Buckeye Skier 1330
New member
Date(s) Skied: 2/27/05-3/4/05
Resort or Ski Area: Ski Butternut,Sugarbush,Mad River Glen
Conditions: Packed powder,powder,tracked powder
Trip Report: We started our fifth annual NE journey Sunday,27th, at Buttternut,thanks to Alpine Zone's September lift ticket giveaway. It was a beautiful clear cold morning. We started on the Top Flight Quad as Greg had suggested. Applejack and Lucifer's Leap were in great shape with flawless corduroy. The trail that we really liked was Dipsy. We even rode the Granny double a few times to make quick laps down Dipsy. We moved to the other side of the mountain as the morning wore on finding good conditions on every trail. Downspout and Freewheeler had a few scratchy spots but nothing too bad. Butternut reminds me of Laurel Mtn. PA, the trails aren't very steep but they keep your interest.We only skied about 4 hours because we still had a long drive left to get to Sugarbush.
Monday,28th, we were on the fourth chair at the Super Bravo at Lincoln Peak at Sugarbush. We hit most of the blues off that chair, some being freshly groomed others not. They were all in good shape. Our favorite was Moonshine. We caught Heaven's Gate triple to the summit and were blown away by the view. I couldn't believe how easily you could see Whiteface and Mt. Marcy. What a sight!! We cruised down Jester and headed to the Gatehouse quad for a few runs. After lunch my wife, Mari decided to conserve her legs for the 4 more days we had left. I decided to give Castlerock a try. I'm not much of a mogul skier anymore but I had to make one run over there. I picked Middle Earth. It's been a long time since I was intimidated by a run but Middle Earth did it. I was more surviving than skiing but I made it down alright. I have to say Castlerock lives up to the hype. Ripcord and Organgrinder were pretty smoothe so I did a run on each before ending the day at Super Bravo.
Tuesday,1st, was powder day number one. We were on 5th chair at Mt Ellen.We had several runs with fresh lines in 6 inches of light powder. The North Ridge and Summit lifts were on wind hold so we rode GMX and Inverness all day. Mari was a little apprehensive once the powder was tracked up but she got into a groove and did really well. Favorite runs of the day were Walt's Trail, Semi-tough and Brambles, it being number one. I did my one mogul run per day on Tumbler, being only the 2nd or 3rd person down it that morning. I was a lot more comfortable than I had been on Middled Earth. It snowed all day and all the next.
Wednesday,2nd,powder day number 2. There was even deeper and lighter stuff today.We went to Lincoln Peak and had to go up Gatehouse as only it and Castlerock were running due to the wind. We were a good 20 chairs from the front but a lot of people were racing to Castlerock. That left us with fresh lines on on a few runs. The snow was almost knee deep at times and always over the boot. What a feeling!! These were the deepest lightest freshies we had ever gotten in many years of skiing!! I couldn't keep from yelling "woo-hoo" over and over again. I've always read about the feeling of your skis floating through the powder and now I was finding out first hand. Super Bravo opened up and it was more of the same. I followed Mari down Lower Jester and she was throwing up so much snow I could barely see her. All day long you could find a fresh shot here and there. This was probably our best day of skiing ever.
Thursday,3rd, Mad River Glen. We figured the groomed runs would be in good shape, ( I know its blasphemy to say groomed runs and MRG in the same sentence) :wink: but a strong wind had taken its toll on a lot of the groomers. They were pretty much hard packed. Mari skied 2 hours and told me to knock myself out.I did my mogul run for the day on Panther and Gazelle. I hit a couple of piles I thought I would ski over but I just sunk waist deep into the fluff and popped back out laughing the whole time. I didn't want my wife to sit in the lodge all day so we went back to Mt Ellen after lunch. It was a very cold and windy day and found some corduroy on the little Sunshine double lift. It lived up to its name, it was out of the wind and very toastie. I found a not too steep glade over there with a lot of knee deep freshies in them. And Brambles and Walts Trails were very fun once again.
Friday,4th, back to Lincoln Peak, tearing up corduroy off the Super Bravo. We went up top and Jester was in great shape. We then headed over for a ride on the Slidebrook, and what a ride that was! Beautiful, awesome, invigorating and cold! After a visit to the summit of Mt Ellen we did a few of our favorites and rode the Slidebrook back to Lincoln Peak. Seeing all the trails as you pop over the last incline was pretty cool. Mari's legs finally gave out and I was on my own for the last 2 hours. I did my bump run on upper Organgrinder which had soft mounds from the 20 inches we had received Tuesday and Wednesday. Then I did a top to bottom nonstop 2400 vertical on Jester and Gondolier. 8 minutes of non-stop cruising.
Overall our best ski vacation ever! We never agreed on our favorite resorts,I like Sugarloaf and Whiteface, she likes Gore and Stratton. Sugarbush is one we both really like a lot. We'll probaply go back next year!
