AlpineZone Ski Area Challenge: Sugarloaf/USA

[Greg]

Bill Swain from Sugarloaf/USA also agreed to take the AlpineZone Ski Area Challenge! This is your chance to get official answers to your ski-related questions direct from a Northeast ski resort representative! Please post some suggested questions in this thread and I'll select ten to present for official responses.

As always, please be respectful of Bill and keep it civil. Also, please refrain from asking specifics about skier visit numbers, financials, demographic information, etc. Sugarloaf needs to be discrete about certain information.

Ask away!

 

[Greg]

Here's a question that I came up with:

Sugarloaf truly is a "magical" ski mountain, which offers a top-to-bottom vertical ski experience that is probably only matched in the East at Whiteface. The most common complaint I hear about Sugarloaf is "it's so far away" which is in part why the mountain is so intriguing. Is its distance from major metropolitan areas the biggest marketing challenge that Sugarloaf faces? If yes, how do you overcome Sugarloaf's remoteness? If no, what is Sugarloaf's biggest marketing challenge?

 

[loafer89]

I have been a Sugarloafer since December 1989, and I think that Sugarloaf is the best ski resort in the east. I have spent 34 days at sugarloaf in the last 15 years, this may not seem like alot, but I live on Long Island, so a trip up takes alot of driving time and dedication to a resort. Just this year alone I have visited twice from January 11th-16th and from April 9th-11th. This has not been the best snow year, January was bitterly cold and lean on snow and there was not much more since then. Still I did not hesitate to visit again in April and I was pleasantly suprised by the attention to Snowmaking and grooming that made the vacation one to remember. I just introduced my son to Sugarloaf in January, and we plan to be back many, many more times in the future. The staff at Sugarloaf is both friendly and attentive to family activities and childcare. My only critical comment is in reference to the rental state of your condo complex, both in January and in April our condo had major problems such as our oven not working and the gas fireplace being inoperative. I understand that the condos are privatly owned, but they still should be in 100% order, or not be put up on the rental block. Still great mountain, awesome terrain and friendly people.
Keep up the good work

 

[Greg]

Hey loafer89 - if you have any specific questions for Bill, post them here and I'll include them in the "challenge".

 

[Joshua B]

At what point in the ski season does Sugarloaf suspend snowmaking and why?

On an average weekday, how many employees are on payroll at the mountain? And on a Saturday or Sunday?

How has ASC's ownership and direction helped and/or hindered the operation?

 

[loafer89]

My specific questions regarding Sugarloaf are:

1) Will the new condo's being built next to the Superquad be on the rental block for next season, and what capacity will they have?

2) Are there any long range plans for a replacement of the Double Runner
and spillway chairs?

3) What ever happened to the dog sledding that was available around the base of the access road, will that activity being returning in the future?

 

[Greg]

Here are three more I thought of:

What factors drive when Reggae Fest will be held? Wouldn't you expect a larger turnout if you held the event during the end of March? This would still provide a spring skiing experience, but with more open terrain and better ski conditions.

Besides White Nitro, are any other snowfields equipped with snowmaking?

What is the status of the Gondola Line? Is there a plan to remove the old mid-station, or could it ever be re-used? Are there any plans to use that route for another lift besides the Timberline quad to access the snowfields?

 

[Joshua B]

On average, how many complimentary season passes are issued every season? What types of services are traded for the passes?

 

[Oakley]

How many yellow-nosed voles are there left in the wild?

 

[MrMagic]

- saddleback has really been out of the compation picture for quite some time, now they are planning expancions and hotels, are the employes and owners of sugarloaf worried about saddleback coming a major compation.

do you have any plans in the near future to add lifts or put new lift? trail in place?

 

[loafer89]

I have two more questions:

1) Are there any plans to change the dates of childrens week from January to perhaps February or March. The free childcare and childrens lessons were nice, but -20F is a bit cold for children to enjoy the skiing.

2)I have noticed more of the condos in disrepair, is there any way to make the owners more responsible for their condition before they are rented?

 

[Greg]

I've sent the following questions off to Bill:

1 - Sugarloaf truly is a "magical" ski mountain, which offers a top-to-bottom vertical ski experience that is probably only matched in the East at Whiteface. The most common complaint I hear about Sugarloaf is "it's so far away" which is in part why the mountain is so intriguing. Is its distance from major metropolitan areas the biggest marketing challenge that Sugarloaf faces? If yes, how do you overcome Sugarloaf's remoteness? If no, what is Sugarloaf's biggest marketing challenge?

2 - At what point in the ski season does Sugarloaf suspend snowmaking and why? Besides White Nitro, are any other snowfields equipped for snowmaking?

3 - How has ASC's ownership and direction helped and/or hindered the operation?

4 - Will the new condos being built next to the Super Quad be on the rental block for next season, and what capacity will they have? I have noticed more of the condos in disrepair. Is there any way to make the owners more responsible for their condition before they are rented?

5 - Are there any long range plans for a replacement of the Double Runner and spillway chairs? Do you have any plans in the near future to add lifts or put new trails in place?

6 - What ever happened to the dog sledding that was available around the base of the access road? Will that activity be returning in the future?

