 20 years.

Thanks Hawk - and sorry for not thanking you much, much earlier. Many thanks to Smac75 as well. I went ahead and "pulled the trigger" (as people around here like to say) on season passes and the blazers program. Your feedback will help set my expectations, which I really appreciate. I'm glad to hear they spend alot of time in the woods - that's what my kids like best. I just hope next year isn't a repeat of 2015-2016!

Thanks again.
 

cdskier

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Great spring day today. Amazing how much snow has been lost since last week though.


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Great spring day today. Amazing how much snow has been lost since last week though.

I know I shouldn't be, but every year I am surprised about how quickly the snowpack goes in April.

I just got back from Snowbird, so I had been obsessively studying their snow data for a while before the trip, and it seems like they can go weeks with days in the 50's or above and not lose that much. I mean, I guess even if they lost 30 inches most people would hardly notice, where as for us that's the difference between lots of snow and bare ground, but I feel like they don't lose nearly that much snow that quickly. I guess that snow is such a good insulator that the more of it you have, the slower it melts proportionally.
 

machski

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Sep 5, 2014
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Northwood, NH (Sunday River, ME)
I know I shouldn't be, but every year I am surprised about how quickly the snowpack goes in April.

I just got back from Snowbird, so I had been obsessively studying their snow data for a while before the trip, and it seems like they can go weeks with days in the 50's or above and not lose that much. I mean, I guess even if they lost 30 inches most people would hardly notice, where as for us that's the difference between lots of snow and bare ground, but I feel like they don't lose nearly that much snow that quickly. I guess that snow is such a good insulator that the more of it you have, the slower it melts proportionally.
The air is thinner at altitude as well so fewer air molecules to transfer that heat to the snowpack out west.

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Duncanator24

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Dec 2, 2016
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Altitude and the overnight freeze are key to snowpack survival. They consistently get Temps below freezing at night, even with the warm daytime Temps. At lower (relative) altitudes on the East Coast, it often stays too warm at night for everything to set up for the next day. This is especially true in the later Spring time period.
 

shadyjay

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Nov 24, 2007
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Snowpack has taken a hit this week, not just on the natural trails but on the snowmaking ones as well, especially on the Gate House side. High sun angle, temps in the 70s during the day and 50s at night, skier traffic, and some r@!n are all contributing factors. These factors are also decimating our ramps, require rebuilding each morning, sometimes from bare wood. Gate House trails like Hot Shot/Waterfall and North Lynx are in the sun all day and have been getting hit hard. Sleeper is a little more protected/shaded and was riding nice today with very good coverage (except the runout). Heaven's Gate trails are still holding up quite well. How long the runout will survive will dictate its longevity. Stein's, SB and Fling are still excellent. Lower SB only passable on the left side about halfway down. Downspout is still descent as is Middle Jester. Portions of Lower OG between the jugs are bare. I look at these trails and think, "yup, could've made more snow here", but then I realize it was almost 80 the other day and that our spring routes are still holding up well.

And yup, SKIMRV down here too. In fact, I was unable to get onto the site the date the last message was posted.

Since SKIMRV is down, here's a status report on Roxbury Gap...

17884547_741870375974036_3002948704454181398_n.jpg


That is all.
 
Last edited:

cdskier

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Mar 26, 2015
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To add a little more to what shady said...on Heaven's Gate Organgrinder seems quite deep. Ripcord on the other hand has a number of rocks/thin spots starting to develop (probably why they've been choosing to groom OG vs Ripcord the past couple days). Paradise could very well be done after this weekend. The headwall is losing coverage quickly and you had to pick your way down that part. After that it had pretty good coverage though until Lower Paradise. Spillsville still had very good cover the past 2 days.

I think shady covered everything else pretty well.
 

slatham

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Sep 17, 2012
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Lower Downspout run out was getting very thin yesterday and after rain last night and warmth today could be toast very soon. Wonder if they would open Heavens Gate and direct skiers retuning to the base to take Jester to Valley House Traverse? The top will be skiable for a while yet.

I am looking at Gate House right now and I am very surprised it's open. I understand they really need Pushover, but they claim Waterfall and Hot Shot are open and it's not even good "patch" skiing! I can also see Paradise and it too looks done or just about....

Great 3 day run of Blue Bird spring skiing to end the season. Glad I finally made it to the 'Bush this year!
 

cdskier

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Lower Downspout run out was getting very thin yesterday and after rain last night and warmth today could be toast very soon. Wonder if they would open Heavens Gate and direct skiers retuning to the base to take Jester to Valley House Traverse? The top will be skiable for a while yet.

I hope they do. I think they've done that in the past a couple times. And I know in early season they do downloading on Super Bravo when only the top has snow...so this is basically the same thing if Lower DS runs out of snow. The other question though is how long Jester itself lasts. Once you lose that, then you lose that option. I didn't notice any thin spots yet when I skied it on Friday (didn't ski it yesterday), but I do know it can start to lose snow quickly in some spots.

Looks like Paradise is now officially closed, which isn't surprising.

Still hoping for one or two more weekends up there if the snow holds up!
 

benski

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Binghamton NY
I am looking at Gate House right now and I am very surprised it's open. I understand they really need Pushover, but they claim Waterfall and Hot Shot are open and it's not even good "patch" skiing! I can also see Paradise and it too looks done or just about....

They are now reporting waterfall and lower hotshot as closed.
 

slatham

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They are now reporting waterfall and lower hotshot as closed.

I think I witnessed the last run of the season on Waterfall and Hot Shot - a snowboarder that became a "Grassboard" in several sections.

70 at the base and sunny. You can see it melting away.....
 

WWF-VT

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Sep 23, 2005
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MA & Fayston, VT
I skied on Saturday and Sunday and the warm temps and rain late Saturday has taken a toll on the snow pack. There’s not much time left (if any) for the Heavens Gate chair. Downspout has a major gap developing that requires finding your way around about mid way down as well as significant snow lost below the Slow sign near the bottom. Jester is also getting very thin in many places.
 
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