speden
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- Joined
- Nov 18, 2008
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Well with the spring skiing options dwindling down, this weekend looked like my best shot for trying Sugarloaf. I've been wanting to go for the last couple of years, and was able to talk the wife into driving up last night so I could take some early turns this morning.
She's done skiing for this season, so I got a slopeside room so she could sleep in while I was out skiing with the kids. Went with the Sugarloaf Mountain Hotel. It's nothing fancy, but it was decent and convenient, if a little overpriced. We had a little time to kill when we got in last night, so hit the steam room, sauna, and hot tubs with one of my sons. The steam room and sauna were nice, but the hot tubs were a little lame. They're too small, not hot enough, and indoors. What fun is a hot tub if it's not outside where you can get snow to rub on your body? Exactly, not much.
So I thought being slopeside, we'd make first chair for sure. Well getting the family moving early in the morning is not that easy, so we were about 15 minutes late. But it didn't matter since there wasn't much of a crowd anyway. I usually don't ski on Saturday's, but this late in the season people just don't come out to ski as much.
We spent the morning just exploring the place. The mountain shape reminded me a lot of a giant sized Pat's Peak, with the steep stuff in the middle off the top, and flatter stuff along the base. I thought I might find the mountain beyond my skill level, but there was plenty of fun stuff for an intermediate, and I didn't have time to try even half the trails I was interested in.
So it became obvious pretty quick that this mountain rocks. It's just a crying shame it's so far away from me (about 4:15 driving time). It's the kind of mountain I think I could really grow into if I could get there more often.
Conditions today were pretty much superb on the trails we hit. Coverage was excellent, weather was fantastic, and the spring snow skied great. There was a little wind near the summit, but not enough to cause any problems with the lifts. The only problem was my kids got tired too quick and we had to head home sooner than I wanted. Hopefully this wasn't my last day of the season, but it might have been. If so, it wasn't a bad way to end.
A few pics:
Hardly anyone around first thing in the morning.
Heading up the superquad. There are some park features scattered around the mountain and some half pipes. They looked pretty decent from what I could see.
Heading up timberline, low and slow. There seem to be a lot of older slow lifts at Sugarloaf. I didn't mind the long rest breaks between runs today, but on a cold day I bet it would be pretty annoying.
This slow little lift is called Double Runner. I guess they used weird contraptions like this before quads were invented. We went up it once to help us traverse over to the Whiffletree lift. It services some green trails, so was pretty much deserted.
Over in the Whiffletree area my son spotted this beginner terrain park and talked me into trying some of the easy looking tables. I know nothing about hitting features, and when I landed on the table my skis slowed down like hitting glue, and nearly flung me over the handle bars. Only my poles saved me. I thought that can't be normal, so I tried another one and the same thing happened again. Guess I'm not cut out for terrain parks.
Here's a shot near the summit. There were some ice patches here and there on the mountain, but they were easily avoided.
Here's a shot somewhere on Tote Road. I liked that trail as a top to bottom cruiser. Some of the upper sections were really fun, but it flattens out a little too much near the bottom.
On the drive home we crossed over some nice looking rapids. There's still some snow on the ground up there, so a lot different than back home.
She's done skiing for this season, so I got a slopeside room so she could sleep in while I was out skiing with the kids. Went with the Sugarloaf Mountain Hotel. It's nothing fancy, but it was decent and convenient, if a little overpriced. We had a little time to kill when we got in last night, so hit the steam room, sauna, and hot tubs with one of my sons. The steam room and sauna were nice, but the hot tubs were a little lame. They're too small, not hot enough, and indoors. What fun is a hot tub if it's not outside where you can get snow to rub on your body? Exactly, not much.
So I thought being slopeside, we'd make first chair for sure. Well getting the family moving early in the morning is not that easy, so we were about 15 minutes late. But it didn't matter since there wasn't much of a crowd anyway. I usually don't ski on Saturday's, but this late in the season people just don't come out to ski as much.
We spent the morning just exploring the place. The mountain shape reminded me a lot of a giant sized Pat's Peak, with the steep stuff in the middle off the top, and flatter stuff along the base. I thought I might find the mountain beyond my skill level, but there was plenty of fun stuff for an intermediate, and I didn't have time to try even half the trails I was interested in.
So it became obvious pretty quick that this mountain rocks. It's just a crying shame it's so far away from me (about 4:15 driving time). It's the kind of mountain I think I could really grow into if I could get there more often.
Conditions today were pretty much superb on the trails we hit. Coverage was excellent, weather was fantastic, and the spring snow skied great. There was a little wind near the summit, but not enough to cause any problems with the lifts. The only problem was my kids got tired too quick and we had to head home sooner than I wanted. Hopefully this wasn't my last day of the season, but it might have been. If so, it wasn't a bad way to end.
A few pics:
Hardly anyone around first thing in the morning.
Heading up the superquad. There are some park features scattered around the mountain and some half pipes. They looked pretty decent from what I could see.
Heading up timberline, low and slow. There seem to be a lot of older slow lifts at Sugarloaf. I didn't mind the long rest breaks between runs today, but on a cold day I bet it would be pretty annoying.
This slow little lift is called Double Runner. I guess they used weird contraptions like this before quads were invented. We went up it once to help us traverse over to the Whiffletree lift. It services some green trails, so was pretty much deserted.
Over in the Whiffletree area my son spotted this beginner terrain park and talked me into trying some of the easy looking tables. I know nothing about hitting features, and when I landed on the table my skis slowed down like hitting glue, and nearly flung me over the handle bars. Only my poles saved me. I thought that can't be normal, so I tried another one and the same thing happened again. Guess I'm not cut out for terrain parks.
Here's a shot near the summit. There were some ice patches here and there on the mountain, but they were easily avoided.
Here's a shot somewhere on Tote Road. I liked that trail as a top to bottom cruiser. Some of the upper sections were really fun, but it flattens out a little too much near the bottom.
On the drive home we crossed over some nice looking rapids. There's still some snow on the ground up there, so a lot different than back home.
