Seeded Bumps Coming to Saddleback

[xwhaler]

http://www.saddlebackmaine.com/winter/
"Machine made moguls have been made on Tight Line. They will improve with skier traffic."

Having only skied the Back last year and this year, I don't know if this is a normal thing for them as I've never seen man made bumps but perhaps Salsgang or someone with a longer standing knowledge of the mtn could chime in?

I wonder where they did them on Tightline? I have trouble believing they put them from the top of the headwall down...too steep for most to also have to deal with bumps. And with the other face trails (Supervisor excluded) virtually un-skiable right now they liley won't want to completaly eliminate an option for the good majority of skiiers.

Guess I'll find out Sat AM!

 

[deadheadskier]

http://www.saddlebackmaine.com/winter/


I wonder where they did them on Tightline? I have trouble believing they put them from the top of the headwall down...too steep for most to also have to deal with bumps.

then 'most' shouldn't be on that trail. IMHO - conditions on expert trails should never be 'tamed for the masses to enjoy'.

 

[xwhaler]

Oh, I'd absolutely agree DHS. I guess in the 20+ days I've skied Saddleback so far this year, I'm starting to see more and more folks venture left off the upper quad and head over to the face trails....and some further over towards Casablanca.

Tightline and Supervisor, other than the short headwalls are realtively easy trails for the good majority of solid intermediate skiiers. My wife had much trepidation the first time getting over there and looking down the headwall but once past that point skis it with relative ease.

Saddleback makes snow and winch cat grooms both of those runs by the way. The other diamond trails up there (Wardens Worry, Black Beauty, Frostbite) are always 'open' but are pretty rough right now...really wind scoured...hardpack/ice bumps and just not very enjoyable. Artula just opened last wknd but I wasn't terribly impressed with that run.

I guess my point was, if they seed bumps all the way across the headwall of Tightline, they basically either create a mess for ppl trying to ski down it who shouldn't be or they create addl congestion on Supervisor.

Until they get more snow, those really are the only two options.
A compromise I feel would be to seed maybe the left side of Tightline leaving a section for those who didnt want a steep bump run to venture down. This would alleviate congestion and make it a better experience for all is my $.02

 

[deadheadskier]

I guess my point was, if they seed bumps all the way across the headwall of Tightline, they basically either create a mess for ppl trying to ski down it who shouldn't be or they create addl congestion on Supervisor.

Until they get more snow, those really are the only two options.
A compromise I feel would be to seed maybe the left side of Tightline leaving a section for those who didnt want a steep bump run to venture down. This would alleviate congestion and make it a better experience for all is my $.02

That would seem like a fair compromise to me. Either that or put a better focus on the surfaces of the runs that you said were beat up.

While I'm sure insurance companies wouldn't agree with me , I think skiers getting in over their head is a good thing. It either forces them to work on their skills such that they can ski that terrain or makes them think twice about going in there again and scraping the snow surface by side slipping.

 

[tipsdown]

Oh, I'd absolutely agree DHS. I guess in the 20+ days I've skied Saddleback so far this year, I'm starting to see more and more folks venture left off the upper quad and head over to the face trails....and some further over towards Casablanca.

Tightline and Supervisor, other than the short headwalls are realtively easy trails for the good majority of solid intermediate skiiers. My wife had much trepidation the first time getting over there and looking down the headwall but once past that point skis it with relative ease.

Saddleback makes snow and winch cat grooms both of those runs by the way. The other diamond trails up there (Wardens Worry, Black Beauty, Frostbite) are always 'open' but are pretty rough right now...really wind scoured...hardpack/ice bumps and just not very enjoyable. Artula just opened last wknd but I wasn't terribly impressed with that run.

I guess my point was, if they seed bumps all the way across the headwall of Tightline, they basically either create a mess for ppl trying to ski down it who shouldn't be or they create addl congestion on Supervisor.

Until they get more snow, those really are the only two options.
A compromise I feel would be to seed maybe the left side of Tightline leaving a section for those who didnt want a steep bump run to venture down. This would alleviate congestion and make it a better experience for all is my $.02

Xwhaler,

I agree that other than headwalls, Supervisor and Tightline are quite manageable for the intermediate skier. I guess the same case could be made about most any groomed trail, at least in the east.

I actually think it's a good idea though…Back in the 70's and mid 80's, when Saddleback was on an equal playing field with Sugarloaf in terms of skier visits, they used to host the Bronco Buster challenge (which is now Tightline). If you skied the whole bump run top to bottom without stopping, you'd get a 3 day lift ticket (or something along those lines). That would be a fun event to bring back.

Here's my guess, they keep the left side of the upper mountain contained to experts and keep the mid-mountain more contained to advanced/intermediates (save for Upper Professor and Upper Jane Craig). Having said that, unfortunately bumping up Tighline may lead to the flattening of Peachy's Peril (or Royal Coachman).

 

[xwhaler]

Would love to see Peachy's stay as it is....I think they have snowmaking available on that trail but I've never seen them making snow or grooming it.
I think the right side of the mtn looking up has all the intermediate trails they need given their current demand. Red/Blue Devil, Silver Doctor, and Grey Ghost all are really nice intermediate runs with tremendous views.

I feel the bumps though on Tightline probaly are in preperation of late season bump turns. While the average skiier packs the sticks away in Mid March sometime, the demand is definately there if they want to stay open. The Yurt is there, the trail gets enough sun to make it fun in the spring but not too much so as to melt quickly.
They could theoretically close everything off the Rangeley double save for maybe Grey Ghost and just run ppl up and down the Kennebago in late April/Early May.
They have already alluded to staying open until the snow lasts...at least following on Facebook.

 

[tipsdown]

I definitely want to see Peachy's styay as is.. I'm just speculating. But I'm not sure I agree with you on the intermediate terrain. Don't get me wrong, if it were up to me, almost the entire mountain would be natural, except after a thaw freeze event. But I think to cater to most of the ski populace, Saddleback could use more intermediate terrain, especially during holiday weekends/weeks. You may start seeing a different layout for the big weekends....

On that note, keep cutting tree runs on the upper mountain!