Sugarbush extends season!

[Treeskier]

Win has announce that he is extending the season to be open everyday through April 27 (weather permitting)

http://forums.skimrv.com/viewtopic.php?t=1453

That is great.

 

[snowmonster]

This is great news! With so many resorts planning to be open into the last weekend of April, the race is to be open well into May. This could get interesting.

 

[Greg]

Nothing new, but an official press release did go out: http://news.alpinezone.com/26676/

Sweet!

 

[deadheadskier]

One could probably deduce from this decision that they'll have Steins open for the weekend of May
4th. No guarantees, but if they're going to operate everyday to the 27th, that tells me if there is snow, they'll turn the lifts the following weekend.


....or beyond? :beer:

 

[loafer89]

Sugarloaf could probably make Memorial Day or June 1st this year without much effort.

 

[Vortex]

Sugarloaf could probably make Memorial Day or June 1st this year without much effort.

They will go as long as they want to. Looking at snow again this weekend.

 

[Greg]

Sugarloaf could probably make Memorial Day or June 1st this year without much effort.

They will go as long as they want to. Looking at snow again this weekend.

Nice, but not sure how this relates to Sugarbush...? :dunce:

 

[Greg]

Back on topic, anyone have any thoughts on how long Castlerock or trails like Spills or Mall might go? When did the Rock shut down last year? Are we ahead or behind last season's snow depths at this time?

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Back on topic, anyone have any thoughts on how long Castlerock or trails like Spills or Mall might go? When did the Rock shut down last year? Are we ahead or behind last season's snow depths at this time?

Based on what I saw last week..I'd say the Mall is good for at least another week..it's exposure is good for snow preservation..I believe Castlerock was open until around 420 weekend last year but there was several feet of April snowfall..

 

[Vortex]

I agree it was not about sugarbush, but relates to the spirit of good bases and competition as snowmonster had mentioned as well. Nothing, but good thigns to say about the SB.

 

[from_the_NEK]

They had to close CR in early April last year when the trails at the bottom of the lift melted out. The morning of pond skimming day, there was barely a ribbon of adequate (muddy) snow to get back to the lift.
They were able to reopen CR when the big April storm hit. I'm not sure if it made it to the official end of the season. Lower elevations can get baked by the sun pretty hard due to ESE exposure.

 

[Greg]

They had to close CR in early April last year when the trails at the bottom of the lift melted out. The morning of pond skimming day, there was barely a ribbon of adequate (muddy) snow to get back to the lift.
They were able to reopen CR when the big April storm hit. I'm not sure if it made it to the official end of the season. Lower elevations can get baked by the sun pretty hard due to ESE exposure.

I read on SkiMRV, they made it to 4/20 last year. Probably made it through that weekend actually, so 4/22. The latest CR closing prior to last year was 4/15. I wonder how long they'll go this season?

 

[ski_resort_observer]

One could probably deduce from this decision that they'll have Steins open for the weekend of May
4th. No guarantees, but if they're going to operate everyday to the 27th, that tells me if there is snow, they'll turn the lifts the following weekend.


....or beyond? :beer:

I assume your kidding but if there isn't much business for the last week/weekend(4/21-27th) perhaps the Bush made a mistake in being open, I guess it's worth a try and will have some bearing on next years closing dates. Same goes for the other resorts who will be open late.

Everyone is screaming for late closings..We shall see if they follow thru. IMHO this time of the year it so much depends on the weather on whether folks will come up and ski. It's a crap shoot.

 

[deadheadskier]

I assume your kidding but if there isn't much business for the last week/weekend(4/21-27th) perhaps the Bush made a mistake in being open, I guess it's worth a try and will have some bearing on next years closing dates.

Perhaps you're right. From my distant view though, it appears that $$ isn't a driving factor in this choice. It's more Win's joy of skiing and wanting to share his mountain for those who appreciate the sport late into the year like he does.

 

[Newpylong]

Sugarloaf could probably make Memorial Day or June 1st this year without much effort.

How can you possibly say that? It could pour the rest of this month and they could barely make it to May. Or they could make it easily... there is no way of knowing.

 

[WWF-VT]

From the Sugarbush press release:

"The extended opening is contingent upon snow conditions remaining good and Mother Nature's continued cooperation. The resort's lift schedule and food and beverage operations for April 21-27 will be determined in the coming weeks."

Last year they stopped weekly operations had the last lift running for the May 5th weekend

 

[loafer89]

How can you possibly say that? It could pour the rest of this month and they could barely make it to May. Or they could make it easily... there is no way of knowing.

Because there is a rediculous amount of snow on the mountain and Sugarloaf stays very cold at the upper elevations even with April sunshine. The last two years had nearly top to bottom snowcover well into May with no lifts operating.

We would need a monsoon and blowtorch warmth to melt enough snow to prevent them from skiing into May this year, which looks unlikely anytime soon.

May 11th, 2007:

 

[Geoff]

Perhaps you're right. From my distant view though, it appears that $$ isn't a driving factor in this choice. It's more Win's joy of skiing and wanting to share his mountain for those who appreciate the sport late into the year like he does.

There are also a lot of Killington season pass holders down the road who really like skiing into May and won't be doing it at KMart. It's smart marketing for Sugarbush to get some of them to drive up and see what they're all about. Many are year-to-year share house people who could easily change mountains.

 

[frozencorn]

There are also a lot of Killington season pass holders down the road who really like skiing into May and won't be doing it at KMart. It's smart marketing for Sugarbush to get some of them to drive up and see what they're all about. Many are year-to-year share house people who could easily change mountains.

This is an excellent point.

 

[shadyjay]

I glanced back at the official shadyjay.com trip reports from the 06-07 season regarding April operations at the Bush... they were indeed 100% open as of 4/22/07 - the end of daily operations, and it was quite the warm weekend. The weekend prior to that was a powder weekend. The official closing weekend, 4/28-4/29, had 24 trails open and severely deteriorated coverage. Castlerock and Gate House/North Lynx areas were closed. Of those open trails, many were quite thin or narrow... "technical" as they say. Then they reopened for the first weekend in May with Stein's and the Valley House chair.

This year, we have been enjoying some extremely nice weather... though April snows have lagged. There is still very good coverage on most trails... after all, our base depths are higher this year vs last year (remember last year it didn't really start snowing until feb 14).

Over the past 2 days, the upper mountain has been the place to be, specifically Heaven's Gate. I did do a run on Castlerock and there are sections primarily at the base of the lift where its narrow and thin, including the Castlerock Connection to the south facing hill at the lift. One spot on Lwr Castlerock Run had a "hop over" bare spot. The Mall was edge-to-edge coverage which surprised me. Spring Fling and Snowball were good as well. Only thin spots on the Super Bravo side were in the runout just before the lift (Gondolier).
Gate House area though is taking a beating ... Sunrise on North Lynx is almost bare... same with part of upper Sleeper/Chutes. Thin covering on parts of Lwr Pushover, Lwr Hot Shot. What's saving this area is lack of midweek traffic. Bunny slope is being saved since Village chair isn't spinning.

Real challenge this season is the lack of the Valley House chair, so if Stein's is to be the late-season last run, Bravo's gotta spin, and the VH Trav has to keep its snow. We've been told there is a lot of snow there to make it happen.

Its been an unbelievable nice couple of days out there and I'm very close to the big 50 (# of days for 07/08). I just hope the r@*# doesn't kill it, though my legs are trying to urge me to end the season and do some :beer: as I bash the bumps on Ripcord and Paradise.

Then again, maybe things'll change and we'll get some
After all, this is New England!