Resort or Ski Area: Ski Butternut,Sugarbush,Mad River Glen
Conditions: Packed powder,powder,tracked powder
Trip Report: We started our fifth annual NE journey Sunday,27th, at Buttternut,thanks to Alpine Zone's September lift ticket giveaway. It was a beautiful clear cold morning. We started on the Top Flight Quad as Greg had suggested. Applejack and Lucifer's Leap were in great shape with flawless corduroy. The trail that we really liked was Dipsy. We even rode the Granny double a few times to make quick laps down Dipsy. We moved to the other side of the mountain as the morning wore on finding good conditions on every trail. Downspout and Freewheeler had a few scratchy spots but nothing too bad. Butternut reminds me of Laurel Mtn. PA, the trails aren't very steep but they keep your interest.We only skied about 4 hours because we still had a long drive left to get to Sugarbush.
Monday,28th, we were on the fourth chair at the Super Bravo at Lincoln Peak at Sugarbush. We hit most of the blues off that chair, some being freshly groomed others not. They were all in good shape. Our favorite was Moonshine. We caught Heaven's Gate triple to the summit and were blown away by the view. I couldn't believe how easily you could see Whiteface and Mt. Marcy. What a sight!! We cruised down Jester and headed to the Gatehouse quad for a few runs. After lunch my wife, Mari decided to conserve her legs for the 4 more days we had left. I decided to give Castlerock a try. I'm not much of a mogul skier anymore but I had to make one run over there. I picked Middle Earth. It's been a long time since I was intimidated by a run but Middle Earth did it. I was more surviving than skiing but I made it down alright. I have to say Castlerock lives up to the hype. Ripcord and Organgrinder were pretty smoothe so I did a run on each before ending the day at Super Bravo.
Tuesday,1st, was powder day number one. We were on 5th chair at Mt Ellen.We had several runs with fresh lines in 6 inches of light powder. The North Ridge and Summit lifts were on wind hold so we rode GMX and Inverness all day. Mari was a little apprehensive once the powder was tracked up but she got into a groove and did really well. Favorite runs of the day were Walt's Trail, Semi-tough and Brambles, it being number one. I did my one mogul run per day on Tumbler, being only the 2nd or 3rd person down it that morning. I was a lot more comfortable than I had been on Middled Earth. It snowed all day and all the next.
Wednesday,2nd,powder day number 2. There was even deeper and lighter stuff today.We went to Lincoln Peak and had to go up Gatehouse as only it and Castlerock were running due to the wind. We were a good 20 chairs from the front but a lot of people were racing to Castlerock. That left us with fresh lines on on a few runs. The snow was almost knee deep at times and always over the boot. What a feeling!! These were the deepest lightest freshies we had ever gotten in many years of skiing!! I couldn't keep from yelling "woo-hoo" over and over again. I've always read about the feeling of your skis floating through the powder and now I was finding out first hand. Super Bravo opened up and it was more of the same. I followed Mari down Lower Jester and she was throwing up so much snow I could barely see her. All day long you could find a fresh shot here and there. This was probably our best day of skiing ever.
Thursday,3rd, Mad River Glen. We figured the groomed runs would be in good shape, ( I know its blasphemy to say groomed runs and MRG in the same sentence) :wink: but a strong wind had taken its toll on a lot of the groomers. They were pretty much hard packed. Mari skied 2 hours and told me to knock myself out.I did my mogul run for the day on Panther and Gazelle. I hit a couple of piles I thought I would ski over but I just sunk waist deep into the fluff and popped back out laughing the whole time. I didn't want my wife to sit in the lodge all day so we went back to Mt Ellen after lunch. It was a very cold and windy day and found some corduroy on the little Sunshine double lift. It lived up to its name, it was out of the wind and very toastie. I found a not too steep glade over there with a lot of knee deep freshies in them. And Brambles and Walts Trails were very fun once again.
Friday,4th, back to Lincoln Peak, tearing up corduroy off the Super Bravo. We went up top and Jester was in great shape. We then headed over for a ride on the Slidebrook, and what a ride that was! Beautiful, awesome, invigorating and cold! After a visit to the summit of Mt Ellen we did a few of our favorites and rode the Slidebrook back to Lincoln Peak. Seeing all the trails as you pop over the last incline was pretty cool. Mari's legs finally gave out and I was on my own for the last 2 hours. I did my bump run on upper Organgrinder which had soft mounds from the 20 inches we had received Tuesday and Wednesday. Then I did a top to bottom nonstop 2400 vertical on Jester and Gondolier. 8 minutes of non-stop cruising.
Overall our best ski vacation ever! We never agreed on our favorite resorts,I like Sugarloaf and Whiteface, she likes Gore and Stratton. Sugarbush is one we both really like a lot. We'll probaply go back next year!
