BackLoafRiver
New member
Date(s) Skied: December 11, 2011
Resort or Ski Area: Sugarloaf
Conditions: MM, PP, and Hard Pack
Trip Report: Got out for the first day of the season on Sunday. The weather was nice, slight chill to the air, mostly sunny at the base, some flurries at the top of the superquad.
Got to the lodge by 7:45 and dealt with all the foolishness of picking up my seasons pass/ signing up for demos. $5 to demo a bunch of awesome skis is a heck of a steal.
Was one of the first in the singles line by 8:20. The crowd didn't show until 8:30. They advertised 5 trails but really, only 3 of them were open; Hayburner (groomed), Kings Landing (snowmaking), and Tote (snowmaking). In hindsight, I should have just gone straight to Hayburner but with the newly modded boots + unused ski legs, I decided tote would be a better bet. The crowds, however, headed straight to the groomed.
The snow from the top of Tote Road to the bottom of Chicken Pitch was fabulous. It felt like a few inches of fresh. Unfortunately, the manmade on the bottom was not that. It was VERY firm and the edges didn't quite soften up as much as the top 2/3. I connected up with SkiMaine around 9:30ish in the demo area. I was to have a go at a pair of the Rossi S-3's, Blizzard Bonafide, or Volkl Bridge. All 3 were out. He had just finished up a few laps with one of his demos and we headed back up the Superquad.
One thing I will say, the Sugarloaf snowmakers do it well. Coverage on what they had open was very good. Tote was wall to wall snow EXCEPT a few feet on skiers right around Chicken Pitch. Hayburner was in great shape. They were doing an assault on Peavy X-Cut probably so they could get Skyline running asap. Lower Winter's Way was getting the goods as well.
I was surprised to see so many racers training on Sunday. (a bus full from P.E.I was there) For the first 3 hours, Hayburner was a game of human pinball. Candyside had a mini slalom course set up on skiers right which didn't interfere too much. Coaches did a great job keeping the kids to the side in small groups.
Everything firmed up after the first two hours. The best snow was to be had on skiers right of Hayburner where some large bumps had formed. SkiMaine and I made our final run of the day there. I think it would have been run of the day if I wasn't on those Bridges that were a size too big. (I'll chat about this in the gear forum) After almost 4 hours, my legs were toast. (and, I wanted to avoid angering my ongoing knee issues)
Final thoughts - Was it worth the trip? YUP. Every minute was great. It was awesome seeing fellow AZ'er SkiMaine again and making some turns with him and his wife. Was it crowded - Yes, for about 2 hours. By 10:15ish the quad was ski-on but the damage had been done. Did it help to cure the "itch"? No. It just made it worse and that is a good thing.
If I wasn't heading to Chicago for work, I'd head up this Sunday for sure.
Resort or Ski Area: Sugarloaf
Conditions: MM, PP, and Hard Pack
Trip Report: Got out for the first day of the season on Sunday. The weather was nice, slight chill to the air, mostly sunny at the base, some flurries at the top of the superquad.
Got to the lodge by 7:45 and dealt with all the foolishness of picking up my seasons pass/ signing up for demos. $5 to demo a bunch of awesome skis is a heck of a steal.
Was one of the first in the singles line by 8:20. The crowd didn't show until 8:30. They advertised 5 trails but really, only 3 of them were open; Hayburner (groomed), Kings Landing (snowmaking), and Tote (snowmaking). In hindsight, I should have just gone straight to Hayburner but with the newly modded boots + unused ski legs, I decided tote would be a better bet. The crowds, however, headed straight to the groomed.
The snow from the top of Tote Road to the bottom of Chicken Pitch was fabulous. It felt like a few inches of fresh. Unfortunately, the manmade on the bottom was not that. It was VERY firm and the edges didn't quite soften up as much as the top 2/3. I connected up with SkiMaine around 9:30ish in the demo area. I was to have a go at a pair of the Rossi S-3's, Blizzard Bonafide, or Volkl Bridge. All 3 were out. He had just finished up a few laps with one of his demos and we headed back up the Superquad.
One thing I will say, the Sugarloaf snowmakers do it well. Coverage on what they had open was very good. Tote was wall to wall snow EXCEPT a few feet on skiers right around Chicken Pitch. Hayburner was in great shape. They were doing an assault on Peavy X-Cut probably so they could get Skyline running asap. Lower Winter's Way was getting the goods as well.
I was surprised to see so many racers training on Sunday. (a bus full from P.E.I was there) For the first 3 hours, Hayburner was a game of human pinball. Candyside had a mini slalom course set up on skiers right which didn't interfere too much. Coaches did a great job keeping the kids to the side in small groups.
Everything firmed up after the first two hours. The best snow was to be had on skiers right of Hayburner where some large bumps had formed. SkiMaine and I made our final run of the day there. I think it would have been run of the day if I wasn't on those Bridges that were a size too big. (I'll chat about this in the gear forum) After almost 4 hours, my legs were toast. (and, I wanted to avoid angering my ongoing knee issues)
Final thoughts - Was it worth the trip? YUP. Every minute was great. It was awesome seeing fellow AZ'er SkiMaine again and making some turns with him and his wife. Was it crowded - Yes, for about 2 hours. By 10:15ish the quad was ski-on but the damage had been done. Did it help to cure the "itch"? No. It just made it worse and that is a good thing.
If I wasn't heading to Chicago for work, I'd head up this Sunday for sure.
