Sugarloaf 2/13/2016

[Bumpsis]

Sugarloaf 2/13/2016
Summary: Great conditions, no lines, awesome day.

The weather people must scared the public again with all those reports of "brutal cold". OK, so it was not balmy today and face masks, good layers and a warming break were necessary. Best part: wind was not an issue and no lines on this big ski holiday at The Loaf.

Snow conditions: great, for the most part, on trails that received snowmaking and grooming treatments. Some steeper portions of such trails as White Nitro and Gondola Line were on the harder/slicker side, but most skied really well and we started at noon.
Good conditions stayed that way through the end of the day. On some runs dancing on the edges of the trails was the best option. Natural snow trails were a bit skinny on cover so you had to be careful but we did find some great mogul lines and good cover on Wedge. My all time favorite trail, Bubblecuffer had a bit too much vegetation sticking through the snow, but it was still fun. Based on what I saw on natural cover trails, we did not do any glades but it looked like the entrance to Bracketts was open.

For the record, the temperature at the base at noon was about 13 F and an the end of the day it dropped down to about 4 (as measured by my car's display). You could really feel the lower temps after 3 PM. Winds stayed the same.

I'm here for the whole week (kid's school vacation). Tomorrow is the day to stay off the mountain: low temps and big winds - not fun. Maybe we'll snowshoe up Burnt Mt. I hear that it may rain on Tuesday
I'm glad we had today!

 

[bigbog]

Tuesday should be interesting all right. Hope Wednesday isn't all ice.

 

[180]

The winds today were not too bad. Did Bubble and Winters Way about 8 time total and called it a day. Wind did keep refreshing the left edge.

 

[deadheadskier]

Try ducking into Max Headroom between Gondiline and Winters Way. That was really good a couple weeks ago

 

[180]

Woods were pretty beat up and sketchy, some serious ice under there from the rain a week ago.

 

[Not Sure]

Try ducking into Max Headroom between Gondiline and Winters Way. That was really good a couple weeks ago

Where is that? I see Stumpshot on the trail map but no Maxheadroom. I hit Gondiglade on the other side

 

[deadheadskier]

Where is that? I see Stumpshot on the trail map but no Maxheadroom. I hit Gondiglade on the other side

I guess that's the one.

I don't know the glade names at Sugarloaf well. I posted a picture after the summit and someone asked where it was. I did a Google search and that's what came up on a map.

Maybe it was an old trail map?

 

[deadheadskier]

http://sugarloaf2020.tumblr.com/post/59586245782/heres-a-good-look-at-the-newly-cut-glade-on-the

 

[bdfreetuna]

Branding Axe is another nice one. I would have definitely spent half the day in Brackett.

 

[Not Sure]

http://sugarloaf2020.tumblr.com/post/59586245782/heres-a-good-look-at-the-newly-cut-glade-on-the

Looks like they changed the name ? I dropped in off spillway cut 100' past Gondiline . This Glade looks like it's off the upper section?

Online trail map doesn't have a Maxheadroom .

 

[deadheadskier]

This was 25 feet prior to gondiline.

 

[tnt1234]

Is brackets basin open? Web site says no, but maybe it's skiable?

 

[bdfreetuna]

Is brackets basin open? Web site says no, but maybe it's skiable?

Woods in Northern VT were easily skiable a month ago. Of course Brackett Basin is skiable. No idea why it's not open, probably wind and cold leaving some icy patches. That will recover very quickly. If you like technical and awesome skiing, go for it.

Besides that there are a huge amount of other glades, woods, cuts or whatever you want to call them both on and off map that will be even more easily skiable because they probably get some snowmaking blow-over too.

 

[tnt1234]

Woods in Northern VT were easily skiable a month ago. Of course Brackett Basin is skiable. No idea why it's not open, probably wind and cold leaving some icy patches. That will recover very quickly. If you like technical and awesome skiing, go for it.

Besides that there are a huge amount of other glades, woods, cuts or whatever you want to call them both on and off map that will be even more easily skiable because they probably get some snowmaking blow-over too.

Nice - thanks.

Family trip to Sugarloaf end of march. First time there. Bracket's basin figured into our decision. Been checking the website all season and they haven;t listed it as open yet, which I thought was strange.

 

[deadheadskier]

Tuna,

You are really showing a complete lack of knowledge about Sugarloaf. Many of us were there two weeks ago and Bracket needed two feet of heavy wet snow to open then. Bracket has tons of stumps, rocks and downfall that requires a lot of snow to be safely skied by most. I trust the judgment of Sugarloaf management much more than an individual out in the Berkshires who hasn't been there this year

 

[tnt1234]

Tuna,

You are really showing a complete lack of knowledge about Sugarloaf. Many of us were there two weeks ago and Bracket needed two feet of heavy wet snow to open then. Bracket has tons of stumps, rocks and downfall that requires a lot of snow to be safely skied by most. I trust the judgment of Sugarloaf management much more than an individual out in the Berkshires who hasn't been there this year

Oh man...you just killed my buzz....

Oh well. If it's not open by end of march, we'll have to try again.

 

[deadheadskier]

I'm sure by end of March it will be open, but if it's not open today, there's good reason for it. I've pouches it a couple of times before when closed and have always come out of there saying, "well, now I know why it's closed"

 

[bdfreetuna]

Tuna,

You are really showing a complete lack of knowledge about Sugarloaf. Many of us were there two weeks ago and Bracket needed two feet of heavy wet snow to open then. Bracket has tons of stumps, rocks and downfall that requires a lot of snow to be safely skied by most. I trust the judgment of Sugarloaf management much more than an individual out in the Berkshires who hasn't been there this year

Most is the key word. I did mention for technical skiers only. Last time I skied Brackett it was like 25% bare ground lots of exposed stuff, rocks and logs.

It's not for everyone; but "skiable", that's up to you. Most folks on here don't appreciate thin cover skiing. To me it adds to the fun and obstacles in the woods.

Wear a helmet either way.

And I find it hard to believe that Sugarloaf will have less snow by the weekend than Upper VT well over a month ago. Even with 2/3 as much snow in the woods it would be fine. "Experts only, with caution" of course.

From what I read of the AZ summit pretty much nobody even went into the woods so it's not like we have an accurate survey from recent weeks either.

 

[deadheadskier]

Sugarloaf isn't MRG. They need to be more cautious what they open. Different audience.

I do wear a helmet and I can promise you I am as capable and willing to ski thin cover terrain as yourself. I pouch stuff all the time, but I never make a judgment call for the mountain based upon what I'm capable of skiing

You telling folks what should be open at Sugarloaf based on your experiences in VT a month ago isn't a good look. It makes about as much sense as claiming you know how the skiing is right now at Mount Bohemia.

 

[dlague]

Woods in Northern VT were easily skiable a month ago. Of course Brackett Basin is skiable. No idea why it's not open, probably wind and cold leaving some icy patches. That will recover very quickly. If you like technical and awesome skiing, go for it.

Besides that there are a huge amount of other glades, woods, cuts or whatever you want to call them both on and off map that will be even more easily skiable because they probably get some snowmaking blow-over too.

I doubt it! Those glades are not cleared of debris so skiing them with marginal snow is nuts! For the summit, they were not open and according to ski patrol there was inadequate cover. Since then we had r@!n and then a refreeze - yes we did get 8-12 inches of dry snow but that would not cover things well.

I think telling people that they are open when the mountain ops says they are not is irresponsible.