Wow. That is going back a ways now.
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The "Sugarbush Thread"
- Thread starter thetrailboss
- Start date
Wow. That is going back a ways now.
Plowboy
Member
There was a ski shop at the bottom of Harris Hill Rd. and 17 called Bigger Sports, Sportive also had a ski and tune shop where the School House Garden is now, Inverness Sports was in the Mad River Green next to the bank building and of course VT North has been around longer than any shop I can think of.
Duncanator24
New member
Skiied Mt Ellen on Thursday 1/12. Cliffs was riding amazing! Due to the fog, I couldn't see much of anything on any of the higher trails. No rain at all which was nice. It did start raining when we left unfortunately though. Also tried FIS for my first time and aside from the ice cliff right at the beginning, it was actually fun and had some nice challenging moguls to ride completely blind. Not too much ice in general, hoping more terrain opens today and hopefully castle Rock hiking for the weekend!
That's being a bit optimistic. After the thaw/freeze with no new snow I can't imagine CR would be worth skiing at all this weekend and I wouldn't at all be surprised to see them leave CR closed until we get snow.
Well apparently I'm wrong. CR will be open for hiking. I still find it hard to believe it will be skiing well.
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Duncanator24
New member
Yeah I really doubt it will ski well but I'll definitely be hiking it in the morning to see how it goes. Thinking Middle Earth will be the best bet for the upper moguls being halfway decent and the lower sections being garbage. But only one way to find out!
Otherwise, glad some grooming will be done. Lower organ grinder was amazing today under the guns later in the day, best run all day. Birdland, Murphys Glades, and Snowball were actually quite scary today but overall a great day of fast riding down blue squares.
bdfreetuna
New member
The whales on Birdland were made of rock solid unedgeable snow when I was there a couple weeks ago. Thought it looked like dense pow, found out fast it wasn't remotely lol
Duncanator24
New member
Exactly what I experienced. Looked fun from the lift. Instantly regretted it once I got on that trail. But it made everything else seem awesome that day in comparison!
Actually there is another way to find out. I'll let you check it out and then wait to read about it here
Just not worth it for me to find out the hard way that it sucks and you're left with no choice but to keep skiing down something that you're not enjoying. Hard bumps aren't my idea of fun. I can wait for some more snow to fall and just entertain myself on the groomers in the meantime.
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Duncanator24
New member
Yeah you are right, leave all of the skiing to me and you can just stay home =p.Actually there is another way to find out. I'll let you check it out and then wait to read about it here
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More trails opened for Saturday. Paradise was an absolute nightmare, but it has a good enough base that some nice powder falling on top of the ice would fix that. I hiked Castle Rock twice that day and it was definitely worth it to me. Bottom sections were sketchy as expected but Castle Rock run and Cotillion at the top had actually rideable moguls. Will check out Middle Earth today. Needs more snow but was acceptable for my low standards.
Organ grinder under the guns was still the best. Downspout had the same fresh powder riding. I usually dislike the fake stuff but it was riding really nice and they haven't groomed it yet. So it offers some nice true powder skiing.
Tin
Active member
For them to open Castlerock there is clearly enough snow remaining at elevation, Liftline has some of the biggest waterbars around. I'm assuming MRG still has snow above the midstation but nothing below it.
Who said anything about staying home? I just said I would skip CR. I was pleasantly surprised by Sugarbush this weekend and think mountain ops really did a nice job. While they may be only making snow on a handful of trails at a time...they are absolutely hammering them with a nice quality snow.
Downspout skied really nicely on Saturday with the ungroomed gunpowder. Today it was nice again this morning even after being groomed. Lower Organgrinder skied nice under the guns yesterday. Steins was mostly good under the guns yesterday (although there were still a few icy spots you had to watch out for under the snow). Today Stein's was skiing really nice after they turned the guns off. Organgrinder this morning had near 0 visibility at the top so I cut in off the traverse from Jester. The snow was sweet, but visibility was still a bit of a challenge, although better than it had been at the very top. I felt like at times I had to almost duck under the snowgun towers as the piles were so tall. Amazing how much snow they can pump out with cold temps.
I'm still not buying it that CR was worth it, but after skiing it in December with beautiful powder/packed powder conditions, I might be spoiled and have set my standards a bit higher. :razz:
The snow squalls this morning were a pleasant surprise as is the shift in the forecast for mid-week where it looks like they may now get 6+ inches of snow instead of the unfrozen stuff in the forecast just a few days ago. Still a long way to go to getting the mountain back in peak shape, but it is still a positive turn of events to help get us through things until the pattern changes later this month.
Duncanator24
New member
Agreed, my standards are so much higher after skiing this past December. So yeah, it's not really worth it unless you have low standards lol. But I could not have a complete trip without at least one run down Castle Rock.
Anyways, Mt Ellen rode even better on Sunday after the quick refresh of an inch of snow in the morning. Cliffs continued to be really good and I had fun on Exterminator, Encore, Hammerhead and all of the blue trails. Best section all day though was the woods between Looking Good and Rim Run. Actually that was my favorite stuff out of the whole trip.
kingslug
Well-known member
Guess I should have went....
Duncanator24
New member
Skiied Mount Ellen again on Monday. Figured I would try Exterminator again and ended up in the woods off to the left side (Exterminator woods?). This was like a super bonus level! I don't really want to tell anyone about the secret stash I found in there but trust me, it's worth it. Really nice moguls, deep powder, and fun trees. Was quite the treat after many days of ice.
https://i.imgur.com/p24YT2D.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/p24YT2D.jpg
WWF-VT
Well-known member
dlague
Active member
2 things 1) you just told everyone. 2) that is not a big secret.
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Tin
Active member
Yellow license plate crew finding the stashes!
drjeff
Well-known member
Guess I should have went....
I'd much rather go, and wish I hadn't, then not have gone and wish I had....
I can honestly say that over the years I've had more more days that I was expecting to be crappy turn into decent days than actually end up being crappy. For full disclosure, I will readily admit that I'm genuinely pretty happy ANY day I'm out on the hill, whether it's on a WROD or full out, 100% open, a foot plus of dry fresh everywhere
LOL...a secret stash that is marked on the trail maps! Very sneaky!
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