Sugarbush

[BushMogulMaster]

Hehehe, let's quit babbling about a pre-season snow report! Granted, the hill opens tomorrow. But look, Sugarbush doesn't start counting toward our season total until we turn lifts (unlike Stowe, for example).

Regardless, the snow is coming down pretty hard in Fayston at about 1600ft as of now (7:46pm), so tomorrow should be a great day on the snow for those of you who can make it.

 

[BushMogulMaster]

One more thing to note: in the past two seasons, Sugarbush has actually been very conservative with snow reports. I like to carry a small tape with me on a powder day to check for accuracy. I've found, more often than not, we have an inch or two more than is reported (at Mt. Ellen at least).

Don't lose faith in the Bush's snow reporting based on a pre-season report. Give it a chance during the season!

 

[JD]

Sugarbush Yard Stick....

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Sugarbush Yard Stick....

AHAHAHAHA laughing my big fat ass off...I wish ski areas were more legit with conditions reporting..

 

[skimore]

Hehehe, let's quit babbling about a pre-season snow report!

Why would the accuracy of the regular season be any different?

 

[KingM]

Here's the first snow report of the season:

Nothing like starting the season off with a POWDER DAY! Patrol just called in 8 inches up top, 6 inches at mid and 4 inches at the base... and it's still snowing!

Dress warmly, as you'll think you're skiing in mid-winter conditions, with temperatures in the teens and 20s under snowy skies.

So, here's the plan: We open at 9 a.m. this morning, with one top-to-bottom run, serviced by the Super Bravo and the Heaven's Gate chairs. The run goes Jester, Allyn's Traverse, Downspout, Lower Downspout, Lower Jester and Coffee Run to the base, where the park crew will have several rails and boxes. While you're taking turns and playing on these, our snowmakers will be churning out more white stuff on the slopes of Organgrinder and the Valley House Traverse (coming soon).

PLEASE NOTE: There is no beginner terrain open and the skiing and riding is for intermediate to advance skiers and riders only.

And who knows...with all this new snow, we COULD be opening more terrain today.

 

[BushMogulMaster]

About a foot at the house today between yesterday's and last night's snowfall. Glad to measure it and take a picture for you!

 

[KingM]

BMM, you must be higher up than us. We don't have that much here in the valley, but it's coming down at a decent rate at the moment.

 

[BushMogulMaster]

BMM, you must be higher up than us. We don't have that much here in the valley, but it's coming down at a decent rate at the moment.

Yep, I'm up around 1650 or so. Have to look at a map to check. I'm going out to ski at the house. We've got a little hill in the yard. It's a powder day here!

 

[JD]

Anyone know where we can read the lease agreements between USFS and ski ares on line?

 

[tjf67]

One more thing to note: in the past two seasons, Sugarbush has actually been very conservative with snow reports. I like to carry a small tape with me on a powder day to check for accuracy. I've found, more often than not, we have an inch or two more than is reported (at Mt. Ellen at least).

Don't lose faith in the Bush's snow reporting based on a pre-season report. Give it a chance during the season!

Wouldn't it be faster and easier just to either mark yourpoles or buy poles with the marking on them?

 

[Starter Jackets Rule!]

Anyone know where we can read the lease agreements between USFS and ski ares on line?

-go 2 killingtonzone.com and use the search mode-i think either mr moose or short ski poster the laws on public access to NPS land.

 

[JD]

Thanks SJR. It seems the general rule is if no lift is used, the activity is generally allowed by the state. Esspecially if you are not al ALIPNE skier, which I am not. Liability should not be a concern either due to the landowner liability act which state clearly that unless a fee is collected for a land use , there can be no libility lawsuits in the state of vermont. This is fairly recent (99 I think, so alot of people don't know about it) I emailed the ANR and made a call to a friend there to try and view Sugarbushes lease.


edit: Just realized that if Federal, not state land there, unlike MRG, J, or Stowe.

