Sugarloaf West Mtn Expansion and HSQ officially a go

[bigbob]

I wonder what Plan B is if the new quad goes down to get people out of the bottom?

 

[Newpylong]

Same as any other area with a single lift serving it. Close all the trails leading down and shuttle folks out.

 

[deadheadskier]

Skied Sugarloaf today and got to enjoy the new Bucksaw. Talk about a game changer for SL. There isn't a section of novice to low intermediate terrain at any other Eastern Mountain that can compare. Really LONG trails. Basically Whiffletree on steroids. My 5 year old was absolutely thrilled with the terrain. I'm sure the locals love the ski on parking from E & F lots too. Parking has always absolutely sucked at SL. This changes that.


The trails are all super wide and don't have a lot of character, but if I needed to bring a low intermediate skiing somewhere in New England, Sugarloaf would now be my number one choice because of the new terrain pod.

 

[BodeMiller1]

It's amazing how fast people ski there. Nice to see the improvements to the lifts.

 

[deadheadskier]

Be curious to see when the Superquad gets a refresh. Have to imagine one of those fancy 8 packs is on their road map.

 

[thetrailboss]

Be curious to see when the Superquad gets a refresh. Have to imagine one of those fancy 8 packs is on their road map.

Or at least a D-Line 6-pack.

 

[BodeMiller1]

Be curious to see when the Superquad gets a refresh. Have to imagine one of those fancy 8 packs is on their road map.

I'm not a fan of heated chairs but SL is cold and the lifts are long. Last time I was there it was in March and sub zero. I thought I knew what cold and steep was then I went to SL.

 

[LoafSkier19]

Skied Sugarloaf today and got to enjoy the new Bucksaw. Talk about a game changer for SL. There isn't a section of novice to low intermediate terrain at any other Eastern Mountain that can compare. Really LONG trails. Basically Whiffletree on steroids. My 5 year old was absolutely thrilled with the terrain. I'm sure the locals love the ski on parking from E & F lots too. Parking has always absolutely sucked at SL. This changes that.


The trails are all super wide and don't have a lot of character, but if I needed to bring a low intermediate skiing somewhere in New England, Sugarloaf would now be my number one choice because of the new terrain pod.

Was going to post my report about it last night and totally forgot. Couldn’t agree more with everything you said. Feels like its own ski area within a ski area. The best part for me is the parking situation now. Every main lot now has access straight to the trails. We got there at 8:30 and didn’t even hesitate to park in the new Lot G. Front row parking next to the Bucksaw trail and skied right to the lift. Perfect for tailgating at lunch.


Quiet and isolated.

The new parking situation. Lots E,F, and G just an easy walk from the trail
Horseshoe was blown up to avoid the old uphill section
New looks at the same scenic views
Pretty much all wide slopes like this

What’s left of old West Mtn chair. Dont see this opening this season. Still no chairs on the line.

 

[Edd]

So the website implies there’s a ticket kiosk somewhere around the base of this new lift? If so, what else is at that base?

 

[LoafSkier19]

So the website implies there’s a ticket kiosk somewhere around the base of this new lift? If so, what else is at that base?

The ticket kiosks are attached to a small shack across from the new lift. For perspective, if you look at my first photo of the new base terminal, I’m essentially standing in front of it. That’s all they have down below at the moment. I assume those kiosks are operational now but not actually sure.

 

[deadheadskier]

Yesterday one of them had an out of order sign on it. The other didn't, so I assume it was working.

No other facilities that I saw. Not sure if there were even porta potties.

Be interesting to see what type of lodge they eventually build there.

 

[soposkier]

Skied it this past week with my 6 year old. Great trails and a step up from whiffletree. We did end up back at whiffletree though for the shorter runs and what was better snow. West mountain trails were a bit more skied off from the traffic. It seems to be doing great a dispersing crowds from the superquad, whiffletree and timberline.

 

[LuckyStrike]

The ride from the top all the way down the west side of the mountain was stunning, Some of the best views in New England imo. The terrain itself was pretty boring but I 100% see how good it is for kids/parents/ski schools. I was riding the lift up amazed that Sugarloaf basically dropped in a Wachusett sized expansion over the summer.

 

[thebigo]

Liftblog mentions six shooter heading to the loaf:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1771903315174891533

 

[deadheadskier]

Of those two options, I'd do the King Pine option to reduce the need to traverse early out of Bracket to get to the chair.

I have thought in the past that a lift from Bullwinkle's to the top of Timberline makes sense and it would likely need to be high speed as it would probably be about a mile long. But that high on Sugarloaf isn't particularly compatible with a high speed chair. I'd probably leave Timberline as is and just do a Poma somewhere else for more reliable access to the summit. Maybe skiers left side of Gondi Line from Spillway X up?

The question I have is why not use this lift to replace the Super Quad? Maybe they want something new there or an 8?

 

[EPB]

The question I have is why not use this lift to replace the Super Quad? Maybe they want something new there or an 8?

I think in the comments of the Six Shooter replacement article on LiftBlog, the proper lift nerds argued that it's age, CTEC construction and lower capacity design (1800 people per hour) made it impossible to upgrade to a sufficiently high capacity Super Quad replacement.

 

[Newpylong]

More making Boyne (mountains) better while POWDR sits on its ass. Should be some mulch coming to the K-1 base area this summer I am sure.

 

[Newpylong]

Of those two options, I'd do the King Pine option to reduce the need to traverse early out of Bracket to get to the chair.

I have thought in the past that a lift from Bullwinkle's to the top of Timberline makes sense and it would likely need to be high speed as it would probably be about a mile long. But that high on Sugarloaf isn't particularly compatible with a high speed chair. I'd probably leave Timberline as is and just do a Poma somewhere else for more reliable access to the summit. Maybe skiers left side of Gondi Line from Spillway X up?

The question I have is why not use this lift to replace the Super Quad? Maybe they want something new there or an 8?

These refurnished already owned lifts are great for ancillary pods, but they aren't going to put a 20+ year old lift (even if refurbished) in place of a 30 year old lift. When the Superquad is replaced, it's going to be a signature lift, likely 8 person D-line, the whole works.

Additional surface lifts are likely out of the question except for race development and for niche use like Bretton Woods side country. More engineering exists now to negate wind with detachable that didn't exist even 20 years ago, that's likely what will happen up there.

 

[deadheadskier]

Does modern HSQ wind mitigation match surface lift reliability in those conditions?

Sugarloaf has said themselves many times over recent years that they have been looking into another surface lift from somewhere in the neighborhood of Skyline summit to the top.

 

[thetrailboss]

So this is news to me. On paper, this is a good option for Sugarloaf. Six Shooter, though an older lift, has had relatively little run time. The towers, chairs are in relatively good shape. I am a bit surprised to see a six-pack replacing Timberline as there is relatively little terrain at the very, very top to handle the traffic. That said, the lift capacity can be adjusted and having heavy chairs cuts down on wind issues.

As frustrating as Sugarloafers may be, I don't see this as a good replacement for SuperQuad. It is an older lift. I think SuperQuad and Whiffletree need to just completely replaced when it is time. Certainly a nice Doppelmayr D-Line would be ideal for SuperQuad's successor.