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The "Sugarbush Thread"

WinS

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Nov 25, 2017
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671
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As I have said in the past, one can't be all things to all people. It is terrific to see Killington open early. They have the lift structure to let that done and it sets a tone for the season. We always shoot for the weekend before Thanksgiving. That is how be plan, budget and staff. We also plan to be one of the latest to remain open and this plan has worked well for us so please do not expect it to change.

Snowmaking temperatures will be good at the summits tonight so that is where we will be turning on. As the week progresses we can move down the mountain and 2 to 3 days of good temperatures should put Pushover, Slowepoke and First Time in good shape so we can then focus on the other side. The hope and goal would be to have both Gatehouse and Valley House going to opening weekend November 23rd. At Mount Ellen we are trying to get Inverness dialed in so we the Swiss Women's team can train hear ahead of the
World Cup at Killington.
 

WinS

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Nov 25, 2017
Messages
671
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There are very tight restrictions to the amount of water that can be drawn from the Mad River (or any river) based on the low flow in the winter. The level of the river and the amount of water withdrawn is monitored, documented and sent to the state.

The permit for Lincoln Peak allows an unlimited withdrawal when the river is flowing above the February mean flow. Water is withdrawn and stored in the pond and pumped uphill. We can pump a maximum of around 4,000 GPM at LP and about 2,500 GPM at ME where the sources are the pond by Inverness and Chase Brook. Someday building another reservoir and additional pumping capacity and larger diameter pipe to the mountain could allow us to get to a capacity of 6,000-8,000 GPM at LP. We would not necessary use more water in a season but we would be putting it out faster. We are planning for this, but it is a multi-year effort that takes planning, regulatory approval and the means to pay for it. So when one talks about ticket prices remember that the costs of running a sustainable ski resort are not going down.
 

mikec142

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Jan 27, 2014
Messages
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Thanks for the update Win. The family and I will be up over the Thanksgiving holiday. Can't wait to get on the mountain. Fingers crossed for another Snovember.
 

slatham

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Joined
Sep 17, 2012
Messages
2,414
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Location
LI/Bromley
FYI - the temperature reading at Lincoln Peak does not look correct. Mt Ellen at 25 I buy, LP at 34 no. Mansfield at 3,920' is 23 and Mt Snow at 3,600' is 27.5. It's either off or has bad sun exposure in morning (9:10am).
 

STREETSKIER

Active member
Joined
Feb 16, 2009
Messages
306
Points
28
Location
warren, vt
The "Sugarbush Thread"

Loving the fact they are
e63b1295397263bb5e68aaa54b26feea.jpg
blowing up top


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

cdskier

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Joined
Mar 26, 2015
Messages
6,416
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Location
NJ
FYI - the temperature reading at Lincoln Peak does not look correct. Mt Ellen at 25 I buy, LP at 34 no. Mansfield at 3,920' is 23 and Mt Snow at 3,600' is 27.5. It's either off or has bad sun exposure in morning (9:10am).

Once in a while they do get "stuck" and stop updating on the site for some reason (sometimes all, and sometimes just one or two sensors). If I see it not changing for a while, I usually assume that's the case.
 

Orca

Member
Joined
Oct 12, 2017
Messages
251
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16
I'm glad Sugarbush doesn't waste operating budget to open before it is profitable to do so. Moreover, blowing snow in marginal early days just accumulates ice from the inevitable early season melts.
 

ducky

Active member
Joined
Nov 18, 2017
Messages
301
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Location
Waitsfield, VT
It was 38˚ on my truck's thermometer at the base at 8:30am today but the guns were on Upper Jester.
 
Last edited:

WinS

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 25, 2017
Messages
671
Points
63
FYI - the temperature reading at Lincoln Peak does not look correct. Mt Ellen at 25 I buy, LP at 34 no. Mansfield at 3,920' is 23 and Mt Snow at 3,600' is 27.5. It's either off or has bad sun exposure in morning (9:10am).

Nope. Working to get it reset. ME temps are accurate and LP’s should be close to them.
 

WinS

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Joined
Nov 25, 2017
Messages
671
Points
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6" on the Summit of LP this morning and in the low 20's at the base so the snowmaking moved down over night. If temperatures hold as we think they should, we could be moving the firepower at LP over to Snowball/Spring Fling on Monday in time for the next blast of cold air after a bit of a warm-up on Monday. Over at ME we have all of the guns focused on Inverness. It is 25 acres so takes a a lot of water to get in covered in sufficient depth. The local news came by at 6am to get some shots of snowmaking and it felt like mid-winter out there
 
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