7 - What factors drive when Reggae Fest will be held? Wouldn't you expect a larger turnout if you held the event during the end of March? This would still provide a spring skiing experience, but with more open terrain and better ski conditions.

8 - What is the status of the Gondola Line? Is there a plan to remove the old mid-station, or could it ever be reused? Are there any plans to use that route for another lift as an alternative to the Timberline quad for snowfield access?

9 - Saddleback has really been out of the competition picture for quite some time. Now that they are planning expansions and hotels, are the employees and owners of Sugarloaf worried about Saddleback becoming a major competition?

10 - Are there any plans to change the dates of children's week from January to perhaps February or March. The free childcare and children's lessons were nice, but -20F is a bit cold for children to enjoy the skiing.

Thanks all!

 

[Greg]

Bill's responses are in:

http://skiing.alpinezone.com/articles/challenge/response.htm?resort=sugarloaf

Thanks for participating, Bill!

 

[Joshua B]

Interesting that "the demand for rooms and mountain services (Perfect Turn, child care, etc.) is not as strong as it is in Feb. or March." I would have thought January is a prime skiing month. Maybe there are a lot more people out there like me who don't like to ski in cold, mid-winter conditions.

 

[Charlie Schuessler]

Q & A with Bill from Sugarloaf

Great job!

See you there next Spring....

Sugarloafer since 1995

 

[Greg]

It is, as Greg says, a magical place. If you have a chance, grab a web special and stay for the weekend, you won't regret it.

Agreed. Time for a shameless plug:

http://skiing.alpinezone.com/resorts/lodging.htm?resort=sugarloaf

Many of those properties have a "Special Rates!" tab with various ski packages. Bookmark that for next season.

 

[loafer89]

I tend to like the cold weather for good skiing, how did you feel about skiing this past January? My family and I took a trip to Sugarloaf from January
11th - 16th. The weather started out warm (10's and 20's) but by wednesday it was solidly below zero, this did not bother me, but the high winds nearly shut down Sugarloaf completly. We took a day trip to Mt Orford Quebec on thursday were the high temperature was -20F with full sunshine. By the time we had to go home anything higher than 32F felt tropical, so you do get used to the cold, in fact facing the upcoming summer heat does not thrill me. One thing that is worth mentioning is that alot of people in Maine (local's included) were complaining about the cold. Are people there not used to this kind of weather? My first time skiing Sugarloaf in December 1989
involved skiing in -37F, so it does get really cold in Maine. I have only skied at Big Squaw once in March 1999 and the conditions were awfull and the chairlifts were very slow. Did I catch this place at a bad time? I have heard that they do not make alot of snow, which had to mean poor conditions for alot of this past season. I would really like to go back there, but it is far from Sugarloaf.

 

[loafer89]

I am from Long Island,N.Y (a long drive from Maine I Know) My family and I choose to ski your most beautiful state because of the remote isolation, fanatstic snowmobiling, and great skiing at Sugarloaf. When I made my reservations for my January ski vacation to Sugarloaf, I did so in October not knowing how the snow conditions would be like. As it turned out the huge dump of snow in December was followed by heavy rain. I watched as the trail count at Sugarloaf went from 120+ to 42(ouch) Still I did not hesitate to make the trip up and still enjoyed the skiing, and the cold weather. I did not realize until January that we were going up during childrens week, so my son really enjoyed the fireworks, torchlight parade and the kids activities. Sugarloaf really goes along way to ensure the kids have fun while they are there. My best day of this season was on Easter sunday, the snow at the loaf was groomed to perfection, the weather was
sunny and cold enough to keep the skiing in great shape.

In reference to Big Squaw, we did it as a day trip from Sugarloaf and as mentioned before the conditions were less than ideal. The mountain had 100% snow cover, but the surfaces were icy with alot of ice chunks from the grooming that was done. The terrain was quite interesting, and the views to the north were spectacular. I could hardly take my eyes off of Mt Katahdin. This season they never seemed to have more than about 8-10 trails open in January, so I did not consider making a return trip. In the future I think that we will only ski Sugarloaf past about March 1st, only because there does not seem to be enough snow before then to make the trip worth it.

 

[skican]

I also prefer cold weather skiing. I just like the cold for some reason and alot of people don't. So...when it's cold we usually have the mountain to ourselves.

I would really love it if Sugarloaf kept the Gondola House just the way it is. I love standing at the bottom of the mountain and looking up at that house. It looks so small and then you are standing next to it and it's HUGE! We always sit and eat a snack there in good weather and bad. It's one of my favorite spots in the world. When I am skiing that is. Aw heck, I just love it there. I guess I have said that a few times.

Next stop.....Katahdin!

 

[loafer89]

I wonder when we can expect an answer to the questions that were forwarded last week? Has anyone looked at the Sugarloaf web site as of late?
The chat link is active again, but there is a long message explaining why the chat is no longer available. I really do not believe that the chat was removed because of liability issues, Killington's chat board is alot more extreme than Sugarloaf's ever was. From what I have heard the management just did not like the critical comments regarding the snow reports and the way the mountain was being operated in general.