Sugarloaf 2/24-2/26/19

[Zand]

Wanted to leave home by 6 this morning but overslept by an hour and then hit snow covered roads by Augusta. By the time I found a parking spot, shuttled up, picked up tickets and geared up it was noon. Report showed Wiffletree, King Pine, West Mountain, Double Runner, and Timberline already on windhold.

With only the SuperQuad open from bottom, the singles line took 15 minutes and then the ride up was absolutely brutal and I knew that the SuperQuad wouldn't be long until it also got shut down. First run was down Winters Way to check out the natural bumps, but a lot of ice underneath the fresh snow so bailed onto Sluice which was sweet fresh snow on cord. Hopped on Skyline which wasn't as brutal as the SuperQuad and the strongest winds were at the bottom.

A smart person would've hung around by the T-Bar but like a dumbass I headed down too far and decided to grab lunch. Skied Dropline which was so deep you need a full face shield to avoid some of the branches. Hopped into Ram Pasture which also had a lot of nice snow in it. Arrived to a closed SuperQuad.

Had lunch in the madhouse of a base lodge and quickly realized that my cat skiing time of 2:30 wasn't happening as it takes quite a while just to get over there. At 1:30 I got refund on that and then sat around for a while. Finally at 2:15 the SuperQuad opened back up. Skyline stayed down so T-Bar was the only way to the upper mountain.

Got 3 runs in before closing from the quad/T-Bar combo. First was down Kick Back which was in sick shape...tons of fun in those trees. 2nd run I traversed all the way out to Misery Whip which had a really fun bump line down the middle and filled with powder. Then Rookie River to the bottom although I ended up at the stream way too early so kinda killed the run for me. Last run was Ramdown to Boardwalk looking for some untracked powder on groomed. Fun up high but very windblown further down.

Just got back from dinner at the Bag and the wind at the base was surprisingly calm and it's dumping outside. Gonna get out early in the morning tomorrow with hopes of getting a few runs in. Not expecting the mountain to be open very long but hope it stays calm for a couple hours

 

[Zand]

Today went south in a hurry. SuperQuad was actually running (and still is)...1st run down Kick Back I was enjoying some deep untracked powder. Got twisted up on a bump or something and fell back first onto a jagged stump. Hurt a lot to do anything after that. Tried toughing out a couple runs but even the groomers hurt pretty bad nevermind trying to hop in the woods or untracked.

Back in the room now with Advil and ice hoping that'll help. Looks like a paintball welt but no bruising yet. Hoping to get back out later but even if I feel better the wind will probably have other ideas. Hate this...it was so good and I was psyched to actually be skiing considering the wind forecast, all gone to shit first run.

 

[Skrn]

too bad. Sorry to hear that!

 

[Cornhead]

Born under a bad sign, I've been down since I began to crawl, if it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all.

Sorry Zand, sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug. I would say you were definitely the bug on this trip. Better luck next trip.

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[Zand]

Quad and T-Bar are somehow still running (even Snubber is on windhold lol) but too much pain to attempt to ski. Feels more like my right hip than my back which is weird because the contact point and welt is dead center on my back. Hoping I just tweaked something and it's not something worse. Not sure if I'll be able to ski tomorrow either. Hopefully next week is good.

 

[Bumpsis]

Today went south in a hurry. SuperQuad was actually running (and still is)...1st run down Kick Back I was enjoying some deep untracked powder. Got twisted up on a bump or something and fell back first onto a jagged stump. Hurt a lot to do anything after that. Tried toughing out a couple runs but even the groomers hurt pretty bad nevermind trying to hop in the woods or untracked.

For those not familiar with Sugarloaf, it may maybe useful to know that Kick Back is a gladed tree run best accessed from Hayburner, one of the more popular trails on the mountain. Kick Back has a similar pitch to Hayburner, which has a nice pitch to it once it gets going. It's a real joy to catch that terrain loaded with fresh snow.
I am sorry to hear about your mishap, Zand. I'm wishing you quick recovery.

 

[Zand]

There's a lot of nice glades on that side...Kick Back is the best one to hit off the Super Quad as it's right there. Branding Ax is great too. Even with the upper mountain on wind hold there's a lot of good woods to hit.

Mountain shut down at 2:00 today so no more fighting the urge to go back out. We'll see how it feels in the morning. Wind chills are supposed to be disgusting tomorrow so might be a quick hitter whether I'm hurting or not.

 

[drjeff]

Seeing pics popping up in various forms in the last hour or so that the cell tower at the summit of Sugarloaf got basically folded in half and is about touching the ground now due to the winds!!

Given that Mount Washington has now reached a peak gust of 171mph today.... Not surprising they shut things down early today!!

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[Ol Dirty Noodle]

Quad and T-Bar are somehow still running (even Snubber is on windhold lol) but too much pain to attempt to ski. Feels more like my right hip than my back which is weird because the contact point and welt is dead center on my back. Hoping I just tweaked something and it's not something worse. Not sure if I'll be able to ski tomorrow either. Hopefully next week is good.

That’s called the sciatic nerve my friend, be careful when I broke my back 10 years ago I managed to “ tough” it out a few days before my legs went numb. I have degenerative disc disease so they said I blew out the last 3 discs and everything was a result of such. Spent 45 days flat on my back and found out at my next mri/x-ray that I actually fractured a vertebrae.

 

[skiMEbike]

There's a lot of nice glades on that side...Kick Back is the best one to hit off the Super Quad as it's right there. Branding Ax is great too. Even with the upper mountain on wind hold there's a lot of good woods to hit.

Mountain shut down at 2:00 today so no more fighting the urge to go back out. We'll see how it feels in the morning. Wind chills are supposed to be disgusting tomorrow so might be a quick hitter whether I'm hurting or not.

Being a regular at the Loaf....I've got to say (IMO) Kickback is the best glade on the mountain. Brackett gets all the press....Other glades can be steeper, others tighter, and still others too open. To me Kickback has the best pitch and the right amount of tree density and with other glades garnering more attention (traffic)....the snow keeps a little better in Kickback than some of the more popular ones. Also, it doesn't hurt that it has snowmaking on either side of the glade on two of the more important trails (that may get some of the most snowmaking on the mountain).

 

[The Sneak]

You know it’s windy when freaking Double Runner is on hold. Jeez!


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[Zand]

Well day 3 officially isn't happening. All lifts on windhold until at least 11. Nature's way of protecting me from myself anyway...shouldn't even attempt to ski until my back feels better. Wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be after sleeping so hopefully it'll be okay. I swear this mountain has it out for me but one of these days I'm gonna have a great trip here lol.

 

[Cornhead]

Ha, reminds me of my relationship with Whiteface. Cleared 2 ft of snow off my car in Wilmington only to find almost everything on wind hold. We drove down to Gore which was only partially open. That's the problem with big mountains in the east, big dumps are often followed by big winds.

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[Zand]

I guess I'm lucky...been up to Whiteface twice and had great weather and good conditions both times. Granted both were in the spring so that's more dependable.

 

[slatham]

Ha, reminds me of my relationship with Whiteface. Cleared 2 ft of snow off my car in Wilmington only to find almost everything on wind hold. We drove down to Gore which was only partially open. That's the problem with big mountains in the east, big dumps are often followed by big winds.

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Assuming trip flexibility, and they also get a dump, to avoid wind go to Magic......