 

[thetrailboss]

Thanks SJR. It seems the general rule is if no lift is used, the activity is generally allowed by the state. Esspecially if you are not al ALIPNE skier, which I am not. Liability should not be a concern either due to the landowner liability act which state clearly that unless a fee is collected for a land use , there can be no libility lawsuits in the state of vermont. This is fairly recent (99 I think, so alot of people don't know about it) I emailed the ANR and made a call to a friend there to try and view Sugarbushes lease.


edit: Just realized that if Federal, not state land there, unlike MRG, J, or Stowe.

Yes, it is on GMNF land = Federal Land.

And the issue still remains. Sugarbush, as the leasee, is on the hook for activities that take place while it is on the land. If someone gets hurt while skiing offseason by hitting a snowmaking line or something, you can still sue for negligence or some other cause of action. Granted it will likely get thrown out, but the resort still has to defend it.

MRG is on private land, not state land.

 

[Swamp Dog]

reporting 8 inches in the last 72 hours....with a coupla mnore today.

anyone want to predict tomorrow's (tuesday) forecast? Will it be white and fluffy, or wet and just stay home rain?

 

[BushMogulMaster]

Wouldn't it be faster and easier just to either mark yourpoles or buy poles with the marking on them?

I live with a tape in my pocket. 30 footer in the summer, smaller one for snow measuring!

They just come in so handy all the time

 

[BushMogulMaster]

anyone want to predict tomorrow's (tuesday) forecast? Will it be white and fluffy, or wet and just stay home rain?

While I like to be OPTIMistic, I must also be REAListic. NWS forecast for 3000' looks pretty bad at this point. Snow until 1PM tomorrow, then up to an inch of rain. We'll see. Orographics and topography can be tough when trying to extrapolate a higher elevation forecast. There's still a chance for snow all day, but it'll be mighty heavy! Good base building, I suppose.

 

[BushMogulMaster]

Of course, this forecast looks a little more promising: http://www.snow-forecast.com/resorts/Sugarbush/6day/top

They're saying we'll get around 7" of snow and no rain. I'm okay with that!

 

[JD]

Yes, it is on GMNF land = Federal Land.

And the issue still remains. Sugarbush, as the leasee, is on the hook for activities that take place while it is on the land. If someone gets hurt while skiing offseason by hitting a snowmaking line or something, you can still sue for negligence or some other cause of action. Granted it will likely get thrown out, but the resort still has to defend it.

MRG is on private land, not state land.

Actually, no. There is a "war chest" put aside by VMBA for any lawsuit cahllenging the Landowner Liability Act, as well as Lawyers ready to work pro bono to defend this issue. Any one know where the public can view the lease on public land?

 

[Tin Woodsman]

If they did, they had to go looking for it. A much more reasonable report would have been 1-3 inches windblow snow. That is an accurate account of general conditions and what one could expect on the mountain. Stowe, with all their shortcomings, is very accurate with snow reports, Jay, more like Sugarbush. Believe me, as someone who only tries to ski natural snow, I want there to be snow. It's mildly annoying when they embelish ( and after extensive hunting at south, embelish is a kind use of words) reports, folks drive 20-30-40 miles for some skiing, only to realize they were not truthful in an attempt to get people to come ski. If I had read that report and driven from any great distance to ski there tomorrow I would have been rightly pissed off. We skiied anyway because friends drove from middlebury. The report indicating there might be a foot of snow up there from Tuesday is flat out laughable. Like I said, now I know they see snow reports as a marketing tool, and not to believe them.

In my experience, Sugarbuhs is pretty good about their reporting. They don't include pre-season snowfall in their annual totals like many VT resorts and I haven't seen a pattern of consistent embellishment on their daily reports. One thing you should note is that ESPECIALLY with these types of upslope/lake champlain effect systems, there can be dramatic variations in snowfall between LP and ME. I've seen pictures from Saturday at ME that were deep deep deep, and a difference in about 1/4 degree of wind direction blowing over champlain is all it would take to create a substantial delta in the snowfalls.

To put it in a Stowe context, my guess is that snowfall under the Kitchen Wall is a lot more substantial than over on the bottom half of the Toll road or at Spruce.